New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

Happyday

Well-Known Member
Okay, let’s say the average person (female) takes 4 minutes in the restroom (might be a line, wrestling with clothing/bags, washing hands, trying to get the stupid paper towel thing to work). So that’s 12 in your example but let’s just say 10 minutes for DAS.

On that 60 minute wait, that guest is still only waiting 25 minutes.

Mind you I’m not saying i think there’s anything wrong with this. But I’m saying I get why it’s an advantage. Even if all you can do is people watch, you’re doing it for a lot less time than the standby guest.

Not to mention this is the first ride of the day. The uberDAS user or whatever we’re calling them, can then stack rides easily afterward
Well then my example of 3 times the amount of time is way off. If we get done in the bathroom in less than 30 minutes we are doing well 🤣.
 

seabreezept813

Well-Known Member
Once you have “grey areas”…they spread like poison ivy
True. But this is company selling rooms for families of 5 or family suites. So they at least (and I think they are saying they will) accommodate immediate family. If they went by reservations if would help them sell hotel rooms. And we know these changes are about money so you’d think that would appeal to them.
 

Hockey89

Well-Known Member
And space. Any lounge like that would need to be pretty significant in size as they'd be dealing with the same problem the LL's currently have. Which is that you can't predict where DAS users will be, so every lounge would need to be equipped to hold peak DAS crowds in a space large enough to allow for the users to not succumb to the same sensory issues that occur in lines due to crowding.

So not only are you having to carve out a ton of space for every ride that uses this model, but also dealing with those spaces not producing the revenue they could be producing if they were used for something like a gift shop, food cart, or dvc kiosk.

So its a great idea from a guest and fairness perspective, but not great from Disney's perspective.
Just don't overbuild because the DAS group will be cut in half if this ever happened (it wont) and Disney would be selling a lot more Genie Plus
 

Gomer

Well-Known Member
So? WDW doesn’t exactly have a shortage of real estate.
yeah but you can't just shove disabled guests out to the parking lot or put up a tent in next to the solar farm. From a practical standpoint, you'd need something larger than the dumbo waiting area right next to every D and E ticket ride in every park. The only way you are achieving that is by losing either revenue producing guest areas or sacrificing cast areas ( which in turn causes expense in having cast to travel further for breaks or storage or whatever you tore down to build). Starting from scratch with a new park you could probably do it, maybe they could pull it off in Epcot or DAK at some level. But I don't see way Disney would ever sacrifice that level of space in DHS or Magic Kingdom.
 

DryerLintFan

Premium Member
Just don't overbuild because the DAS group will be cut in half if this ever happened (it wont) and Disney would be selling a lot more Genie Plus

I don’t think they’d really need the rooms. Much cheaper to put touch points (for everyone) at the start of each queue and touch points (for DAS only) at the end of each ride. They already have the technology and the guest behavior.

DAS can’t book the next ride until they tap out of the current ride, and cannot tap into the standby line of any other ride while they’re waiting for their return time.

only one ride at a time, like the DAS user would get if they were on standby.

Sue you could still wait an E ticket out while eating lunch, but it would still solve a lot
 

StarBright

Member
But somehow still not enough to realistically determine if the level of abuse justifies a fix.

Which goes back to what I was saying: wait times are not going to significantly change.
Just because WE don't have it, doesn't mean Disney doesn't. That's what you don't get. It doesn't matter at all what you or I determine, only what Disney does. And Disney has determined with the data they have that DAS is being abused.
 

ConfettiCupcake

Well-Known Member
But somehow still not enough to realistically determine if the level of abuse justifies a fix.

Which goes back to what I was saying: wait times are not going to significantly change.

I think it’s fair to presume that Disney feels the level of use, abuse, or both justifies a fix given that the little bit of info we have direct from them is a shift to a more restrictive version of disability access.

I think LL is being targeted, not necessarily standby times.
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Time for some self serving questions here, specifically about Disneyland. The DAS guest in question is my autistic older brother, Matt. Matt is in a group home, cannot function by himself and loves Disney. He is who the DAS system is intended to accommodate and I have no question that he should be eligible for use.

On @lentesta's latest show, he discussed how if you were previously using this service for legitimate reasons such as autism, you shouldn't be impacted by these changes. However, it's conceivable that because of the "fraudulent usage", we could be restricted on the number of guests that can accompany my brother on any given attraction. That in itself could certainly be argued as a "reduced benefit".
  • Historically, Disney World's DAS usage has had a soft cap of 6 guests. Was Disneyland's cap also a soft cap or no?
  • The website for both WDW and Disneyland now specifies 4 guests, but there have been multiple reports that they can include additional guests if the family is larger than 4. Family is a remarkably broad term and I don't see that specified on their respective sites.
  • Would the flexibility to add more than 4 guests be approved on the video call or in the park? Under the current rules, you would get 6 guests approved on the call, and additional guests potentially added in the park.
    • We have an upcoming trip in July that will have 10 ticketed guests for one of the days, 9 ticketed guests for most of the days. When we planned the trip we thought there was an outside chance they would accommodate all 10 of us, but we were planning as if they would accommodate 6 of us.
    • If they define "immediate family" as parents and children then that would be 5 ticketed guests. My parents, my sister, myself and my brother. The fact that we're all adults should presumably be moot here.
    • They could also conceivably allow for the significant others of those in the immediate family. I'm married and my sister is married, so we're at 7 ticketed guests.
    • My sister has two kids and I have two kids (one of whom is 2 and doesn't require a ticket). All of this is pushing the boundaries of what is likely considered a reasonable accommodation, but at the same time these are accommodations that were largely satisfied in recent history.
  • Independent of all of these questions, I also really don't understand why they are keeping the advanced DAS selections in place. This was absolutely the time to remove those.
 

