GAC to Become DAS

[flynnibus]

It seems like one of the complaints is...

I can only tolerate 5hrs...
... under old model I could do 10 attractions..
... under new model I could only do 5 attractions..

Nevermind 'other' people could only get through maybe 4 attractions in the same period.

Some believe Disney should enable a disabled person who can only tolerate 5hrs to do 10hrs worth of park visits during the 5hr period.

That is not something Disney is obligated to do. Disney can and has, but is not obligated to. This change does stand to reduce how many attractions someone can get done in a fixed amount of time. But what it doesn't necessarily do is reduce you to LESS than what 'open' population have the potential to do. With the crowding of disabled access at some attractions it would... but the reduced abuse should help with that too.

But I think this is the disconnect for many... people thinking Disney should allow people to concentrate a full trip into a shorter amount of time. That is purely a customer service choice - not legal obligation.

And in this case, it looks like the lure for abuse was just too high.. so yes those who were in need are brought back down a bit from their previous graces offered by Disney.

The inability of someone to maximize something's potential is not something ADA or others are required to cover. A younger kid who has more stamina can do more than me.. that's just how it is. The ADA is not required to make you 'normal' stamina or throughput.. its required to allow your level of stamina to participate.

 

[asianway]

So...which lifestyler blogs are going to be the best to follow on the 9th to report on the meltdowns at Guest Relations?

 

[Hyperspace Hoopla]

I'm not handicapped, so I really can't comment. I wish all those that need the service the best of luck with the new sytem.

I am, however, pretty fat - so I feel I can make this comment and still sleep soundly tonight.

Many of the abusers are just fat people on motorized scooters. I certainly won't miss waiting the extra five minutes for the WDW bus to load the chubby scooter, then have the rest of the family feel entitled to cut the line and board through the rear door, taking up half the bus seats.

Again - not talking about the handicapped or the elderly. I'm just talking about the people my size that rent scooters they really don't need (and would be better served NOT using) in order to get the GAC card.

 

[Gomer]

Many of the abusers are just fat people on motorized scooters. I certainly won't miss waiting the extra five minutes for the WDW bus to load the chubby scooter, then have the rest of the family feel entitled to cut the line and board through the rear door, taking up half the bus seats.

Again - not talking about the handicapped or the elderly. I'm just talking about the people my size that rent scooters they really don't need (and would be better served NOT using) in order to get the GAC card.

I doubt this will actually change at all. You don't need a GAC/DAS for your family to cut the line for the bus. Anyone can roll up in a wheel chair and have their entire party board first (even if that part fills half the bus). And you don't need a wheelchair to get the GAC. I think its likely that scooter use might actually increase if it allows any extra access at lines as it can be had by simply coughing up the money for the scooter and not having to deal with the messy job of lying at Guest Relations to get the DAS card. Currently, if you walk up to a fastpass line and wave a wheelchair key at the castmemeber, they'll let you through.

I'm of two minds on that issue. Some WDW hotels are really big and require a rediculous amount of walking to get around. So, I see why some out of shape people would rent them to get around. I'm in pretty good shape, but the walk to my room in Kidani or the trek across the grounds at POR are alot even for me after a day at Epcot. And there's really no way to not load them into the bus first without running someone over.

At the same times, I've missed reservations because 3 wheel chairs roll up together with a party of 15 and have to wait for the second bus. I've travelled with people who needed wheelchairs for the parks, but not really for the hotel, that rented scooters anyway to not have to wait for/stand on busses when leaving the park at night. It was helpful for that person, but not really necesarry. Is that abusing the system? I'm not even sure.

But, GAC/DAS changes are all fine and dandy, but if they don't change the wheelchair policies as well, that could quickly become the new problem area. The conspiracy theorist in me, might even suggest that Disney stands to make alot of money if they increased their wheelchair rental stock. If they increase the quantity and let that stand as a free fastpass, then you are basically giving peoiple an option to pay for front of the line access in the form of a wheelchair rental. But it would be paranoid to think DIsney could do something like that right?

 

[gaga4disney]

I think the whole scooter situation will have to be revamped. The busing system is not designed to accommodate the growing use of them throughout WDW. I think a separate busing system for scooter/wheelchair and families would be more appropriate. The bus would be designed to accommodate more wheelchairs and easier access and would take the riders to each of their reosrts, instead of a specific resort only and back.

 

[midwest_mice]

I'm not handicapped, so I really can't comment. I wish all those that need the service the best of luck with the new sytem.



Many of the abusers are just fat people on motorized scooters. I certainly won't miss waiting the extra five minutes for the WDW bus to load the chubby scooter, then have the rest of the family feel entitled to cut the line and board through the rear door, taking up half the bus seats.

Again - not talking about the handicapped or the elderly. I'm just talking about the people my size that rent scooters they really don't need (and would be better served NOT using) in order to get the GAC card.

