Will dogs be allowed at a DVC resort??

Legally? Disney could allow it. There is nothing in the contract that dictates room occupancies, including animal occupancy.

Practically, given the housekeeping issues, I doubt they would allow it on points reservations. The pilot adds significant nightly cost via a housekeeping fee, and that kind of thing is harder to deal with in DVC given the reduced schedule.
Let's hope so. I'm an asthmatic who is highly allergic to both dogs and cats. If this comes to either one of my home resorts this will be a reason for me to sell.
 
I think Disney will see a lot of push back from this, especially from people who booked these resorts with the knowledge that they were not pet friendly to begin with when booking several months ago and now have to deal with possibly being stuck next to a dog.

Count me as one of the owners who will probably be selling if pets are allowed at my home resort or any other DVC resort. I bought in knowing that DVC wasn't pet friendly and thus didn't have to worry about my allergies.

I have heard a lot of excuses about allowing service dogs and how people with allergies don't complain about those dogs, so why not allow everyone's dogs. Most people who are allergic to dogs tolerate having service animals around since they are needed by their owners to lead a somewhat normal life, but they are few and far between in the general public. It is the build up of dander on surfaces that causes allergic reactions in people, and if you increase the number of dogs you will increase the amount of pet dander at the resorts. Regular cleaning does not remove these allergens, only steam cleaning does.

Needless to say I'm very disappointed with Disney at this moment, especially since we already booked our first stay at BCV for April which is attached to the Yacht Club and will have to contend with dogs in the resort. I guess I'll have to bring an extra inhaler and extra medication.......
You can not remove pet dander simply by vacuuming. As stated above the build up of dander over time is a serious issue. I can not be more than 15 minutes in a home with multiple dogs and cats without having respiratory issues. Another Disney exec that needs to be fired.
 
On the other hand, original buyers at BWV and BCV bought into studios that slept 4. The 5th sleeping space was added, and arguably putting a 5th into those spaces regularly increases wear and tear on all soft goods and flooring, which is a dues issue.

So I kind of see it on the same continuum.
Don't see this same argument for pets. A 5th person doesn't usually shed hair, dander, poop or pee on the floor.
 


My guess is that dog rooms will be on the first floor in the rear corner of the resort away from the lobby, rooms that seldom get booked. The rooms will be all hard flooring adjacent to the dog park/lawn area. Disney gets the positive PR for being dog friendly while filling empty rooms and there might be people who will now vacation at Disney because they do not want to leave their loved ones at home.

I don't see DVC becoming dog friendly.

:earsboy: Bill

And if it does, it probably will be certain buildings at SSR and/or OKW where they can limit dander, noise and inconvenience - and not have dogs strolling through the halls at BCV or scaring animals at VAKL. (And, while I am not fond of the idea of dogs at hotels - a dog friendly area of SSR might be nice - it could come with a per dog upcharge on the room - and would probably drive some SSR bookings for people who want to travel with dogs - I like having a housesitter, but some people do bring their dog everywhere).
 


And if it does, it probably will be certain buildings at SSR and/or OKW where they can limit dander, noise and inconvenience - and not have dogs strolling through the halls at BCV or scaring animals at VAKL. (And, while I am not fond of the idea of dogs at hotels - a dog friendly area of SSR might be nice - it could come with a per dog upcharge on the room - and would probably drive some SSR bookings for people who want to travel with dogs - I like having a housesitter, but some people do bring their dog everywhere).
If they can have dogs strolling through the halls at the YC, why not the BCV? I'd hope DVC would just make this a direct points only issue and you must book one of the pet rooms at YC, POR or AOA with your points.
 
If they can have dogs strolling through the halls at the YC, why not the BCV? I'd hope DVC would just make this a direct points only issue and you must book one of the pet rooms at YC, POR or AOA with your points.
They are not allowing dogs to "stroll through the halls". See post #45 above.
 
-Designated Rooms ONLY in designated section of specific resorts ONLY

I cannot see how this could work for DVC. If they create a new booking category "dog friendly", they would actually remove some inventory to be available for people who cannot book a dog friendly section of the resort because of allergies. Is this something they could go by?

I certainly do not want to find myself in a studio where in the adjacent connecting 1B (from where you can hear people whisper each other) there is a dog barking after being left alone all day.
I may understand hotels that do this in a location where guests are often in their room or around the resort, like a beach location, but in WDW a lot of people leave in the mroning and come back in the evening and they are not allowed to bring the dog with them.

Which is the MS email address better suited to send some feedback?
 
On the other hand, original buyers at BWV and BCV bought into studios that slept 4. The 5th sleeping space was added, and arguably putting a 5th into those spaces regularly increases wear and tear on all soft goods and flooring, which is a dues issue.

So I kind of see it on the same continuum.

Didn't studio already allowed 5, but bringing your own bed and linen? If so, it was already possible, they just made it easier.
 
