New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[flynnibus]

What I'm saying is that if they add more benches in response to DAS restrictions, it won't necessarily help anyone that's disabled. The first part of what you quoted shows that I'm in favor of them for all guests.

It can't hurt... and in the situations where there are benches free, it will help.

I know what you're getting at... but the apathy approach doesn't work. More benches will improve the chance that you can sit down... including those looking to sit down for medical reasons.

When we are going from nearly zero... I don't need dedicated medical benches... just start making it not a rare sighting.

 

[Trauma]

I'm confused. Seeing your posts, it seems you are claiming there are people who can't wait in line standing, and can't wait in line sitting due to physical limitations.

What are these people doing in the park when they aren't in a queue? There's only standing and sitting (and I'm assuming non-stop walking is out of the question).

Let’s take my grandfather. Has a laundry list of medical problems due to agent orange exposure in Vietnam.

He has severe pain in his lower extremities do to poor blood flow. ( At some point his legs may need to be amputated )

When we used das we would usually sit somewhere comfortable with some snacks and wait for the return time. He had to get up every couple of minutes to walk around and then he sits back down again. This is how he deals with the extreme pain in his legs.

You clearly don’t have anyone In your family with severe disabilities or you wouldn’t be asking such a ridiculous question.

Doing anything for him in life is a nightmare, but DAS gave him a way to have some enjoyment with his great grand daughter with the short time he has left on this earth.

 

[DeadyRoosevelt]

I think that the problem is that DAS people are in the same line as Genie+ and that they oversell Genie+. We didn't have these issues with DAS before they went to selling Genie+.

Unfortunately, every move like this Disney has made since the original FastPass has not been driven by operations. It's been to increase revenue and show continued growth. Each decision has had a knock-on effect that then needs to be addressed. There was DAS abuse in the past, but I'm sure it's only increased since the introduction of Genie+ and the continual G+ price increases. Honestly, back when everyone got FastPass included with their stay, that probably also helped some of the concerns people have about disabled guests currently having an "advantage" at the parks.

I think there are certain things they can do without completely wiping the current system and starting over. The limit to 4 guests (outside of certain cases) makes some sense to me. In my family, the adults would happily take turns riding attractions if it ensured my son had a trouble free experience in lines.

I know they aren't allowed to ask, but I'd also provide documentation of my son's conditions and medications on our pre-screen. I'm sure most people would. I know people can fake these as well, but at least that's some added enforcement and would probably be welcomed by the non-DAS crowd. Again, I know there are legal issues here, but maybe they could come up with something.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm confused. Seeing your posts, it seems you are claiming there are people who can't wait in line standing, and can't wait in line sitting due to physical limitations.

What are these people doing in the park when they aren't in a queue? There's only standing and sitting (and I'm assuming non-stop walking is out of the question).

It's not a binary thing.

Standing still, is different from moving around.
Standing and being able to lean on something, is different then standing in an open space.
Standing for short periods, is different than standing for extended continuous periods.
Sitting with back support is different from sitting with none
Sitting on a hard surface is different from sitting on a cushioned one
Sitting for short periods can be radically different than sitting for long periods

Needing to sit for 5 minutes once an hour is not the same thing as "I need a wheelchair with me at all times for 16hrs today"

 

[Tha Realest]

Of course, but there are limits set by Disney, not the guests. The guests can push back but reasonable is the key word that should allow Disney to make these changes as long as the return to line system isn't a complete joke. If it is, they will have issues.

Everyone ignores the accommodations can reasonably modify the business’s practices and policies so long as it does not fundamentally alter the goods and services it provides the public.

As presently constituted, DAS has drastically affected and fundamentally altered the experience for non-DAS guests.

 

[Tha Realest]

I think that the problem is that DAS people are in the same line as Genie+ and that they oversell Genie+. We didn't have these issues with DAS before they went to selling Genie+.

Got any proof? It seems the people in the business of knowing these things - whether Disney or TP - have teams of evidence that DAS dwarfs G+, and not the other way around.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Not everyone who requires a wheelchair requires it for every moment of the day.

I hear wheelchair users vent about this often - that they are told they are abusing accessible parking space placards, etc because they have any level of ambulation. No one should be making judgments about people they see for a few seconds while walking around a store, a parking lot, Disney, etc.

