Rumor New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[rtmachine]

Who remembers when it was FP+ and DAS, there was never long lines for that line with both and there probably was not as much abuse.
G+ and LL change everything...and now we have this mess from excessive greed.

 

[seabreezept813]

I know what state you are fromso am I I'll do you one better Storyland has specific days and even a wishing well that was set up to donate to a school for individuals with disabilities/autism in state. Now that that school has changed hands not sure if it is still donating there.

Not the exact state lol it’s a 4 hour drive. But being able to go on a Saturday in December and enjoy the park is really great. You just need to get tickets early!

 

[Happyday]

Not the exact state lol it’s a 4 hour drive. But being able to go on a Saturday in December and enjoy the park is really great. You just need to get tickets early!

Absolutely agree.

 

[phillip9698]

I really hope Disney takes this opportunity to really examine who NEEDS skip the line access.

A person who can wear shades while outside does not NEED skip the line access.

A person who can’t sit, stand, or walk doesn’t NEED skip the line access.

A person who doesn’t like being hot doesn’t NEED skip the line access.

I honestly wish they would go to a system that requires a doctors note and 3rd party verification. If Six Flags can do it so can Disney. And it’s not a burden, surely if people going to Six Flags can make that happen people spending thousands on trips to Disney can as well.

 

[Tha Realest]

They know their own needs. i might suggest it would be prudent at this time to wait and see what the accommodations are going to be before digging in on that since all of the communication is lacking so much, but in the end the disabled person is the only one that can speak to what accommodations they need.

Disney can choose to disagree with that, and Disney may - but no one on this board is in a position to say "that poster's needs don't require DAS".

And Disney knows its own operational and guest service needs. Those must be considered against the claimed “needs” of guests.

 

[flynnibus]

Who remembers when it was FP+ and DAS, there was never long lines for that line with both and there probably was not as much abuse.
G+ and LL change everything...and now we have this mess from excessive greed.

Remember when it was just Fastpass... but GAC abuse was still so bad they had to kill GAC and introduce DAS?

Yeah... that's the reality... no need to try to blame Genie+... the abuse is as old as the clickbait articles and slimly people that encouraged others to lie to get an advantage.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

That's true, but also has nothing to do with being unable to do lines or requiring DAS because they have a virus.

It was a lighthearted response to a specific post some pages back, post #3845. Sorry if the attempt at levity fell flat.

I've seen plenty of people puke in amusement and theme parks over the years. More people throwing up wouldn't make the news because it is already so very common.

(Though after Googling the topic, well, I don't advise it. )

 

[Angel Ariel]

And Disney knows its own operational and guest service needs. Those must be considered against the claimed “needs” of guests.

And I never said otherwise. In fact, I said that very thing in the post you just quoted of mine.

My comment that you originally engaged me about was stating that *posters on this forum* are not in a position to make such a determination - it wasn't a comment about Disney. Please don't move goalposts.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

This is the exact opposite of what is supposed to happen. And this is exactly why people are getting upset and defensive. This attitude is very much in the vein of the idea that those with disabilities should not be engaged in public activities.

Sadly, that attitude does run through our society.

A member of my extended family is a civil engineer. Some of the work he's done over the years has been things like reworking sidewalks to include tactile paving. Tactile paving is very effective, low-cost, and though originally meant to help the blind, it helps all pedestrians. Yet many locations were resistant to installing it.

He often convinced them by having folks walk in an area that has tactile paving. Once they saw how it helps everyone, they could get behind it.

Disney has been developing queues for a long time. I would like to think the queues are designed with ideas like tactile paving in mind.

But then, we have the GoG exit queue with steep steps. The exit is handicapped accessible, but exiting the ride in a wheelchair/stair-free requires 2 elevators.

The Remy queue also seems like a bit of problem if the plan is to allow folks to exit the queue for breaks.

As I said, I'm reading this thread for information. It would be useful to know if any queues are changed.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

Is this the wrong thread to ask how exactly is the blind person supposed to find the Braille map podium at Epcot by the lagoon?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Is this the wrong thread to ask how exactly is the blind person supposed to find the braille map podium at Epcot by the lagoon?

Most people who are blind are not totally blind and have some level visual sensation.

 

[Comped]

Is this the wrong thread to ask how exactly is the blind person supposed to find the braille map podium at Epcot by the lagoon?

