Experiences at Dog-Friendly Disney Resorts

[Mrs Geek]

Stayed at POR Nov 9th - 18th, didn't see a single dog while we were there.

 

[lsg1]

We just returned from the Yacht Club and our room faced the quiet pool and what I assume is the dog relief area since I saw a small dog sign from the balcony. I did not see or hear one dog for the week we were there except for one person walking his service dog on the front lawn where you walk out from the lobby.

 

[neverlandsky]

Stayed at YC (10/14-10/21) 1st floor / lagoon view. We saw 3 dogs. All were quiet. Small to medium breeds. My pet allergies didn't act up and I'm severely allergic. Yet we stayed right at the start of the policy so I don't know how it would be now allergy wise or if they have specific pet only rooms. It's a question I'm going to ask customer service in the future because it doesn't seem to be an option with booking. I would stay again, if I could have a free pet room/wing, just like the non-smoking rooms/wing option in Las Vegas.

 

[Scrapdolly]

Just stayed at POR for 14 nights
Only noticed a handful of service dogs in the park. Two didn't hsve the special leash or harness
Saw one dog ... In the lobby though. ... At POR ....not heard any barking

 

[Lynne M]

For those who haven't looked at the first post in awhile, this is a reminder that this thread ONLY contains direct reports of guest experiences at the dog-friendly Disney resorts. All other posts will be deleted.

If you wish to discuss the resort policy or have questions about the situation at the resorts, post it on the Resorts board. You can add it to an existing thread (like this one) or start a new thread.

 

[MuppetFan418]

On my way from Epcot to the Beach Club on Wednesday afternoon, I witnessed two adults looking in bushes outside the "courtyard" closest to Epcot and repeatedly calling out a name (Colby, if my memory serves me correctly) the way one would if they were looking for a lost person or pet.

 

[kiramay]

Stayed at POR preferred room oct 28-nov 5. I didn’t see or hear any dogs in the resort.

However, I did see two separate small dogs in Epcot that were definitely not behaving like service dogs. No vests either.

 

[nicko]

On Dec 26th, I saw someone walking what looked like a St Bernard through the Yacht Club lobby.

(I also saw many dogs at the parks Xmas week, but that's a different thread.)

 

[cocoachip]

Stayed at a FW cabin for 2 nights the week before Christmas and saw at least 5 dogs - all leashed and being walked along the main road. I'm not sure if this is really news since dogs have been allowed in certain campsite loops, but I've never seen any other dogs during previous stays in the last 4 years.

 

[cannonboys]

Checked into AOA on Dec. 31st and checked into building 2 of Cars Suites. As soon as we got there, a large bulldog was coming out. Of course we had just arrived and trying to get through with our luggage. This dog was pushing its way out of the door and immediately got off the leash. Luckily my kids didn't freak out and the owners quickly got the dog back on the leash. We never did hear a barking dog on the 2nd floor. One morning when we were coming off the elevator a small dog was running down the hallway without its leash and the owner was running down the hallway. It was yapping away. I will be sure to put in a review to Disney. I am not happy with paying New Year's Eve pricing, and having to be on guard so that the animals brought in don't bite or cause fear in my children.

 

[adamreisinger]

Stayed at POR from Dec. 29-Jan. 2. Spent plenty of time at the resort, including multiple walks from my room to the main lobby and main pool bar. I saw exactly one non-service dog during my entire stay, and it was on a leash and silent. Not a dog person at all, but based on that experience I'd happily return to POR even with it being a dog-friendly resort.

 

[Cotillard]

My two dogs and I had a great time at Fort Wilderness, Jan 8-12. Lots of great sidewalks all over. Squirrels, deer, and armadillos, too!

$50/night for two dogs wasn't bad, IMO.

Housekeeping needs to be scheduled, as they will not enter room with pets (they give you a sign to hang on door knob when dogs are alone in room).
Also, all guests must now have their room inspected, if housekeeping is declined or if you simply ask for towels/trash service. Full housekeeping will count as room inspection, according to my experience at Ft. Wilderness.
Goodie bag included doggie place mat, food and water bowls, door sign, bags for waste, and bandanna

Dogs have been allowed at campground for years so Ft W feels very pet friendly. We will return!

 

[KatherineV]

I stayed at Port Orleans Riverside for 2 nights at the end of December. I did not see any dogs while on my stay at the resort. I would have never known this resort was pet friendly, as i did not bring a pet myself.

 

[Amber White]

We stayed at AoA in late October (just found the forum, hi all!) and did spot a few dogs late at night on our walk to the lion king suites from the park. Nothing major, just never saw the owners picking up after their animals in either case, and we did tell CM the next morning.

 

[VAfamily1998]

I stayed at a Fort Wilderness camp ground cabin January 2-8. I had originally booked the cabin prior to the new dogs allowed policy coming out. When I heard about the policy, I switched to an OKW villa (at about twice the cost!) After I switched, I was contacted by someone from guest services regarding my concerns. She assured me that at every resort that allows dogs, the dog rooms are in completely separate areas, and that no guest will ever have to stay in an area that allows dogs, they will always be accommodated in the non-dog area if desired. I asked her which sections of the Fort Wilderness cabins were for guests with dogs and she told me the 2200 and 2300 loops.

