Who else would appreciate a pet-friendly DVC property?

[chrissyk]

My DH and I were just talking about this, as we are having to cancel our upcoming May DVC trip due to the lack of a pet-sitter How many DVC owners would appreciate a pet-friendly DVC property? I don't mean that every DVC property would have to be pet-friendly, but if one of them were, would you be able to travel to Disney more frequently or would you even buy more DVC points? We have a pet who has a life-threatening illness. We can't just have someone come in and feed him while we're away, unfortunately We have to bring him to our pet-sitter's house, and unfortunately, our pet-sitter is in the midst of an unexpected move right now. We can't board him in a kennel, either. We can't even leave him with our vet! We are seriously considering renting out our DVC points for the forseeable future and staying at one of the 3 on-site Universal hotels (all pet friendly!) or the Marriott Renissance across from Sea World (also pet-friendly) on future Orlando trips. Disney will be losing our dining dollars and probably our pass-holding dollars in the future because of this. Are we the only DVC members who would appreciate a pet-friendly DVC property?

 

[Granny]

I am truly sorry to hear of your pet's illness. That can be so hard to go through, especially for the young ones.

While I empathize with your situation, I personally would not want to see a DVC resort that allowed pets. Unfortunately, while you would very likely take special care of your pet to ensure no accidents, chewing, etc....I think it's safe to say that not all pet owners would be so conscientious. And of course, there's the allergy thing as well for the next guest.

We own a pet too, and have to find pet sitters and kennels. It's a pain, but personally, I prefer not to have pets allowed at DVC resorts.

 

[tiberius]

I would agree with you that I would like to see at least a pet friendly section at a DVC location. We schedule our travels around our ability to have family watch our pets, but not everyone can do that.

 

[Chuck S]

I wouldn't MIND if there was a pet-friendly DVC resort - but if I was not a pet owner, or someone who traveled with my pet, I would NOT want to own there, nor stay there. The maintenance fees would be very high. When we had pets, our neighbors always took care of them while we traveled, and vice-versa.

 

[chrissyk]

Originally posted by Granny
I am truly sorry to hear of your pet's illness. That can be so hard to go through, especially for the young ones.

While I empathize with your situation, I personally would not want to see a DVC resort that allowed pets. Unfortunately, while you would very likely take special care of your pet to ensure no accidents, chewing, etc....I think it's safe to say that not all pet owners would be so conscientious. And of course, there's the allergy thing as well for the next guest.

We own a pet too, and have to find pet sitters and kennels. It's a pain, but personally, I prefer not to have pets allowed at DVC resorts.

I totally understand what you're saying. I definitely wouldn't let my pets chew or scratch up anything, and I think that there should be a damage fee (or a pet deposit like Marriott has) just in case of this. Our pet has travelled with us before, and everywhere we have stayed with him has had some sort of pet deposit/fee. I think that this sort of deposit or fee is more than fair, and I'd gladly pay it

The allergy/asthma thing is something that I disagree with, though. If Disney can allot DVC units to "smoking," then they can allot DVC units to pets It doesn't have to be a lot of units, even. We would be more than happy to plan WAY ahead to book our trips if need be, just to get a pet-friendly unit (if there weren't a lot of them).

 

[bliss4us]

I love my dogs like other people love their children...

But I wouldn't want to stay in a hotel with them.

As much as I love my babies, they would be in an unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar routine. And as conscientious as I might be about taking care of them, there's still a good chance one of them is going to whip up a batch of biscuits on the carpet at least once.

I don't think I'd want to stay in a pet-friendly DVC resort, but maybe everyone else's pets are better behaved than mine.

And if someone else wanted to stay in one, hey, that's a-okay by me.

Daisy

 

[chrissyk]

Originally posted by bliss4us
And as conscientious as I might be about taking care of them, there's still a good chance one of them is going to whip up a batch of biscuits on the carpet at least once.

LMAO I've never heard this expression before and I think it's hilarious

 

[ncligs]

We have a small dog

also, and I can understand the hardships of leaving them if you don't have family that can watch the pet

.

But with that being said I am 100% against DVC allowing any type of pet

on DVC property. DVC was built for people and families not animals.

.

P.S. Think about being woken up at 3:00 am by a barking dog, while you are on vacation.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by chrissyk
The allergy/asthma thing is something that I disagree with, though. If Disney can allot DVC units to "smoking," then they can allot DVC units to pets It doesn't have to be a lot of units, even. We would be more than happy to plan WAY ahead to book our trips if need be, just to get a pet-friendly unit (if there weren't a lot of them).

Yes and no. Smoking does not cause allergies and while the irritants are difficult to get rid of, not nearly no much as pet dander which CAN and does cause allergies. It takes a whole year to get rid of cat dander even if you wash the walls and treat the carpet and furniture. I would have no problem with having a pet section but it would have to be a hard line for anyone visiting and reserved directly much like a handicapped room, not just requested.

