New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[Tha Realest]

Wow. Some of what they announced is quite surprising, like the 4 guest limit. And this:

"If it is determined that any of the statements a Guest made in the process of obtaining DAS are not true, the Guest will be permanently barred from entering Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort, and any previously purchased Annual Passes, Magic Key passes, tickets and other park products and services will be forfeited and not refunded."

It will be interesting to see how statements would be checked.

I think that’s always been the policy. Whether it’s ever enforced is anyone’s guess.

But…play stupid games…

 

[Tha Realest]

A lot of reports? Or a few reported multiple times?

Plus without any evidence that it was one single DAS user with 15 guests.

Maybe it wasn’t even a DAS group at all, but a VIP tour, or Club33 member plus guests.

Yep. It was small groups of up to 6 sparsely using it that accounted for TP’s wild number divergences and Disney’s aggressive (and some would say draconian) step in changing their policies here.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I think that’s always been the policy. Whether it’s ever enforced is anyone’s guess.

But…play stupid games…

Total guess and I may be 100% wrong - it hasn't been enforced. If it had been, I think it would be known because someone would have complained via social media. "My little Billy has this-or-that and the cruel, heartless, uncaring people at Disney don't care and banned us because they said we lied!"

 

[el_super]

You haven't been to WDW lately if you don't think Disney has a take it or leave it attitude towards guests.

I'm not really sure I understand what you mean. It's always going to be beneficial for both the company and the guests (at large) for them to err on the side of caution and offer accomodations. A lawsuit is still a lawsuit.

And their reputation for being accommodating of course leads to more people utilizing those services. As long as they are paying admission why shouldn't they use the services they need?

I personally think this is a responsible change on Disney's part. They're free to set guidelines, as long as they are clearly communicated and enforced consistently.

I don't think this is a bad change necessarily. It follows about the same "reset" philosophy as when they "fixed" GAC with DAS. Using scary language to deter people who may not need it.

But at the end of the day they will still issue DAS to the same people. They can't risk not accommodating someone who needs it.

 

[nickys]

The DAS updates are live on the Walt Disney World website.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/disability-access-service/

3 hours later and nothing at all on the U.K. site.

 

[jinx8402]

Yep. It was small groups of up to 6 sparsely using it that accounted for TP’s wild number divergences and Disney’s aggressive (and some would say draconian) step in changing their policies here.

TBF, I don't think they were saying DAS was sparsely used by groups of 6 or less. They were saying it wasn't a large number of individual groups of 15+ using it and that maybe some misunderstood different large groups that could have access to LL and thinking it was DAS.

 

[nickys]

View attachment 778122
So they’re moving to fully online registration? Will minimize the ability for guests to scream at GR cast members to get their way

And ruling out international guests for the time being too. Especially since they still haven’t updated the U.K. site with any details.

 

[BraveGirl]

Wow. Some of what they announced is quite surprising, like the 4 guest limit. And this:

"If it is determined that any of the statements a Guest made in the process of obtaining DAS are not true, the Guest will be permanently barred from entering Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort, and any previously purchased Annual Passes, Magic Key passes, tickets and other park products and services will be forfeited and not refunded."

It will be interesting to see how statements would be checked.

This has been the policy at least for the past year. My mom got DAS last summer due to her vertigo and we had all her documentation ready for the interview because were terrified they would think she was lying and ban us for life! (they never asked for documentation and didn't even ask for any further explanation other than what she told them, which was just her diagnosis).

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

"If it is determined that any of the statements a Guest made in the process of obtaining DAS are not true, the Guest will be permanently barred from entering Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort, and any previously purchased Annual Passes, Magic Key passes, tickets and other park products and services will be forfeited and not refunded."

Im pretty sure that language has always been there.

 

[Figgy1]

Im pretty sure that language has always been there.

Since at least preregistration started

 

[Trauma]

they are boosting staffing

Oh goodie.

I just wish they went 3rd party.

Disney struggles to get anything right.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Aren’t they extending the sign up period to like 120 days. Spread the applications out more

My understanding was they are extending the validity of DAS to 120 days once you have it, but that it's still a 30 day pre-arrival to actually register for DAS.

 

[wdwmagic]

My understanding was they are extending the validity of DAS to 120 days once you have it, but that it's still a 30 day pre-arrival to actually register for DAS.

correct

 

[pdude81]

Wow. Some of what they announced is quite surprising, like the 4 guest limit. And this:

"If it is determined that any of the statements a Guest made in the process of obtaining DAS are not true, the Guest will be permanently barred from entering Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort, and any previously purchased Annual Passes, Magic Key passes, tickets and other park products and services will be forfeited and not refunded."

It will be interesting to see how statements would be checked.

They did start previewing facial recognition a few years back, right? I'm assuming they aren't proactively looking to ban guest, but if someone says they can't wait in lines for a specific reason, but queues at HM with a 40 minute line and gets a photo while skipping a 75 minute queue at 7DMT, questions could be asked.

 

[MagicHappens1971]

They did start previewing facial recognition a few years back, right? I'm assuming they aren't proactively looking to ban guest, but if someone says they can't wait in lines for a specific reason, but queues at HM with a 40 minute line and gets a photo while skipping a 75 minute queue at 7DMT, questions could be asked.

Disney is never going to do something like this

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

The fact that Universal did this and Disney is following indicates that "too many" has been reached. There will always be some cheating but it is too easy to cheat currently. This isn't a trial by jury where it's better to let 1000 guilty people go free than to convict one innocent person.

That is a reasonable thought. Enough that Disney is doing something about it.

 

[Trauma]

I still don’t get this.

How does this prevent abuse.

It’s looks the same as it has been for the last couple years?

 

[Patcheslee]

Interested in how this "return to queue" feature works? Will they have to hire additional CMs per attraction to accommodate this feature/request? How will that work in smaller/difficult queues to get in and out of like Peter Pan?

Same, hopefully they can make it work

 

[EricsBiscuit]

This entire conversation brings us back around to the fact Disney is not an appropriate place to visit for everyone, nor is it an entitlement people "deserve". There are many, many places in the world that aren't appropriate for me to visit (for multiple reasons), so I don't plan trips there.

It's an unpopular opinion, but I honestly don't care.

With accommodations my child is able to enjoy WDW just like I and anyone I know does. That's the point of accommodations. Requiring accommodations to do something doesn't mean that thing is inappropriate for a person to do.

That thinking is literally why things like the ADA must exist. because society too easily leans to just excluding disabled people.

Honestly, I see both viewpoints. I am a little more sympathetic to Angel Ariel’s viewpoint however. I think everyone making a small sacrifice so that others who otherwise wouldn’t be able to enjoy WDW can is an honorable thing. However, I do think that Disney is taking the right steps to ensure that abuse is curtailed. I just wonder if they’re going far enough.

 

[Disney Glimpses]

They did start previewing facial recognition a few years back, right? I'm assuming they aren't proactively looking to ban guest, but if someone says they can't wait in lines for a specific reason, but queues at HM with a 40 minute line and gets a photo while skipping a 75 minute queue at 7DMT, questions could be asked.

They won't do this but I wish they would. Unfortunately, people think that simply having a disability makes one eligible.