Trial Run for Dogs in Resort Rooms

[Wubar]

I think the majority of people that own dogs think theirs is well behaved...at home. Put them in a situation where there are no well behaved kids. Screaming, running up and down halls, adults yelling at their kids, fireworks, alone for hours in a strange environment with vacuum cleaner noise, etc...you get the idea. Now add the outdoor element with squirrels, birds (lots of ibis and ducks around WDW) and yes, snakes. Even the best behaved dogs could be very stressed.I know I get stressed around some of that. Leave the blinds open and the other dogs, etc will be in view if near the dog run areas.

Will you be stressed worrying about your dog while you are in the parks? Will you be able to get back to the resort within 30 mins if called to do so? And no, I hope they don't add other resorts. 4 is more than enough. The price you pay when you bring your dog(s)...you have to take what they give you. Others have to change hotels /location , some at more cost to them, because of the ones that allow dogs now. I would not be surprised if they dropped the YC from the list in the future.

This, all of this. So true. Not only do we have to wonder if and how Disney plans to enforce and police their policies regarding dogs, we have to wonder if the dog owners will follow them as well. I'm sure many of them will, hopefully all. But there will be, like all situations, those with the heightened sense of self-entitlement that not only won't follow the rules, don't even care if they do so. Will disney hold them accountable or look the other way?

 

[WDW1979]

Call
Me, I would like to modify my reservation.
CM, I can help you with that.
Me, yes I would like any resort that does not allow dogs.
CM, oh are you allergic to dogs.
Me, no I have a service dog and for our safety, I just can not see this policy as a good thing for our safety. We have enough problems with the non service animals in the park that are a distraction, and to have to deal with it at the resorts also, I'm just not able to do that, you see I'm blind and I am not able to see when another dog who is not in control comes running to my dog, we have both been attacked at a Marriott before, and after a full day of distractions at the park, I want my dog to be able to relax and enjoy our vacation, not deal with more distractions.
CM, please hold, I am going to call guess relations for you to clarify some information.
CM, comes back on, and tells me, dogs and service dogs will not be allowed in the same part of the resorts at all. You have POR and POFQ, POR will allow dogs but you have a preferred room, dogs will not be allowed in preferred rooms, only service dogs.
Me, yes but we will still be dealing with them as they walk around the resort.
CM, back to guest services, back to me, dogs will be contained to certain areas of the resort and not allowed to walk all around the resorts, the will be contained to a small area of certain rooms.

So we need to take it with a grain of salt because we are getting different information. Again, I think this is the worst idea I ever heard of for many reasons. I remember when I was bite by a dog at Marriott, being blind. The owner of the other dog just walked away, I went to the front desk and told them. Without a room number, without a discription of the dog, basically nothing was done. They did not even offer me help with the medical bills. Because they were not at fault. Since then, I try very hard never to stay in a hotel that has regular dogs because I need my service dog and I can not protect myself and my dog is trained to be kind and gentle not to fight dogs who are out of control.

We are still working on moving our resort.

Disney has made the wrong decision. Disney: change your hotel pet policy back to the way it has been for 46 years and fire the executives who made this new dog policy happen.

 

[Sarahraegraham]

I just thought of something. POR has the horse-drawn carriage rides. Do the horses like dogs? How will peoples’ dogs react to the horses? What is a dog is trampled by one on accident? (I know the horses are well-trained, so I’m not worried about them.)

 

[skyp4WDW]

Disney has made the wrong decision. Disney: change your hotel pet policy back to the way it has been for 46 years and fire the executives who made this new dog policy happen.

