Trial Run for Dogs in Resort Rooms

[ShadeDK]

Valid point but does Disney give notice about tour groups at all for example?

I had zero idea about them (as in it never even entered my mind) until joining the DIS and there are still a decent amount of posts about people not knowing much about them either. I don't think someone who has either never had experience with tour groups ( prior to this most recent trip that is) or has never stayed on site would know either ( prior to this most recent trip that is).

That is the same argument smokers use when smoking outside the Dsa’s.

I'm glad someone brought this up as I've been trying to think of a worst guest scenario. I decided it was a massive Brazilian tour group who all bring toy dogs and then proceed to entirely block the resort pathways while riding motorized scooters to take the dogs out (which are being pushed from the scooters in double-sided strollers of course) to a pool at a different resort than where they're staying - oh, and they're smoking on the way. I think the Dis would break.

(As always - I'm not trying to make light of those with actual concerns - I'm one of them and interested to see how this continues to play out during the trial).

 

[DrunkJam]

Bottom line is that Disney will do what Disney wants to make more money. If some don't like what Disney does, don't go to Disney. They will run a few commercials and you will be replaced. We don't have a say, we may think that we do but we don't. Disney will take feedback into consideration but generating positive PR while increasing profit will be the deciding factor in everything that they do. They are a business, not your friend.

Bill

This is entirely true. However aggrieved I feel about this, or anything else, I do know that my going or not will make ZERO difference to Disney. I struggled to get availability for my stay. It would be snapped up before I even got off the phone to complain.
it makes me feel less valued as a consumer, but, they don't mind that, why would they?
That said, I am a brand loyal person, and I tend to spend more wth companies who at least put the effort in to making me feel like they give a toss about my choice to spend with them. We are not holidaying with Disney again, after this trip but, it really makes no difference to them, and I know that.

 

[robinb]

Bottom line is that Disney will do what Disney wants to make more money. If some don't like what Disney does, don't go to Disney. They will run a few commercials and you will be replaced. We don't have a say, we may think that we do but we don't. Disney will take feedback into consideration but generating positive PR while increasing profit will be the deciding factor in everything that they do. They are a business, not your friend.

Bill

That is absolutely true. I have been am the complaining side before and I am fully aware that Disney is really not that into me (even though I am an AP holder and DVC member). I have said on other threads that I think that Disney caters far more to the "once in a lifetime" guest than the repeat customer because they KNOW that there is a steady stream of "once in a lifetime" guests who will be happy to plunk down thousands of dollars for a week with Mickey. New Disney guests are being born every day and if you choose to vacation elsewhere someone else will be happy to take your place.

 

[LSUmiss]

Bottom line is that Disney will do what Disney wants to make more money. If some don't like what Disney does, don't go to Disney. They will run a few commercials and you will be replaced. We don't have a say, we may think that we do but we don't. Disney will take feedback into consideration but generating positive PR while increasing profit will be the deciding factor in everything that they do. They are a business, not your friend.

Bill

This is so right. And it used to anger me (about other things...this doesn’t bother me) & I wanted so bad to have the discipline to not contribute to their bottom line, but then I decided I was just punishing myself & my family. I’ve read so many ppl posting about the thousands they spend. Ppl all over the world spend thousands & will continue to even if a few posters stop. Like you said, one well-directed commercial & a new population is willing to drop thousands. The fact is WDW is a big businesss. They are not a charity organization dedicated to the welfare of families or whatever unrealistic fantasy many of us make it. If Walt was here (like a lot of ppl like to say), he would have probably been fired long ago! It’s the world we live in. And, Disney, as a company still provides quality entertainment for me & my family, IMO, so it is what it is.

 

[LSUmiss]

That is absolutely true. I have been am the complaining side before and I am fully aware that Disney is really not that into me (even though I am an AP holder and DVC member). I have said on other threads that I think that Disney caters far more to the "once in a lifetime" guest than the repeat customer because they KNOW that there is a steady stream of "once in a lifetime" guests who will be happy to plunk down thousands of dollars for a week with Mickey. New Disney guests are being born every day and if you choose to vacation elsewhere someone else will be happy to take your place.

And that guest likely has not voted in this poll & likely won’t even realize WDW is pet friendly unless they see a dog. And if that makes them unhappy, oh well, WDW already has their $$.