As a visually impaired person, who does happen to be able to see enough that I never had to learn Braille luckily (even though Perkins, the blind school not the restaurant chain, advocated to do so when I would visit to tour there accessible technologies on occasion as a kid) - I actually had to look this up.

Disney's website says that they also offer large print and Braille guide books, and even Braille maps. (I have to assume you can't keep those unlike normal maps.) Undoubtedly those would be easier to use for most rather than trying to poke around the large maps that do exist. Certainly more portable and easier than having to track around to find the limited number of standalone Braille maps resort wide.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Disney has been developing queues for a long time. I would like to think the queues are designed with ideas like tactile paving in mind.

But then, we have the GoG exit queue with steep steps. The exit is handicapped accessible, but exiting the ride in a wheelchair/stair-free requires 2 elevators.

Stairs actually are considered to be part of accessible design. There are specific criteria they follow and the design guidelines even note that note having stairs as an option could make a place less accessible. The exit stairs at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind are no steeper than any other stairs in the parks. While they could be less steep, people do have concerns about stairs with a low rise. Stairs can also not rise more than 12 feet without a landing. The issue is more the design of the space (tall, narrow and open) and the nature of the ride people just experienced.

They did though spend some time on designing switchback ramps. I’m not sure having people turning around a bunch would have been all that better after such a ride. I also wouldn’t be surprising if they ran into some life safety issues with the length of the ramps.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

As a visually impaired person, who does happen to be able to see enough that I never had to learn Braille luckily (even though Perkins, the blind school not the restaurant chain, advocated to do so when I would visit to tour there accessible technologies on occasion as a kid) - I actually had to look this up.

Disney's website says that they also offer large print and Braille guide books, and even Braille maps. (I have to assume you can't keep those unlike normal maps.) Undoubtedly those would be easier to use for most rather than trying to poke around the large maps that do exist. Certainly more portable and easier than having to track around to find the limited number of standalone Braille maps resort wide.

Oh, I absolutely get the logic of Braille maps being available at Guest Services, but the logic of a podium a half mile from the entrance is baffling to me.

Same at Disneyland, they should have a CM there to hand out a prize if a blind person ever found that map, let alone actually used it to navigate the park.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Stairs actually are considered to be part of accessible design. There are specific criteria they follow and the design guidelines even note that note having stairs as an option could make a place less accessible. The exit stairs at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind are no steeper than any other stairs in the parks. While they could be less steep, people do have concerns about stairs with a low rise. Stairs can also not rise more than 12 feet without a landing. The issue is more the design of the space (tall, narrow and open) and the nature of the ride people just experienced.

They did though spend some time on designing switchback ramps. I’m not sure having people turning around a bunch would have been all that better after such a ride. I also wouldn’t be surprising if they ran into some life safety issues with the length of the ramps.

Thanks. This is very useful. From my perspective, I was a bit surprised the first time I rode. Stairs on other rides, I earlier mentioned the Mummy for example, have not seemed as difficult to navigate as the ones on GoG. In my case, it was not due to the GoG ride, but as you said the space being tall and narrow.

Can you shed light on any other queues? If indeed WDW plans to add a way for guests to exit queues to use the restroom, have other parks done that? I feel like I have seen that before, but I don't recall where. what would that look like?

There was a time when a guest in line near me had a medical problem in the queue for Pirates. The CM's helped him go out via a side exit near the fountain. Everyone was impressed by how quickly they responded to his needs.

 

[RamblinWreck]

Who remembers when it was FP+ and DAS, there was never long lines for that line with both and there probably was not as much abuse.
G+ and LL change everything...and now we have this mess from excessive greed.

Dark days indeed

FP+ was such a huge downgrade from the original fast pass

 

[Comped]

Oh, I absolutely get the logic of Braille maps being available at Guest Services, but the logic of a podium a half mile from the entrance is baffling to me.

Same at Disneyland, they should have a CM there to hand out a prize if a blind person ever found that map, let alone actually used it to navigate the park.

If they gave out the portable braile maps to keep... I'd learned Braille just to have some. Should probably learn at some point but it was never a priority for a lot of reasons.

Stairs actually are considered to be part of accessible design. There are specific criteria they follow and the design guidelines even note that note having stairs as an option could make a place less accessible. The exit stairs at Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind are no steeper than any other stairs in the parks. While they could be less steep, people do have concerns about stairs with a low rise. Stairs can also not rise more than 12 feet without a landing. The issue is more the design of the space (tall, narrow and open) and the nature of the ride people just experienced.