Excellent comment. ("Like" button x 100)

 

[sabrecmc]

Definitely seems like there are a lot of issues with this idea, though a lot of hotels regularly deal with pets on property and figure it out just fine (or fine enough where they judge the additional business worth whatever issues arise). I'd love to see an actual pet-friendly resort instead of it being mixed in. One that is truly designed to welcome pets and their owners, with a dog park, tile floors in the rooms, maybe even small, enclosed patio-type areas accessible via a pet door from the rooms. They could have an on-site doggie spa, doggie day care or something, dog-friendly walking and running trails, meet and greets with Pluto... I would definitely bring our dog with us to something like that! But, sticking him in Yacht Club for the day while we're at the parks...that doesn't seem like a good idea for anyone.

 

[alicecooper]

Disney has made the wrong decision. Disney: change your hotel pet policy back to the way it has been for 46 years and fire the executives who made this new dog policy happen.

the most sensible comment I have read in 67 pages

 

[mikejs78]

Excellent comment. ("Like" button x 100)

I doubt anyone will get fired over this, but +1000 to reversing the policy.

 

[mikejs78]

Definitely seems like there are a lot of issues with this idea, though a lot of hotels regularly deal with pets on property and figure it out just fine (or fine enough where they judge the additional business worth whatever issues arise). I'd love to see an actual pet-friendly resort instead of it being mixed in. One that is truly designed to welcome pets and their owners, with a dog park, tile floors in the rooms, maybe even small, enclosed patio-type areas accessible via a pet door from the rooms. They could have an on-site doggie spa, doggie day care or something, dog-friendly walking and running trails, meet and greets with Pluto... I would definitely bring our dog with us to something like that! But, sticking him in Yacht Club for the day while we're at the parks...that doesn't seem like a good idea for anyone.

This seems like the perfect solution.

 

[Jason2015]

A Big part of the problem is that when you just jump ahead and make a policy without thinking first, it can be trouble. For Example: WHY oh WHY are they not designating certain sections for the dogs and their dog lovers? Why mix them all over? Then you can only have those rooms exposed and they can all listen to each other bark and step on their own stuff if they don't clean it. Leave the others be. Keep them in there own areas, then if someone doesn't do a thorough cleaning of a room (Not that that would ever happen!) then the next person isn't exposed to it. If little puppy pees all over bedpost and the housekeeper misses it,, the next family coming in doesn't have to waste their vacation time rounding up housekeeping to clean it or visiting the guest services.

What leads you to believe that they jumped to make a policy and that this hasn't been in the works for months or even years. The "quick" roll out to the public could have been very well preplanned so to keep the amount of dogs to a small handful to make things easier to trouble shoot at the beginning of the program. Hard for dog owners to plan to bring Fido in just a couple days-announce the dog policy and then put a six month wait to "prepare" for it would guarantee all dog rooms full on day one. This "quick" rollout allows for just a few dogs for a few weeks and allows for policy adjustments. Again my guess is this has been in the works for a long while.

 

[Kay123456]

I do not have the time to read all these again, but a few pages back like in the 30 range of pages people were saying that the dogs can be in any room. Well not by the information I am getting. Here is what I am getting....

Call
Me, I would like to modify my reservation.
CM, I can help you with that.
Me, yes I would like any resort that does not allow dogs.
CM, oh are you allergic to dogs.
Me, no I have a service dog and for our safety, I just can not see this policy as a good thing for our safety. We have enough problems with the non service animals in the park that are a distraction, and to have to deal with it at the resorts also, I'm just not able to do that, you see I'm blind and I am not able to see when another dog who is not in control comes running to my dog, we have both been attacked at a Marriott before, and after a full day of distractions at the park, I want my dog to be able to relax and enjoy our vacation, not deal with more distractions.
CM, please hold, I am going to call guess relations for you to clarify some information.
CM, comes back on, and tells me, dogs and service dogs will not be allowed in the same part of the resorts at all. You have POR and POFQ, POR will allow dogs but you have a preferred room, dogs will not be allowed in preferred rooms, only service dogs.
Me, yes but we will still be dealing with them as they walk around the resort.
CM, back to guest services, back to me, dogs will be contained to certain areas of the resort and not allowed to walk all around the resorts, the will be contained to a small area of certain rooms.