 

[Jafar30]

I've made it known why I personally wouldn't bring a dog to the resorts. But for those that do, I'm not automatically assume that the worst is going to happen. With all due respect that kind of mindset doesn't feel like a healthy way to live one's life.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm glad someone brought this up as I've been trying to think of a worst guest scenario. I decided it was a massive Brazilian tour group who all bring toy dogs and then proceed to entirely block the resort pathways while riding motorized scooters to take the dogs out (which are being pushed from the scooters in double-sided strollers of course) to a pool at a different resort than where they're staying - oh, and they're smoking on the way. I think the Dis would break.

(As always - I'm not trying to make light of those with actual concerns - I'm one of them and interested to see how this continues to play out during the trial).

Finding humor in things does help sometimes lol

 

[Wubar]

Seems like there is a spoof of Disney news websites out there now. Whatever your take on this new policy, I laughed at this:

Disney’s new dog-friendly hotel policy also includes horses

Excellent. I don't mind paying extra money to have a carriage ride drop me from the resort straight to my room.

 

[DisKaren]

I'm glad someone brought this up as I've been trying to think of a worst guest scenario. I decided it was a massive Brazilian tour group who all bring toy dogs and then proceed to entirely block the resort pathways while riding motorized scooters to take the dogs out (which are being pushed from the scooters in double-sided strollers of course) to a pool at a different resort than where they're staying - oh, and they're smoking on the way. I think the Dis would break.

(As always - I'm not trying to make light of those with actual concerns - I'm one of them and interested to see how this continues to play out during the trial).

LMAO While staying at Disney, we have been kept awake by crying babies and yelling people in the hallways. In the parks we witnessed a woman on a scooter run over someone's foot and keep going. I've had people run their big plastic strollers into the back of my ankles (that hurts!), and also just keep on going without even apologizing! There were children having meltdowns, some screaming, one hitting his mother, one of them yelling at the people in line, asking us what we were looking at. We saw quite a few dogs in the parks this year. . . not sure which were service dogs and which were emotional support dogs, but all were well-behaved. We have also stayed at Royal Pacific in Universal many times, and never once have seen a dog at this resort, nor have I seen a dog hair or smelled any doggy smells. I suspect that Disney resorts also won't become overrun with dogs. I have no desire to bring my dogs on this type of vacation, but I can understand that there are situations where some people would.
Forgive me if this has already been discussed (I haven't read the entire thread), but while I can understand that some people fear dogs, and some people have allergies, it seems to me that at least where I live, dogs are everywhere. The service dogs have always been allowed in all the resort rooms, which may affect allergy-sufferers, and what do dog-fearing people do in everyday life when they encounter dogs?

 

[Bob Dolewhip]

I’m not sure why everyone thinks the dogs will be left alone all day. After check in (where service dogs normally are verified with their paperwork) then you put on the $20 fake service dog vest. Splash Mountain here we come!

 

[evilqueenmindy]

The pet fee is pretty steep, this will probably go a long way toward keeping the numbers of dogs down.

 

[scrapquitler]

Yet more exaggeration. Twenty dogs clogging up the entrance to the food court? It's a resort, not a dog show. You and your kids will be FINE.

I was at All Star Sports during Irma. There were tons of dogs around. I asked about the dogs and was told that they were prohibited from being in the food court. At one point we were sitting at a table next to the beverage stations. In the space of less than 5 minutes, 4 different (non service dogs) dogs were standing within two feet of us. So much for Disney enforcing the 'no dogs in the food court' rule, and yes, a whole bunch of dogs unavoidable close to us in a short span of time (and my ASD child was freaking out and was NOT fine). So yes, dogs clogging up the entrance IS totally feasible.

 

[hunyb207]

I was at All Star Sports during Irma. There were tons of dogs around. I asked about the dogs and was told that they were prohibited from being in the food court. At one point we were sitting at a table next to the beverage stations. In the space of less than 5 minutes, 4 different (non service dogs) dogs were standing within two feet of us. So much for Disney enforcing the 'no dogs in the food court' rule, and yes, a whole bunch of dogs unavoidable close to us in a short span of time (and my ASD child was freaking out and was NOT fine). So yes, dogs clogging up the entrance IS totally feasible.

Well so much for me going back to lurking but I have to ask...how do you know they weren't service dogs?

 

[scrapquitler]

Are you currently booked at one of the dog friendly resorts?

I'm not currently booked in a dog friendly resort. But when I checked in to All Star Sports in September it wasn't a dog friendly resort, and I certainly wasn't expecting to deal with dogs in the food court, but it happened anyway.

