GAC to Become DAS

[jrlbc06]

I would also add (with regards to your 20 minute fast pass wait argument) that switching to the DAS program will greatly reduce the number of people in the FP line at any given moment (likely 30-40% of whom are using a GAC).

 

[unkadug]

Why not have a DAS phone app that would allow a single mom to place her request via phone...thereby eliminating any needed kiosks and the possibility of a "I want it now" meltdown?

 

[ParentsOf4]

Why not have a DAS phone app that would allow a single mom to place her request via phone...thereby eliminating any needed kiosks and the possibility of a "I want it now" meltdown?

Wow, just wow. Seriously, on the face of it, I can't think of why that's not a brilliant solution!

 

[unkadug]

Wow, just wow. Seriously, on the face of it, I can't think of why that's not a brilliant solution!

It seems to me that it should be an easy extension of the FP+ software already installed.

 

[loboftbl]

It seems to me that it should be an easy extension of the FP+ software already installed.

I believe MM+ has had a few problems during the rollout. I think the last thing it needs is another item added to it right now. Get the bugs worked out of the system then try adding it later.

 

[flynnibus]

Why not have a DAS phone app that would allow a single mom to place her request via phone...thereby eliminating any needed kiosks and the possibility of a "I want it now" meltdown?

You mean like I discussed back on Page 1 of the thread? And again later on Page 7?

The kiosk thing sounds contrived... certainly looks like an area that could be streamlined using the Magicbands and Mobile app in the future. I expect its to keep individual attraction CMs from having to be burdened with granting/denying people and the customer service angles that go along with it. But this is a lot of overhead as well to staff all the time. Curious to see how that plays out in the future.

This plan as outlined SCREAMS integration with MDE/MB... but obviously you can't do that when the system is so far behind anyways. I would expect a digital replacement for the in-park kiosks in the not-so-distant future.

 

[flynnibus]

What is also interesting is DLR CMs are saying DLR is sticking to the kiosk model.. while WDW is using the greeter model...

 

[RandomPrincess]

What is also interesting is DLR CMs are saying DLR is sticking to the kiosk model.. while WDW is using the greeter model...

Which is odd since WDW already has all the FP+ kiosks, that could in the future be used to integrate the program with MB.

 

[unkadug]

You mean like I discussed back on Page 1 of the thread? And again later on Page 7?

yes ...I just put it in layman's terms.

 

[jaklgreen]

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.

I understand how the system works. I am not the one saying/complaining about the FOTL pass being taken away. If you have read this and other boards and even the news media is reporting it you will see all of the people complaining about it. The fact is those who have been using GAC and for years were saying "hey look at the GAC card it says it is not a FOTL pass" are now the ones saying that yes it was and how dare Disney take that away from us.

 

[misterID]

Okay, I wanted to post this since we've had MANY discussions about it

Just got back from my vacation, we got the card at EPCOT for my father this past week (he had a stroke, basically can't ride anything where he has to transfer from the chair) and never even used it there. Never had to. Each greeter took care of him, and the others ushered him right on the attraction and never asked to see anything. All of them, to the last man and woman, were VERY helpful.

MK... the exact opposite. It was a nightmare. Not to mention that the majority of the CM's sucked and it was unusually crowded. I swear, if you knew the work it takes to get through that park with a disabled family member, from the multiple monorails (especially at night and you're parked at EPCOT... no cutting across right to your monorail, you've got to go down the ramp and back up another) to the morons who want to stop right in front of you when you're pushing a 210 pound man down an incline, and all the crap you have to go through just to get through the walkways of that park... I'm sure the picture many people get when waiting in line of what you assume is an easy time people have with that card is very, very, very, VERY different than the reality. And I barely used it.