You are right! I have an invisible disability and am 100% disabled because of it. You should see the looks I get when parking in the handicapped space. It used to bother me a lot but now I just look away and go on. We all need to learn not to be so judgmental about others. We don't know what they are going through, even if they look healthy and can walk better that day.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

That’s what I’m saying, I can’t picture it. Just having people hop in and out as needed sounds like a recipe for some kind of horrible shoving / trampling incident. Having official checkpoints isn’t likely given the ride restructuring that would have to happen. Giving a return time would essentially be another form of DAS. Having CM’s assist would require a ton of people if anyone who wants to leave knows they can hop out of line for a bit.

I think this will cause a horror show of people who don't know about a person getting the leave the queue for the bathroom pass. Right now we read stories of people who physically stop people from going back in line for whatever reason. They assume that that person is line skipping. People get angry when others do this. I can only imagine what will happen when a large amount of people with this pass try to go by others. I hope they have CM;s at the entry point to take that person to their spot. That's the only way I can see this working without problems. Just my thoughts on this...

 

[Angel Ariel]

Sure, and Disney has done pretty well on this front. Best I can tell they have not lost a single lawsuit brought against them based on disability access and I checked as far back as the last time they changed in 2013 and a good number of suits were filed that time.

I do think they will get in trouble if the return to line system isn't robust enough to handle a lot of these issues that have come up in the forums.


This is true most of the time but we have real world examples where Disney has been sued by people who claim things like their child needs front of the line access to everything in the park. The parents in cases like that made the determination that their child could go to the park based on their own fantasy of what Disney had to provide them instead of making that call based on what Disney actually provides. In one case they KNEW they weren't going to get that and sued anyway after Disney didn't cave.

And yes, that's inappropriate. And the courts handled it appropriately.

That doesn't change that parents know more about their child's disability than Disney, or a 3rd party health business, or random people on the internet. Some people being inappropriate doesn't mean holding others accountable or responsible for their inappropriateness.

 

[Splash4eva]

I think this will cause a horror show of people who don't know about a person getting the leave the queue for the bathroom pass. Right now we read stories of people who physically stop people from going back in line for whatever reason. They assume that that person is line skipping. People get angry when others do this. I can only imagine what will happen when a large amount of people with this pass try to go by others. I hope they have CM;s at the entry point to take that person to their spot. That's the only way I can see this working without problems. Just my thoughts on this...

How is this gonna work when it comes to single parents with minors? Assuming both will leave line together etc. is anyone allowed to leave the line? Or only if you have certain access? This is gonna be comical how they plan on dealing with this there are no room in lines already imagine leaving for 15 minutes and having to come back in line? And here is another take. You get in line say you have to go to bathroom for a ride that has a 60 minute wait. Go ride a couple attractions with limited wait and come back…. Did Disney think of that? Everyone can say i gotta go to potty and come back whenever they want. Disney cant limit how long one can use a restroom lol.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I was behind on the info and was thinking that they were going to use the same company that Universal does.
I won't be going back to WDW for at least a couple of years. To not get DAS would be the end of my Disney trips. My issues are bathroom related. I need access urgently and frequently. I have been dealing with this for almost 20 years. I didn't go to any of my kids' sporting events because there were no toilets. No taking my kids to the park for the same reason. No road trips for me, no going to the movie theater because I had to get up so often that there is not point. My life literally revolves around a toilet.
The only reason that I can even go anywhere is because airplanes have toilets. WDW was the ONE place that I felt almost normal. I could set up my DAS and hang out by the toilets until my return time. I would go right before I got on the ride and then hightail it to the toilet as soon as I got off of the ride. Even then, I would only go on about 4 rides a day.
There is no way that I would be able to go in and out of the standby line to use the restroom, especially now that I travel solo.
I think that people, like you, that don't have serious medical conditions that completely affect your whole life, just can not comprehend how horrible it is. At times, I feel like I don't want to live like this anymore because my life consists of work and home. I don't do anything else other than my once a year trip to WDW and now I don't have that.

I completely understand what you are going through, and it is not fun or easy. My grandson is going through the same thing. His last episode had him using the BR every 20 minutes around the clock. That is a drastic and fortunately ,not a common problem. He couldn't work because of that. He was miserable. I Know what you are feeling. I think you should go and give disney a try with this new DAS. They will probably contact the 3rd party (or whatever they are called), and you should definitely get a pass and help with this. Even a letter like this post to disney might help. I hope it all works out for you. I just wanted you to know you are definitely not alone in this problem.

 

[Dranth]

Again how is it making it More difficult?!? All they are doing is eliminating GS access…. The punishments have been in place the entire time for lying…

No docs are needed. Autism is being stated as a valid reason. Anyone can literally call now and say their kid is etc etc etc. someone “scamming” before literally will do the same now. And people who need it for valid concerns are now in jeopardy of losing it. What am i missing with this announcement?
Yes i agree laws need to be changed. But as i said earlier. There has to be some loophole a lawyer can find that can allow Disney to need proof of why DAS is needed… when GA did this. They allowed me 1 entry w/o proof then i had to sign online and was approved.

