Rumor New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[TrainsOfDisney]

What you meant to say is incorrect. HIPAA could be repealed in its entirety and businesses would still generally not be allowed to request documentation.

Yes, but HIPAA still exists and is in fact a thing.

In contrast to:

There is no such thing as HIPPA.

Again, HIPPA is not a thing.

 

[Happyday]

What you meant to say is incorrect. HIPAA could be repealed in its entirety and businesses would still generally not be allowed to request documentation.

Sorry I am not a lawyer truly you must be! All I know is when I go to the doctors they tell me they can't speak to other doctors or businesses without written consent because of HIPAA!

 

[Jrb1979]

I'm a little confused by:

Notably, Disney has dramatically narrowed the scope of eligibility and now says that DAS is for guests with a "developmental disability like autism or similar."

Surely that can't be all.

Sounds like they will other accommodations for everyone else.

 

[pdude81]

The "return to line" passes are the thing that really needs to be clarified. It would make sense if there were a particular merge point that you either had to meet back up with your party at later or a departure point you'd have to go back to if by yourself.... but the queues don't seem set up in a way to allow this.

They may also be planning to issue these generally (even for bathroom breaks for non-disabled guests) as a way to combat line cutting complaints and stop allowing people to walk through the line to "get to their family". On my recent Easter trip the cutting in line was actually much less than when it was less crowded in previous trips. That has been far more prevalent at Universal for me, anecdotally.

Leaving this to operations cast, as suggested above, seems to put a lot of their shoulders to manage people who might have a condition requiring them to go to the bathroom more frequently than a line would allow. We'll have to see if they would allow DAS in those cases with voluntary documentation or if it's a blanket no. However, the language on the site isn't saying that DAS is meant for developmental disabilities next month, right? It seems to be separate from the procedural part of how it is obtained.

 

[Chi84]

Yes, but HIPAA still exists and is in fact a thing.

In contrast to:

HIPAA does exist and has expanded privacy protections. But doctors were not freely discussing and distributing people's medical diagnoses to businesses prior to HIPAA.

A good number of people confuse HIPAA with the ADA provisions that prohibit businesses from asking about a person's disability or requiring documentation in certain instances.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

A big part of the purpose behind accessible legislation was to open up optional activities.

Disney would have to demonstrate necessity. Too many disabled people like it here isn’t much of an argument, especially when disability and participation have been increasing.

Rather than put the onus on Disney, this is why I suggested the law be changed. That's something people with a disability could advocate for. I'm in favour of slightly advantageous accommodations because it offsets challenges many people face.

However, the world we lives in makes that impossible. It creates an incentive to cheat the system and that's why DAS is always being tweaked to be less "advantageous".

Someone said, and I don't know to what degree it's true, that companies could limit disability access if it becomes unmanageable. If the wait times for other guests become excessive, Disney could argue that they can only accommodate X number of people with DAS in any given day.

Kind of like attractions that have wheelchair accessible ride vehicles. There's only so many and those people might wait longer than others as a result. There's no requirement to make every ride vehicle accessible.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Could this increase be related to Covid?
In 2019, for example, MK had over 20 million guests.
In 2020, the number dropped to a bit less than 7 million. In 2021, that number jumped to a little over 12 1/2 million.
Those were the latest figures I could find. Thinking though that the number of those going to WDW has increased since 2021 so the numbers of people needing a DAS would also increase.

There is listerature indicatingn disability identification has increased since Covid, and Long Covid is now recognized by the ADA as a disability.

There's also been increases in rates of diagnosis for many conditions, including autism, due to better screening and availablity of screening services. Autism is now diagnosed at a rate of 1 in 36 children. Diagnoses of genetic disorders resulting in developmental disabilities beyond the typically heard of diagnoses have increased in as whole exome sequencing has become more widely/readily covered by insurances.

1 in 4 adults have some type of disability.

The increases in disability identification should be resulting in more proactive planning by society in general, but that doesn't appear to be the case, and isn't likely to change any time soon.

 

[Happyday]

HIPAA does exist and has expanded privacy protections. But doctors were not freely discussing and distributing people's medical diagnoses to businesses prior to HIPAA.

A good number of people confuse HIPAA with the ADA provisions that prohibit businesses from asking about a person's disability or requiring documentation in certain instances.

Then you need to call and tell all the doctors offices since that is what they tell you when they ask for you to sign a consent. And it is in the paperwork when you change PCP's?

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I'm a little confused by:

Notably, Disney has dramatically narrowed the scope of eligibility and now says that DAS is for guests with a "developmental disability like autism or similar."

Surely that can't be all.