I specifically looked for people who might look like they're faking and I honestly didn't see anyone who looked obvious, but that doesn't mean much as I'm sure it happens all the time and many people have seen it (or assumed to, it's hard to tell sometimes). It was horribly crowded on the MK day and there just weren't that many people using the card. But I saw a lot of adult men with Autism whose families deserve a lot of credit for handling them as expertly as they do. Wow. My hat is off to them and I totally understand where they're coming from with the need for that card. I think it's safe to say more people who need it are using it than the abusers from what I saw.

The new system and DAS... I don't really understand it. A lot of the CM's I asked didn't understand it, either. If they're going to make people use it like a fast pass for each attraction, where you have to go to different kiosks, that's just friggin stupid. If that's your best answer for stopping fraud, you need a better plan and it's just lazy to make it hard on everyone who isn't faking anything. Seriously. I just hope they keep the handicap entrances because they were a life saver. It's a chore to get through a day like that without some help from the parks, man.

 

[flynnibus]

I just hope they keep the handicap entrances because they were a life saver. It's a chore to get through a day like that without some help from the parks, man.

Access for wheelchairs/ecv doesn't change

 

[misterID]

Oh, I officially get the scooter hate. I didn't have too big of a problem with them, especially at EPCOT... But MK was a whole different story. Especially when they clog up the wheelchair access and walk around just fine to get on the ride.

I seriously don't want to be one of those people who like to assume people are just being lazy, but good lord, it's like swarms of motocycle gangs out there of middle-aged, overweight people who can't drive. I saw a lot of those red scooters (you know the ones I'm talking about) running into walls and each other.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Oh, I officially get the scooter hate. I didn't have too big of a problem with them, especially at EPCOT... But MK was a whole different story. Especially when they clog up the wheelchair access and walk around just fine to get on the ride.

I seriously don't want to be one of those people who like to assume people are just being lazy, but good lord, it's like swarms of motocycle gangs out there of middle-aged, overweight people who can't drive. I saw a lot of those red scooters (you know the ones I'm talking about) running into walls and each other.

Good god... If someone needs to legitimately use a scooter, they just can't win can they. They either have to be cripple and unable to walk at all or they are just fat an lazy and some even have the audacity to get off the scooter and go into the ride even though it only got them there are fast as someone on two good legs might. If you are referring to people that bogusly use or used the GAC card then that would explain why they are having to change that and I am in support of that. I will never use the DAS card until I absolutely have too use it. Two reasons, I am to stubborn to give up on myself and I will fight it until I can no longer. When you see me using one you will know that I am no longer able to fight my physical condition. I would refrain from using it prematurely not to appease those that spend half their lives judging others but because of my own pride of independence. All the rest of you armchair judges don't even start to matter.

 

[Tom Morrow]

The new system and DAS... I don't really understand it. A lot of the CM's I asked didn't understand it, either.

Because they haven't been trained on it yet.

 

[ParentsOf4]

yes ...I just put it in layman's terms.

Sorry I'm late to the thread @flynnibus but I just now went back and read your earlier posts. What you suggested was subtle. I suspect I might have missed the point without reading your posts a couple of times.

The post by @unkadug was more straightforward: "Why not have a DAS phone app that would allow a single mom to place her request via phone...thereby eliminating any needed kiosks and the possibility of a "I want it now" meltdown?" Perhaps this is because this post was a follow-up to a post by @Gomer who described a specific scenario I suspect a lot of parents of children with Autism face.

Whoever deserves the create, it seems to me like it's a great idea to allow these families to enter the virtual queue for an attraction without having to physically visit a kiosk or the attraction itself.

I once saw a child with Autism shutdown in that exact scenario. I later spoke with the mother (the family was staying in the same resort) who explained to me they have to plan everything in advance in order to avoid situations like this, yet they go to WDW exactly because their son seems to come alive when there. It's one of the few places they ever see him smile. When what I'll call an ill-trained CM turned them away, telling them to get a FP (which was for hours later), it pretty much destroyed their vacation for a couple of days. They ended up spending the rest of that day and all of the next holed up in their hotel room. It's something that has stuck with me ever since.

