New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[Angel Ariel]

But this attitude is part of the problem and how its so easy to scam … people with legit disabilities should embrace this imo. We all go to Drs and obtaining a note verifying/validating ones condition should not be an issue

People fake driver's licenses all the time. A doctor's note is a heck of a lot easier to fake, and has less legal implications than faking a license. If I felt like documentation would make a serious difference, sure I'd embrace it. But I don't have any confidence it would make a difference at all.

 

[Splash4eva]

That, I believe, is a part of why the lawsuit was filed against six flags (if I'm remembering correctly) - that requiring the ibcces prevents people with disabilities from just walking up to the gate and deciding that day as anyone else can.

Maybe im wrong but i thought the person was accepted but Uni decided not to give the person access anyway based on their own determination. Which may i add imo it should be their decision. Personally even as a DAS user i dont mind businesses making these decisions at all hence why having a documented disability and then a company basically having a set of rules which we can go by which determines who gets what etc. like to me Disney could have simply lowered the party size and found a way where parties can meet up. Im sorry i get you wanna vacation together but again DaS users to me want everything but give nothing back. Just how ive seen it from my pov

 

[Splash4eva]

How? It’s still based on need though, not diagnosis right?

Again. Getting a Dr note starts the process. Disney has made it clear who will or will not qualify. By enforcing some type of “proof” it basically says to anyone that for you to even be eligible this is the 1st step. By stressing to the public via website word of mouth etc that certain “disabilities” no longer qualify it basically eliminates a group. As i previously said. No Dr is gonnalie about some autism or developmental disability. Does it solve the problem. Definitely not but imo it helps.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Maybe im wrong but i thought the person was accepted but Uni decided not to give the person access anyway based on their own determination.

From the disability scoop article posted earlier:

Six Flags Sued Over Disability Access Policy

Six Flags is facing allegations of discrimination, with a lawsuit contending that the system its parks and several others use to provide disability accommodations violates the ADA.

www.disabilityscoop.com

By contrast, the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California notes that typically-developing guests can purchase tickets upon arrival at Six Flags parks and immediately enjoy the amenities “without any advance planning or preparation.”

“Because disabled persons must gather the necessary medical documentation and submit it with their application on the IBCCES website prior to their park visit, persons with disabilities do not have that same luxury afforded to nondisabled persons,” the suit states. “Defendants have therefore failed to implement policies, procedures, and practices respecting the civil rights and needs of disabled individuals.”

The lawsuit indicates that the ADA bars entities from asking about the nature or extent of a person’s disability or requiring documentation.

As to whether the person filing it was given accommodations:

The complaint indicates that I.L. applied for and received an Individual Accessibility Card from IBCCES, but that on multiple visits to Six Flags Magic Mountain employees declined him accommodations because they said he didn’t look like he should qualify for the Attraction Access Program. In one instance, the lawsuit states that a park employee ripped up the Individual Accessibility Card and told I.L. that “he did ‘not look disabled enough’ to have the listed accommodations.”

 

[Chi84]

From the disability scoop article posted earlier:

Six Flags Sued Over Disability Access Policy

Six Flags is facing allegations of discrimination, with a lawsuit contending that the system its parks and several others use to provide disability accommodations violates the ADA.

www.disabilityscoop.com

As to whether the person filing it was given accommodations:

These are the allegations in the complaint. I never saw the answer. Does anyone know how the case is progressing?

 

[Angel Ariel]

These are the allegations in the complaint. I never saw the answer. Does anyone know how the case is progressing?

I haven't seen any news articles that are recent about this.

 

[Splash4eva]

I haven't seen any news articles that are recent about this.

I dk how the case shakes out but just like everyone said way back when Disney was not gonna win the GAC case i hope Six Flags whoever it is wins this case because im sick of lawsuits and entitlement. Millions wasted over a theme park?!?

 

[nickys]

From the disability scoop article posted earlier:

Six Flags Sued Over Disability Access Policy

Six Flags is facing allegations of discrimination, with a lawsuit contending that the system its parks and several others use to provide disability accommodations violates the ADA.

www.disabilityscoop.com

As to whether the person filing it was given accommodations:

No wonder there’s a lawsuit. That behaviour from the park employees is shocking (assuming the allegations are true).