I cannot see how this could work for DVC. If they create a new booking category "dog friendly", they would actually remove some inventory to be available for people who cannot book a dog friendly section of the resort because of allergies. Is this something they could go by?

I certainly do not want to find myself in a studio where in the adjacent connecting 1B (from where you can hear people whisper each other) there is a dog barking after being left alone all day.
I may understand hotels that do this in a location where guests are often in their room or around the resort, like a beach location, but in WDW a lot of people leave in the mroning and come back in the evening and they are not allowed to bring the dog with them.

Which is the MS email address better suited to send some feedback?

I just used the email tab on the WDW site, I also plan on emailing my guide about this as well.
 
Yep. Studios were hard cap 4, previous. As Saratoga still is -- the studio is 4, the 1BR is BYOB 5.
 
I cannot see how this could work for DVC. If they create a new booking category "dog friendly", they would actually remove some inventory to be available for people who cannot book a dog friendly section of the resort because of allergies. Is this something they could go by?

I certainly do not want to find myself in a studio where in the adjacent connecting 1B (from where you can hear people whisper each other) there is a dog barking after being left alone all day.
I may understand hotels that do this in a location where guests are often in their room or around the resort, like a beach location, but in WDW a lot of people leave in the mroning and come back in the evening and they are not allowed to bring the dog with them.

Which is the MS email address better suited to send some feedback?

That is why OKW or SSR would be the best options, since they can have dog friendly buildings without impacting the entire resort. Where BWV/BCV/BLT/BRV etc would be the worst choices, since they would have risk of cross contamination through rooms or complaints and shared hallways - you would know when you booked if you were in a dog friendly area.

And I think if they did it that way, there wouldn't be any difference between booking a dog friendly room when you didn't want it and the former situation with a smoking room, or the situation with any view room. You end up with what is available, DVC does not promise you will get a HCA room when you need it, merely if its available. Nor will they promise a dog free or dog friendly room when you need it, just when its available. It would mean book early. And if that is the case, noise complaints about barking from the dog friendly buildings can be addressed with a certain amount of "you are in a dog friendly building, what did you expect" - but put in the nicer Disney way.

Now, I think that makes the system unnecessarily complex and somewhat unfair - special bookable rooms tends to skew availability. But it isn't any different than BLT Standard View or VAKL Concierge or Value or putting standard views in at SSR. They've done that sort of "make the puzzle more difficult to put together" move in the past, and I don't think that will keep them from doing this should they decide its a "feature that members want."

I think the bigger issue will be similar to pool hopping - people will hear that Disney (hotels or DVC) are "dog friendly" and not realize you need to book a dog friendly room. They will show up with dogs and it will be difficult to contain or deal with the dogs. Which is one of the reasons I suspect that they are piloting it - to determine what sort of issues they have. How many people show up with dogs without dog reservations?, how much noise and poop and room damage is there?, how many people end up in the dog portion of the resort who then complain about the dogs? Until you pilot a program, you don't know, you can merely guess. And with more and more emotional support animals out there, I'm guessing the demand is pretty high. (I have opinions on emotional support animals and how easily that system is abused, but sticking all the dogs - the well behaved well trained working dogs to the spoiled pets - in one area of the resort helps solve that abuse issue).

But I can also see this as being a huge benefit to the DVC snowbird population, who wants to drive down and spend two or three weeks in January or February and bring a dog. They probably don't spend a lot of time in the parks and don't have the twelve hours alone in a room issue
 
Found this post (by CuteAsMinnie) over on the Resorts Board - https://www.disboards.com/threads/trial-run-for-dogs-in-resort-rooms.3640424/page-4#post-58324762

Oh My, Folks! Relax!!!!!

Since everyone already has jumped to conclusions, pre-judged, etc.....

I CALLED the number provided in OFFICIAL announcement and a CM read the OFFICIAL transcript of the release. So easy to do.


-Designated Rooms ONLY in designated section of specific resorts ONLY
-Designated walking paths ONLY
-MUST be LEASHED at all times
-NO Public spaces
-NO roaming around resorts
-NO Restaurants
-NO Bars
-NO Pools
-Owners MUST present vaccination documentation
-Resorts were chosen based on their size and layout.

My guess, dear DISsers, is you probably could enjoy your Disney vacation within the bubble everyone has grown to love and will never see the furry creatures in their own little corner of the World.

FWIW, taking a dog to Disney doesn't sound like much fun for either dog or owner. YMMV.

A lot of city dogs live by those rules right now. Those are pretty much my parents HOA townhome rules for dogs. My dogs would be miserable, but as you said YMMV.
 
I was staying at the Boardwalk during Irma. We were in a studio connected to a one bedroom with a yapping dog (though the dog was not nearly as bad as the pot-smoking, 45-minute coughing fit, loud talking owners).

