New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[DoubleSwitchback]

People with intellectual disabilities can also hold jobs, be in positions of responsibility, formulate arguments, etc. Yes, this includes people with "severe" intellectual disabilities. They deserve to be treated, spoken of and spoken with the same way we interact with all humans.

Great point! How about this instead: "just because she's a young woman in a chair with a trach, don't assume she's beneath taking seriously; engage with her ideas and proposals just like you would anyone else"

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Yes, she has her 15 minutes of fame now...and still no explanation as to why she can't wait in a standby line or wait outside the queue while her party waits in line.

Also, they (disney) seemed to be concerned with her pattern of returning every weekend with more people and more family. I think they saw a pattern here for abuse with her getting them perks associated with her DAS. It seems a little extreme to me to go every weekend with more and more different people. But who knows??

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Also, they (disney) seemed to be concerned with her pattern of returning every weekend with more people and more family.

Source?

It seems a little extreme to me to go every weekend with more and more different people.

I don’t even live near the parks and I visit with a mix of family and friends - nothing extreme about it.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Including fireworks / parades I think that’s correct.

I did 10 attractions at DHS with no genie / lightning lane, a relaxing lunch at brown derby, and lots of wandering the park just to see it. And that was without trying.

At Disneyland I’ve gotten 12 attractions in 3 hours but that was a good morning and I was there at open.

We've had plenty of Epcot days over the years where we didn't go on any attractions, or at least we used to do that. (Or maybe we went on 1 low wait attraction.)

These days the gift shops aren't nearly as interesting as they once were, and paying $100+ admission plus overpriced snacks is less appealing than it used to be.

If I am buying G+, then I am apt to get as much out of it as possible. That's an important aspect of paying for something like G+. I think many feel the same way.

 

[NotTheOne]

As for the discounted genie+ thing - keep in mind this woman is a Disneyland regular, not WDW. Certain levels of AP holders at Disneyland *were* able to buy an annual MaxPass for $125/year vs paying each time they went to the park. It's been a few days since I watched her video, but from what I recall she was basically asking for a genie+ version of what that used to be.

ETA: again, not passing judgment on whether that should be done or not, just sharing that there's precedent for Disneyland AP holders to get discounted access to paid line skipping. I've heard similar requests from non-disabled Disneyland regulars to have something like that re-instituted - esp since the announcement of LLMP for WDW.

Very true, but she wasn't advocating for AP holders to buy the discounted Genie+, she was advocating for disabled guests to do so.

 

[NotTheOne]

Great point! How about this instead: "just because she's a young woman in a chair with a trach, don't assume she's beneath taking seriously; engage with her ideas and proposals just like you would anyone else"

My response to her whining has nothing to do with her having a disability. And I'm not going to take anyone seriously, disabled or not, who, when they don't get what they want, makes a video urging someone to give her something.

 

[Club Cooloholic]

Including fireworks / parades I think that’s correct.

I did 10 attractions at DHS with no genie / lightning lane, a relaxing lunch at brown derby, and lots of wandering the park just to see it. And that was without trying.

At Disneyland I’ve gotten 12 attractions in 3 hours but that was a good morning and I was there at open.

Did you do this alone or with a group? It's really hard to hit that many when you can't use single rider and have to drag people along.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Did you do this alone or with a group? It's really hard to hit that many when you can't use single rider and have to drag people along.

Both - I started out with friends but they left mid-day. I never used a single rider.

I’m not sure how it would be hard to get that many attractions in - i was going pretty slow.

 

[lentesta]

At Disneyland I’ve gotten 12 attractions in 3 hours but that was a good morning and I was there at open.

That is moving. In practical terms that's pretty close to the upper limit you can expect over time. Very impressive.

 

[Dranth]

Some data from in the parks related to this.

We've been counting the number of guests getting in both the standby line and the Lightning Lane line, by minute, on various days at various attractions, for the past year. (So tens of thousands of guests per attraction overall.)

We're doing it to test a new way to predict actual wait times. It has the side effect of measuring Lightning Lane usage over time.