I completely agree. Being "fat" doesn't mean you are disabled, some people it does, but the majority is just plain laziness. The worst I saw on my last trip was a bus pulled up at DTD to the Contemp. and a lady in her early 50's was in a scooter. The bus was about 3/4 full and the driver asked her- "do you want me to wake up these 3 kids since that is the bench I have to put up to park your scooter?" The lady replied: Yes, I want on this bus and am not going to wait for another". Mind you, she just wheeled up about a minute before the bus arrived. So the driver woke up the kids that were sleeping in their parents laps and those parents were quite irrated. Then of course, 5 or 6 others in the scooter lady's party had to board in front of everyone else. She parked the scooter, and then easily walked to an open seat on the bus.

 

[darthspielberg]

Do you have a reference to why you believed this? I keep reading where they say the DAS persons "party"...

I don't recall where I read it. Perhaps I mis-read the lengthy MiceChat article, so I am glad to hear it is not the case. I imagine that my aunt won't be 100% happy with the change (especially after about 7 years of using GAC), but on my end, I can't complain.

Still curious to see if anything changes, even slightly, when Disney makes the official announcment.

 

[irmonkey]

You don't need a GAC/DAS for your family to cut the line for the bus. Anyone can roll up in a wheel chair and have their entire party board first (even if that part fills half the bus).

They really should start making parties and wheelchair and Rascals wait in line for the busses just like everyone else. It's not fair for everyone who waits legitimately, especially when a good portion of the people get up, fold the wheelchair and carry it onto the bus themselves.

 

[Gomer]

They really should start making parties and wheelchair and Rascals wait in line for the busses just like everyone else. It's not fair for everyone who waits legitimately, especially when a good portion of the people get up, fold the wheelchair and carry it onto the bus themselves.

There is no way they could enforce that without significant staffing increases. Bus drivers have no idea how long people have been waiting when they pull up. In order to do that, you would need to have every bus stop staffed with an employee tracking the arrival order. That's a possibility at the parks, but on the hotel side it would be more difficult as there are no formal queues.

Although staffing bus stops with monitors would provide extensive benefits if it could be used to route pick ups to where they are needed better. But that's a whole different problem.

 

[IWantMyMagicBand]

They really should start making parties and wheelchair and Rascals wait in line for the busses just like everyone else. It's not fair for everyone who waits legitimately, especially when a good portion of the people get up, fold the wheelchair and carry it onto the bus themselves.

Why, when the great wide walking area of the bus queue is accessible, do ECV/wheelchair users not queue?

 

[Gomer]

Why, when the great wide walking area of the bus queue is accessible, do ECV/wheelchair users not queue?

It would slow down load. Wheelchairs need to be loaded first for the process to work best. Having them wait by the rear door allows the bus driver to see the wheelchair and begin the process of lowering the bus and extending the ramp to allow access. If that wheelchair was in the middle of the queue, you would have to halt load half way through, ask people to leave their seats, lower the bus, load the wheel chair, raise the bus and then continue loading.

 

[muteki]

Why, when the great wide walking area of the bus queue is accessible, do ECV/wheelchair users not queue?

Because it is hard to load a ECV/wheelchair on a bus with a bunch of people on it. In many cases, you would have to make everyone on the bus get off, load the ECV/wheelchair, then let everyone back on. This is not something the driver alone can reasonably manage.

I'm not sure what happens in the case where there are enough people at the stop for 2+ buses, do the ECV/wheelchairs wait for n number of buses and then are the first on the next one? That would be more equitable, but again, there are no CMs at the stops nor can the drivers manage such things.

 

[Lucky]

Only a couple of ECVs/wheelchairs can go on each bus, so sometimes they wait longer than other people who arrive after them at the stop.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

From the article, looks like he will just go thru the now used wheelchair way.

"There are more radical changes in DCA, where all queues and park facilities meet ADA requirements for wheelchair accessibility. In DCA, a person in a wheelchair or ECV won’t receive any extra courtesies or services beyond those visitors who are not in a wheelchair. People visiting DCA in wheelchairs likely won’t qualify for a DAS, and will now experience the park as everyone else does, including waiting in Standby lines and juggling Fastpass return times. The task of implementing that culture change will be more intense in Anaheim than Orlando as there are currently 55 attractions at Disneyland Resort that use a ride vehicle, and about 35 of those have wheelchair accessible queues. Comparatively, there are a total of 46 attractions at Walt Disney World’s four parks combined that use a ride vehicle, and 38 of those have wheelchair accessible queues. There are more rides overall at Disneyland Resort compared to WDW, and more of them in Anaheim are not wheelchair accessible.
At Disneyland Park there are 20 rides that have been identified as non-wheelchair accessible, and at those 20 rides an accommodation of going through the exit or a Fastpass lane will be offered to those in wheelchairs. A person in a wheelchair doesn’t need a DAS to get access at those attractions, thereby limiting the issuing of DAS cards in that park. Disneyland’s operations teams are studying ways to restore the wheelchair accessibility designed into the queues of some newer rides, like Indiana Jones, to allow a DCA-style equity to exist at as many Disneyland rides as possible. It should be noted that the work implementing DAS, which has had lots of executive involvement from both coasts, has now generated serious discussion in TDA on creating a five-year plan of capital expenditure to go in to those older rides and retrofit them with wheelchair accessible queues. But that’s still a few years away."

