Credit: DisneyTwo Walt Disney World resorts have had changes made to their transportation services for select guests.
Walt Disney World Resort, and the Disney Parks brand as a whole, is founded on the belief that everyone is welcome. And that extends to animals and those guests who need an animal to experience the theme parks safely and comfortably. This is why the changes made to two Disney hotel resorts–Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — Riverside–will be important for those who are bringing animals to the Central Florida parks.
Commencing January 15, 2024, Disney World’s Best Friends Pet Hotel (located on resort property) extended its transportation services to include another two resorts. Before January 15, the Best Friends Pet Hotel offered pick-up and drop-off services for Disney’s Yacht Club Resort and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground, but now transportation is offered for Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and Disney’s Port Orleans Resort — Riverside.
This means all four pet-friendly Disney resorts will have transportation services to and from the Best Friends Pet Hotel. For Fort Wilderness, it is the cabins that are the pet-friendly locations, not the campsites.
Related: Guest Refuses to Leave Disney World After Two-Decade-Long Vacation
Per the Best Friends Pet Care website, times for pick-up are between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. for Yacht Club and Port Orleans, and drop-off between 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., with pick-up services between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. for Fort Wilderness and Art of Animation and drop-offs between 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Full information, including required documentation needed, can be found here.
The Best Friends Pet Hotel at Walt Disney World Resort boasts 17,000 square feet of indoor space, with an additional 10,000 square feet of covered outdoor area play space and a 25,000 square foot dog park. The accommodation is available for various animals, including dogs and cats, with overnight and daytime boarding available, as well as a grooming salon onsite.
Guests bringing animals, especially dogs, to the Walt Disney World Resort should note that they are not allowed into the theme parks, water parks, or inside store locations unless they are trained assistance animals. Yes, that also goes for celebrities.
“At Walt Disney World Resort, a service animal is a dog or miniature horse that is trained to do work or perform tasks for, and to assist, an individual with a disability,” states the official website. “Service animals must be under the control of the owner at all times and should remain on a leash or in a harness. Cast Members are not able to take control of service animals.”
Related: All Disney World Guests Hit With Advisory Over New “Potent” Problem
The news of these additional transportation services comes as Disney World shut down part of its offering to regular human guests. From January 16 through January 21, the Disney Skyliner was closed on all routes. Part of the Skyliner will reopen on January 22, but the transport between Disney’s Riviera Resort and the International Gateway at EPCOT will remain shuttered through January 27.
Are you bringing a pet to Walt Disney World Resort this year? Will you use these new transportation services? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
Walt Disney World Resort boasts four theme parks: Magic Kingdom Park, EPCOT Park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, and Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park. It also features two Disney water parks, Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon Water Park and Disney’s Blizzard Beach Water Park, and the retail and recreation area, Disney Springs. A valid ticket for each park.