Walt Disney World allows dogs, and only dogs, at four of its resort hotels: Disney's Art of Animation Resort, Disney's Port Orleans Resort Riverside, Disney's Yacht Club Resort and The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. Dogs are also allowed at selected campsites at Fort Wilderness. You can bring a maximum of two dogs per room, they must be well behaved, leashed in public areas and properly vaccinated, and they are not allowed in the theme parks, water parks, Disney Springs, restaurants or pools. For park days, Disney points guests to Best Friends Pet Care, a pet hotel on Disney property that also takes cats and small pets.
This guide is built from Disney's own pages, read in October 2026: the Walt Disney World pet-friendly hotels FAQ, the Best Friends Pet Care page, the Fort Wilderness campsites page, and the official pet policies card that Disney links from each dog-friendly resort's page. Disney does not show the nightly pet fee on any of those pages, so the fee figures below come from guest reports and should be confirmed when you book.
Disney World dog-friendly resorts at a glance
The table covers the five places on Disney property where a dog can stay with you, with the nightly fees most often reported by guests.
| Resort | Resort tier | Dogs allowed | Reported pet fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disney's Art of Animation Resort | Value | Up to 2 per room, designated rooms | About USD 50 per night |
| Disney's Port Orleans Resort Riverside | Moderate | Up to 2 per room, designated rooms | About USD 50 per night |
| Disney's Yacht Club Resort | Deluxe | Up to 2 per room, designated floors | About USD 75 per night |
| The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort | Disney Vacation Club | Up to 2 per cabin | About USD 50 per night |
| Campsites at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort | Campground | In pet-friendly loops, not in tents or pop-ups | Small extra charge per night for a pet loop |
Which Disney World resorts allow dogs?
Disney's FAQ answers the question directly. Four Disney resort hotels have designated dog-friendly accommodations: Art of Animation, Port Orleans Riverside, Yacht Club and The Cabins at Fort Wilderness, a Disney Vacation Club resort. The campsites at Fort Wilderness also take dogs. Every other Disney-owned hotel, including the Contemporary, the Grand Floridian, Animal Kingdom Lodge, the Polynesian and the Pop Century and All-Star value resorts, does not accept pets. The program started as a pilot and Disney has kept it running since.
The four resorts cover every budget tier. Art of Animation is a value resort, Port Orleans Riverside is moderate, Yacht Club is deluxe, and the Fort Wilderness cabins are a Disney Vacation Club option that sleeps a family. Within each resort, only certain floors or sections are dog-friendly, so you must tell Disney about your dog when you book.
The rules Disney gives guests with dogs
Disney links an official pet policies card from each dog-friendly resort's page. The card's main rules are:
- Dogs are the only pets allowed, with a maximum of two per room.
- You are responsible for your dog's care, behavior and waste throughout the resort.
- Up-to-date vaccination records must be available on request.
- Dogs must be fully trained and are not allowed on furniture anywhere on the premises.
- Outside your room, dogs must be on a leash or in a carrier. Unattended dogs may be removed from the resort at your expense.
- If your dog disturbs other guests, you must move it out of the resort at your own expense.
- Dogs are not allowed in food and beverage locations, club lounges, pool areas or fitness centers.
- Dogs should not be left alone in your room for more than seven hours.
- Housekeeping only cleans when your dog is out of the room, so you schedule a time by phone.
- A "Room Occupied" door hanger in Pluto's Welcome Kit tells staff a dog is inside.
- Dogs are not allowed in the theme parks, water parks, ESPN Wide World of Sports or Disney Springs.
The card notes that none of these rules apply to service animals.
How much is the Disney World pet fee?
Disney does not publish the pet fee on its FAQ, resort pages or policy card. It is quoted when you add a dog to your booking by phone. Guest reports and long-running Disney planning sites consistently give a nightly cleaning fee of about USD 50 at Art of Animation, Port Orleans Riverside and the Fort Wilderness cabins, and about USD 75 at Yacht Club, plus a small extra charge per night to guarantee a pet-friendly loop at the campground. Treat these as estimates. On a five night trip, a USD 50 nightly fee comes to USD 250, which is far more than the single per-stay fee at many hotels outside Disney property. Our list of hotels with no pet fee shows cheaper options nearby.
How to book a dog-friendly room
Each dog-friendly resort page tells you to book a dog stay by calling (407) 939-5277. Booking online and mentioning the dog later is risky, because pet rooms are limited to certain sections and may be full. When you call, give the number of dogs, ask for the current nightly fee, and ask where the pet relief areas are in relation to your room. At check-in you get Pluto's Welcome Kit, which includes the door hanger. Disney says the dog-friendly rooms have access to set outdoor walkways and green spaces with pet relief areas.
