Trial Run for Dogs in Resort Rooms

[nicko]

I have been wondering if this was a regional or area thing, in general. We have said for a few years now that we were surprised that WDW has not tapped into the pet-friendly market. I’m not in FL, but in my area, no one I know either really well or casually has a problem with pet-friendly hotels even if they don’t plan to bring their dogs. Until this thread, I didn’t realize that such a large portion of the population was so allergic or phobic of dogs. Cats I knew. I realize that I do not know enough ppl to be representative of the general population, but I have never known anyone in my life (and I’m almost 40) who was allergic to or phobic of dogs. I obviously knew they existed but assumed it was rare. I was generally shocked that so many ppl were outraged by this & surprised to see that so many ppl are allergic or phobic.

Maybe you didn't realize it because many of us don't announce it to you when in casual contact. If you are walking your dog, some people will come up and pet it. Others (like me) will avoid the dog and put as much distance between us and the animal as possible. I don't yell out "Keep that dog away from me. I'm very allergic!" I just quietly keep my distance. If I'm at someones house who has a dog, I medicate heavily with antihistamines and avoid the dog. I try to sit on a hard surface instead of a couch or padded chair. I'm polite. I don't draw attention to my severe dander allergy. I stay only as long as I can tolerate the allergy. When I get home, I dump all my clothes in the washer and immediately take a shower.

If you invited me to stay as an overnight guest, I would politely say no. There is no way I could sleep in a house with an animal. Now imagine if I were stuck in a hotel room with animal dander. I would be up all night sneezing, itching, and weezing. Of course there would be no "go home, wash clothes, take shower" to get relief. It would just be a week of misery for me that might be capped off with a trip to the ER. This is why some of us absolutely can't risk staying in a hotel that regularly will have dogs in it.

 

[Jason2015]

I disagree with most of your comments but will address the last couple of erroneous sentences. You have no way of knowing anything about my experiences or those of the other posters here. My comments are representative of my knowledge and extensive personal experience at WDW; not speculation. And everyone here has a right to decide for themselves what's bad or not bad.....You don't get to decide that for us.

What extensive personal experiences at WDW? They started allowing dogs yesterday-nobody has EXTENSIVE experience with dogs as pets at WDW. The pp was making a clear statement the the travel industry in general has decades of experience with dogs and more hotels/resorts are allowing dogs- not restricting them-so industry wide seems to be good policy to allow dogs. Extensive experience-lol

 

[Ensusieasm]

After calling 4 separate times and speaking to 4 different cast members. I received the same answer. " sorry but there is nothing I can do, you can move to a different resort or cancel" explained over and over that there are no rooms to move to at this point because we leave Wednesday. I emailed all the appropriate people and today it was finally made right. We Have been moved from AOA to the contemporary at no addditional charge. Hopefully they are getting the message that this is not a good idea!

I'm so happy for you! I think Disney World management is getting the message loud and clear.

 

[Madame]

What extensive personal experiences at WDW? They started allowing dogs yesterday-nobody has EXTENSIVE experience with dogs as pets at WDW. The pp was making a clear statement the the travel industry in general has decades of experience with dogs and more hotels/resorts are allowing dogs- not restricting them-so industry wide seems to be good policy to allow dogs. Extensive experience-lol

Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it was already allowed at the campground.

 

[andrewilley]

Good, good. And exactly how many of these photos show Walt Disney allowing guests to stay with dogs in his hotels? Z-e-r-o.

Walt Disney didn't own any hotels. The Disneyland Hotel was owned by Jack Wrather during his lifetime.

"What Would Walt Do" is never an easy game to play, he was 100% unique and no one person was ever able to fill the gap left by his death.

Andre

 

[markman04]

Are the people that are complaining about this policy going to boycott WDW?

 

[Suziepeach]

I'm so happy for you! I think Disney World management is getting the message loud and clear.

My husband's email was responded to per a phone call and we were offered to change accommodations but we have bucoodles Halloween decorations for the cabin and golf cart so he declined. We did change our Fort Wilderness reservations for April 2018 to Saratoga Springs. I agree, Disney Wo r ld management is getting the message.

 

[skyp4WDW]

What extensive personal experiences at WDW? They started allowing dogs yesterday-nobody has EXTENSIVE experience with dogs as pets at WDW. The pp was making a clear statement the the travel industry in general has decades of experience with dogs and more hotels/resorts are allowing dogs- not restricting them-so industry wide seems to be good policy to allow dogs. Extensive experience-lol

Fact Check...Disney has allowed dogs at Ft Wilderness Resort for many years now... Enough said.

 

[Lehuaann]

Hi Lehuaann.... as I said, for the time being "it's all cabins".. I called guest services at Fort Wilderness yesterday... she was explicit about that, only the 3 hotels mentioned will have designated rooms.