Disney could potentially end up with dogs anywhere during this trial period on little or no notice. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened that someone showed up at the Grand Floridian or something with their dog and demanded to be allowed to have their dog with them, and was permitted to do so.

 

[scrapquitler]

Well so much for me going back to lurking but I have to ask...how do you know they weren't service dogs?

Because REAL service dogs wear a vest or a collar.

 

[LSUmiss]

I was at All Star Sports during Irma. There were tons of dogs around. I asked about the dogs and was told that they were prohibited from being in the food court. At one point we were sitting at a table next to the beverage stations. In the space of less than 5 minutes, 4 different (non service dogs) dogs were standing within two feet of us. So much for Disney enforcing the 'no dogs in the food court' rule, and yes, a whole bunch of dogs unavoidable close to us in a short span of time (and my ASD child was freaking out and was NOT fine). So yes, dogs clogging up the entrance IS totally feasible.

That’s not the same. Ppl didn’t bring their dogs there b/c they were on vacation. They had evacuated. It’s not likely you’ll see the same volume with this policy. And with the cluster of the circumstances WDW probably didn’t inform guests adequately of the pet policy & didn’t have the staff to enforce it.

 

[scrapquitler]

There may be something in the room that does that. Also, it doesn't matter how many bands if they know how many people are staying in the room and how many have left. Doesn't help if not everyone is wearing a band, but it does if everyone is wearing one and there are some left over.

They can't really know how many people have left the room. When the door opens, multiple people can walk thru it, or one can. And not all of those people would necessarily be wearing a MB. Sometimes one of more of us goes for a walk, or to somewhere off site and doesn't wear a band. Sometimes my son will leave to go buy something at the food court, and wear my MB instead of his so he can buy something (no charging on his band), or whatever. Sometimes one of us enters the room at the same time as someone else is leaving. The MB count and the door opening won't always give them an accurate count of who is in the room.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm not currently booked in a dog friendly resort. But when I checked in to All Star Sports in September it wasn't a dog friendly resort, and I certainly wasn't expecting to deal with dogs in the food court, but it happened anyway.

Disney could potentially end up with dogs anywhere during this trial period on little or no notice. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened that someone showed up at the Grand Floridian or something with their dog and demanded to be allowed to have their dog with them, and was permitted to do so.

And see I was also there at All-Star Sports from the 8th-18th. Admittedly we only went down for breakfast on Sunday the 10th because we had used our food and the boxed lunches Disney provided (plus they were originally only going to do breakfast then extended to lunch and dinner) but we didn't see any dogs that I noticed at all. I have no doubt you saw dogs just showing that two people who were there at the same resort at the same time could still have different experiences. Much like someone who saw poor behavior out of any dogs during Irma I didn't see any of that but I have no doubt that there was a barking dog somewhere on Disney property.

ETA: I should note I saw dogs in the lobby (just not at the food court at breakfast or around the property) when we were there extending our trip an extra night. Then again it was 2 days before the hurricane was supposed to hit and enough people were there who had been evacuated or locals who were at Disney looking for rooms to ride it out so seeing dogs in the lobby isn't surprising given the exact circumstances.

 

[LSUmiss]

I'm not currently booked in a dog friendly resort. But when I checked in to All Star Sports in September it wasn't a dog friendly resort, and I certainly wasn't expecting to deal with dogs in the food court, but it happened anyway.

Disney could potentially end up with dogs anywhere during this trial period on little or no notice. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened that someone showed up at the Grand Floridian or something with their dog and demanded to be allowed to have their dog with them, and was permitted to do so.

For a state of emergency. Would hope you could see how that’s different. I commend WDW for opening their doors to evacuees during this storm. I was surprised they did. So many pets died in Katrina b/c ppl couldn’t evacuate with their pets. And for those of you who have reiterated that pets are not human, many humans died too b/c they stayed behind b/c of their pets.

 

[scrapquitler]

That’s not the same. Ppl didn’t bring their dogs there b/c they were on vacation. They had evacuated. It’s not likely you’ll see the same volume with this policy. And with the cluster of the circumstances WDW probably didn’t inform guests adequately of the pet policy & didn’t have the staff to enforce it.

Staffing level in the resort actually seemed HIGHER during Irma than usual, so that's no excuse for them not enforcing their own policy. And I do think that we will see similar numbers of dogs. I had two relatives of mine who never have been to Disney now say that they might consider going if they can bring their dogs. I bet a lot of other people thought the same thing.