The data are preliminary.

But as an example, we see the ratio of Lightning Lane guests to Standby guests at Haunted Mansion has dropped significantly since the "DAS Switch" May 20

A year ago, on July 8, 2023, we counted 7 Lightning Lane guests for every 10 standby guests at Mansion. And on other days, that ratio was as high as 13 Lightning Lane guests for every 10 guests.

Prior to the DAS switch, we never saw less than 4 LL to 10 Standby at Mansion.

As a ballpark estimate, the "pre-DAS Switch" average ratio might have been 8 or 9 LL guests for every 10 Standby.

Post-DAs the ratio is closer to 2 LL to 10 Standby at Mansion.

That's a significant drop. I am reasonably confident that a look into the park's internal metrics would show a similar trend.

The practical impact of that is that guests who don't pay for Lightning Lane are seeing significantly shorter waits in line.
And I think that's a good thing.

I haven't done the numbers, but I would have a whole bunch of questions if it was proposed that the drop in LL usage was entirely due to guests with legitimate DAS needs being denied DAS, and thus not going to the parks.

For one thing, that'd be 70% of the Lightning Lane usage and 25% of the entire ride's usage. And keep in mind, people are still getting DAS. So that's a large number to accept otherwise.

It will be interesting to see if this holds up once the new system starts late July.

 

[Touchdown]

It will be interesting to see if this holds up once the new system starts late July.

That’s the big question I expect some clawing back by increasing G+ allotments but I would hope they still keep it reasonable. There is an art to this, you make standby intolerable and you anger a majority of your guests.

 

[jaklgreen]

Again not sure how anyone can only get 2-3 extra rides while using Genie… i totally agree tho that each parks needs added capacity unlike what they have recently done with many of the “expansions” while overlaying and replacing not adding

I think that is a combination of what time of year a person goes, their knowledge on how to work the system, and how many hours they are in the park. I think that we can all agree that many people with disabilities are not spending a full day at the parks.

 

[jaklgreen]

Some data from in the parks related to this.

We've been counting the number of guests getting in both the standby line and the Lightning Lane line, by minute, on various days at various attractions, for the past year. (So tens of thousands of guests per attraction overall.)

We're doing it to test a new way to predict actual wait times. It has the side effect of measuring Lightning Lane usage over time.

The data are preliminary.

But as an example, we see the ratio of Lightning Lane guests to Standby guests at Haunted Mansion has dropped significantly since the "DAS Switch" May 20

A year ago, on July 8, 2023, we counted 7 Lightning Lane guests for every 10 standby guests at Mansion. And on other days, that ratio was as high as 13 Lightning Lane guests for every 10 guests.

Prior to the DAS switch, we never saw less than 4 LL to 10 Standby at Mansion.

As a ballpark estimate, the "pre-DAS Switch" average ratio might have been 8 or 9 LL guests for every 10 Standby.

Post-DAs the ratio is closer to 2 LL to 10 Standby at Mansion.

That's a significant drop. I am reasonably confident that a look into the park's internal metrics would show a similar trend.

The practical impact of that is that guests who don't pay for Lightning Lane are seeing significantly shorter waits in line.
And I think that's a good thing.

I haven't done the numbers, but I would have a whole bunch of questions if it was proposed that the drop in LL usage was entirely due to guests with legitimate DAS needs being denied DAS, and thus not going to the parks.

For one thing, that'd be 70% of the Lightning Lane usage and 25% of the entire ride's usage. And keep in mind, people are still getting DAS. So that's a large number to accept otherwise.

Did anyone think that LL usage would not drop? They pretty much got rid of DAS. No one is denying that DAS users were in the LL. The issue is cutting people off from a service that they needed. I am not going to argue with anyone about if someone needs it or not because none of us are in other people's bodies to know what they can and can not handle. And to pretend otherwise is disingenuous. Yes, the new system will work for some, but it won't for others. But making those with disabilities jump through these hoops is gross, IMO.

 

[jaklgreen]

I too would like a discounted G+ so I can afford to visit more often with low waits.