 

[ninjaprincesst]

We just wenht and bought him one of those canes that turns into a seat, so problem solved. I feel for the families of autistic and other children with disabilities that have hard times waiting, but I understand why Disney had to do it, it just like the rifd chips in the mugs, a few people totally abuse the system so everyone has to suffer. Hopeflly they will tweek this new system till it works for those kiddos that have waiting issues,

 

[flynnibus]

Only a couple of ECVs/wheelchairs can go on each bus, so sometimes they wait longer than other people who arrive after them at the stop.

Yup... But they also always board before others. So sometimes they lose but many times they don't

 

[JimboJones123]

So...which lifestyler blogs are going to be the best to follow on the 9th to report on the meltdowns at Guest Relations?

Caused by themselves.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I doubt this will actually change at all. You don't need a GAC/DAS for your family to cut the line for the bus. Anyone can roll up in a wheel chair and have their entire party board first (even if that part fills half the bus). And you don't need a wheelchair to get the GAC. I think its likely that scooter use might actually increase if it allows any extra access at lines as it can be had by simply coughing up the money for the scooter and not having to deal with the messy job of lying at Guest Relations to get the DAS card. Currently, if you walk up to a fastpass line and wave a wheelchair key at the castmemeber, they'll let you through.

This is not entirely true, we visit once/twice a year during summer and Christmas, both are busy and have had issues loading at bus stops at resorts/parks ranging from Value, Moderate and Deluxe with the worst being at the moderates and multi-stop Deluxe resorts. If the bus is 1/2 full, or the line is longer than 30 guests the driver nearly always tells us we have to wait for the next bus, even though we would be able to get on the bus if my wife could climb the stairs and wait in line.

At times, we have pulled up with 20-30 guests and been loaded first, they load the chairs first because there are only two or three slots for the chairs and most guest (Value was the WORST) will not move even though the signs they are sitting under clearly state the area is designated as a wheelchair priority.

Last Christmas vacation we missed our breakfast reservation because no less than three busses past 1/2 ful at our stop and ended up wating for over an hour before calling to complain. We avoid all park hopping because of the issues and have moved to Deluxe resorts in the Epcot area to use the boats/walking paths to further eliminate the complete hassle of loading on a Disney bus.

And don't forget, the bus has to completely unload before the driver can disconnect the hooks/cables so we can unload and usually takes another 5-10 minutes while most guests are already at the security checkpoint or the turnstyles.

And lastly, none of this belongs in this thread, I applaud the DAC program for the most part. My wife needs assistance at all omni-movers, roller coasters, and cannot climb stairs which requires some assistance at times. I have always believed the GAC should have enforced return times as SM and at times HM did.

 

[minninedaisy74]

I completely agree. Being "fat" doesn't mean you are disabled, some people it does, but the majority is just plain laziness. The worst I saw on my last trip was a bus pulled up at DTD to the Contemp. and a lady in her early 50's was in a scooter. The bus was about 3/4 full and the driver asked her- "do you want me to wake up these 3 kids since that is the bench I have to put up to park your scooter?" The lady replied: Yes, I want on this bus and am not going to wait for another". Mind you, she just wheeled up about a minute before the bus arrived. So the driver woke up the kids that were sleeping in their parents laps and those parents were quite irrated. Then of course, 5 or 6 others in the scooter lady's party had to board in front of everyone else. She parked the scooter, and then easily walked to an open seat on the bus.

I am afraid if I been a passenger on that bus and witnessed her insisting on waking up sleeping kids I would have let fat scotter lady know exactly what I thought of her entitled self aabsorbed behavior! Honestly I am not sure I would have gotten up and moved when the bus driver asked me because I mean really we all know that the Bus driver nor Disney would have done anything. Disabled person in a wheel chair absolutely fat lady in a scooter not so sure we should be so accomadating.

 

[DISNEYCASTAWAY]

My husband and i will be there Oct.6-12. My husband had a total ankle fusion many years ago, he uses a cane in the parks to help him in walking, however there are new rides like Toy Story and a few others that he cannot go into the regular line because of the steps. I am going to see how this works, we will start our vacation with the old GAC and end with the new DAS. He is also 6 foot 3 inches tall and overweight when he wears pants you do not see the foot long scar on both sides of his foot and leg. Many people assume he uses the cane and has a severe limp because he is overweight. Not the case. From what i am reading i don't think we will have any problems. It seems like he should still be able to get an alternate entrance for the rides we will need it for. I do not think this will be a bad system. Speaking as a wife of a disabled person i have always had to take more time in the planning of our trips, this is no different. We always have to take time to sit down and give his leg a rest. With this we will be able to do that, And i still have a three year old to run after and keep busy. A three year old does not understand having to wait either,and they are pron to throwing temper tantrums. JUST BECAUSE I HAVE A HUSBAND WITH A DISABILITY, AND A THREE YEAR OLD DOES NOT MAKE HIM OR MY FAMILY MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY OTHER FAMILY AT DISNEY.