 

[jrlbc06]

What is also interesting is DLR CMs are saying DLR is sticking to the kiosk model.. while WDW is using the greeter model...

It's funny because DLR has been using the greeter model for the last month of so.

I was there 2 weeks ago and experienced this first hand.

 

[IWantMyMagicBand]

Sorry I'm late to the thread @flynnibus but I just now went back and read your earlier posts. What you suggested was subtle. I suspect I might have missed the point without reading your posts a couple of times.


Whoever deserves the create, it seems to me like it's a great idea to allow these families to enter the virtual queue for an attraction without having to physically visit a kiosk or the attraction itself.

.

At LEGOLAND guests can pay for a fastpass service called Qbot. It looks like a tamagotchi on a keyring and the user schedules the time on the device. They then go to the ride when it's time and the CM connects their blue Qbot to the guest's red Qbot and it all syncs up.
Obviously DAC guests shouldn't pay for that sort of service, I'm just saying that the technology is out there, it's just a case of when that gets implemented into Disney.
Having read through the posts while I think it's good to link to MM+, I also think the DAS system should stay standalone, with the Qbot technology.
So, a guest staying onsite can schedule their FP+ before they go, then on arrival at the park collect their device, with additional photo ID card. When in park or while in first FP+ ride the parent/carer can schedule the next ride using DAS technology tamagotchi and so on.

 

[JimboJones123]

Because they haven't been trained on it yet.

100% true Tom.

Training starts this week, I believe.

Kinda hard to blame the CMs when they have not been trained.

People ticked about DAS really have to settle down and see what is actually happening. The entitlement attitude being brought to life is shocking and saddening. For those that use the system as intended, there will be little difference besides keeping you from using the longest wait lines as a revolving door.

Sure, it might be an inconvenience not to have the unlimited fastpass option that you had before, but this change is in no way keeping anybody from having a fulfilling experience at Disney World. Although the main initial concerns have all been addressed, the media still drags WDW through the mud with every story, entitled "disabled" families are infuriated because they are still getting an advantage over standard guests, and this all happens because people knee jerk before actually having enough patience to see what is actually going on.

This whole topic is beginning to show me far too much of folks' true colors. And they are icky.

 

[misterID]

Man, this thread makes people awful y. It was like my day at MK all over again.

100% true Tom.

Training starts this week, I believe.

Kinda hard to blame the CMs when they have not been trained.

People ticked about DAS really have to settle down and see what is actually happening. The entitlement attitude being brought to life is shocking and saddening. For those that use the system as intended, there will be little difference besides keeping you from using the longest wait lines as a revolving door.

Sure, it might be an inconvenience not to have the unlimited fastpass option that you had before, but this change is in no way keeping anybody from having a fulfilling experience at Disney World. Although the main initial concerns have all been addressed, the media still drags WDW through the mud with every story, entitled "disabled" families are infuriated because they are still getting an advantage over standard guests, and this all happens because people knee jerk before actually having enough patience to see what is actually going on.

This whole topic is beginning to show me far too much of folks' true colors. And they are icky.

If you want to point out what you're describing specifically in these posts, please feel free, because I'm not wading through this thread to find all of these "icky, infuriated, entitled" posts. I know there's a whole lot of confusion about the change and explanations from card users about their individual problems, which last I noticed, isn't a bad thing and they don't need the little jabs people like to throw if you want to have an adult conversation here. So yeah, people need to settle down on both sides. Actually, I see many people looking for a way to make the system easier while trying to get rid of the fraud. Throwing broad accusations out there doesn't help. Yes, I've been guilty of that too in this thread. How about we all take a breath, not be so overdramatic and hyper sensitive, what do you say?

And the CM's not knowing about the system was just my comment that no one knew what the changes were going to be, which was a simple observation and nothing more. I was not blaming them. The terrible CM's (which there were many) had nothing to do with that.