They also have the option to talk to someone in person at DLR. So if the wait is too long online they can go in person.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024
- Thread starter AEfx
- Start date
Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
I'm not saying I agree with making an ADA complaint on this incident - just to be clear up front.
That said, I've read numerous reports in various places since the change of people waiting 7-9 hours on DAS hold for DLR, just to be kicked off when they close for the night and have to do it again. Yes, that is absolutely unreasonable. My own wait for DLR online in January, before the change, was 3 hours signing in within 5 mins of the pacific opening time. (Whereas similar timing for WDW's opening time I would wait maybe 10-15 mins before being connected).
These ridiculously long times recently seem to be primarily happening at DLR, not WDW, and so it does raise some questions as to why is this such an issue in one place and not as much in the other? Especially considering DLR *does* have an in-person option as well, which WDW doesn't. Logic would follow that the online wait times should be less, not that much more.
I don’t know much about DLR, but have heard they have a lot more locals. I wonder if more of them were using DAS than people at WDW? Or maybe they have less people on the phone likes because there is an in person option?
Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
I'm guessing it's the latter - that they have less people on the phone. This was an issue before the change as well, so it's not just a result of the change. DLR should be staffing based on actual demand. Even post change it's now been 2 months - plenty of time to make adjustments based on the actual demand they are seeing.
A 2 hour wait is one thing. 5,6,7+ hours? It's totally reasonable to have a problem with that - whether a person is disabled or not. That isn't accessible or professional IMO.
Then yes, I’d agree they should add some additional temporary chat agents until it settles down. At least in the meantime people have the option to apply in person. I haven’t heard that those likes are hours long (at least not since the change first started).
Chi84
Premium Member
The proper response is to complain to Disney. The ADA does not require them to have a DAS program.
If someone goes to the parks and is denied a reasonable accommodation for their disability that prevents them from accessing an attraction, then maybe involve the DOJ.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Not sure why this is such a big deal for you - 1 complaint will just be filed. If more complaints come in related to disability access they will have a file to work off of. That helps everyone involved.
Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
You don't think 5+ hour long waits are an accessibility issue? Like I said at the beginning - i am not saying I would involve the ADA, I wouldn't, but waits as long as I've seen shared are an accessibility issue.
The DAS chat window is not like being on hold on the phone where you can put it on speaker and walk away/go about life and it'll be very obvious when someone answers the call. It requires the browser window staying active and it times out if it isn't for a certain time. If you see this and notice it you can refresh (or sometimes I've had to navigate back a page and then come back in) and supposedly you don't lose your place, but if you miss the CM coming in to start your chat, you get disconnected and have to start over. one of the first times I did the online preregistration that happened to me - waited for multiple hours, didn't realize the time out issue, and when I did get back in i had missed the chat and needed to come back and try the next day.
Disney could absolutely make this online process more accessible overall.
ETA: and to be clear, my thoughts on this are irrespective of what accommodation one is waiting for. A 5 hr wait at Disneyland's in person accessibility window would equally be inaccessible and a problem (and that's now where people are being directed to get, for ex, the stroller as a wheelchair tag). The lack of accessibility of a 5+ hr wait, imo, has nothing to do with whatever the accommodation being waited for is.
Last edited:
Chi84
Premium Member
I 100% agree that the waits are unreasonable for anyone and Disney should be informed.
I’m not sure I’m being clear. The access that the ADA covers is to the parks. What people are complaining about is the wait to access Disney’s specific program that allows people to skip lines. That program is one created by Disney and may or may not be required someday.
We already have people saying they are inundating Disney with repeat calls if they are denied (maybe contributing to the problem). I think it would be unreasonable to contact the DOJ with complaints about hold times.
Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
You're being clear, but Im just not sure the situation is as clear cut as you're describing. It's my understanding that while the ADA doesn't give businesses a specific time frame in which they need to respond to a customer request for accommodations, that it does need to be "reasonable", without undue delay.
This issue with Disneyland wait times existed before the change to the new system, and therefore before any inundating of calls due to people not qualifying. people waiting hours because Disney doesn't staff to the demand is an accessibility problem. Of course the first step should be informing disney - I haven't disagreed with that at all - but I have very little doubt that Disney knows what these waits are. And I'm willing to bet they have received many complaints about this - pre and post DAS change.
The irony of setting up a system for people to request an accommodation due to disability related reasons they have difficulty with waiting that requires those same people to wait hours to even have the interview is...high.
Chi84
Premium Member
I wonder if the long waits are due to calls from people who no longer qualify under the express terms of the service but call anyway - and multiple times.
They may be documenting the difficulties with implementing a program like DAS just in case someone sues. This isn’t the old Disney we know and love.
Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
If the bolded is true then why did the long waits at DLR exist prior to the DAS changes in June?
my own experience in January was logging in 5 mins after the opening time and I waited around 3 hours. From what I read to prepare myself (as this was the first time we'd pre-registered for DAS at DLR), these long waits were common which is why I tried to be close to their opening time. Doing the same at Disney World the year before, same time of year, I waited 10-15 mins.
Last edited:
Chi84
Premium Member
They may be gearing up to argue that certain accommodations like line-skips, no matter how much they’re needed, are not feasible under their current business model. I wouldn’t put it past them.
Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
If that were the case, wouldn't the same be happening at WDW? But it's not nearly as bad there. I edited my post above while you were writing..my own experiences are 3 hrs for DLR vs 10-15 mins for WDW (both pre-DAS change, both within minutes of the opening time for the day).
It's the wide discrepancy between the two that is glaring.
Fido Chuckwagon
Well-Known Member
“The ADA” is not an organization, it is a law. ADA stands for the “Americans with Disabilities Act.”
Fido Chuckwagon
Well-Known Member
Just finished a 4 night trip to WDW primarily to go to MNSSHP. Happy to report that the lightning lanes continue to be largely empty, with no real wait to merge points, and on top of that, the ride waits at MNSSHP seemed much more reasonable to non-existent than in years past.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
also the sky is not actually blue!!!!
Vacationeer
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
Might not be professional. This was happening ever since the move to video chat, not just recently with the changes. People seemed more tolerant of that wait before DAS approval rates declined.
There’s also an alternative, do it in person. Still a choice. Maybe someone decides it’s worth the wait because they can work it into their home multitasking schedule. Maybe that doesn’t work for them and they do in park instead.
People may not like doing it in person because their value of a visit depends on DAS approval. But that’s not a strong argument since accommodations will be offered no matter what. The only question is if it will be DAS or not. So the argument wouldn’t really be about accommodation approval before purchase, it would be if alternative accommodations meet legal requirements.
Don’t think much could ever be enforced beyond requiring a company do callbacks if the wait is forecasted to exceed a reasonable time.
Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
This would be a great fix. Our doctors do this. Don't know how Disney can do that with the online piece, given that it's not a phone call, but it would help tremendously.
And yes I realize waits were happening before the change - I shared that it happened to me prior to the change, so clearly aware of that. That said, there's no excuse for WDW to have very reasonable waits and DLR to have excessive ones. Staffing according to demand is a reasonable expectation to have. And FTR I felt that way before the change as well
Vacationeer
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
I was responding to your comment in general, not just specifically a one on one conversation taking your entire post history into accountThis would be a great fix. Our doctors do this. Don't know how Disney can do that with the online piece, given that it's not a phone call, but it would help tremendously.
And yes I realize waits were happening before the change - I shared that it happened to me prior to the change, so clearly aware of that. That said, there's no excuse for WDW to have very reasonable waits and DLR to have excessive ones. Staffing according to demand is a reasonable expectation to have. And FTR I felt that way before the change as well