 

[Angel Ariel]

I dk how the case shakes out but just like everyone said way back when Disney was not gonna win the GAC case i hope Six Flags whoever it is wins this case because im sick of lawsuits and entitlement. Millions wasted over a theme park?!?

IF the allegations from the suit are true (which is an absolute if) - and someone was denied access because they didn't *look* disabled, they absolutely have the right to sue, IMO. That would be discrimination, not entitlement.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

because im sick of lawsuits and entitlement. Millions wasted over a theme park?!?

So if someone feels like their civil rights were violated they are entitled? I don’t follow this logic at all.

 

[jaklgreen]

This is complicated, but the designation could unlock more services for your child.

Many disabilities are VERY specific. Like a person might have trouble reading things that are written on a chalkboard, but they do fine if the information is written on paper.

I know a student who had trouble with handwriting. He was in middle school, and he still had trouble forming letters. The school was short on funding, so they only had a few computers, and this was the time-before everyone had a cellphone. One day, he was given a computer keyboard, and all of a sudden 5 pages of writing came pouring out in less than an hour.

I will never forget the look in his eyes when he turned around to say, "Typing is SO much easier for me!" He smiled for days. It was a major turnaround for his education, because typing enabled him to work at grade level. His life must have been so frustrating before that day.

Testing for disabilities doesn't catch every disability. A member of my family clearly has mild dyslexia, but always scored just out of range. They have long struggled with spelling, and other reversals, like swapping a plus for a minus sign in math. They have lifelong inability to discern thier right side from their left. PE class was a struggle. The teacher said go left, and they went right, while the whole class laughed at them. They came to hate PE and most sports.

In both cases, a small accommodation would have saved years of silent suffering.

They tested her and she had above average IQ and did just fine. She had the same "issues" that I had, if we are not interested in the subject, then we just shut our minds to it. She was not incapable of learning and had no disability, she just didn't care. I told them this and they STILL wanted to get her an IEP. Her grades where either As, or Fs, depending on if she bothered to put an effort in.
I share this to show that not every kid that has an IEP necessarily has some kind of disability. And that an IEP should not be used as some kind of proof of a disability. That it the WHOLE point of my posts. I don't know how some have misconstrued what I am saying.

 

[jaklgreen]

Because the physical limitations can be met by other accommodations.

It really seems that Disney is focusing, as they should IMO, on guests who have issues caused by the long lines and excluding people who have issues that might manifest in the line. It's a subtle but real difference.

And you are saying that neurological issues can not be met by other accommodations? How is "leave the line before your issue flairs up" different for those with physical and those with neurological?
And why do you say that all physical issues "might" and not "DO"? How can you say that with 100% certainty? None of us know what people go through and to dismiss all other disabilities, like you just did, is not right. I truly do not understand the disdain of those who have physical disabilities, as if they are "less disabled" than those with autism. EVERYONE that needs it should get DAS and just randomly saying that people don't need it is not right.

 

[Chi84]

No wonder there’s a lawsuit. That behaviour from the park employees is shocking (assuming the allegations are true).

Those particular allegations seem incredible. He alleges that 3 different employees at different times looked at what he presented. One ripped up the paper he presented and said he didn’t look disabled; the other 2 said there was an issue with what he showed them and it didn’t look like he qualified for the program. I’ll try to find out where the case stands.

 

[jennab55]

And you are saying that neurological issues can not be met by other accommodations? How is "leave the line before your issue flairs up" different for those with physical and those with neurological?
And why do you say that all physical issues "might" and not "DO"? How can you say that with 100% certainty? None of us know what people go through and to dismiss all other disabilities, like you just did, is not right. I truly do not understand the disdain of those who have physical disabilities, as if they are "less disabled" than those with autism. EVERYONE that needs it should get DAS and just randomly saying that people don't need it is not right.

I’m not the poster, but some people with physical disabilities can be accommodated in other ways. Let’s say mobility needs are accommodated by allowing a wheelchair or ECV in line. People who have flares sometimes are accommodated by allowing them to leave the line and return when the need comes up. People with developmental disabilities, how do you accommodate that when the thought is that they don’t even fully understand that there is a problem? Example, a child with a developmental disability thinks they can wait in a line and understands what waiting is, but 20min in they start having breakdowns little by little and don’t even realize it is happening and it happens in every single line. If the child needs to leave the line that will make the situation even worse. What is the alternative?

