New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[Club Cooloholic]

The way that I read the law on the ADA site, they do, but I’m thankfully not a lawyer. Haha.

Interesting, given our discussion of having people have to plan ahead for DAS use or limitations on it. It appears the scheduled times for interpreters was something the US saw as sufficient at the time of this release.

Settlement Agreement between the United States of America and Walt Disney World Co.

The ADA Home Page provides access to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations for businesses and State and local governments, technical assistance materials, ADA Standards for Accessible Design, links to Federal agencies with ADA responsibilities and information, updates on new ADA...

archive.ada.gov

Guests who wish to request interpreted performances of: (i) Epcot World Showcase street-type entertainers; (ii) America Gardens performances; or (iii) House of Invention, none of which will appear on the interpreter schedule must request the interpreter services at least 14 days prior to the date on which they would like the services. Among these events, which may change from time to time, are currently included: Voices of Liberty; Le Clown Gordoon; Jon Armstrong Magic Show; Pam Brody; World Showcase Players; Canadian Comedy Corps.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

It appears the scheduled times for interpreters was something the US saw as sufficient at the time of this release.

What a fantastic find!!! Very interesting document, obviously this was written prior to 1998.

“when interpreting is not available at the guest's park of choice, WDW shall also make an effort to provide interpreter services on a day on which they are not regularly scheduled. It is the parties' hope and expectation that the two-week notice requirement will be reduced to one week, or less, no later than December 31, 1998, unless WDW informs the Department on or before November 1, 1998, that there is good cause for not being able to shorten the two week notice provision.”

Also, and this relates to DAS and Guest Relations -

“
WDW will continue to provide a complaint procedure for guests including complaints regarding treatment of guests with hearing disabilities and availability of auxiliary aids. All WDW Guest Services employees located at any Guest Services location shall be trained to respond to questions or complaints about: current policies for addressing the needs of guests with disabilities, information about available transcripts, paper and pencil, and emergency procedures for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.
“

 

[NotTheOne]

The way that I read the law on the ADA site, they do, but I’m thankfully not a lawyer. Haha.

"Title III entities are encouraged to consult with the person with a disability to discuss what aid or service is appropriate. The goal is to provide an aid or service that will be effective, given the nature of what is being communicated and the person’s method of communicating.

Covered entities may require reasonable advance notice from people requesting aids or services, based on the length of time needed to acquire the aid or service, but may not impose excessive advance notice requirements. “Walk-in” requests for aids and services must also be honored to the extent possible."

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Be happy you aren’t at DHS Epcot or AK today folks, WDW may have record low attendance for this time of year but wait times are still at peak levels.

Still not sure how this relates to DAS but those are nowhere near peak levels.

 

[Splash4eva]

Still not sure how this relates to DAS but those are nowhere near peak levels.

When does old school DAS officially end? I know for visitors this is basically the end of it depending on how long your trip was… what about any AP holders? How long did it last for ?

 

[SingleRider]

When does old school DAS officially end? I know for visitors this is basically the end of it depending on how long your trip was… what about any AP holders? How long did it last for ?

I think 30 days after your first park reservation so if approved on May 19 you could have it through mid July, roughly.

 

[Splash4eva]

I think 30 days after your first park reservation so if approved on May 19 you could have it through mid July, roughly.

Thank you. So basically come 3rd week of July we can safely start looking at wait times & potentially LL availability to get a better idea

 

[Touchdown]

Thank you. So basically come 3rd week of July we can safely start looking at wait times & potentially LL availability to get a better idea

But there should be a drop off next week, as the locals who go all the time could only get their DAS extended for 30 days from their next visit. I’m hoping to see some changes next week.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I’m hoping to see some changes next week.

Question 1 - Are you aware of sites like queue times that show the average and max wait times? That would give you much more to go on vs. anecdotal screen shots of the app.

Question 2 - what are you actually hoping to see? Slinky Dog at 110? Is that really worth celebrating?

Now less DAS should mean less unusual backups since DAS didn’t have a return time limit, which I do think was part of the problem - so I can see wait times staying more accurate, but that’s probably already happening. B

 

[Splash4eva]

But there should be a drop off next week, as the locals who go all the time could only get their DAS extended for 30 days from their next visit. I’m hoping to see some changes next week.

Okay so basically we can starting getting an idea on how this has “helped”

 

[Splash4eva]

Question 1 - Are you aware of sites like queue times that show the average and max wait times? That would give you much more to go on vs. anecdotal screen shots of the app.

Question 2 - what are you actually hoping to see? Slinky Dog at 110? Is that really worth celebrating?