Fort Wilderness campsites with a dog
Fort Wilderness is the most relaxed place at Disney World for dogs. The campsites page says pets are welcome if you follow its conditions: pets must be on a handheld leash no longer than 8 feet, or inside your own climate-controlled RV. Pets are not allowed in tents or pop-up campers. Guests with pet privileges can use the off-leash Waggin' Trails Dog Park and the on-leash trails. You must pick up after your dog, and a pet that causes complaints, through aggression or noise for example, must be moved to an off-site kennel or the owner must leave the resort. Ask for a pet-friendly loop when you book, because dogs are not allowed in every loop.
What to do with your dog on park days
Only service animals can enter the theme parks, Disney Springs, the water parks or Disney transportation, so a dog cannot come with you on a park day. The policy card allows a dog to be left alone in your room for up to seven hours, but a full park day is longer than that once you add travel and queues. Disney's answer is Best Friends Pet Care, a pet hotel on Disney property. According to Disney's page it has 17,000 square feet of air-conditioned indoor space, 10,000 square feet of covered outdoor runs and a 25,000 square foot dog park, and can hold up to 300 dogs, cats and small pets. It opens one hour before the earliest park opens and closes one hour after the latest park closes, so you can drop off and collect around park hours.
Options range from basic indoor boarding with two potty walks to suites with a webcam, playtime and a bedtime story. Cats get two-level condos or four-level townhomes, and small pets such as birds, reptiles and rodents can stay if you bring their enclosure. Best Friends does not take venomous animals or primates. It also offers daycare for dogs staying with you at a resort, grooming, and a van that picks dogs up from and returns them to the dog-friendly resorts for a fee.
Paperwork for Best Friends Pet Care
Every pet staying at Best Friends must be up to date on its vaccines, with written proof from your vet shown at check-in or faxed ahead. Ask for the exact list when you book, because boarding kennels usually want rabies, distemper and Bordetella for dogs, and some want canine influenza. Our guide to what vaccines a dog needs for boarding explains each one and how far ahead to get them.
Getting around Disney World with a dog
Disney transportation, including buses, the monorail and the Skyliner, is for service animals only, so if your dog needs to go anywhere, you will be driving or using the Best Friends van. The policy card mentions that dogs in carriers could use some resort transportation, but that card dates from 2020 and refers to a service that has since ended, so do not count on it. Plan to have a car if you are bringing a dog, and never leave the dog in a parked car in the Florida heat. Our guide on how hot is too hot for a dog in a car explains why even a short stop is dangerous.
Service dogs at Disney World
Trained service dogs can go almost everywhere at Disney World, including the parks and transportation, and the pet rules on the card do not apply to them. Disney asks guests to contact Disability Services at (407) 560-2547 for the rules that apply to service animals on specific attractions. Under the ADA service animal rules, staff can only ask whether the dog is needed because of a disability and what task it performs. Emotional support animals are not service animals, so they follow the pet rules: only at the four resorts, only dogs, and not in the parks. Our guide to service dogs, emotional support animals and therapy dogs explains the differences.
Off-property hotels as an alternative
If the nightly Disney fee or the limited room choice does not suit you, many hotels near Disney World take dogs for a single fee per stay. The Loews hotels at Universal Orlando charge USD 150 per stay at four resorts, as our Loews pet policy guide explains, and other chains we cover, such as Drury and Red Roof, publish simple pet rules that are easy to check before you book. You lose Disney's on-site perks, but you may save money on a long trip, and you can still use Best Friends Pet Care during park days.
A worked example: four nights at Port Orleans with one dog
Say you are driving to Orlando with a 40 pound Beagle mix for four nights at Port Orleans Riverside and three park days. Call (407) 939-5277 to book a dog-friendly room and confirm the fee, which guests report at about USD 50 a night, or USD 200 in total. Bring the vaccination record. On park days, drop the dog at Best Friends Pet Care in the morning and collect it at night, since a full park day is longer than the seven hour limit for leaving a dog in the room. On your rest day, walk the resort's pet paths and use the relief areas, and keep the dog out of the pool area and food courts.
Common mistakes with dogs at Disney World
- Booking a hotel that does not take dogs. Only four resorts and the Fort Wilderness campsites do.
- Bringing a cat to a resort. Dogs are the only pets allowed in rooms; cats can board at Best Friends.
- Leaving a dog in the room for a full park day. The card sets a seven hour limit.
- Planning to use Disney buses or the monorail with a pet dog.
- Camping in a tent with a dog at Fort Wilderness. Pets are not allowed in tents or pop-ups.
Tips for a smooth Disney trip with a dog
- Book Best Friends Pet Care at the same time as your room, especially for holidays.
- Pack a crate, bowls, food, bags, a cooling mat and a long-lasting chew for downtime in the room.
- Walk early and late, when Florida pavement is cooler.
- If you are driving in, our road trip with a dog guide covers planning the drive.
The bottom line on Disney World
Disney World is dog-friendly in a limited way: four resorts and the Fort Wilderness campsites, two dogs per room, and no pets in the parks, Disney Springs or on Disney transportation. Book by phone, budget for a nightly fee, and plan park days around Best Friends Pet Care.