Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

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The Sassagoula Sentinel
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Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by The Sassagoula Sentinel »

Port Orleans Riverside will become one of four trial ‘dog friendly resorts’ starting on Sunday 15 October 2017, allowing guests to bring a maximum of two pet dogs on vacation with them.

A new pilot program will be trialled at Port Orleans Riverside (and three other Disney properties) starting on Sunday 15 October 2017 which will see the resort become ‘dog friendly’ for those guests who wish to bring their pet dogs on vacation with them.
  • Initially all accommodation categories at the resort were intended to be dog friendly, but that has very quickly been restricted to just Standard and Garden View rooms for new Port Orleans Riverside bookings, with the intention of using building 24 where possible.
  • Guests will be able to bring up to two dogs with them, staying in their room. There are no size, weight or breed restrictions.
  • To bring your dog with you on your upcoming visit, please call 1-407-939-7539.
  • Each guest room participating in the program will have easy access to outdoor pet walkways for exercise and green spaces with pet relief areas.
  • While dogs will be allowed to stay in guest rooms, they will be expected to be well behaved, leashed in public resort areas and properly vaccinated.
  • Guests must sign a waiver which explains where the pets can go, responsibilities of the guest, etc. A copy of this document can be DOWNLOADED HERE.
  • Guests are requested not to leave their animals unattended in rooms for longer than 7 hours at a time, and Disney requires that animals must be capable of being silent during their stay, stating "If noise is heard, you will be called to address the noise within 30 minutes".
  • There is a $50 per night per room fee for guests who bring a dog (or dogs) with them.
  • Guests will get an amenity package delivered on check-in day with various items for their pet. "Pluto’s Welcome Kit" includes mat, bowls, a pet ID tag, courtesy plastic disposable bags, puppy pads and dog walking maps.
  • Guests will not be able to receive housekeeping service while there is an unattended dog in the room, and a Pluto “Do Not Disturb” door hanger will be provided to indicate to hotel staff that there is a pet present.
  • The other pilot properties are Art of Animation, Fort Wilderness Cabins, and the Yacht Club (the nightly fee at the Yacht Club will be $75).
  • The pilot is currently accepting reservations through until October 2018.
  • Other animal facilities - including dog walking, day care and other pet services - are available just over the road at the Best Friends pet care facility. For details, please call 1-877-4-WDW-PETS (1-877-493-9738), or visit www.bestfriendspetcare.com.
  • Pet merchandise is coming soon to participating resorts.
For more information about this new trial program, including other restrictions and policies, guests should contact 1-407-W-DISNEY.

Update on 14 Oct: Rooms will receive a more thorough cleaning at departure including carpet and upholstery cleaning. The room assignment department will try to put guests with pets into certain rooms; how successful they are will depend on whether they know about the guest bringing a pet in advance or not.

Update on 18 Oct: So we are now a few days into the trial and the public outcry on social media and via communications directly to Disney has taken everyone by surprise - heck, it even took me aback, and I know how vocal Disney fans can be. I think it's safe to say that Disney completely underestimated the passion that many people would have on this subject, and the initial plans are being modified and policies rewritten on the fly at the moment. This process will probably remain fluid over the next few weeks, and Disney is closely monitoring and listening to the feedback and will continue to adjust procedures to try to make this trial work for everyone.

Initially, as will have been seen from the printed Dog Relief Area maps, it was intended that all these happy fluffy pets (which everyone would surely like) would be permitted in any type of guest booking at Riverside, and the early announcements did state that the whole resort - barring certain areas such as food & beverage and swimming pools - would be canine accessible as long as the animals were kept under control and on a leash. However over the last 48 hours that intent has been severely trimmed back and they are now aiming to try to restrict dogs to only Standard and Garden View rooms, and the current intention from the room inventory department at Riverside is to use building 24 as much as possible for any guests who book to stay with their pets. This building is well away from the common areas, is located right next to the parking lot to make getting pets to and from rooms easier, and has a nice grassy area nearby to allow dogs to be exercised.

However, although the telephone Reservations Center is now advising guests who wish to bring dogs with them that this will only be possible for Standard and Garden View rooms, the initial announcements - and even the currently posted wording on the Disney website - do not require guests to book that way, nor to preregister their dogs. Thus it is entirely possible that people who have booked for other room categories using the Disney website, via travel agents, through Expedia, etc. will simply show up at the front desk accompanied by their pet(s) and ask to pay the daily fee. This could mean that, in the short term at least, dogs will still need to be accommodated in other areas of the resort in order to comply with existing bookings. This will of course be closely monitored and subsequent deep-cleans arranged for any affected rooms, but at this stage it cannot be guaranteed that other areas of the resort will remain completely dog-free.