Now less DAS should mean less unusual backups since DAS didn’t have a return time limit, which I do think was part of the problem - so I can see wait times staying more accurate, but that’s probably already happening. B

I think personally wait times are not gonna move much. I truly feel Disney is doing this to make money and free up inventory for Genie+ users… here is the question tho with Genie never really selling out why werent others buying it? So to me Disney is hoping these DAS users who were rejected now purchase Genie+ to do parks instead and based in my experience last week and prior visits you can definitely get a good amount from Genie if you know what you are doing

 

[Jrb1979]

I think personally wait times are not gonna move much. I truly feel Disney is doing this to make money and free up inventory for Genie+ users… here is the question tho with Genie never really selling out why werent others buying it? So to me Disney is hoping these DAS users who were rejected now purchase Genie+ to do parks instead and based in my experience last week and prior visits you can definitely get a good amount from Genie if you know what you are doing

IMO that's part of it. The other is with less DAS users Disney now can actually plan better for Genie+. With the amount of DAS users they had and with DAS able to come back anytime after their return time it was hard to have data for that.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

I think personally wait times are not gonna move much. I truly feel Disney is doing this to make money and free up inventory for Genie+ users… here is the question tho with Genie never really selling out why werent others buying it? So to me Disney is hoping these DAS users who were rejected now purchase Genie+ to do parks instead and based in my experience last week and prior visits you can definitely get a good amount from Genie if you know what you are doing

Yeah I don’t think this has ever been directly about standby queues, although they should at the very least have less long standstill moments if LLs are under control.

I think people moving from former DAS users to Genie+ is a happy side effect for them, but not the goal. I think the motivation was getting better control of the LLs and their wait times, and increasing guest satisfaction particularly when it comes to Genie+ and its individual attraction availability (not the availability of Genie+ itself).

Genie+ being a less divisive product means more money, like you said it rarely sells out.

 

[Kingoglow]

But there should be a drop off next week, as the locals who go all the time could only get their DAS extended for 30 days from their next visit. I’m hoping to see some changes next week.

Then time swill go up the first week of July due to the holiday.

 

[jaklgreen]

I think that Disney doesn’t want to put the exact formula for what accommodation is available at each ride under each circumstance on their main attraction pages or MDE information because it makes more people who can wait in lines but don’t want to start thinking about how to “beat the system” instead of actually being available as a resource for ex-DAS users. If, hypothetically, one knew that Peter Pan typically just directs you to the LL when the wait is less than 45 or issued a LL return pass when the wait is more than 45m, a lot of people would tell the attraction CM “gee whiz, I would just love to wait in this here 75 minute line but I sure can’t, what can you do for me?”

I (obviously) don’t speak for all potential AQR users, but I’m willing to endure a little more friction/uncertainty when I need AQR assistance to avoid the new system being completely overwhelmed by people who don’t need it but would like to have it once they learn about it.

I thought that the whole point of being able to leave the queue and return is to combat the "system". People have been able to leave the lines before so this is nothing new. But informing people of the process will eliminate people trying to get back through the back of the standby line. Which is what was causing issues and fights with other guests. Why wouldn't Disney want people to know the correct way to about this to avoid any issues?

 

[Splash4eva]

IMO that's part of it. The other is with less DAS users Disney now can actually plan better for Genie+. With the amount of DAS users they had and with DAS able to come back anytime after their return time it was hard to have data for that.

Granted DAS return times are unpredictable but my guess would have to be people came back within 15 minutes of their return time say 75-80% of the cases…

 

[Splash4eva]

Yeah I don’t think this has ever been directly about standby queues, although they should at the very least have less long standstill moments if LLs are under control.

I think people moving from former DAS users to Genie+ is a happy side effect for them, but not the goal. I think the motivation was getting better control of the LLs and their wait times, and increasing guest satisfaction particularly when it comes to Genie+ and its individual attraction availability (not the availability of Genie+ itself).

Genie+ being a less divisive product means more money, like you said it rarely sells out.

Maybe i been lucky but to me wait times in the LL were not that bad and pretty consistent. Listen obviously there will be times you may get stuck 20 minutes but to me that was never the norm

 

[SingleRider]

Anyone with a regular ticket would have at the latest started their trip within the past few days so we’ll probably see a drop by the end of this month as well.

 

[jaklgreen]

I think a huge part of the issue is that so many now say their medical issues are disabilities but funny how it only applies to their time at Disney. This is why the program was so over used and it was definitely affecting how non DAS people were being able to utilize the rides. If the average Disney guest only gets to take part in 4" good attractions" a day than DAS users should only get the same and also not a DAS for multiple visits to the same ride in a day.

How do you know that their conditions "only applies to their time at Disney"? How do you now what people do in their day to day lives?

 

[Dranth]

I don't know that people should expect a large difference in standby waits. It will help a little but something like overall attendance or a ride going down has a much larger impact. A small fluctuation in how many people show up in a given day can easily mask any benefits to standby from DAS changes in terms of time.

Moving people from G+/ILL to standby will keep the waits roughly the same, it will just make that line move more consistently. I don't know that we have any measurements for how long you spend standing still in a particular line but that is where the changes should really be noticed. With that in mind, I expect that over time people will slowly begin to realize they don't stand around as much as they use to so waits are more tolerable.

ETA: There could be some additional time savings for standby from certain groups using DAS currently choosing to skip some lines under the new system as they just don't want to wait that long. Who knows how much of that we see but it will certainly be more than zero.