There will presumably be other situations, but we don't know. Those cases will be less than now I assume.

For comparison, Disneyland has wheelchair users enter attractions from the exit. When DCA was built, it was more modern and accessible so that wasn't offered. Wheelchair users can access the regular queue.

I expect the baseline will be that people with mobility issues can use a wheelchair. Whether or not there will be exceptions and why, is yet to be seen.

 

[Happyday]

Then you need to call and tell all the doctors offices since that is what they tell you when they ask for you to sign a consent. And it is in the paperwork when you change PCP's?

I guess you must be a lawyer?

HIPAA does exist and has expanded privacy protections. But doctors were not freely discussing and distributing people's medical diagnoses to businesses prior to HIPAA.

A good number of people confuse HIPAA with the ADA provisions that prohibit businesses from asking about a person's disability or requiring documentation in certain instances.

Let me guess you are a lawyer? If not then go become one because you seem to KNOW EVERYTHING.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I expect the baseline will be that people with mobility issues can use a wheelchair.

This has been the baseline at Disney Parks for more than a few years at this point. Mobility issues alone haven't qualified a person for DAS in some time.

 

[pigglewiggle]

There is listerature indicatingn disability identification has increased since Covid, and Long Covid is now recognized by the ADA as a disability.

There's also been increases in rates of diagnosis for many conditions, including autism, due to better screening and availablity of screening services. Autism is now diagnosed at a rate of 1 in 36 children. Diagnoses of genetic disorders resulting in developmental disabilities beyond the typically heard of diagnoses have increased in as whole exome sequencing has become more widely/readily covered by insurances.

1 in 4 adults have some type of disability.

The increases in disability identification should be resulting in more proactive planning by society in general, but that doesn't appear to be the case, and isn't likely to change any time soon.

1/4 adults have a disability? That would make them able to get a DAS? Is that right?

 

[Happyday]

I think those other places look at the mess Disney has created for their customers (both ADA and not) and are more than happy to let them have it all.

 

[Hockey89]

There is listerature indicatingn disability identification has increased since Covid, and Long Covid is now recognized by the ADA as a disability.

There's also been increases in rates of diagnosis for many conditions, including autism, due to better screening and availablity of screening services. Autism is now diagnosed at a rate of 1 in 36 children. Diagnoses of genetic disorders resulting in developmental disabilities beyond the typically heard of diagnoses have increased in as whole exome sequencing has become more widely/readily covered by insurances.

1 in 4 adults have some type of disability.

The increases in disability identification should be resulting in more proactive planning by society in general, but that doesn't appear to be the case, and isn't likely to change any time soon.

1 in 4 adults do not have a disability that precludes them from waiting in line..... This is the problem. Many kids with austism can wait in line. In your world, Disney would be an fn nightmare....

 

[Hockey89]

"Would be"?

 

[Angel Ariel]

1 in 4 adults do not have a disability that precludes them from waiting in line..... This is the problem. Many kids with austism can wait in line. In your world, Disney would be an fn nightmare....

I didn't make that claim at all. Please do not put words in my mouth. I was solely speaking to the fact that rates of disability identification are increasing in response to someone asking a general question. Your final sentence is unnecessary and inaccurate, as I never claimed all those with a disability should qualify for DAS.

 

[Angel Ariel]

1/4 adults have a disability? That would make them able to get a DAS? Is that right?

Yes, 1 in 4 adults have a disability. No, that doesn't mean they all qualify for DAS, and nothing I said indicated that.

 

[Hockey89]

I didn't make that claim at all. Please do not put words in my mouth. I was solely speaking to the fact that rates of disability identification are increasing in response to someone asking a general question. Your final sentence is unnecessary and inaccurate, as I never claimed all those with a disability should qualify for DAS.

Oh brother, the don't put words in my mouth person. I was just commenting about the 1 in 4, which is BS by the way, and how Disney needs to change their system....

 

[Hockey89]

Yes, 1 in 4 adults have a disability. No, that doesn't mean they all qualify for DAS, and nothing I said indicated that.

The problem when you include everything under the son as a "disability, it loses all meaning....

 

[Angel Ariel]

Oh brother, the don't put words in my mouth person. I was just commenting about the 1 in 4, which is BS by the way, and how Disney needs to change their system....

I made no comments about Disney in my post. I made a comment about society needing to be proactive in planning to deal with the rates of increase in identification. Disney is not society last I checked.

And as for the BS about the stat, take your issues up with the CDC:

"Up to 1 in 4 (27 percent) adults in the United States have some type of disability. Graphic of the United States displaying figures of people with a disability and people with no disability."