I have reached out to my contacts at the resort who have said that so far (i.e. in the first three days of the program) they have not yet had a single dog staying at the resort. Over the next seven days there are currently just four one-night reservations with associated comments indicating that the guest plans to bring a dog with them, against more than 100 comments over the same seven-day period asking to be assigned to a room away from the dog friendly areas. Those four one-night reservations are apparently all from local Florida residents, and personally I would not be at all surprised to find that some or all of them turn out to be from social media aware guests, or even bloggers or website owners, testing out the new policies for themselves. If there have been any booking cancellations because of this new policy then they have already been replaced with new reservations, as Riverside is either sold out or very close to it for the rest of the month.

Please remember however that we are still only three days into a year-long trial period and there is plenty of time for any of the above information to change in line with practical needs and guest comments and experiences.

Update on 21 Oct: A copy of the waiver document which guests need to sign when they check dogs in to the hotel can be DOWNLOADED HERE.

A few interesting new bits of information:
  • So far, the room assignment department at Port Orleans Riverside has not been given any specific directions from Walt Disney World management to indicate that they must enforce the accommodation of all dogs in building 24 only, so they are still expecting that existing booking for other room categories will be assigned to one of the original four dog-friendly areas (buildings 15, 24, 80 and 95 on the map) although building 24 will definitely be the preferred choice wherever possible. For example, if a guest had booked a Royal River View Room room six months ago, and they now state that they wish to bring a dog with them, they will be assigned a room in building 95 close to the originally marked Dog Relief area on the Dog Friendly Locations map. Similarly, someone who originally booked a Preferred Location room would be placed in building 15.
  • Any guest who has expressed a wish to be located away from dogs will be assigned a room as far away as possible from those original four designated areas.
  • As far as common areas go, at the moment dogs will be permitted - under control and on leashes - in all common areas of the resort except for Food & Beverage locations (such as Boatwright's Dining Hall, the food court and presumably the River Roost Lounge) and the fenced pool areas. The lobby and even merchandise shop are fine, as are all the public pathways. This policy is covered by the wording in point 12 of the waiver document.
  • The maximum seven hour 'alone-time' rule will be mostly left to guests' honesty, but in cases where there is concern the electronic door-lock system can be interrogated remotely to prove how long a room has been left unattended. Similarly, Disney are aware that there may be situations where the required 30-minute return time to attend to a barking dog may potentially be difficult to enforce when guests are away from the hotel.
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Initial collateral leaflet for guests arriving with dogs. This is information still subject to change.

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precmom1967
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Joined: October 12th, 2012, 12:12 pm

Re: Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by precmom1967 »

Personally, I hope this trial fails. While we are faithful to the Riverside, we will be looking for a new resort due to concerns of cleanliness of the rooms and noise. So sorry Disney has decided to take this step with so many with allergies.
WDW1979
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Joined: January 26th, 2016, 11:42 am

Re: Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by WDW1979 »

I don’t want to go on vacation with other people’s pets. I will be contacting the management of Disney World and Port Orleans Riverside to express my disapproval of this new pet policy.
originalkmiller
Posts: 1
Joined: October 14th, 2017, 3:50 pm

Re: Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by originalkmiller »

This is a terrible decision. My daughters have asthma, and I have friends who are very allergic to dogs. I hope there are only specific buildings that allow dogs, and that you can choose to stay in a non-dog building. If this becomes a Disney-wide policy, and dogs can stay in any room, I won't be able to stay on property anymore.
Mrsbrightside
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Joined: October 14th, 2017, 4:25 pm

Re: Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by Mrsbrightside »

Can't express how happy I am about this. We are finally able to stay onsite and enjoy our Annual Passholder status properly with all the "perks" that others might take for granted. I've already enjoyed these features at the four Universal Loews hotels (love them all) for many years and am looking forward to our up coming visit to Disney!
Mrsbrightside
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Joined: October 14th, 2017, 4:25 pm

Re: Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by Mrsbrightside »

Just talked to disney,people are so excited about this. They have so many other hotels which offer no dogs that it is all good and fair
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Re: Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by Admin »

From the Room Inventory Manager at POR regarding dogs in rooms: Rooms will receive a more thorough cleaning at departure including carpet and upholstery cleaning. They will try to put guests with pets in certain rooms; how successful they are will depend on whether they know about the guest bringing a pet in advance or not.

Andre
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Re: Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by Admin »

So we are now a few days into the trial of the new Dog Friendly Rooms policy at four Walt Disney World resort hotels, including our own Port Orleans Riverside, and the public outcry on social media and via communications directly to Disney has taken everyone by surprise - heck, it even took me aback, and I know how vocal Disney fans can be. I think it's safe to say that Disney completely underestimated the passion that many people would have on this subject, and the initial plans are being modified and policies rewritten on the fly at the moment. This process will probably remain fluid over the next few weeks, and Disney is closely monitoring and listening to the feedback and will continue to adjust procedures to try to make this trial work for everyone.

