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GAC to Become DAS
- Thread starter Animaniac93-98
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TP2000
Well-Known Member
Of course, anyone except for psychopaths would do the same.
But you'll have to pardon the rest of the public who gives the stinkeye if a child with a "severe disability" looks and acts like every other child waiting in the 90 minute Standby line, but the invisibly severely disabled child and their siblings and parents all go to the head of the line with a GAC or DAS. If the severe disability manifests itself in a wheelchair bound child or some other visual cue that the child is severely disabled, I don't think I've ever met anyone who wouldn't gladly allow that child to head up the exit or via FP and gain access to the ride that way.
The good news here is that the DAS program still allows those severely disabled children, whether their disability is visible or invisible, to head in via FP or the exit to access the ride without waiting in Standby. It will act just like GAC in that regard. So I'm not sure where the anger from the disabled folks come from.
If the anger is that they'll have to wait outside for an hour doing other things in the park until their DAS "return time" window arrives, that's where you lose a lot of us.
If an autistic child can't wait an hour hanging out in the park riding the PeopleMover or watching the parade or getting Fastpasses for Splash Mountain or snacking on a churro on a bench during the hour wait for their Space Mountain DAS time to arrive, then I'm not sure what else Disney or any other theme park provider could do. Short of just giving anyone who asks a priority entrance pass like the GAC, but we all saw how horribly flawed that system was and where it ended up.
I have a strong hunch the DAS program will work out just fine, and people will adapt to that wonderful courtesy Disney is extending folks who need it. It seems to have worked just fine at every other major theme park operator who now uses a similar system; Knott's Berry Farm, Cedar Fair, Universal, Six Flags, etc. Although the Disney system of DAS will be far more professionally operated and serviced than those lesser theme parks.
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TP2000
Well-Known Member
Perfect world, Perfect disney = Children under 18 retain GAC, Adults utilize DAS. Make me the CEO - where do I sign up?
And the under 18's with the GAC ride Small World alone while their siblings, parents, and friends wait in Standby and wave to them from the fifth switchback? Yeah, that won't fly.
Which then allows anyone over 18 to claim they have a child or sibling with autism to get the GAC and bypass the DAS program.
It's one way or the other, both programs can't coexist simultaneously. Disney has chosen DAS, beginning October 9th.
....so....you're saying I can't be CEO?? ....
TP2000
Well-Known Member
minninedaisy74
Active Member
Ok so I have a question for everyone involved in this debate . Does anyone on here think that someone should receive a GAC/DAS simply for having ADHD and nothing more?
I know a women who has gotten a GAC for her son who is ADHD an I was shocked that was even allowed. Where is the line drawn and is ADHD even considered at disability under the ADA?
I know a women who has gotten a GAC for her son who is ADHD an I was shocked that was even allowed. Where is the line drawn and is ADHD even considered at disability under the ADA?
RandomPrincess
Keep Moving Forward
From a Google search -
The ADA does not contain a list of medical conditions that constitute disabilities. Instead, the ADA has a general definition of disability that each person must meet. Therefore, some people with ADHD will have a disability under the ADA and some will not.
An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.
wdwms
Active Member
Having used GAC in the past (my son had some behavioral challenges as well as anxiety in crowded situations when he was younger, GACsaved us a few times from massive breakdowns and ruining our vacations), I'm not going to get into a big debate. However GAC was not horribly flawed as a system for getting on the rides, what was horribly flawed was how easy it was to obtain an GAC. I bought Dr letters with us to support our need, Cast members barely read them. Anyone with any excuse or story could obtain one. If GAC had been administered and distributed properly, required proper documentation, as well as accompanied by a photo of the individual requiring the GAC, then we wouldn't be here today.
I blame Disney for a program that was easy to spoof that caused this. Sure fire away at me privacy hounds, who will debate that they shouldn't have to bring a letter explaining their condition. Under the new program its no different, no documentation/proof needed and there is no guest limit.
So watch as large families obtain a DAS, sign up for an attraction, grab a fastpass for another at the same time (since one is paper and another is electronic) and are able to wait for two rides at once. it won't be long before the Manhattan Moms are paying someone to run through the park and obtain fast passes for other attractions.
rct247
Well-Known Member
Here are a couple facts about GAC that are noted on the card, but have never been enforced.
1. This card is NOT for immediate access.
2. Guests with disabilities and up to five members of their party may enter.... for optional considerations, additional party members are required to use the standard queue.
Here's the big one.
3. At attractions offering Disney's Fastpass service, guests should obtain a Disney's Fastpass return ticket.
Yup, that's right. All GAC cards were supposed to use Fastpass to get a return time if available. So, technically for all you GAC users out there, although it wasn't enforced, many of you simply did not read the card well enough to see that you should have been essentially using return times in some form long before DAS. Just saying...
1. This card is NOT for immediate access.
2. Guests with disabilities and up to five members of their party may enter.... for optional considerations, additional party members are required to use the standard queue.
