There are many people who travel to Walt Disney World who require a service animal. WDW, like most public places, accommodates these animals in accordance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). This article discusses some of the things that you need to know before you bring your service animal to Walt Disney World.
Hopefully, this will also educate those without service animals about the law surrounding them, in order to eliminate misconceptions and prevent conflicts.
Service Animals and the Law
What is a Service Animal?
The Americans With Disabilities Act defines a service animal as follows:
“Service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.“
Some of the tasks that a service animal may perform include:
- Acting as a guide dog for someone who is blind
- Alerting a person when they are about to have a seizure
- Pulling a wheelchair for a person with mobility issues
The key point is that they need to be trained to perform a specific task for the person with the disability.
Service animal protections also apply to miniature horses, who might also perform similar tasks.
According to the law, emotional support animals are NOT considered to be service animals. This is because they are generally not trained to perform some specific task on behalf of their owner. Thus they are not afforded the same ADA protections that service animals are.
This last point seems to be very controversial with many people. However, it shouldn’t be. One may disagree with the law, but it is still the law. If you don’t like it, feel free to write to your Senator, start a petition, etc to change the law.
What Legal Protections Do Service Animals Have?
Service animals are allowed to go wherever the general public is allowed to go. A business is not allowed to restrict access to the service animal. The business cannot use the excuse “someone might be allergic”, or “someone might have a fear of dogs”, or “the health department does not allow animals in this establishment”. No. The service animal must be allowed in.
In addition, the business cannot discriminate against the person because of their service animal. For instance, a hotel cannot charge the person an extra “pet” fee just because they have a service animal staying with them.
That said, there are some limitations:
- The handler of the service animal must maintain control over the animal at all times.
- The service animal needs to be housebroken
- The business can charge for any damage that the service animal does
- Staff are not required to handle or take control of the service animal
What Proof is Required?
This is an area where many people have misconceptions.
- There is no legal requirement to “register” a service animal with the government or any organization. Likewise, just because an animal is “registered” with some organization doesn’t automatically make it a service animal.
- There is no legal requirement for the service animal to wear a special vest identifying them as such
- One does not need to show a special identification card or show medical documentation that a service animal is required
The law states that the business can only ask the person the following two questions
- Is the service animal required because of a disability? (this is a “yes/no” question… there is no requirement to elaborate on what the disability is)
- What work or task does the service animal perform?
If you say that the service animal is required because of a disability and you explain the specific task that the animal is performing, then the business cannot deny you access.
Obviously, the ADA operates on the honor system. Someone certainly can lie about the purpose of bringing their animal to the park. However, if you stoop to that level, you are giving true service animals a bad name and ruining it for those who actually require one. Hopefully karma will catch up to you!
Service Animals at Walt Disney World
Walt Disney World generally is good about not only complying with the law, but going above and beyond to make sure that people with service animals have the best experience possible. However, there are some items that you need to know.
Service Animals and Rides
There are certain rides that just cannot accommodate service animals, primarily for safety reasons. Most of these are pretty obvious and self explanatory. For instance, there is no way that a service animal is going to be able to fit within the restraints of a roller coaster. If you want to ride one of these attractions, you will need to do a rider swap, leaving your service animal with someone else in your party.
Magic Kingdom
- Barnstormer
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Peter Pan’s Flight (I imagine that this is because of the potential of needing to evacuate via ladder, as the same restriction exist for those with mobility disabilities)
- Seven Dwarves Mine Train
- Space Mountain
- TRON Lightcycle Run
Epcot
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind
- Mission Space
- Test Track
- Soarin’
Animal Kingdom
- Affection Station at Rafiki’s Planet Watch (I am guessing that this is because of the potential for animal interaction issues)
- Avatar Flight of Passage
- Expedition Everest
- Dinosaur
- Kali River Rapids
- Maharajah Jungle Trek, specifically the aviary
Hollywood Studios
- Alien Swirling Saucers
- Smuggler’s Run
- Rockin’ Roller Coaster
- Slinky Dog Dash
- Star Tours
- Rise of the Resistance
- Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
In addition, there are several rides where, although service animals are allowed, Disney says that they should proceed with caution.
- Prince Charming Regal Carrousel (MK)
- Disney Film Festival (EP)
- Toy Story Mania (HS)
- Gorilla Falls Expedition Trail (AK)
- It’s Tough to be a Bug (AK)
- Kilimanjaro Safaris (AK)
Finally, Disney also states that service animals are not allowed in water, near water features or fountains, or closer than four feet to the water on wet decks. I see that Disney did not include the new Journey of Water attraction in the restricted list despite having water features, so it will be interesting to see how they plan on handling service animals there.
Note that you can go here to refer to the most up to date list of restricted rides
Potty Breaks
Service animals, like the rest of us, occasionally need bathroom breaks. Of course, they cannot use the regular rest rooms. Fortunately, Disney says that service animals are allowed to use any open outdoor area to do their business as long as the handler cleans up afterwards.
In addition, Disney has a number of dedicated service animal relief areas within the parks. Each park has at least four different relief areas. They are marked on the park map, or you can ask a cast member for assistance.
A Note About Etiquette
This is not about etiquette for the owner/handler of service animals. They are, by and large, very conscientious when out in public. This section is for the rest of us who might come in contact with someone else’s service animal.
First, a service animal is not meant to be treated as a pet. Assume that they are working and should not be disturbed or distracted. Of course, if the owner says that it is okay to interact with the service animal, then you are good to go. Otherwise, leave them alone.
Second, don’t make assumptions about whether an animal is indeed a service animal or not. Most people are conditioned to think that service animals must look a certain way or act a certain way. However, service animals can come in all shapes and sizes, and they can serve many different roles. Just because a service animal doesn’t have a familiar vest or collar doesn’t mean that the person is trying to sneak the family pet into the park. Remember, this is not required.
Finally, going up to a person and accusing them of having a fake service animal is extremely rude. Nine times out of ten, you are going to be in the wrong. And even in that tenth case where it is a fake, what do you hope to gain by confronting the person? Just go about your day and let karma do the rest!
Wrap Up
Personally, Little Banshee doesn’t use a service animal, so we have no long term experience with taking one to the parks. Therefore, the information presented is based solely on second hand sources. If any readers with service animals have any other tips, feel free to leave them in the comments, so we can all learn from your lessons!
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