New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[RSoxNo1]

After a few conversations with some 'in the know' persons.. my concerns are all but gone for my perspective on this..

Despite the 'Autism only' way the original post reads, Disney is playing the requirements close-to-the-vest as to prevent online 'get around' information for those that would abuse..

I guess that goes without saying, but it's definitely happening. they are absolutely going to enforce bans for abuse, and I'm all in on that for the abusers of the system.. Do it.

They've had similar language in place in the past. I've yet to hear even anecdotal evidence of anyone being banned.

What would be interesting is if they took the ability away from the front line cast members in the park to adjust the DAS at all. If they make it so that your only option is the online pre-registration I think that would go a long way to curbing abuse.

 

[Happyday]

DAS should only allow one ride per day using DAS, just like Genie+.

So if I kept getting right back in the standby line that wouldn't be allowed either under this logic.

 

[Dis Dragon]

Do we really think that Disney is going to hurt their bottom line by adding CMs to ride ques for a just in case someone needs to get out of line? The lines weren't built for backtracking... so people that are having an emergency get to climb over a bunch of guests, while this is happening?

They're just shifting the owness on the guest, there isn't going to be any operational changes except that they might give you a slip of paper if you manage to escape the line back at the ride entrance to rejoin the line some point down the line.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Yet an awful lot of people who swear they're unable to wait more than a few minutes for anything manage to do it multiple times a day. And somehow the post-apocalyptic scene of queues littered with bodily waste and fainted bodies that some claim awaits us if they can't have this specific accommodation has never materialized at the Magic Kingdom bus stop after Happily Ever After.

Waiting for a bus in the morning is usually not the problem. Waiting in the lines at the end of the night could be. That leaves a guest with 2 options…leave the parks earlier before the lines get long, or wait in the parks until the lines lessen. You could use the restroom several times before you get in line.

 

[Happyday]

I don't think Disney is required to allow unlimited repeat rides as an accommodation.

The expectation for most guests would be doing a given attraction once per day. DAS provides the equivalent opportunity to users.

Okay then you can't ride more than once either.

 

[Gomer]

You may be making assumptions about what Disney is legally required to provide in the first place. The ADA doesn't require that all people with disabilities, regardless of their nature, be given DAS simply because Disney determines it is an appropriate accommodation for some. (Sorry if I'm not understanding your comment)

My observation is that Disney is trying not only to prevent abuse, but also to deny DAS to persons with legitimate disabilities who can be accommodated short of receiving DAS. That's really the only explanation I can think of for why they chose to adopt the wording they did instead of requiring documentation.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, but yes I agree. I am not saying Disney is required to offer DAS to everyone. They very clearly have a lot of wiggle room where they could reduce who is eligible through DAS or remove it entirely as long as they offered alternative accommodations that met the standards.

My point was, for those who which Disney is determining are eligible for DAS, it would invite scrutiny if they changed that service to offer something significantly lesser than what a standard paying guest is offered. Someone could very easily come back and ask them to prove what specific impacts from the removed accommodation (re-rides in this case) was causing there overall business to suffer that makes it no longer a reasonable accommodation.

The easier path for Disney is to reduce those who are eligible for DAS so that fewer people are getting this high end accommodation, while creating new accommodations for those who had previously used DAS but were getting more that what was appropriate for them.

All that said, this is all a theoretical tangent anyway. Disney does seem to moving down the path of reducing DAS in favor of new alternative accommodations, and nothing released so far seems to indicate Disney is considering a reduction in the DAS service itself like people are suggesting here.

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

They way I see it is it will not decrease waits BECAUSE:

A. If Disney is able to remove a large percentage of DAS abusers from LL they will be able to offer more LL drops making G+ a more attractive purchase thus increasing revenue or being able to increase the price of G+.

B. Former DAS abusers will now be purchasing G+ so the LL will still be occupying the same amount of people but the DAS to G+ ratios will be more correctly aligned.

or A and B which could potentially increase SB waits.

 

[Angel Ariel]

These activities are actually exactly what many of them crave, it is a sensory input.

Not just what they crave - but what helps to *regulate* them. And helps them learn self-regulation.

 

[Grantwil93]

True, and there also some terrible, narcissistic parents out there who make horrible decisions that negatively impact the mental well being of their children.

The two points are not mutually exclusive.

Kid sees mickey and is screaming and crying, mom keeps trying to force the kid to take a solo picture and takes up time, attendant essentially tells mom to take picture with them(in a nice way), kid stops crying the second mom picks them up.

Happens constantly.

Traumatizing your kid for a solo photo fpr instagram/facebook that you don't need instead of not making the experience bad for your kid.
......
I agree with both of you to an extent. I've seen kids with clear DD who clearly don't want to ride my ride be forced onto it by parents who are using their kid for the pass.

But I don't know the needs or dynamic all families have, i used to work at a location where a young boy just wanted to re-ride with his mom for 9 hours straight. He was amazing and im glad DAS allowed him to do that effectively.

It's a complicated topic

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It's so charming to be told to just stay home. Like it's somehow something we haven't heard before. And this is why I appreciate the existence of the ADA. I don't expect Disney to fundamentally redesign the entire concept of a day at an amusement park. I accept there need to be changes due to the abuse neurotypical people are committing. We will do what we can to adjust and make decisions from there. DD struggles a lot with her developmental disorder, but she shines at Disney despite them, because they can be accommodated. I will do whatever I can to continue to bring her to a place she loves. I am not just going to pre-emptively have her stay home to make others feel more comfortable.

