New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

D

DisneyHead123

Well-Known Member
Angel Ariel said:
It would mean Disney could stop offering it altogether.
Click to expand...
Ok, I must have misunderstood Chi84’s post. I thought she was saying offering DAS to people with only certain disabilities is legally problematic, but only if it’s a mandatory program under the ADA, not a voluntary one. I wasn’t understanding why that would be the case (if something is considered discrimination legal repercussions apply to any program, I think, mandatory or voluntary.)

Instead maybe she was saying that the ultimate end game if challenged is just to shut down the program altogether.
 
N

NotTheOne

Well-Known Member
DisneyHead123 said:
Ok, I must have misunderstood Chi84’s post. I thought she was saying offering DAS to people with only certain disabilities is legally problematic, but only if it’s a mandatory program under the ADA, not a voluntary one. I wasn’t understanding why that would be the case (if something is considered discrimination legal repercussions apply to any program, I think, mandatory or voluntary.)

Instead maybe she was saying that the ultimate end game if challenged is just to shut down the program altogether.
Click to expand...
I think the confusion might be because you tried to compare two completely different and unrelated situations, i.e., a monthly giveaway of some kind (a prize, or a free day or whatever) and disability accommodation.

If something is offered to the general public (such as a giveaway), it would be discrimination to say "except for disabled people" (or any other protected class, for that matter).

But with the exception of where the ADA lays out specifics (how wide door must be, or that there must be ramps, etc.), how to offer accommodations is really up to the business or entity.

That's why I've believed for some time that Disney could do away with the DAS completely, and still be on solid legal ground, so long as they offered a different accommodation that met the need.
 
Chi84

Chi84

Premium Member
NotTheOne said:
I think the confusion might be because you tried to compare two completely different and unrelated situations, i.e., a monthly giveaway of some kind (a prize, or a free day or whatever) and disability accommodation.

If something is offered to the general public (such as a giveaway), it would be discrimination to say "except for disabled people" (or any other protected class, for that matter).

But with the exception of where the ADA lays out specifics (how wide door must be, or that there must be ramps, etc.), how to offer accommodations is really up to the business or entity.

That's why I've believed for some time that Disney could do away with the DAS completely, and still be on solid legal ground, so long as they offered a different accommodation that met the need.
Click to expand...
I think you’re correct that they’re on solid legal ground, but there may have been public relations or administrative reasons to keep the program.

People suggested that they should have changed the name of the program, but even if they replaced it with an almost identical one the headlines would have still been “Disney discontinues DAS.”

I sincerely doubt Disney wants to discontinue DAS, but it did want to significantly limit it.

The difficult part is what different accommodation would meet the need. Hypothetically, if the only accommodation that would work for a person is to skip standing in line, would Disney be required by the ADA to provide that as a reasonable accommodation given its current business model?
 
D

DisneyHead123

Well-Known Member
NotTheOne said:
I think the confusion might be because you tried to compare two completely different and unrelated situations, i.e., a monthly giveaway of some kind (a prize, or a free day or whatever) and disability accommodation.
Click to expand...

I think that if the courts found virtual lines have nothing to do with the ADA, calling it a "disability accommodation" would be pretty slippery semantic territory. I guess that gets to the root of what I was asking - if the ADA says "Nope, no thanks, this has nothing to do with disability accommodations as far as we're concerned, not legally anyways", then it become something that Disney is choosing to give to parks goers with a developmental delay. So does that change the legality? Maybe a clearer example would be - could Disney say "Anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing will get a free annual pass, but only those who are deaf or hard of hearing."? Or would that be considered discriminatory?
 
Chi84

Chi84

Premium Member
DisneyHead123 said:
I think that if the courts found virtual lines have nothing to do with the ADA, calling it a "disability accommodation" would be pretty slippery semantic territory. I guess that gets to the root of what I was asking - if the ADA says "Nope, no thanks, this has nothing to do with disability accommodations as far as we're concerned, not legally anyways", then it become something that Disney is choosing to give to parks goers with a developmental delay. So does that change the legality? Maybe a clearer example would be - could Disney say "Anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing will get a free annual pass, but only those who are deaf or hard of hearing."? Or would that be considered discriminatory?
Click to expand...
Disney giving out free annual passes crosses into the realm of complete fantasy 😂
 
Chi84

Chi84

Premium Member
DisneyHead123 said:
I hear you, lol, but just trying to clarify what I was asking.
Click to expand...
Your question is a good one. I’m probably overthinking this. DAS is a disability accommodation that is reasonably limited to people who have certain disabilities that cannot be accommodated in other ways. Developmental disabilities appear to fit that definition. Clearly, you’re correct that disability accommodations can’t be arbitrary.
 