So we need to take it with a grain of salt because we are getting different information. Again, I think this is the worst idea I ever heard of for many reasons. I remember when I was bite by a dog at Marriott, being blind. The owner of the other dog just walked away, I went to the front desk and told them. Without a room number, without a discription of the dog, basically nothing was done. They did not even offer me help with the medical bills. Because they were not at fault. Since then, I try very hard never to stay in a hotel that has regular dogs because I need my service dog and I can not protect myself and my dog is trained to be kind and gentle not to fight dogs who are out of control.

We are still working on moving our resort.

See this is the problem. Other people are calling with dogs who request a preferred room and they are granted it. I think they are just telling everyone what they want to hear and there’s no actual plan in place.

 

[Ariel on Land]

I love my dog, and it's expensive to board her when we go to Disney, but there's no way I'd be leaving her in a resort room all day. We leave before rope drop, and while we often take a short mid-day break, we're gone until after fireworks most nights. She would be scared and miserable. And honestly, since we are military, we're forced to travel with her during our many moves, and that means sometimes getting a pet friendly room. I always have such anxiety at the cleanliness of the carpet, beds, and possible exposure to fleas and ticks. I always do everything I can to avoid having to stay in a hotel with her. Terrible idea Disney. REALLY hope the trial fails.

 

[KrazeeK120]

I'm surprised how many people are against this. There are many other hotels that allow dogs. Universal hotels have been doing it for years. I brought my dog there and he had a great time and it was much better than boarding him back home. And I've been to those hotels without dogs and never even notice dogs in the building. I think this is great that Disney is finally doing this and I hope it becomes a permanent change.

Universal has size and breed restrictions and stipulates that the dog must be attended at all times. Disney has no size/breed restrictions, and the poor things can be left in the room for up to 7 hours! That’s a big difference. Plus, we all know how awesome Disney is at following its own rules.

It’s Disney’s inability to follow its own rules that makes me think this is a bad idea.

 

[Dis703]

I certainly do. My son slipped in dog mess when he was two. His shoes and whole outfit got thrown into the nearest bin. I’ve thrown trainers away plenty of times. When walking in places I know dogs might have been, my eyes are often firmly on the floor. I miss the scenery. I am terrified of dogs and paranoid about dog poop.
In fairness I do suffer with anxiety related ocd which doesn’t help matters. I take Zoloft to try to control my symptoms.

I can understand how weird this is to hear. I understand that people don’t ‘get’ it. It’s a dog. They are friendly happy creatures I’m sure. On the other hand, I love sharks and snakes. I love snorkelling and diving. I have swam with sharks and my dream is to swim with great whites. There are so few shark attacks each year that I don’t understand how other people can be so scared of them. I also adore snakes and can’t see why people scream and become so frightened over non-venomous types. But that’s just me. I accept they don’t appeal to all. How you might feel about snakes though, is how I feel about dogs and dog poop...weird perhaps, but also perhaps an explanation of why this matters so much to me.

I also suffer from anxiety and OCD and dogs are a HUGE trigger for me. Ironically, I spent years running rescue and fostering dogs. I struggled with it at the time but it's become much worse and I could never have a dog in my home now. And yes if dog poop gets on anything of mine, shoes, clothes, etc. it has to go in the trash. You could bleach it whatever and I'd know there is officially no germs left, but it will trigger my anxiety pretty much forever. I had a foster dog have an accident in my hallway once and for many many years (until we replaced the flooring) I couldn't step anywhere near that part of the carpet. I know people don't get it unless they suffer from OCD as well, but it can be quite debilitating.