Here's the big one.
3. At attractions offering Disney's Fastpass service, guests should obtain a Disney's Fastpass return ticket.
Yup, that's right. All GAC cards were supposed to use Fastpass to get a return time if available. So, technically for all you GAC users out there, although it wasn't enforced, many of you simply did not read the card well enough to see that you should have been essentially using return times in some form long before DAS. Just saying...
luv
Well-Known Member
This was always my problem with the abuse. I wasn't stomping my foot and saying, "No fair! The disabled are getting something I DON'T!!!" I've come to realize this was the big issue for some.
My problem was always that the abuse would lead to causing more problems for those who truly needed it.
On the one hand, it is nice that Disney has cut back on the abuse. But in doing so, they've also done what we all worried they'd end up having to do, anyway...made things harder for those who already have it hard enough.
I also don't think Disney has tried to stop the GAC abuse for any reason other than their new FPP program. If the FP lines are clogged with bogus GAC people, their FPP can't work. I think that is the real reason for the changes.
I know an older woman, a widow, who has enjoyed spending time at WDW. She can't do much due to physical problems. But she could go, do four or maybe five things and then leave. Now, she could do maybe one or two...at which point there is less point to even going.
(I'll refrain from mentioning her body size, so a whole bunch of people won't know whether they should care about her or not, lol.)All of those people who thought (or at least claimed) that they weren't hurting anyone...Well, now they have. I hope their consciences serve them (but I doubt it.)
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PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Here are a couple facts about GAC that are noted on the card, but have never been enforced.
1. This card is NOT for immediate access.
2. Guests with disabilities and up to five members of their party may enter.... for optional considerations, additional party members are required to use the standard queue.
Here's the big one.
3. At attractions offering Disney's Fastpass service, guests should obtain a Disney's Fastpass return ticket.
Yup, that's right. All GAC cards were supposed to use Fastpass to get a return time if available. So, technically for all you GAC users out there, although it wasn't enforced, many of you simply did not read the card well enough to see that you should have been essentially using return times in some form long before DAS. Just saying...
So... if they just enforced the existing policies....
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
I says you should utilize Fastpass if Fastpasses are available, as in, not required to.
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englanddg
One Little Spark...
Here are a couple facts about GAC that are noted on the card, but have never been enforced.
1. This card is NOT for immediate access.
2. Guests with disabilities and up to five members of their party may enter.... for optional considerations, additional party members are required to use the standard queue.
Here's the big one.
3. At attractions offering Disney's Fastpass service, guests should obtain a Disney's Fastpass return ticket.
Yup, that's right. All GAC cards were supposed to use Fastpass to get a return time if available. So, technically for all you GAC users out there, although it wasn't enforced, many of you simply did not read the card well enough to see that you should have been essentially using return times in some form long before DAS. Just saying...
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Here are a couple facts about GAC that are noted on the card, but have never been enforced.
1. This card is NOT for immediate access.
2. Guests with disabilities and up to five members of their party may enter.... for optional considerations, additional party members are required to use the standard queue.
Here's the big one.
3. At attractions offering Disney's Fastpass service, guests should obtain a Disney's Fastpass return ticket.
Yup, that's right. All GAC cards were supposed to use Fastpass to get a return time if available. So, technically for all you GAC users out there, although it wasn't enforced, many of you simply did not read the card well enough to see that you should have been essentially using return times in some form long before DAS. Just saying...
Wow. That's not at all how many people have been using the GAC cards.
The GAC cards became a de facto Unlimited Fastpass for use on any ride they wanted, whenever they wanted. If the ride didn't have Fastpass, they went up the exit and bypassed the line. And if they wanted to just go round and round re-riding the same attraction over and over, they did that too.
It would seem that with the DAS, Disney is just trying to reign in the abuse of GAC and re-establish what the GAC was about in the first place. They are putting more structure around it with DAS, with return times and a photo on the card and such, but it's really just the original GAC language codified into something new.
jaklgreen
Well-Known Member
I would think that being able to get some fastpasses ahead of time would be a benefit to some with
I always thought that the GAC for autistic kids(and others who could not wait in line) was to let them wait out the time away from the crowded line, or in the shade, etc. That is what all of the people kept saying they did. Now that the GAC has changed, everyone is saying how wonderful it was to have the FOTL pass and how they deserve to keep it. It seems like everyone was a bit shifty about the whole GAC thing lying about it like they know it was wrong.Here are a couple facts about GAC that are noted on the card, but have never been enforced.
1. This card is NOT for immediate access.
2. Guests with disabilities and up to five members of their party may enter.... for optional considerations, additional party members are required to use the standard queue.
Here's the big one.
3. At attractions offering Disney's Fastpass service, guests should obtain a Disney's Fastpass return ticket.
Yup, that's right. All GAC cards were supposed to use Fastpass to get a return time if available. So, technically for all you GAC users out there, although it wasn't enforced, many of you simply did not read the card well enough to see that you should have been essentially using return times in some form long before DAS. Just saying...