Obviously there are many other scenarios, I’m just giving a few to try to explain how some can be accommodated in other ways.

 

[jaklgreen]

I’m not the poster, but some people with physical disabilities can be accommodated in other ways. Let’s say mobility needs are accommodated by allowing a wheelchair or ECV in line. People who have flares sometimes are accommodated by allowing them to leave the line and return when the need comes up. People with developmental disabilities, how do you accommodate that when the thought is that they don’t even fully understand that there is a problem? Example, a child with a developmental disability thinks they can wait in a line and understands what waiting is, but 20min in they start having breakdowns little by little and don’t even realize it is happening and it happens in every single line. If the child needs to leave the line that will make the situation even worse. What is the alternative?

Obviously there are many other scenarios, I’m just giving a few to try to explain how some can be accommodated in other ways.

I agree that some, and probably many can be accommodated in other ways. But so can those with autism. That is the problem with what Disney has done. They put a blanket accommodation out of 1 type of disability while pretty much saying "too bad, so sad" for others. Even others with autism if the cast member is having a bad day and wants to deny people. This whole thing is handled very poorly.
And again, people need to stop acting as if every physical issue is just having "flair ups" or can "easily" be handled by just leaving the line as needed. That is what bothers me the most, the blatant dismissal by many of people's physical disabilities, many of which are very serious. There is almost a disdain from some about those who suffer with anything other than autism.
The reality is that no one knows what people go through in life and no one should be making statements like all physical disabilities can be accommodated by just leaving the line.

 

[jennab55]

I agree that some, and probably many can be accommodated in other ways. But so can those with autism. That is the problem with what Disney has done. They put a blanket accommodation out of 1 type of disability while pretty much saying "too bad, so sad" for others. Even others with autism if the cast member is having a bad day and wants to deny people. This whole thing is handled very poorly.

Disney is not blanket approving every person with autism for DAS. Im not sure where you are getting your information, but that is wrong. DAS approval is not solely about the diagnosis. Some people with autism or other developmental disabilities are able to wait in a queue.

 

[jaklgreen]

Disney is not blanket approving every person with autism for DAS. Im not sure where you are getting your information, but that is wrong. DAS approval is not solely about the diagnosis. Some people with autism or other developmental disabilities are able to wait in a queue.

I know that. But they are blanket denying those with physical disabilities. It is posted on their website that DAS is only for those with autism and other neurological conditions.

 

[jennab55]

And again, people need to stop acting as if every physical issue is just having "flair ups" or can "easily" be handled by just leaving the line as needed. That is what bothers me the most, the blatant dismissal by many of people's physical disabilities, many of which are very serious. There is almost a disdain from some about those who suffer with anything other than autism.
The reality is that no one knows what people go through in life and no one should be making statements like all physical disabilities can be accommodated by just leaving the line.

Also not sure if you are aware but there are other options as well. Disabled person can wait outside the queue while their party waits in standby, then go through the LL to meet up with party at the merge point. There is also a return time option, but I hear that is given our sparingly depending on party size and other factors.

 

[jennab55]

I know that. But they are blanket denying those with physical disabilities. It is posted on their website that DAS is only for those with autism and other neurological conditions.

But again they aren’t blanket approving all people with autism or other developmental disabilities. They drew the line in the sand where they believed it needed to be and are offering other accommodations for physical disabilities. Is it a perfect system? No, but changes had to be made and this is what they decided to do. I understand why. They may make tweaks at some point as well but I highly doubt it will ever go back to everyone with any type of disability is eligible. That just doesn’t work for disabled and non disabled park goers.

 

[Tigger&Pooh]

I know that. But they are blanket denying those with physical disabilities. It is posted on their website that DAS is only for those with autism and other neurological conditions.

That's not entirely true either. There have been reports of "not autism, not developmental disability" who are getting approved. It truly comes down to discussing your needs (leave the diagnosis out) and how that has impacted you -- in the past at WDW and/or in your day-to-day life.

There is no blanket approving or denying, unless the individual simply wants to state a diagnosis without further insights to their needs. That has occurred a lot.