ditzee

Well-Known Member
There'd be less anxiety if I didn't need to purchase expensive non-refundable tickets in order to even apply for the DAS ;)
Spoke to someone in tickets the other day. Was told:
A refund would need an "elevated" conversation beyond that CM's level.
Refund not guaranteed but it was up for discussion.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
If a disabled person requires one caregiver, the group can be split with some in a VQ and others meeting them via the standby line.
We are talking about a family on vacation - they shouldn’t be expected to split up unless they want to! (My same complaint about WDW security procedures).
Maxpass at DLR was the best, man did I get a lot out of that system.
Yes indeed! That was the most ideal since you were paying for convenience not access and no one could get access until they were inside the park.
 

phillip9698

Well-Known Member
Oh boy this thread keeps delivering. Now people are asking about building lounges that can house the queue of something like Rise, for every D-E ticket.

Good lord, and people complain about wasted space now.

And what happens to those massive lounges once the number of people wanting to ride those rides wains?
 
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RamblinWreck

Well-Known Member
But somehow still not enough to realistically determine if the level of abuse justifies a fix.

Which goes back to what I was saying: wait times are not going to significantly change.
How are you so confident in something you have absolutely no evidence for (the affect of DAS on wait times) while simultaneously cautioning people not to jump to conclusions about DAS use / abuse?
 

Wendy Pleakley

Well-Known Member
We are talking about a family on vacation - they shouldn’t be expected to split up unless they want to! (My same complaint about WDW security procedures).

Yes indeed! That was the most ideal since you were paying for convenience not access and no one could get access until they were inside the park.

Accommodations aren't about want though.

Someone with a mobility issue who wants to use a VQ rather than a wheelchair won't be able to do so.

Is splitting up groups prior to boarding an attraction unreasonable? That's the question.
 

StarBright

Member
Time for some self serving questions here, specifically about Disneyland. The DAS guest in question is my autistic older brother, Matt. Matt is in a group home, cannot function by himself and loves Disney. He is who the DAS system is intended to accommodate and I have no question that he should be eligible for use.

On @lentesta's latest show, he discussed how if you were previously using this service for legitimate reasons such as autism, you shouldn't be impacted by these changes. However, it's conceivable that because of the "fraudulent usage", we could be restricted on the number of guests that can accompany my brother on any given attraction. That in itself could certainly be argued as a "reduced benefit".
  • Historically, Disney World's DAS usage has had a soft cap of 6 guests. Was Disneyland's cap also a soft cap or no?
  • The website for both WDW and Disneyland now specifies 4 guests, but there have been multiple reports that they can include additional guests if the family is larger than 4. Family is a remarkably broad term and I don't see that specified on their respective sites.
  • Would the flexibility to add more than 4 guests be approved on the video call or in the park? Under the current rules, you would get 6 guests approved on the call, and additional guests potentially added in the park.
    • We have an upcoming trip in July that will have 10 ticketed guests for one of the days, 9 ticketed guests for most of the days. When we planned the trip we thought there was an outside chance they would accommodate all 10 of us, but we were planning as if they would accommodate 6 of us.
    • If they define "immediate family" as parents and children then that would be 5 ticketed guests. My parents, my sister, myself and my brother. The fact that we're all adults should presumably be moot here.
    • They could also conceivably allow for the significant others of those in the immediate family. I'm married and my sister is married, so we're at 7 ticketed guests.
    • My sister has two kids and I have two kids (one of whom is 2 and doesn't require a ticket). All of this is pushing the boundaries of what is likely considered a reasonable accommodation, but at the same time these are accommodations that were largely satisfied in recent history.
  • Independent of all of these questions, I also really don't understand why they are keeping the advanced DAS selections in place. This was absolutely the time to remove those.
Officially the hard cap is now 4 (DAS guest included). SOME of the news articles that released the info mentioned "exceptions for immediate family". Most likely aimed at parents with young kids.

They aren't keeping the advanced DAS selections. Those are gone after the new rules take effect.


IMO, yes allowing your family to bring 10 ppl into the LL is exactly the type of "soft abuse" that they are trying to stop with the new rules. Your brother's SIL is not his immediate family, neither are his nieces or nephews.
 

ConfettiCupcake

Well-Known Member
A lounge concept, even if we ignore the logistical issues with them existing at all, still is problematic for people who cannot be in line or need to leave lines due to things like crowds, confined spaces, sensory overload, bathroom needs, caretaking needs that require privacy, etc.

I think waiting lounges, beyond unique ones like Dumbo, are non starters. Makes much more sense to handle it virtually as needed (whether this is for people with disabilities or a general public virtual queue) and let people go where they need to go.
 

RamblinWreck

Well-Known Member
I think it’s fair to presume that Disney feels the level of use, abuse, or both justifies a fix given that the little bit of info we have direct from them is a shift to a more restrictive version of disability access.

I think LL is being targeted, not necessarily standby times.
LL use and standby times are perfectly correlated.

DAS abuse most likely helps them sell more Genie+, too.

Likely they saw that DAS use was growing to such a level that they could no longer sell as much Genie+ as was being demanded on busy days and they were losing money.

At the same time, they saw guest satisfaction dropping for all those not on the DAS pass which will cost them money in the future.
 

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