A lot is going to depend on where the abuse was happening and how Disney is using the third-party group in the decision-making process. For example, what if they have data that shows 1/3 of the abusers showed up first thing in the morning to demand DAS from a frazzled CP cast member at guest services? Okay, move it online only and force people to engage with people who have some level of training to deal with this. Say they looked at it and find nearly every case of fraud they have been able to prove used autism? Okay, so they bring in a third party to help validate or at least help spot suspicious requests.

No solution is prefect and right now we are all doing a lot of guessing because we just don't know yet.

Historically they have been able to cut down abuse each time they changed the system, at least for a while, so I expect they have enough information to know this will accomplish that. I also except that over time it will likely get worse but with luck a few dirt bags get banned along the way and when they switch next time, they are ready to move to a system like Universal is using.

 

[Splash4eva]

I was behind on the info and was thinking that they were going to use the same company that Universal does.
I won't be going back to WDW for at least a couple of years. To not get DAS would be the end of my Disney trips. My issues are bathroom related. I need access urgently and frequently. I have been dealing with this for almost 20 years. I didn't go to any of my kids' sporting events because there were no toilets. No taking my kids to the park for the same reason. No road trips for me, no going to the movie theater because I had to get up so often that there is not point. My life literally revolves around a toilet.
The only reason that I can even go anywhere is because airplanes have toilets. WDW was the ONE place that I felt almost normal. I could set up my DAS and hang out by the toilets until my return time. I would go right before I got on the ride and then hightail it to the toilet as soon as I got off of the ride. Even then, I would only go on about 4 rides a day.
There is no way that I would be able to go in and out of the standby line to use the restroom, especially now that I travel solo.
I think that people, like you, that don't have serious medical conditions that completely affect your whole life, just can not comprehend how horrible it is. At times, I feel like I don't want to live like this anymore because my life consists of work and home. I don't do anything else other than my once a year trip to WDW and now I don't have that.

Is it confirmed that they will deny you access to DAS with your specific condition? This is again why requiring documentation is the way to go. You would be 100% willing to supply it to gain access like you need.

 

[Splash4eva]

A lot is going to depend on where the abuse was happening and how Disney is using the third-party group in the decision-making process. For example, what if they have data that shows 1/3 of the abusers showed up first thing in the morning to demand DAS from a frazzled CP cast member at guest services? Okay, move it online only and force people to engage with people who have some level of training to deal with this. Say they looked at it and find nearly every case of fraud they have been able to prove used autism? Okay, so they bring in a third party to help validate or at least help spot suspicious requests.

No solution is prefect and right now we are all doing a lot of guessing because we just don't know yet.

Historically they have been able to cut down abuse each time they changed the system, at least for a while, so I expect they have enough information to know this will accomplish that. I also except that over time it will likely get worse but with luck a few dirt bags get banned along the way and when they switch next time, they are ready to move to a system like Universal is using.

But they have kinda already worded what they are going to do…

 

[el_super]

As presently constituted, DAS has drastically affected and fundamentally altered the experience for non-DAS guests.

No it hasn't.

 

[UNCgolf]

No it hasn't.

Disney thinks it has; that's why they're changing it.

 

[BG313206]

What will Disney recognize as a disability.
My Grandaughter even with medication suffers from seizures is that considered a disability.
My Grandson has diabetes is that considered a disability.
So we're going to have some " Health Expert" on the phone make the call.
From the happiest place on earth to the greediest place on earth .

 

[Dranth]

And yes, that's inappropriate. And the courts handled it appropriately.

That doesn't change that parents know more about their child's disability than Disney, or a 3rd party health business, or random people on the internet. Some people being inappropriate doesn't mean holding others accountable or responsible for their inappropriateness.

I am not trying to imply that Disney (or anyone) knows more than the parents just that the parents final decision to bring their child or not does not force Disney to accommodate them in anyway other than Disney thinks is appropriate.

Also, let's not pretend that as a country we don't do things ALL the time that override what parents think are acceptable for their children. It just happened in the last few weeks in the very state WDW is sitting in.

 

[Splash4eva]

Disney thinks it has; that's why they're changing it.

You really believe that and think this is not another money grab

 

[Vclguy90]

Disney thinks it has; that's why they're changing it.

No they don't, contrary to popular belief Disney does not care about your experience just how it can get you to give them more green.