Chi84
Premium Member
I didn’t say it was a good business model. It’s not.
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New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024
- Thread starter AEfx
- Start date
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Making people be alone is segregation. Allowing a companion is not the same as an entire party.
It’s not about being good but being fundamental. The supposed concern is with satisfaction and continued sales of Lightning Lane products. But the way to truly optimize satisfaction with Lightning Lane products is to reduce admittance, something that would have a far bigger negative impact on the business. The entire larger operation of the business negatively impacts this supposed fundamental that has to be protected with decreased accommodation.
Chi84
Premium Member
Again, Disney’s system contemplates the disabled being accommodated in the standby lines.
No one thing will make the system better. Disney gets to choose which changes it makes.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
No, Disney’s system has disabled being accommodated in various ways including outside of the standby lines.
It varies based on many circumstances.
Chi84
Premium Member
How are they being accommodated outside the standby lines?
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
I applaud you then for your arguments. I had thought you or members of your travel parties had used it and were worried about these changes. Again, myself and I think most posters have no issue with people who truly need these accomodations.
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This isn't accurate. VIP Tours have access to all attractions, including FoP, GotG, Tron, etc. However, they use the Lightning Lane except in a few cases (Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear and a few others where they take you on quicker). They also restrict how many times you can do the newest rides, but you have access to them all via LL for those rides.
What IS frustrating about VIP Tours is that they force you to use the Lightning Lane. When the FoP LL is 40 minutes and you're paying $750/hour, it is incredibly frustrating. The guides should have the ability to bypass then once it gets to a certain point - but they only do this for celebs and high profile people.
I’ve seen that Disney now offers a VVIP* tour that’s over $1000/hr where they do actually let you skip the whole line almost all of the time if you want…but I assume I’m not the only parent who feels that sets a horrible example for their children. I would absolutely be beside myself waiting in a 45+ minute queue for Test Track as I mentally calculated what the tour cost me per minute. It would be darkly hilarious if the actual motivation for finally cracking down on DAS capacity was because they were having a harder time selling VIP tours as wealthy park guests got fed up with 20-40m LLs being a regular occurrence. (NB: I really do not think this is the case.)
*not what Disney actually calls it
Fido Chuckwagon
Well-Known Member
I don’t believe it will so this hypothetical is not worth thinking about. Disney is basically on record stating that they couldn’t make these changes unless/until they fixed all the DAS abuse and power use. They needed to free up some of the capacity that DAS power users were hovering up so that **everyone** could have a better experience by utilizing prebooks.*
*Except international guests. That’s a problem they need to fix.
Fido Chuckwagon
Well-Known Member
The posts about people dropping dead, or throwing up, or attacking other guests because they had to wait in the standby line were definitely peak hyperbole.
Fido Chuckwagon
Well-Known Member
There was literally a post about that several hundred pages ago.
Kingoglow
Well-Known Member
Punishing? Disney has a program targeted at some families with some Disabilities. Persons either qualify for the program or they don't. Disney provides a variety of accommodations for groups that don't qualify for their program. There is no punishment here. I suppose one could argue that standby guests are punished in some way but I think Disney, and a majority of people here, deem that as reasonable to accommodate those with needs that qualify under the program.
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Kingoglow
Well-Known Member
And Disney offers a variety of accommodations to manage conditions that don't just rely on Das.
Vacationeer
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
What wasn’t accurate?
It’s really not that hard to understand. DAS was being abused and overused by people who didn’t need it. I think we can all agree on that one.
In order to crack down on the abuse you have only 2 options: 1. Gatekeep-make it more difficult to obtain by requiring things like doctors notes, etc or 2. Make the accommodation less desirable. As has been mentioned multiple times do too much of #1 and you will run afoul of the ADA and get sued, but so long as #2 meets the standard of giving the disabled person similar access as a normal guest you have a lot more leeway there. Disney ultimately decided to do the latter for all but the individuals affected by the most serious developmental afflictions, just like they did last time when they allowed Make a Wish kids to keep their GAC access. It was the easier and safer choice to do once the company decided it was a problem. Companies, much like people, usually choose the easier safer option.