S

Splash4eva

Well-Known Member
What im about to say is slightly off topic But to me still relevant regarding DAS etc. so i was at a party this weekend. Talking with a family friend of my GF who just came back from Disney with his wife and son. Was telling me about a “service” he paid $600 3 hours to basically “skip the lines”. It was his 1st visit and was given the number by someone else. He was pretty oblivious to how that happened and actually thought it was a legit service until i explained to him what they were probably doing. So looks like Disney still needs to crack down on what is happening…
 
J

jennab55

Well-Known Member
Splash4eva said:
What im about to say is slightly off topic But to me still relevant regarding DAS etc. so i was at a party this weekend. Talking with a family friend of my GF who just came back from Disney with his wife and son. Was telling me about a “service” he paid $600 3 hours to basically “skip the lines”. It was his 1st visit and was given the number by someone else. He was pretty oblivious to how that happened and actually thought it was a legit service until i explained to him what they were probably doing. So looks like Disney still needs to crack down on what is happening…
Click to expand...
Ask for the contact info and report the person. Only way to shut them down is if they are caught and banned. Will hopefully then scare others from doing it too.
 
S

Splash4eva

Well-Known Member
jennab55 said:
But it will affect all of us when they shut down DAS for good…. I’d rather them know about the people using it unethically and going after them.
Click to expand...
At this point altho it will hurt myself as well. I truly hope they can DAS for everyone. Free up all the LL and according to the so called experts now makes it easier to get those and the stand by que moves better
 
J

jennab55

Well-Known Member
Splash4eva said:
At this point altho it will hurt myself as well. I truly hope they can DAS for everyone. Free up all the LL and according to the so called experts now makes it easier to get those and the stand by que moves better
Click to expand...
I guess I wouldn’t hope they get rid of something that helps other people, even if it’s not something I use.
 
S

Splash4eva

Well-Known Member
jennab55 said:
I guess I wouldn’t hope they get rid of something that helps other people, even if it’s not something I use.
Click to expand...
I do use it. But its clear Disney is picking & choosing who gets it. Still cant crackdown on abuse yet have miles of data on all of us. Months later people still confused bc there is no clarity or any easy access from a line. So yea lets can it all
 
J

jennab55

Well-Known Member
Splash4eva said:
I do use it. But it’s clear Disney is picking & choosing who gets it. Still cant crackdown on abuse yet have miles of data on all of us. Months later people still confused bc there is no clarity or any easy access from a line. So yea lets can it all
Click to expand...
If you think that’s how it should be, then don’t use it. You have that choice and sounds like it wouldn’t matter to you if it didn’t exist.
 
DryerLintFan

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
Chi84 said:
I think you’re correct that they’re on solid legal ground, but there may have been public relations or administrative reasons to keep the program.

People suggested that they should have changed the name of the program, but even if they replaced it with an almost identical one the headlines would have still been “Disney discontinues DAS.”

I sincerely doubt Disney wants to discontinue DAS, but it did want to significantly limit it.

The difficult part is what different accommodation would meet the need. Hypothetically, if the only accommodation that would work for a person is to skip standing in line, would Disney be required by the ADA to provide that as a reasonable accommodation given its current business model?
Click to expand...

There’s a way. Like, to cut out people from DAS who use mobility devices, they made sure the queues could accommodate mobility devices. If you think about the chief complaints, they could modify queues if they wanted to.

We waited in a 30 minute line yesterday, for example, that was a pleasant wait. It had fans everywhere, was fully shaded, had exposed sides so the noise was kept down and didn’t bounce, and it had water fountains along the way. The only things i wished were different was they piped in animal sounds every now and then which were alarmingly loud, and there was no place to sit. Otherwise, great queue for people who cannot be in : heat, noise, confined spaces, etc.

Most of their queues are the opposite. Even their other new queues.

Additionally, they could remove crush points in ride’s and shows. Two days ago we saw a girl have a panic attack as we exited Fantasmic. I’ve seen that before in haunted mansion as well, but lots of rides have crush points like that.

They could dim the lights in queue’s and quiet them down too and then they’d have legal ground to stand on that they’ve accommodated everyone.
 
C

Chip Chipperson

Well-Known Member

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom