New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[Fido Chuckwagon]

For example, let's say the user was given DAS because they are unable to wait more than 30 minutes in any line. Then go wait in a 60-minute line somewhere while waiting for a 90 minute DAS return for a different ride.

I really don't think this is happening. There's just no reason for someone with DAS to wait in any line really. The system is so guest-friendly it's hard to imagine any guest with it wanting to wait in a 60 minute line when there is so much else at WDW for them to do during their wait that doesn't involve waiting in another queue. This isn't the type of abuse that was happening, it was just overuse by people who really didn't need it, or didn't need it in all circumstances.

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

Again, like many others have said, not all disabilities fit into this mold that you are trying to put them in.

It sounds like we both agree that all disabilities don't fit into a mold. That's why not everyone who has a disability should get DAS, and in some cases it will need to be a case by case decision by CM's at the ride entrance. Factors such as why they need an accommodation will factor into it as well as other factors such as the length of the current wait I'm sure.

I suspect "I need to skip this 10 minute line so I can ride this 10 minute attraction" might be a heavy lift for most, but there may very well be someone out there for whom this appropriate.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

the very cynical part of me at the moment just can't help thinking that people's fear of missing out is surpassing their empathy.

whereas most of us living this day to day would love to not have to need it in the first place.

People are empathetic to those that need it. And with the number of users going up every year, 3 fold since just 2019, eventually that system would break, and there would have to be daily limits etc on place that would leave actual users out and abusers in. That could still happen.
With there being 4 parks, I don't know why there couldn't be hours in the morning with parks rotating, onlyl for families with needs to accommodate them with special lines with extra spacing, lower capacity, maybe ride volumes turned down even for some rides.

 

[Chi84]

With there being 4 parks, I don't know why there couldn't be hours in the morning with parks rotating, onlyl for families with needs to accommodate them with special lines with extra spacing, lower capacity, maybe ride volumes turned down even for some rides.

That’s the kind of separation the ADA is concerned about, not the separation that requires you to part from your group at times.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

That’s the kind of separation the ADA is concerned about, not the separation that requires you to part from your group at times.

Maybe I didn't present it right. This is already done in many places...and not seen as any violation.

TDF Autism Friendly Performances

TDF Autism Friendly Performances

www.tdf.org

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

People are empathetic to thos what need it. And with the number of users going up every year, 3 fold since just 2019, eventually that system would break, and there would have to be daily limits etc on place that would leave actual users out and abusers in. That could still happen.
With there being 4 parks, I don't know why there couldn't be hours in the morning with parks rotating, onlyl for families with needs to accommodate them with special lines with extra spacing, lower capacity, maybe ride volumes turned down even for some rides.

The last thing any of these parks need to be doing is effectively cutting back ride capacity and regular ticketed time any more than they already do.

I understand you’re coming from a place of care but realistically, Disney has a system that in their opinion gives everybody what they need in the least obtrusive way it can to operations. The creative solutions are IMO just overcomplicating it and sometimes not even appropriate (like, I don’t think relegating people with certain needs to certain parks at certain times is a solution at all).

 

[Club Cooloholic]

The last thing any of these parks need to be doing is effectively cutting back ride capacity and regular ticketed time any more than they already do.

I understand you’re coming from a place of care but realistically, Disney has a system that in their opinion gives everybody what they need in the least obtrusive way it can to operations. The creative solutions are IMO just overcomplicating it and sometimes not even appropriate (like, I don’t think relegating people with certain needs to certain parks at certain times is a solution at all).

Again...parks do this and I would think that it would be even better at serving needs because some rides, I would assume are too loud etc for some of these people to ride?
Maybe a mixture of both would be best.

Sesame Place Philadelphia will host low-sensory days to celebrate Autism Acceptance Month in June

Sesame Place will be offering low sensory days in June to make the park more accommodating for guests on the Autism spectrum.

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

 

[KrzyKtty]

With there being 4 parks, I don't know why there couldn't be hours in the morning with parks rotating, onlyl for families with needs to accommodate them with special lines with extra spacing, lower capacity, maybe ride volumes turned down even for some rides.

Honestly I think the factor here is cost. It costs a lot of money to run the park. It does not make financial since to open it for a small specialized population. Heck, look at their special events, even the capacity for those are larger than they used to be. Disney isn't a charity; ultimately $ talks. The reason why they can get away with it for the eaarly entry is because with the number of resorts they have, the # of people is still great. Even then , they close down large sections of the parks.

 

[Chi84]

Maybe I didn't present it right. This is already done in many places...and not seen as any violation.

TDF Autism Friendly Performances

TDF Autism Friendly Performances

www.tdf.org

Oh okay. You meant to include that in addition to providing DAS and line accommodations during the regular day.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Oh okay. You meant to include that in addition to providing DAS and line accommodations during the regular day.

Well as we are trying to drill in different accomodation needs, this seems a way to do that. I would assume there would be guests that would be happy to ride in that manner, where the DAS isn't really solving their particular problem.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

Again...parks do this and I would think that it would be even better at serving needs because some rides, I would assume are too loud etc for some of these people to ride?

Sesame Place Philadelphia will host low-sensory days to celebrate Autism Acceptance Month in June

Sesame Place will be offering low sensory days in June to make the park more accommodating for guests on the Autism spectrum.

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

It sounded like you were suggesting they do this as an alternate to accommodations since so many people qualify or think they qualify for DAS like accommodations.

Anyways, I think Disney would create infinitely more problems for themselves if they start marketing one park on a rotating basis in the mornings as a sensory friendly park. If you’re lowering ride capacity intentionally and running attractions in a more sensory friendly mode that’s unintentionally pushing the rest of the guests elsewhere. The desire for people to have DAS who might not need it already stems from too little overall capacity.

Am I wrong in thinking cynically that many places that offer these sensory friendly kind of events do so to boost attendance and sales at off times? That’s certainly what the local to me grocery stores and movie theaters that have them are doing. Again, seems like a problem Disney isn’t trying to solve, they’ve got accommodations for everybody.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

It sounded like you were suggesting they do this as an alternate to accommodations since so many people qualify or think they qualify for DAS like accommodations.

Anyways, I think Disney would create infinitely more problems for themselves if they start marketing one park on a rotating basis in the mornings as a sensory friendly park. If you’re lowering ride capacity intentionally and running attractions in a more sensory friendly mode that’s unintentionally pushing the rest of the guests elsewhere. The desire for people to have DAS who might not need it already stems from too little overall capacity.

Am I wrong in thinking cynically that many places that offer these sensory friendly kind of events do so to boost attendance and sales at off times? That’s certainly what the local to me grocery stores and movie theaters that have them are doing. Again, seems like a problem Disney isn’t trying to solve, they’ve got accommodations for everybody.

Sesame Place has no need to figure out ways to get people in. I went once years ago and it was so crowded, we never went back Same with Broadway shows, most doe fine in sales
And obviously this would not be really be helpful to other users of DAS that don't deal with with sensory issues

 

[Angel Ariel]

It sounds like we both agree that all disabilities don't fit into a mold. That's why not everyone who has a disability should get DAS, and in some cases it will need to be a case by case decision by CM's at the ride entrance. Factors such as why they need an accommodation will factor into it as well as other factors such as the length of the current wait I'm sure.

I suspect "I need to skip this 10 minute line so I can ride this 10 minute attraction" might be a heavy lift for most, but there may very well be someone out there for whom this appropriate.

I've never been one saying DAS should apply to all, despite the numerous attempts made to make it seem that way.

 

[Disstevefan1]

The DAS systems has been fixed. Only the folks who truly need it will qualify.............. And the cheaters
Note to mods, I am only kidding, I used the wink emoji.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I've never been one saying DAS should apply to all, despite the numerous attempts made to make it seem that way.

It seems that any criticism or critique in this thread is met with an excuse why someone can’t wait in line or even a room because it’s “ triggering” again I sympathize with anybody who has a disability but to even pushback or challenge anything gets a straw-man argument on this thread I mean you’re still ending up waiting in line in the lightning lane.

 

[Angel Ariel]

It seems that any criticism or critique in this thread is met with an excuse why someone can’t wait in line or even a room because it’s “ triggering” again I sympathize with anybody who has a disability but to even pushback or challenge anything gets a straw-man argument on this thread I mean you’re still ending up waiting in line in the lightning lane.

No, people have been responding to hypothetical situations people choose to post as examples of cheating where people without these disabilities have said "if this is true, then so is this" and people with disabilities have been saying it's not that clear cut.

Again, I have not been Arguing against the needed change to DAS at all. I've in fact said the exact opposite numerous times. Anyone choosing to read into it otherwise, well, thats not my responsibility

 

[Figgy1]

It seems that any criticism or critique in this thread is met with an excuse why someone can’t wait in line or even a room because it’s “ triggering” again I sympathize with anybody who has a disability but to even pushback or challenge anything gets a straw-man argument on this thread I mean you’re still ending up waiting in line in the lightning lane.

and we've walked past many over the years when they're too long

 

[mjspin]

It's interesting, my guess is that Disney went above and beyond in accommodation, and now there is push back, as there always is when something is taken away. The thing is they are giving customers fair warning. And the idea they will lose customers to a point they care? This is the company that scaled back park hours, started to charge money for it's once free fast passes, started charging its guest parking fees, which for some reason get higher basd on how nice the resort, and finally, they consider 10 year olds adults and charge them as such, still customers pack the place, so they can probably weather whatever comes of this, if they think they will make more money by having more LL buyers.

I do love how Disney chooses to alter their definition of ‘adult’ to suit. I queried their definition on the phone this week when making a booking… from an accommodation perspective they confirmed it is the legal definition, but obviously from a ticket perspective not so much.

 

[Grantwil93]

I'm just gonna throw this out and I'm genuinely wondering if this would be a fair change to the system

"You cannot book another ride until you are completely off the ride you previously booked."

Logistically a nightmare to implement I think, but that aspect of the system where you can book the second after everyone scans does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of power use. My idea was to use the same tech as the ride photos at Tron or Dinosaur to verify you were off the ride and then you could book.

They way it worked when I've used it(not me, but for my cousin who does have autism. I was the guide for his family), was that if a ride had let's say 30min wait, then you would get a return time for 20 minutes from the moment you hit confirm. This is because Disney removes 10min off the standby wait metric due to travel time. Then you are allowed to scan in 5 minutes early to that time.

So in reality, the 30 minute standby wait is actually only 15 minutes to get into the LL(This is why CM's are told to just look at the DAS pass on a phone and let ppl in without booking if the wait time is 15min or less. Because booking would just let them in immediately anyway)

Then, after you scan, you could immediately book another ride while waiting in the LL. So if you book another 30min wait ride, then in only 15 minutes you could scan into your next one.

This exact scenario happened to our group at MK. I booked Jungle Cruise and then by the time we walked down mainstreet we walked right into the Jungle Cruise LL, then I grabbed Pirates and then before we were even done with Jungle Cruise our Pirates time was ready.

I think allowing people to grab a pass and do other things is completely acceptable. Because grabbing a pass for the 90min wait and doing a few other no/low wait things is fine. I just think more could have been done to make the pass actually a replacement for the standby wait. Cause it really wasn't. It made anything 45 min or less essentially a test to see how much you could cram in while G+ ppl did a quarter as much as you.

 

[Disney Analyst]

I'm just gonna throw this out and I'm genuinely wondering if this would be a fair change to the system

"You cannot book another ride until you are completely off the ride you previously booked."

Logistically a nightmare to implement I think, but that aspect of the system where you can book the second after everyone scans does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of power use. My idea was to use the same tech as the ride photos at Tron or Dinosaur to verify you were off the ride and then you could book.

They way it worked when I've used it(not me, but for my cousin who does have autism. I was the guide for his family), was that if a ride had let's say 30min wait, then you would get a return time for 20 minutes from the moment you hit confirm. This is because Disney removes 10min off the standby wait metric due to travel time. Then you are allowed to scan in 5 minutes early to that time.

So in reality, the 30 minute standby wait is actually only 15 minutes to get into the LL(This is why CM's are told to just look at the DAS pass on a phone and let ppl in without booking if the wait time is 15min or less. Because booking would just let them in immediately anyway)

Then, after you scan, you could immediately book another ride while waiting in the LL. So if you book another 30min wait ride, then in only 15 minutes you could scan into your next one.

This exact scenario happened to our group at MK. I booked Jungle Cruise and then by the time we walked down mainstreet we walked right into the Jungle Cruise LL, then I grabbed Pirates and then before we were even done with Jungle Cruise our Pirates time was ready.

I think allowing people to grab a pass and do other things is completely acceptable. Because grabbing a pass for the 90min wait and doing a few other no/low wait things is fine. I just think more could have been done to make the pass actually a replacement for the standby wait. Cause it really wasn't. It made anything 45 min or less essentially a test to see how much you could cram in while G+ ppl did a quarter as much as you.

It's a good point, if they really wanted to treat it as as a standby queue, realistically you should only have been able to join the line once you got to the attraction, just like everyone else. Perhaps it's a simple as geolocation, can only get a return time for an attraction you are next to, or even a QR code you have to scan, once you reach the attraction line.

Then it's more like regular standby, you get to the attraction, get in your virtual line, and you can go and do something else until your return time is up?

This would of course result in a lot more work to get return times, and a lot of travel time to get back and forth, which may not work for all.