This is going to happen again, and soon, Southwest Airlines and other budget carriers that only have one seat class have been dealing with an increasing horde of “miracle passengers” who need wheelchair assistance to get on the plane (assuring them overhead bag space and seats up front) but experience a miracle on the flight and don’t need assistance getting off. This not only hurts other revenue streams (Early Bird) but actually adds costs for the airline (who do you think pays for the wheelchair drivers.) Southwest is strongly rumored (and conducting surveys) to upend their entire flight model and introduce premium seats up front that will slow boarding and end their fast turnaround at the gate model all because of grifters. That way the benefit of a wheelchair entrance either puts you in the middle of the plane far from a bathroom or in the back of you need easy access to the bathroom.
It is a shame that we as a society can no longer give people extra benefits who otherwise have a hard life due to their disabilities because there is a large minority who feel they too are entitled to those benefits even if they are not disabled but here we are. I don’t think anyone on this thread is happy that life is being made harder for disabled people, we just recognize that the status quo could not continue and it was hurting everyone else. The ADA makes it very hard for companies to do the most logical thing (gatekeep) so unfortunately they have to downgrade the benefit so that grifters don’t have as much of an incentive to try and get it. People suck.
In order to crack down on the abuse you have only 2 options: 1. Gatekeep-make it more difficult to obtain by requiring things like doctors notes, etc or 2. Make the accommodation less desirable. As has been mentioned multiple times do too much of #1 and you will run afoul of the ADA and get sued, but so long as #2 meets the standard of giving the disabled person similar access as a normal guest you have a lot more leeway there. Disney ultimately decided to do the latter for all but the individuals affected by the most serious developmental afflictions, just like they did last time when they allowed Make a Wish kids to keep their GAC access. It was the easier and safer choice to do once the company decided it was a problem. Companies, much like people, usually choose the easier safer option.
This is going to happen again, and soon, Southwest Airlines and other budget carriers that only have one seat class have been dealing with an increasing horde of “miracle passengers” who need wheelchair assistance to get on the plane (assuring them overhead bag space and seats up front) but experience a miracle on the flight and don’t need assistance getting off. This not only hurts other revenue streams (Early Bird) but actually adds costs for the airline (who do you think pays for the wheelchair drivers.) Southwest is strongly rumored (and conducting surveys) to upend their entire flight model and introduce premium seats up front that will slow boarding and end their fast turnaround at the gate model all because of grifters. That way the benefit of a wheelchair entrance either puts you in the middle of the plane far from a bathroom or in the back of you need easy access to the bathroom.
It is a shame that we as a society can no longer give people extra benefits who otherwise have a hard life due to their disabilities because there is a large minority who feel they too are entitled to those benefits even if they are not disabled but here we are. I don’t think anyone on this thread is happy that life is being made harder for disabled people, we just recognize that the status quo could not continue and it was hurting everyone else. The ADA makes it very hard for companies to do the most logical thing (gatekeep) so unfortunately they have to downgrade the benefit so that grifters don’t have as much of an incentive to try and get it. People suck.
Chip Chipperson
Well-Known Member
We also KNOW it was being abused. There have been stories shared about CMs hooking their friends and co-workers up with DAS. Unauthorized tour guides were using their DAS to sell their services in the parks. There was the "influencer" who whined to People magazine about how she "needs" DAS because of a medical condition that makes the sun cause excruciating pain in her eyes even when wearing sunglasses in the gift shops, uet shared a picture of herself in front of the castle on a sunny day without sunglasses. Those aren't guesses. It happened. There will likely still be abusers/liars/exaggeraters now, but it seems a little harder to pull off between the video calls and new accomodation options.
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
I think having more lines with bathrooms available along the way would help some of this too. That is something that could be done.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Wheelchair drivers are airport employees, not southwest.
Does southwest actually have a faster turnaround? I’ve seen AA and Delta turn crazy fast - never noticed anything quicker with southwest.
They needed to do assigned seats long ago in my opinion.
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
I am not a fan of southwest and agree, it doesn't move any faster than having assigned seats. In fact I think it is slower, with people having arguments over seat holding by the one person who paid the preboard fee(you will never find more people supposedly using a bathroom pre takeoff and thus told by their companion why a seat is not available than on Southwest).
The other poster made a good point though, on flights with assigned seats preboarding is usually a few people. On Southwest I have had group A and literally rows and rows are already taken by the time I board by the dozens of people preboarding.
jaklgreen
Well-Known Member
That would be amazing. That would help everyone.