DVC likely doesn't have this info to any degree either. IMO it's a given that there are extra costs and it's likely NO ONE knows the actual amount. I have a friend that has been the manager of a number of Marriott's over the years (both timeshares and hotels) and I've asked him this question among other similar ones, all he could do was venture a guess. The top option he felt that raised costs was the spring break type guests. IMO if it has ANY impact on fees, no matter how small, it is important.
Maybe I should have said there is a quantifiable component such as cleaning from known service animals and known illegal animals and a component one cannot easily quantify for all type of inappropriate uses including when pets are not known, room stuffing, smoking, etc. I'm sure they have a good idea on the quantifiable components and that the rest would be more cost than reasonable to try to estimate. What they could do would be to look at units over time where animals (both legal and known illegal) had been and estimate the difference in maint accordingly but this would likely take 2-3 refurbishment cycles to even get a rough idea assuming they put the time, work and manpower into tracking it. Still, we're discussing the amount of extra costs in such areas, that there are extra costs when animals is involved (legal and illegal, known or unknow) is a given.
. The Barbershop Quartet asked me if they could sing a song to Camie. Check out the video if you want to see what they came up with. That made my day. (I'm not so sure Camie felt the same)
Hey Schoen, can I call you Spartie? Thanks for your enlightened words! I have been watching this thread since the start and have gone back and forth about adding my two cents. I'm glad you said what I have been thinking.
I'll admit. I took a puppy to Disney. I stayed at AKL in a DVC studio. I am not disabled, nor do I need a service dog of any kind.
Before anybody gets their blow torches out to start flaming, please let me explain. I'm from Michigan, home of the Leader Dogs for the Blind School. (Rochester Hills, MI) Lots of people from all over the country, but especially in Michigan, volunteer to open their home to a puppy and raise them for a year in prep for their training to help visually impaired, blind, or deaf-blind folks who yearn for a bit of independence.
It's stressed that you expose your puppy to crowds, buses, trains, trams, and anything else that she might encounter later in her career. Luckily, those things are all in Disney, and I was ready for a vacation. But a vacation it was not! Although it slowed us down quite a bit, okay, a LOT, I appreciated the people kind enough to stop and ask us questions, meet our puppy, Camie, and also tell us about their dogs at home.
Reservations went smoothly, the DVC Reservations CM told me they would love to welcome Camie to the resort. Everyone was so kind that worked there. The one exception was a girl that worked on Dumbo - as Camie and I were boarding, she ran to me, knocking a little girl down on her way and not so discreetly told me that I wasn't allowed to bring a dog in the park. Wow. Did she think that I smuggled a 35-lb lab puppy under my t-shirt past security?
Maybe I am a little thin-skinned I suppose, and I although Camie was identified with a "Future Leader Dog" bandana, I got tons of dirty looks and comments as I walked by some people. I hope that they were just not informed. (Even the lady that down right yelled at me on the plane.) Oh, and then there was the mom that let her son walk right up to Camie and squirt his water gun point blank in her face.
I'm sure lots of people noticed Camie without her bandana on in our room, and the worst part was taking her bandana off when she need to take a (ahem) "break". It's a requirement in Leader Dog training that you take it off at that time. When they are full grown Leader Dogs and wearing their harnesses, they are not allowed to relieve themselves. Taking off the harness (or bandana) is a sign to the dog that it is okay to go. Can you imagine how many people would walk by us during those times and had to wonder what the heck that plain old dog was doing there at the resort....
Anyway, try to be patient with other people, maybe Schoen was right and you don't know the whole story. My family and I are trying to do the right thing and get involved in community service. It hurts when you know other people think you are breaking the rules. Just this week we were in Best Buy. I was in the return line when my husband walked in with our new puppy, Trooper. The lady in front of me snapped at the employee, "A guy just walked in here with a dog. Can you go do something about that?" He didn't even look up at her and said, "It's cool - he's a Leader Dog." I had to snicker a little!
In case you're interested, here's a couple of pics of the two puppies we have had so far...We turned Camie back into the Leader Dog school in January, but here she is at the Magic Kingdom waiting to see Pluto in the parade.
Here's our new puppy, Trooper, is now 14 weeks old. Not so sure we will attempt Disney with him, but might change our minds. Please say hello if you see him there!
Always room for a little magic
Hey Schoen, can I call you Spartie? Thanks for your enlightened words! I have been watching this thread since the start and have gone back and forth about adding my two cents. I'm glad you said what I have been thinking.
I'll admit. I took a puppy to Disney. I stayed at AKL in a DVC studio. I am not disabled, nor do I need a service dog of any kind.
Before anybody gets their blow torches out to start flaming, please let me explain. I'm from Michigan, home of the Leader Dogs for the Blind School. (Rochester Hills, MI) Lots of people from all over the country, but especially in Michigan, volunteer to open their home to a puppy and raise them for a year in prep for their training to help visually impaired, blind, or deaf-blind folks who yearn for a bit of independence.
It's stressed that you expose your puppy to crowds, buses, trains, trams, and anything else that she might encounter later in her career. Luckily, those things are all in Disney, and I was ready for a vacation. But a vacation it was not! Although it slowed us down quite a bit, okay, a LOT, I appreciated the people kind enough to stop and ask us questions, meet our puppy, Camie, and also tell us about their dogs at home.
Reservations went smoothly, the DVC Reservations CM told me they would love to welcome Camie to the resort. Everyone was so kind that worked there. The one exception was a girl that worked on Dumbo - as Camie and I were boarding, she ran to me, knocking a little girl down on her way and not so discreetly told me that I wasn't allowed to bring a dog in the park. Wow. Did she think that I smuggled a 35-lb lab puppy under my t-shirt past security?
Maybe I am a little thin-skinned I suppose, and I although Camie was identified with a "Future Leader Dog" bandana, I got tons of dirty looks and comments as I walked by some people. I hope that they were just not informed. (Even the lady that down right yelled at me on the plane.) Oh, and then there was the mom that let her son walk right up to Camie and squirt his water gun point blank in her face.
I'm sure lots of people noticed Camie without her bandana on in our room, and the worst part was taking her bandana off when she need to take a (ahem) "break". It's a requirement in Leader Dog training that you take it off at that time. When they are full grown Leader Dogs and wearing their harnesses, they are not allowed to relieve themselves. Taking off the harness (or bandana) is a sign to the dog that it is okay to go. Can you imagine how many people would walk by us during those times and had to wonder what the heck that plain old dog was doing there at the resort....
Anyway, try to be patient with other people, maybe Schoen was right and you don't know the whole story. My family and I are trying to do the right thing and get involved in community service. It hurts when you know other people think you are breaking the rules. Just this week we were in Best Buy. I was in the return line when my husband walked in with our new puppy, Trooper. The lady in front of me snapped at the employee, "A guy just walked in here with a dog. Can you go do something about that?" He didn't even look up at her and said, "It's cool - he's a Leader Dog." I had to snicker a little!
) and 39 countries, it seems once we step off of Michigan soil, there isn't a lot of familiarity. That was a lesson learned the hard way. I wish the bandana would explain more, but I still think people react before they read. I joked that I wanted to wear a t-shirt at Disney with the answers to some of the commonly asked questions. When the puppies get bigger, they can wear a vest that looks a little more "official". Still not sure if I would have put it on her in April as it was quite hot.
I know it's tough to say goodbye to the dogs, but how does a foster parent say goodbye to a child? That must be a million times harder. Those people are the true heroes!!
would be bothered by a service dog, or a service dog in training. if the ).