What is wrong with having an AP discount on Genie+? Consider it a perk for their loyal customers. How quickly Disney has forgotten that their AP/DVC members are the ones that came back to the parks after reopening when everyone else was still scared to. Nothing wrong with giving them a bit of a perk.

 

[Dranth]

Did anyone think that LL usage would not drop? They pretty much got rid of DAS. No one is denying that DAS users were in the LL. The issue is cutting people off from a service that they needed. I am not going to argue with anyone about if someone needs it or not because none of us are in other people's bodies to know what they can and can not handle. And to pretend otherwise is disingenuous. Yes, the new system will work for some, but it won't for others. But making those with disabilities jump through these hoops is gross, IMO.

Many of us expected a drop but remember some felt that DAS use was overexaggerated so the drop would be minimal or nonexistent. This helps corroborate those earlier numbers as you don't get that level of drop if DAS wasn't a significant source of LL usage.

If this holds, then the changes accomplished what Disney set out to do and relieved an overtaxed system. The next question is will they squander that and dump available inventory into the new system. I hope not but expect at least some of it will.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

She was provided an accommodation, and she didn't want to use it. She chose Genie+ instead, and then made the focus of her video a plea for Disney to provide lower cost Genie+ to AP holders.

As for your second statement, first, how do you know she didn't speak with a medical professional? And even if she didn't, I find it pretty funny that no one cared that CMs with no medical training were making DAS decisions before...but of course, that's because they were handed out like candy.

As for wanting to tell their story? Yeah, right.

Finally, somebody called this out in an articulable fashion. I think we all find empathy with disabled people. I was eye rolling when she was saying some of the stuff and how she has to pay like everybody else does.

 

[Luigi]

After years of using DAS, my wife was denied DAS for our upcoming trip.

She has Autism and ADHD that make standing in long lines very hard for her. Anxiety will overtake her and she will leave the ride. DAS helped a lot...there were times she didn't stay in the LL because even it got too long.

When Disney made the announcement to change, we were very happy. We know there were abusers of the system that made the lines long and sometimes useless for its intended purpose.

We were shocked at the CM simply telling my wife: You don't qualify. She said she can leave the line and come back and rejoin her party if she needed. My wife said, even that might not work, since going back through the line and making people move out of her way and explain to them why (even though Disney approved) might be too much for her.
The CM said she will have to do that or buy Genie+ because that was the CM's decision based on what she told her.
When we said: But I truly meet the criteria based on your website. I even have my medication here and a Doctor's note. The CM shut her down and I said "I am not supposed to see that".

We asked if "Rider Switch" was an option, we were told "No, we have to try the method she approved first".


We will buy Genie+...thats fine. We will be fine. But I am now wondering who DAS is for now?
I guess it's for the more extreme cases that may involve physical reactions (that is what I've heard). I'm hoping every CM is different and the majority of the people get the service who need it like us...

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

We asked if "Rider Switch" was an option, we were told "No, we have to try the method she approved first"

Rider Switch is available for all guests now - you need to report this CM as they told you incorrect information.

CM’s also shouldn’t be recommending Genie+ as an accommodation for a disability.

 

[Luigi]

Rider Switch is available for all guests now - you need to report this CM as they told you incorrect information.

CM’s also shouldn’t be recommending Genie+ as an accommodation for a disability.

Thank you for this information. We will most likely use RS for longer waits.

It did seem odd they were pushing the pay system to us. It seemed wrong.

 

[Chi84]

Thank you for this information. We will most likely use RS for longer waits.

It did seem odd they were pushing the pay system to us. It seemed wrong.

The pay system is available to everyone, disabled and non-disabled alike. The same is true of attraction queue return. (No idea what happened with rider switch.)

It seems Disney is trying to make their entire system more accessible by addressing the issues with lines. But if the offered accommodation is not acceptable to a disabled person, they will mention the paid system because it is an option available to all. They won’t deny that information to someone simply because the person is disabled.

ETA: I'm not at all familiar with rider switch and its requirements.