Sorry if you thought my question was aimed at you, it wasn't

We've been to FW several times and know how lax the dogs rules are. But that map makes it appear 2200/2300 are designated pet cabin loops.

Also, in my experience of dealing with GS at FW; they aren't even at FW. We dealt heavily with them during hurricanes Matthew & Irma.

Hopefully we will know something directly from FW soon...

 

[no one]

What extensive personal experiences at WDW? They started allowing dogs yesterday-nobody has EXTENSIVE experience with dogs as pets at WDW. The pp was making a clear statement the the travel industry in general has decades of experience with dogs and more hotels/resorts are allowing dogs- not restricting them-so industry wide seems to be good policy to allow dogs. Extensive experience-lol

Thank you. I am tapping out of this. Not sure how pointing out that these policies are implemented elsewhere and maybe look there for information is wrong. Was not judging other peoples experiences. Sorry I offended any one, not my intention at all. I will keep out of this now.

 

[BigAlsGal]

Omg! So gross! Images I never thought about but, now, I will!

Bahaha! Sorry.

 

[Dis703]

Are the people that are complaining about this policy going to boycott WDW?

I won't boycott, but with the lack of options for families of 5 we will likely start staying offsite. We will have to see how that goes but that could lessen the frequency of our family trips.

 

[Jason2015]

Fact Check...Disney has allowed dogs at Ft Wilderness Resort for many years now... Enough said.

And this has given you EXTENSIVE experience for WDW hotels? Also, doesn't go to show that since Disney has allowed dogs for years now WITHOUT problems many are jumping the shark with the panic and complaints. It's not like we are hearing about dog attacks or massive piles of poo at Fort Wilderness.

 

[skyp4WDW]

Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it was already allowed at the campground.

You're absolutely right.

 

[Suziepeach]

Sorry if you thought my question was aimed at you, it wasn't

We've been to FW several times and know how lax the dogs rules are. But that map makes it appear 2200/2300 are designated pet cabin loops.

Also, in my experience of dealing with GS at FW; they aren't even at FW. We dealt heavily with them during hurricanes Matthew & Irma.

Hopefully we will know something directly from FW soon...

That's fine, I was told by Guest services at Fort Wilderness it will be all the cabins, no specific separate area.

 

[DisneyKingpin]

It worked out great for me. I had coincidentally booked a stay at Yacht Club for next month. When the pet thing was announced, I called and complained. I have pet allergies. They are moving me to Poly concierge for the week at no extra charge.

 

[Dis703]

And this has given you EXTENSIVE experience for WDW hotels? Also, doesn't go to show that since Disney has allowed dogs for years now WITHOUT problems many are jumping the shark with the panic and complaints. It's not like we are hearing about dog attacks or massive piles of poo at Fort Wilderness.

Several people here and on other forums have posted about dogs running loose, in areas they aren't supposed to be, poop not being cleaned up, and even a recent dog bite at FW.

 

[Ensusieasm]

It worked out great for me. I had coincidentally booked a stay at Yacht Club for next month. When the pet thing was announced, I called and complained. I have pet allergies. They are moving me to Poly concierge for the week at no extra charge.

That's great to hear. Good for you!

 

[Dis703]

It worked out great for me. I had coincidentally booked a stay at Yacht Club for next month. When the pet thing was announced, I called and complained. I have pet allergies. They are moving me to Poly concierge for the week at no extra charge.

Man I'm starting to wish my Pop stay next month had been booked at POR. Awesome for Disney doing something to fix these issues for stays in the near future. I just hope they are getting the point.

 

[Disneylover99]

Go to bring fido website and you will see over 25K hotels that welcome dogs. From small boutiques to Sheraton, Hilton and Marriott up to Ritz and Four Seasons, hotels to motels to resorts. I know all of us on here like to think Disney is different (its the only way to justify paying for the same thing over and over again for average accommodations). Reality is that it is not different, it is still a hotel. All of these other resorts have examined the issue and have somehow survived biting dogs and allergy sufferers. People do not travel with their dogs that often so it is not as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be. These other hotels have probably seen the same thing. Has a dog had an accident in a lobby, probably, is it common - probably not. All I am saying is that this is not something new, pretty widespread policy and people are still able to vacation and have fun with and without dogs. Speculating about dogs relieving themselves everywhere is not really helpful and is not based on any real facts that have happened at other pet friendly places. Look outside the bubble and it really is not that bad.

It's a big deal to me. I don't care what other hotel/resorts do. I don't care what the trends are. I'm not happy with this change. I avoid dog friendly hotels whenever possible. We travel to Disney every year for three weeks at a time. Spending time at our resort and walking around the grounds is important to us. This will impact me if other resorts are included at the end of this "trial". I want to be able to say the resort was great not "it really is not that bad."