Initially, as will have been seen from the printed Dog Relief Area maps, it was intended that all these happy fluffy pets (which everyone would surely like) would be permitted in any type of guest booking at Riverside, and the early announcements did state that the whole resort - barring certain areas such as food & beverage and swimming pools - would be canine accessible as long as the animals were kept under control and on a leash. However over the last 48 hours that intent has been severely trimmed back and they are now aiming to try to restrict dogs to only Standard and Garden View rooms, and the current intention from the room inventory department at Riverside is to use building 24 as much as possible for any guests who book to stay with their pets. This building is well away from the common areas, is located right next to the parking lot to make getting pets to and from rooms easier, and has a nice grassy area nearby to allow dogs to be exercised.

However, although the telephone Reservations Center is now advising guests who wish to bring dogs with them that this will only be possible for Standard and Garden View rooms, the initial announcements - and even the currently posted wording on the Disney website - do not require guests to book that way, nor to preregister their dogs. Thus it is entirely possible that people who have booked for other room categories using the Disney website, via travel agents, through Expedia, etc. will simply show up at the front desk accompanied by their pet(s) and ask to pay the daily fee. This could mean that, in the short term at least, dogs will still need to be accommodated in other areas of the resort in order to comply with existing bookings. This will of course be closely monitored and subsequent deep-cleans arranged for any affected rooms, but at this stage it cannot be guaranteed that other areas of the resort will remain completely dog-free.

I have reached out to my contacts at the resort who have said that so far (i.e. in the first three days of the program) they have not yet had a single dog staying at the resort. Over the next seven days there are currently just four one-night reservations with associated comments indicating that the guest plans to bring a dog with them, against more than 100 comments over the same seven-day period asking to be assigned to a room away from the dog friendly areas. Those four one-night reservations are apparently all from local Florida residents, and personally I would not be at all surprised to find that some or all of them turn out to be from social media aware guests, or even bloggers or website owners, testing out the new policies for themselves. If there have been any booking cancellations because of this new policy then they have already been replaced with new reservations, as Riverside is either sold out or very close to it for the rest of the month.

Please remember however that we are still only three days into a year-long trial period and there is plenty of time for any of the above information to change in line with practical needs and guest comments and experiences.

Andre
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- The Unofficial Visitor's Guide to the Port Orleans Resorts in Orlando, Florida -
Gilesmt
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Re: Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by Gilesmt »

I find Disney wording of service dogs strange, there is no such thing as a licensed service dog, or certified service dog. ADA states any dog who is trained to do a specific task for a disabled person is a service dog.
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Re: Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by Admin »

A copy of the waiver document which guests need to sign when they check dogs in to the hotel can be DOWNLOADED HERE.

A few interesting new bits of information:
  • So far, the room assignment department at Port Orleans Riverside has not been given any specific directions from Walt Disney World management to indicate that they must enforce the accommodation of all dogs in building 24 only, so they are still expecting that existing booking for other room categories will be assigned to one of the original four dog-friendly areas (buildings 15, 24, 80 and 95 on the map) although building 24 will definitely be the preferred choice wherever possible. For example, if a guest had booked a Royal River View Room room six months ago, and they now state that they wish to bring a dog with them, they will be assigned a room in building 95 close to the originally marked Dog Relief area on the Dog Friendly Locations map. Similarly, someone who originally booked a Preferred Location room would be placed in building 15.
  • Any guest who has expressed a wish to be located away from dogs will be assigned a room as far away as possible from those original four designated areas.
  • As far as common areas go, at the moment dogs will be permitted - under control and on leashes - in all common areas of the resort except for Food & Beverage locations (such as Boatwright's Dining Hall, the food court and presumably the River Roost Lounge) and the fenced pool areas. The lobby and even merchandise shop are fine, as are all the public pathways. This policy is covered by the wording in point 12 of the waiver document.
  • The maximum seven hour 'alone-time' rule will be mostly left to guests' honesty, but in cases where there is concern the electronic door-lock system can be interrogated remotely to prove how long a room has been left unattended. Similarly, Disney are aware that there may be situations where the required 30-minute return time to attend to a barking dog may potentially be difficult to enforce when guests are away from the hotel.
Andre
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Re: Trial allowing pet dogs in Guest Rooms starts at POR on 15 Oct

Unread post by Admin »

Spam link removed. For more info on the dog-friendly policy, please see http://www.portorleans.org/faqs.php#Dogs .

Andre
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- The Unofficial Visitor's Guide to the Port Orleans Resorts in Orlando, Florida -
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