Based on that conversation, I switched back to a Fort Wilderness cabin. After switching (online) I immediately phoned in a request to be placed in a non-dog loop.
A couple weeks later, on the way to the airport, I was sent a text with my cabin assignment...in the 2200 loop! I was upset and as soon as I was able (about an hour later) called to request a room change. The CM on the phone was very nice and I was able to get reassigned to the 2800 loop at the far end-- about as far away from the 2200 and 2300 loops as you can get

We actually did not see ANY dogs or hear any our entire stay at the Fort, but the weather was pretty cold, and on the first day it was pouring rain so we weren't out and about as much as we would have been in better weather. We pretty much just went from our cabin to the parks, and occasionally the hot tub at the wilderness pool.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We are currently staying at the Beach Club right now and we saw a family with a very young brown Labrador puppy walking along the walkway next to the Yacht Club around 5pm Monday night. We saw that same family with the puppy around 8pm that night in front of the Beach Club. The puppy was on a leash but the family was letting that puppy right all around the area in front of the lake side entrance to the Beach Club. We even saw the puppy run into the legs of a man walking toward the resort, causing him to trip a little. There were people all around this entry area and that family should not have been running the dog around the area.

 

[RedBean]

Stayed in Fort Wilderness Cabin Jan 19-20th, with my two dogs, loop 2600. Saw a few other dogs. They all did great.

 

[Mome Rath]

Stayed in Mansions at Riverside 21-24 Jan, saw no dogs, heard no dogs.

 

[TheFloatingBear]

I wanted to post our experience - I apologize in advance as it will be a long post, but I wanted to be thorough...I stayed at POR from 1/25-29/2018, and we were in the 80 Acadian building. For some background as it is relevant, my DD11 and I were part of a larger group of about 20 rooms. Her dance company participated in a workshop with cast members on Saturday, then performed at Disney Springs on Sunday. I mention this part as it added to the obligations, needs, and stressors of the trip as it was not Disney “business as usual” for us. It was my first time traveling with just my daughter, as my DH and DS13 stayed home.

I had concerns about the new pet policy, mostly specific to my situation in that I was traveling alone with my daughter at an unfamiliar resort with exterior corridors. I was agitated about the rollout and short notice, as I did not have the option of changing resorts and really couldn’t cancel, although most of my concerns related to how I might effectively deal with an issue if something came up, since calling from the room doesn’t connect you to the front desk. This concern was exacerbated by confusion regarding the new Privacy Policy - it was like the “When New Policies Collide Trip”. Generally speaking, I was less concerned about the policy itself, but more about the “looseness” of the policy/rules and whether it would be enforced, and what I mentioned above.

And to preface, our experiences wouldn’t necessarily mean that I wouldn’t book another dog friendly resort. I love dogs and have owned them most of my life; the experiences didn’t have a significant negative effect on our trip, and I generally roll with things, especially on vacation. But I wanted to detail them as they definitely reflect some of my specific concerns before the trip, as well as other concerns I read, so I feel like I wanted to share them.

Our TA had made a blanket request to be placed away from the dog friendly buildings. I didn’t really give it any thought after that, since I knew about the request and couldn’t do anything else anyway. We saw no dogs our first three days, and frankly with all the craziness of the trip, I forgot about it.

On Sunday morning, we saw a man with a small child and a leased dog exiting the food court as with coffee and food "to go" as we were entering. After we had breakfast, we were walking along the path around the main pool back to the room. We saw them again ahead of us. It turned out we were going to the same building. The man stopped on the lawn in front of the building facing the river so the dog could relieve himself (ETA it's not a designated Dog Relief Area - I wasn't sure but since checked, just for clarity). He was still ahead of us and went into one of the rooms in our building. I was surprised as I knew about the TA request, although then I looked up a post on the pet policy sticky, and saw that the 80 building was one of the initial pet friendly buildings, I think. I mentioned it to the TA and she was upset, as apparently there were some issues with the room requests and she was led to believe the blanket request had contributed to Disney not honoring other guest requests. I had hoped that Disney would honor the TA’s request, but apparently they did not.

On Sunday afternoon we were headed to the food court after the performance around 3pm for some “lupper”. The kids hadn’t eaten so they were a mixture of hangry and exhilarated from their performance experience. We crossed the bridge and were on the path around the pool again. The girls saw a couple walking a leashed smaller dog. The girls start to make “Awwww, cute!” noises and such and in their excitement, my daughter’s friends turned toward to dog to pet it (my DD does not approach unfamiliar dogs without permission from the owner). The woman said “He nips” and something in her tone stopped the two other girls in their tracks, which was fortunate since in fact the dog nipped at them but didn’t connect as they were still far enough away.

The next day was checkout day. I heard a dog barking early about 6:30 am but I was already awake packing. It woke up my daughter but she needed to get up anyway. If it had happened the previous day it would have been unfortunate as she needed some extra rest for her performance. At that point, even if it had been an issue, there was a driving rain so I wouldn’t have gone to the front desk to address it in any case. At breakfast in the food court, we heard a dog barking several times. Eventually it became more of a consistent cry. I did not see him, but having had many pets, he sounded as if he was in some distress. When we moved into the lobby to wait for DME, we continued to hear him cry and “whine” (as opposed to bark), but I never saw him. I guess it could have been a different dog but it sounded like the same one. Another mom waiting with me at the time mentioned that she had seen a puppy running loose in the food court with a family a different day. She mentioned it as she was surprised about it as she didn’t know the resort was pet friendly. The change came after our booking and the TA had not told the larger group.

Again, nothing happened that had a significant impact on our trip and we loved the resort and had a fantastic trip, but we had experiences that ranged from safety, to rules, to Disney not honoring requests, so I wanted to share it.

 

[StageTek]

Stayed in the 2300 loop at Fort Wilderness Jan 28 - Feb 1. Didn't see or hear any dogs the entire week.