I don't stay in hotels that have dogs because when I'm on vacation I do everything I can to limit my anxiety and this would only cause me constant distress. I'd be worried all day in the resorts about myself or the kids stepping in dog poop or whether or not a dog in my room before us was scooting it's butt across the floor they way they do when they scratch themselves. My kids are face to face level with larger dogs and its not unusual for dogs to try and lick them. Another major trigger for me. That tongue cleaned their butt, and with many dog may have eaten poop, and now it's on my child's face. Not to mention that my kids have major food allergies to grains which are in the diets of most dogs so they can have reactions from them as well.

I have a fearful child also. And a child with sensory processing issues who struggles with boundaries with animals. I know someone asked what people with phobias do at home. Obviously, we do our best to avoid them, but it still creates a certain amount of anxiety. When I'm on vacation, I don't stay in hotels with dogs because I don't want to have to feel that level of anxiety after spending thousands on a fun family trip. I want to relax and enjoy my stay. I still have other things I have no choice in contending with like public bathrooms, fear of flying, etc. No need to add to my daily anxiety level by staying somewhere with dogs too.

 

[mexi]

I'm thrilled with this news and I know many people who also are. The only place I've heard anything negative about this new change is on here.

This

 

[FSU Girl]

Universal has size and breed restrictions and stipulates that the dog must be attended at all times. Disney has no size/breed restrictions, and the poor things can be left in the room for up to 7 hours! That’s a big difference. Plus, we all know how awesome Disney is at following its own rules.

It’s Disney’s inability to follow its own rules that makes me think this is a bad idea.

When we stayed at Universal we left our dog in the room. There is only a problem if your dog barks and needs to be removed. They told us it was fine to leave him there with the do not disturb sign up. He was very well behaved and we had no problem. I'm sure Disney isn't going to let the dogs be in every room in the hotel. They'll have designated rooms for them and people who don't want to be near dogs can request to be put far away from those rooms.

 

[mikejs78]

What leads you to believe that they jumped to make a policy and that this hasn't been in the works for months or even years. The "quick" roll out to the public could have been very well preplanned so to keep the amount of dogs to a small handful to make things easier to trouble shoot at the beginning of the program. Hard for dog owners to plan to bring Fido in just a couple days-announce the dog policy and then put a six month wait to "prepare" for it would guarantee all dog rooms full on day one. This "quick" rollout allows for just a few dogs for a few weeks and allows for policy adjustments. Again my guess is this has been in the works for a long while.

Grain of salt, but some often reliable insiders on another board stated that this idea was concerned after Irma.

 

[Ansky]

I'm with the majority here. This seems like a bad idea. Too many things that can go wrong. For every responsible person bringing a dog there will be an irresponsible person. Like others have said, maybe if it was one hotel that was entirely dedicated to being pet friendly it would be better. Mixing it in with non pet owners seems like a recipe for disaster. I guess we will see how it goes.

 

[mexi]

@Dis703. I'm sorry to hear about your anxiety. I also suffer from anxiety and dogs actually help with that disorder. It helps me a lot and I always wished I could have my dogs or any dog for that matter around me when I start feeling anxious when I'm away.
https://www.anxiety.org/emotional-support-animals-help-anxiety

 

[Dis703]

See this is the problem. Other people are calling with dogs who request a preferred room and they are granted it. I think they are just telling everyone what they want to hear and there’s no actual plan in place.

This is what it seems like. It feels like it wasn't thought out that well or at the very least people were not trained about the implementation because what people are being told is all over the place. It doesn't exactly instill a sense of trust that they are going to handle things well once the dogs start to show up.

 

[wdwlver]

When we stayed at Universal we left our dog in the room. There is only a problem if your dog barks and needs to be removed. They told us it was fine to leave him there with the do not disturb sign up. He was very well behaved and we had no problem. I'm sure Disney isn't going to let the dogs be in every room in the hotel. They'll have designated rooms for them and people who don't want to be near dogs can request to be put far away from those rooms.

Universal has a written policy dogs not to be left unattended. You state that you were allowed to do so and for the record I totally believe that’s what you were told.

Gee I wonder where people get the idea that the stated rules will be broken?