 

[KNWVIKING]

I understand the needs of pet owners,but I don't think it's really do-able. Let's say two units at OKW are set aside for pet owners. At any given time a non pet owner may have to accept a pet-room because no other room is availible-similar to getting an HC unit when your not HC'ed. There are too many allergy/odor issues to deal with to make this acceptable. There would/could be additional noise problems for the non-pet unit neighbors.There would be increased maintainance expense,although this could be off-set by billing a seperate useage fee. And to some extent some safety issues if dogs got loose.

I'm curious how the above mentioned pet friendly resorts manage this. I like the fact that Disney offers several on-site kennels. I don't know if the kennels are capable though of dealing with special needs animals.

I guess I'm lucky we only have cats. Just dump a bag of dry food on the bathroom floor, fill the tub with litter, leave the toilet lid up,throw the cats in and close the door.

 

[chrissyk]

Originally posted by Dean
I would have no problem with having a pet section but it would have to be a hard line for anyone visiting and reserved directly much like a handicapped room, not just requested.

I totally agree! I would even gladly pay more points and/or an extra fee for this reservation.

I think that we've gotten our pet-sitting situation worked out with my sis for our trip, so we may be able to go after all Still, though, it would be nice to know that we had the option of reserving a pet-friendly hotel room in case we had to bring him with us. We are definitely discussing renting our DVC points and staying at on-site Universal resorts in the future (until our pet is well).

Does it bother anyone here that Universal has pet-friendly accomodations? No flames either way...I was just wondering if people refuse to stay in their on-site hotels because they DO accomodate pets.

 

[RoutemanDan]

Originally posted by KNWVIKING
......
I guess I'm lucky we only have cats. Just dump a bag of dry food on the bathroom floor, fill the tub with litter, leave the toilet lid up,throw the cats in and close the door.

 

[KyBill]

I can understand that you have a personal and maybe an unusual problem with your pet. But I would not be in favor of DVC allowing pets of any kind. My DD has a much loved little dog and she sweats leaving her when they go to WDW. But they use a local kennel. I've told her to take the dog with them and use WDW kennel but they don't want to do a long car trip with the dog.

 

[KNWVIKING]

"Does it bother anyone here that Universal has pet-friendly accomodations? No flames either way...I was just wondering if people refuse to stay in their on-site hotels because they DO accomodate pets."

I think Disny's response to this would be "Hey, your on vacation, leave your pet at our kennels.US/IOA makes you keep them in your room"

US/IOA would say, "Your pet is on vacation with you, keep them in your room, Disney makes you keep them in their kennels"

Is this called "spin" ? Or "marketing" ?

 

[DaveH]

Yes knowing a hotel is pet friendly...ie a pet may have been in a room would keep us from going to that hotel. Thechance of my DW's allergies acting up is not worth it. BTW there are folks that get real sick from being in a room someone had smoked in it much earlier.

 

[Chuck S]

I would also try to avoid a room that I knew a pet had been in. Housekeeping would almost have to deodorize and bug bomb the place if a pet had been in it, and the residue/lingering odor would make me uncomfortable. If DVD ever DID have a pet friendly policy, I think it should be separate resort, not part of an existing resort, with it's own point structure. I'd bet sales at that resort would be very slow, especially since it would either have very high dues, or would require more points per stay. Re-arranging existing point charts to accomodate "pet rooms" would be a hassle and would effectively limit the number of rooms available.

 

[tvwalsh]

I traded some of my points for the Whitehall Hotel in Downtown Chicago. Everything there was very clean and neat. I would not have suspected it was pet friendly until I saw several dogs of various sizes appear with their owners on the elevator.

I think people are very careful with their pets. They are grateful for this accomodation and know that their pets are probably being held to a higher standard than are any of the human guests!

 

[JimC]

I might be persuaded otherwise, but for now I prefer no pets at DVC; understanding that ADA approved service animals are welcome.

 

[MelissathePooh]

I would dare say that most people have stayed in pet friendly hotels, but perhaps didn't know it. Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Inn, Hapton Inn, Days Inn - many, many locations allow pets.

People who travel with their animals tend to be super extra conciencious of things - heck they care enough to have the animal with them in the first place.

I would love if Disney had a pet friendly resort - everytime we go we always wish our boy could be there with us. I think that it should be made known from the start that it was pet friendly and being DVC - if a person chose to own there thats up to them - if someone doesn't like it don't own or stay there. Of course strict rules would have to apply, but we'd love it. Having said this it will never happen - demand is too small, but it would be nice.

Our dog travels with us on about every other trip we make except for WDW - we use a bark collar at night to ensure he won't disturb anyone and - well he mostly just lays around and sleeps - no messes and he certainly doesn't have anything that would require a room to have to be fumigated.

Like I said I would bet that most people who take the time to travel with their animal are pretty dedicated pet parents in the first place.

 

[tvwalsh]

I agree with everything you said except the part about how little demand there would be for this. I think a portion of one of the new resorts could be offered to pet owners. This could work kind of like smoking rooms.