Exactly, the GAC was never like that. People are getting confused. Think of it in two ways.
For people in Wheelchairs /ECV, they used the wheelchair / ECV line, frequently ended up waiting for longer periods of times than those in the regular line (because of limits on number of wheelchair accessible cars and the number of disabled guests allowed on the ride at once), and often wait in the regular line if it wheelchair accessible.
For people that, for whatever reason, 'can't wait in long lines' such as autistic, social anxiety, heat intolerance and a host of other issues, the GAC card is presented at the fastpass line and the guest+party are immediately admitted to fast pass. No waiting in another area, no coming back later. No limits on how often it could be used like this. It was a magical fastpass that never ran out, had no limits, and MADE vacations magical. Telling people that the now will be required to wait a period of time before not waiting in the full line is not being well received.
Gomer
Well-Known Member
Not everyone. I think its more likely the people who were saying it didn't act as a FOTL pass in the past were not using it that way. ( I was one of those people). And people who are complaining now ( I am not one of those people) are mostly a different group of people who were, in fact, using it as a FOTL pass. There was no broad conspiracy to hide the truth about GAC's powers.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
Please consider that FP is not FOTL access; it reduces but does not eliminate waiting. The GAC states, "This card is NOT for immediate access" which is true; the FP line does not grant immediate access. For many attractions such as TSM, Soarin', or Space Mountain, it's common for those in FP lines to wait 20 minutes or longer.
The GAC also states, "At attractions offering Disney's Fastpass service, guests should obtain a Disney's Fastpass return ticket." The operative word in this sentence is "should". In effect, Disney was trying to encourage those with special needs to use its existing system wherever possible but did not require it. As @Gomer wrote earlier on this thread, "Requiring the DAS return time stamp to occur in the presence of the card holder at the ride entrance is a recipe for disaster for those of us in the Autism portion of the DAS users."
Any child might throw a temper tantrum when told they need to return to an attraction. It's up to the parents to explain what's happening and why it's part of Disney's (old) FP system. Most typically developing children can understand the concept, and with proper parental guidance, can accept this. Children with Autism often cannot. No amount of words, explaining, consoling, etc. will prevent a meltdown or, even worse, a complete shutdown of the child. Some parents of typically developing children seem to miss this key distinction.
The DAS is designed to be a special FP for special needs families, but to avoid the scenario described by @Gomer , it also means that families will have to separate. Yet one of the selling points of FP+ was that families with typically developing children would not have to separate. The new DAS creates the exact problem that Disney claimed it was solving with FP+, only it does such for families of children with special needs, hardly progressive thinking on Disney's part.
Notice that the new system still makes an exception for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. These children are granted unlimited FP access, even if they suffer from no visible illness. Many children in Make-A-Wish are capable of standing in line just like everyone else yet Disney wanted to do something extraordinary for them.
There were those within corporate Disney who wanted to do this for other special needs children as well, but only Make-A-Wish has the infrastructure in place to screen its tens-of-thousands of applicants. Essentially, corporate Disney decided it was too financially and legally difficult to include other special needs groups.
Rather than investing in improving the overall system, Disney took the cheap road, a path which doesn't solve the core problem; preventing those without disabilities from claiming some disability. Initially, expect the DAS screening process to be more difficult but, after a few hundred letters from those complaining "you didn't give me a DAS", expect standards to slacken just like it did for GAC.
Ultimately, all Disney did is make DAS less appealing than GAC, which has the effect of worsening it not only for those who abuse the system but for those who truly need the system.
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This is simply not true. The FP lines very rarely get to 20 minutes for any attraction. This is truly an exception rather than a common occurrence. Periodically for Soarin', I will give you. But the last 5 minutes of that is spent watching the video (a distraction, rather than a wait really). If your family or particular disability cannot tolerate 20 minutes, perhaps going to the World during less busy times would be a better solution. FP wait times rarely exceed 10 minutes outside of ride breakdown and the extremely busy summer and holiday times.
First of all, Make-A-Wish is not unlimited FP access. It is truly unlimited front of the line access. As it should be.
Second of all, comparing Make-A-Wish children to disabled children who are still able to lead a full and complete life is just beyond the pale.
Third of all, the scale of impact difference between Make-A-Wish kids and GAC users is just not even comparable. MAW kids have literally NO impact on stand by wait times. GAC users have a heavy and negative impact on stand by wait times.
I truly understand your concern about having to approach the ride with your son and risking a melt down because he wants to get on the ride then and doesn't understand the concept of waiting. This one concern can and probably will be addressed and is not a reason to continue the current GAC program which is being heavily abused and detrimental to every other guest at the park who chooses not to abuse the program and use FP and regular stand by lines. I am with you in either not requiring the DAC passholder to be at the kiosk or ride entrance to get a return time.
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