I look at this from the Birds Eye view…

It’s not someone needing reasonable accommodations so that they can enjoy their time that’s really the issue

It’s that - for over 15 years - wdw has not been able to get people on rides and keep the entertainment up.

Yes…it’s the bad management of Bobism. Acting like they’re were gonna write a term paper on economics instead of studying how park dynamics work and why they work for Disney.

Wasting time on redoing things and coming up with ineffective, elaborate tier pre booking systems…when what they always needed was more seats to put people in.

And it’s not gonna change. What have people been geeked up for the last week? A redo of a section of DAK that has fallen into disarray…just moving some of the shortages from the west side of the park to the east.

 

[Happyday]

This. We are almost 80 pages in and people are STILL misrepresenting what DAS does or allows users to do.

Changes were needed, but if you’re gonna criticize the program whole cloth, make sure you get your facts right.

AMEN thank you

 

[flynnibus]

An "equitable" accommodation is if I have to wait 45 minutes for Peter Pan and you can't wait in line for some documented medical reason, you have to go to a waiting area for 45 minutes and then get to ride.

I don't get to go on other rides, go shopping, or wander the park during those 45 minutes so how is it equitable to allow the DAS group to do it? If that was the program, you would not see people lying about needing it, they would just wait in line like me.

It's not designed to be 'equitable' - It's designed to address the disability's needs. Handicap accessible parking spots are not equally distributed around a parking lot in an attempt to be 'equitable'

If you took people from one limited, constrained area, and just put them in a second, limited, constrained area... so they couldn't go on other rides, go shopping, or wander' - what have you done except moved them from one room to another?

 

[Happyday]

Not just what they crave - but what helps to *regulate* them. And helps them learn self-regulation.

Exactly, sorry I have trouble expressing exactly what I want to say when writing it out

 

[Disney Glimpses]

They way I see it is it will not decrease waits BECAUSE:

A. If Disney is able to remove a large percentage of DAS abusers from LL they will be able to offer more LL drops making G+ a more attractive purchase thus increasing revenue or being able to increase the price of G+.

B. Former DAS abusers will now be purchasing G+ so the LL will still be occupying the same amount of people but the DAS to G+ ratios will be more correctly aligned.

or A and B which could potentially increase SB waits.

I am cautiously optimistic regarding this. In reality, Genie+ GSAT numbers are not particularly great. I think Disney is more than happy with the revenue generated from the service so I really think they will err on the side of caution and work on the GSAT numbers first.

 

[Brian]

It's not designed to be 'equitable' - It's designed to address the disability's needs. Handicap accessible parking spots are not equally distributed around a parking lot to be 'equitable'

If you took people from one limited, constrained area, and just put them in a second, limited, constrained area... so they couldn't go on other rides, go shopping, or wander' - what have you done except moved them from one room to another?

Plus, I really don't think that folks consider the optics of Disney requiring disabled guests to wait in designated areas "just for them." Not that it was on the table in the first place, but since folks keep suggesting it as a solution.

 

[Happyday]

What I would change is the shaving off time it does for waiting that standby time. If it's a 15 minute posted wait, you can't just walk in immediately or not even book it(you can just show the CM your pass if its 15min or less), wait the 15min if it's meant to replace stand-by

Or if it's a 35min wait, the pass isn't valid to be scanned for 35min. Not 20.

If the ride wait drops after you booked, it will modify to be sooner to match the time you would actually wait via the posted time.

Cause at least when my cousin(who does have low functioning autism) uses the pass, I noticed how the return times are generally not exactly the listed wait. Usually it's shorter by 5 to even 25min.

And as someone who has used both G+ and DAS when I'm with his family(I'm the Disney "pro" so I get put in charge of booking), I can get a much better day out of DAS than G+, by far. Which isn't a bad thing, for many of the reasons in this thread about how much ppl with different disabilities can handle, etc.

But you make it so easy to get and anyone who knows how to do Disney will find that the DAS is incredibly effective and less hassle than G+ to optimize your day.

Thats probably a great thing removed from the misuse/abuse and operational issues. It's a good system that needs some form of reform to curtail as much abuse as possible without denying it to ANYONE who needs it.

Interesting because we have had the opposite experience our return time was always the posted wait time and Disney tends to pad those. Then you still have to wait some in the LL.

 

[Figgy1]

Plus, I really don't think that folks consider the optics of Disney requiring disabled guests to wait in designated areas "just for them." Not that it was on the table in the first place, but since folks keep suggesting it as a solution.

It wasn't fun when they did it for some attraction back in the GAC days.
The Bob is never going to do anything that keeps people from spending money
Just where would the corral be?

 

[Angel Ariel]

Exactly, sorry I have trouble expressing exactly what I want to say when writing it out

no need to apologize - was agreeing with you and expanding!

 

[TrojanUSC]

DAS should only allow one ride per day using DAS, just like Genie+.

This doesn't work for a few reasons:

1) The point of DAS is to provide accommodation to those who need it. If you want to ride Space Mountain a dozen times, you could get in the standby line repeatedly to do so. You should not be barred from doing this just because you have a disability.

2) There are a number of special needs kids who really only want to ride 1-2 rides repeatedly on their trip, in many cases such rides provide a therapeutic effect.

 

[Happyday]

But come on now its not realistic someone would do that and also if the issue is rerides and party size find a way to fix that. Im saying this as A DAS user

You don't get the point, others may not keep riding the same ride but we are talking about someone that is not neurotypical if they had the ability to wait in line they would!