They did though spend some time on designing switchback ramps. I’m not sure having people turning around a bunch would have been all that better after such a ride. I also wouldn’t be surprising if they ran into some life safety issues with the length of the ramps.

Yep. ADA guidelines are freely available, and something that throughout my theme park studies at UCF was often emphasized as something we always had to meet in projects about ride design and operations. Actually I still have a fair few things memorized! I think it's either hallways or doors that must be at least 32 in wide for wheelchair accessibility for example. That's a minimum and most places in a theme park will be wider than that simply for putting even more people through...

 

[lazyboy97o]

Thanks. This is very useful. From my perspective, I was a bit surprised the first time I rode. Stairs on other rides, I earlier mentioned the Mummy for example, have not seemed as difficult to navigate as the ones on GoG. In my case, it was not due to the GoG ride, but as you said the space being tall and narrow.

Can you shed light on any other queues? If indeed WDW plans to add a way for guests to exit queues to use the restroom, have other parks done that? I feel like I have seen that before, but I don't recall where. what would that look like?

There was a time when a guest in line near me had a medical problem in the queue for Pirates. The CM's helped him go out via a side exit near the fountain. Everyone was impressed by how quickly they responded to his needs.

Some queues have an attendant lane which is basically an extra lane that allows employees to get around the queue without squeezing past everyone. They typically run along the side of switchback areas. Sometimes they are obvious because they are clearly delineated by queue rail. In other cases they less obvious as they’re just the space between the queue rail and the scenic elements of the queue. That proximity to scenic elements would be a big challenge with using attendant lanes as there is a reason guests are physically separated from those scenic elements.

In a new Assembly occupancy the maximum travel distance to an exit (either outside or a protected area that leads outside) is 250’. Given the nature of queues they tend to be right along the edge of a building so that space isn’t wasted getting people out. Ways out can also be ways in if needed.

Yep. ADA guidelines are freely available, and something that throughout my theme park studies at UCF was often emphasized as something we always had to meet in projects about ride design and operations. Actually I still have a fair few things memorized! I think it's either hallways or doors that must be at least 32 in wide for wheelchair accessibility for example. That's a minimum and most places in a theme park will be wider than that simply for putting even more people through...

It’s doors that must have a 32” minimum clearance between the jamb and any door hardware. Hallways must generally be 36” clear but can be reduced down in small sections. Despite people often saying it’s due to the ADA, the widths in entertainment venues like theme parks are driven more by the building and life safety codes which, for example, require a minimum width of 44” for hallways.

Officially, Disney only allows strollers up to 31” wide into the parks, which you’ll notice is just wide enough to fit through a single door with its 32” clear opening.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Its amazing how so many other theme/amusement parks exist without the level of service that DAS provided and ease of obtainment yet dont have queues that are a panic of people passing out, throwing up, bowling people over, etc.... What is it specifically about Disney that causes these issues?

I imagine the others don’t have those problems because most disabled people don’t go there. Disney has a disproportionately high number of disabled guests because people knew they’ve made accommodations that made it possible for disabled people to enjoy the parks. Disney will now join the growing list of places many people can no longer go, you may be ok with that but many others aren’t.

People think others are overreacting because they abused the system and they’ll now have to stand in long lines but the reality is they’re worried because they’re about to lose one of the only theme parks they could still go to. They aren’t worried about standing in line, they’re worried about not having any theme/amusement parks to go to anymore.

 

[Epcot81Fan]

I imagine the others don’t have those problems because most disabled people don’t go there. Disney has a disproportionately high number of disabled guests because people knew they’ve made accommodations that made it possible for disabled people to enjoy the parks. Disney will now join the growing list of places many people can no longer go, you may be ok with that but many others aren’t.

People think others are overreacting because they abused the system and they’ll now have to stand in long lines but the reality is they’re worried because they’re about to lose one of the only theme parks they could still go to. They aren’t worried about standing in line, they’re worried about not having any theme/amusement parks to go to anymore.

Disney is absolutely aware these changes will lead to fewer former DAS parties coming to the park.

They are apparently fine with that as the long-term benefits of those people no longer coming to the park outweigh the short-term financial impact.