I'm glad that the policy sounds like Disney is going to be stricter than they were during the hurricane because the dogs were given way too much freedom in the Boardwalk during the hurricane. We saw a couple of unleashed dogs roaming around the lobby, jumping on the furniture, and even saw them in the convention center where they were serving food. Also saw a couple of small dogs jumping around a frightened housekeeper in the hallway of one of the rooms we stayed at. We even saw a dog sitting on the owners lap at the bar at Abracadabar (and the dog came in through the trattoria al forno lobby). I just hope that Disney strictly enforces the no dogs in public areas rule.

That being said, I will not be happy if they make the existing DVC resorts pet friendly. I don't want to listen to a barking dog in the room next door while I'm trying to relax in my room. And I hate to think that I could be stuck in a room that has been dedicated to be used as a pet friendly room. I just don't trust that mousekeeping will do as good of a job as they should cleaning.
 
I don’t know fans of anything quite like Disney/Parks fans who complain, lament, deride and second guess every.single.change and decision. I’m sure Disney has it figured out. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Just like Pandora, just like Magic Bands, just like DVC prices, just like the shampoo bottles, just like Riviera will be... the same thing on every outlet about everything. So don’t bring a dog, so stay at one of the 20 other resorts. Personally, I’ve never wanted to take a dog anywhere more in my life than the Yacht Club at this very moment.

LOVE THIS! Even though we own at BLT I would meet you at YC with our four kids in a NY minute! As I have posted elsewhere I do applaud Disney on doing this test and hope they don't give ammunition to the naysayers by not enforcing the rules. For several reasons I would not bring my fur kids since Disney only allows two and we have four so no leaving two and bringing two. We also would not fly and put even two in the cargo hold of a plane.

For those that say I don't want to hear the dogs, I get it..I don't enjoy hearing your kids scream up and down the hallways and in the rooms either. For those that say I am allergic to dog dander, hair etc I say you have probably already been exposed to these since service dogs are allowed in any rooms per ADA law. For those that say I am going to tell the front desk of any rules being broken by dog owners I say I guess I will start tattling to the front desk about rules I see being broken like kids in the pool with just diapers and without the cover up plastic swim trunks.

People please take a deep breath and stop thinking Armageddon will happen and every room of every resort will be full of dogs! I also will be emailing Disney executives to applaud their dog decision and also letting them know they need to enforce these rules since many will be just waiting for any little rule enfraction.
 
That is why OKW or SSR would be the best options, since they can have dog friendly buildings without impacting the entire resort. Where BWV/BCV/BLT/BRV etc would be the worst choices, since they would have risk of cross contamination through rooms or complaints and shared hallways - you would know when you booked if you were in a dog friendly area.

I guess they could nominate all the ground floor at BWV as pet friendly. Or maybe the entire DVC wing of the resort. If a whole portion of SSR could be made pet friendly, then it means there would be no legal issue for Disney to make a whole resort pet friendly. Would DVC do it? I don't believe so, but what I would like to know is if creating a category actually restricting some owners to be able to use it for health issues would be against the law or not. If not, they can also make all DVC resorts pet friendly.

We saw a couple of unleashed dogs roaming around the lobby, jumping on the furniture, and even saw them in the convention center where they were serving food. Also saw a couple of small dogs jumping around a frightened housekeeper in the hallway of one of the rooms we stayed at. We even saw a dog sitting on the owners lap at the bar at Abracadabar (and the dog came in through the trattoria al forno lobby). I just hope that Disney strictly enforces the no dogs in public areas rule.

I'm sure the owners of those dogs, if asked, would say their dogs are really well educated and would never cause any problem if they were allowed to stay at a Disney resort on vacation.


For those that say I don't want to hear the dogs, I get it..I don't enjoy hearing your kids scream up and down the hallways and in the rooms either. For those that say I am allergic to dog dander, hair etc I say you have probably already been exposed to these since service dogs are allowed in any rooms per ADA law. For those that say I am going to tell the front desk of any rules being broken by dog owners I say I guess I will start tattling to the front desk about rules I see being broken like kids in the pool with just diapers and without the cover up plastic swim trunks.

Yes please, report all people violating the rules and letting their children violate the rules. But please do not wait to do so as a retaliation, start immediately.

I have bought DVC knowing there would have been children, but I knew I wouldn't have found pets.


BTW if at the YC the cleaning fee is $50 per night, for a two bedroom it would be $150 per night. This would either have to be paid with increased point cost per night or as a checkin fee. But DVC owners are against pay-to-play fees, so it would be rolled in rooms cost.
If we pay $5 per point, a pet friendly studio should cost 10 points more per night, a 2bed 30 points more. This would decrease the cost of other rooms at the resort. Ok, thinking about it, I'm all in: make the Carousel per friendly so I won't ever stay there, make dog owners pay twice as much points and decrease room costs for other categories. Late bookers and dog owners will finance my cheaper rooms.
 
Last edited:

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!













Top