TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Can anyone who has experienced both confirm? Is it the same process? Or different?
I believe someone reported a multiple hour wait for the interview? Was that common at guest relations?
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New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024
- Thread starter AEfx
- Start date
I believe someone reported a multiple hour wait for the interview? Was that common at guest relations?
Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
The interview itself is the same. Yes, we've done both in person and video.
The virtual interview often does have a wait. For WDW, I had made a habit of getting on right at 7am at 30 days if possible (not a school day, so DD was home). Doing that my wait was typically 15-20 mins. I started doing that because of you try to come on in then afternoon, then yes a multi hour wait was not uncommon. I would open the chat and do other things (periodically checking the page to make sure I was still in the queue).
At Disneyland the only time I've done the virtual interview it was a 3.5 hr wait. I signed on to the chat maybe 5-10 mins after the videos opened for the day. Looking at the waits they've had in person at DLR since the change, DLR's volume of DAS guests seems significantly higher than WDW.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Thanks! Since the new program seems more restrictive I was thinking the interview process was more complex.
I would say the long waits are not legal but Disney could argue that anyone calling Disney is subject to long waits now - it’s amazing how far the parks have fallen from “world class” customer service they used to be known for.
Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
To clarify - I haven't done the new interview yet. My understanding is that there are typically more follow up questions than there may have been in the past. But from all accounts I've read, people have said the interview starts the same way it always did (asking what needs the guest has that require not being in line), and depending on how answered it goes from there.
You asked if the in person and video experiences were the same and seemed to be referring to them overall, not specific to the new system, so that is what I responded to. Apologies for any confusion
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Oh so you did the old interview on video, but not the new one?
I didn’t realize there was an old version of the video - I thought the video interview was itself new so I was confused as well.
Based on your previous posts, everything Disney now does related to DAS is illegal, so...
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
I am very interested in ADA laws. I studied them quite a bit for public transit while working for a railroad.
Angel Ariel
Well-Known Member
Correct - I've done the pre-May 20th DAS interviews both in person and on video. The video option began after Covid reopening, so it's been around for a few years now.
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
Even when we have proof that what it does is described by Disney itself as .. skipping the line.
Don’t think I said it did, this week is a mulligan because of the holiday. Next week will be far more typical and helpful.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
If it has nothing to do with DAS why post it?
SamusAranX
Well-Known Member
It’s best described as a juiced up VQ because you’re not skipping the wait but you also get to wait in a timed “line” for your ride elsewhere. For a genuine user of DAS this wasn’t really a “buff”. They used that time to perhaps change environment (sensory issues) stay near a bathroom (digestive, diabetic etc issues), and maybe if they’re lucky get to hop on People Mover if it’s a 2 minute wait For example. I can tell you from personal experience just sitting around for 45 minutes in a store or sipping a Joffreys is a huge waste of time and money you spent, so the reason this became a hack was because you could wait in two lines at once, doubling your attraction body count. Enter the abusers and non-disabled. You can’t tell me without being facetious that if WDW found some way to eliminate to where they could not allow a user to be in another standby queue while waiting for their selected RTQ, that the same amount of people would have been trying to utilize it. Because for a truly healthy person the benefit of the “hack” would be nonexistent. Nada. Most people don’t wanna wait in stores or just shoot the breeze five times a day 45 minutes at a time.
On the other hand, not all disabilities necessarily needed it even if they got easy approval. The pendulum has to be balanced, so while I feel for some who have shared their stores on social media, they need to utilize the other options that Disney is giving before giving up IMHO
DAS is skip the line, period. There is a good reason for it, as for some, it's a needed accommodation. You can call it a "timed 'line'" elsewhere if you choose to do so, but that's ridiculous on its face, as eating, going to the restroom, riding another attraction, or going back to the resort for a nap are not the same as waiting in line. All are permissible, and there is no reason DAS holders shouldn't do all of those things, but it's not the same as standing in a line.
And I'm all in on finding a way to prevent people with a DAS return time from riding other attractions while they wait, but until Disney makes that decision/finds a way, there is nothing wrong or abusive with DAS holders doing so.
Splash4eva
Well-Known Member
Interesting tidbit of info. So i was talking to one of my GF friends today she is going to Disney this week and she was approved for DAS for the same reason 2 of my other friends were denied. Only Difference i saw was this she is a single mom of 2 children thats are 7 & 11. My other friends were with another adult and the other one her daughter was 16. So im wondering if that is now getting approved to avoid any issues with minors
Vacationeer
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
For WDW -
Prior to Oct 2021, DAS was only being issued after arrival, with a visit to guest relations.
In Oct 2021 the online chat with video call was added. This method could only be done 2-30 days before first park day. It came with 2 preselected ride time slots daily. The old in-person visit to guest relations was still an option.
May 2024- Online chat with video call still works the same, just no longer offers the 2 preselected rides daily. Guest relations is what changed. Guest relations no longer decide the requests, instead they’ll help facilitate the online chat with video through iPad they supply. All DAS requests now go through online video call.
I know less about DL. It appears they still have live in person request available. With WDW, whether you do the chat prior to arrival or at Guest relations after arrival, both go through the same chat/video system online.
Prior to Oct 2021, DAS was only being issued after arrival, with a visit to guest relations.
In Oct 2021 the online chat with video call was added. This method could only be done 2-30 days before first park day. It came with 2 preselected ride time slots daily. The old in-person visit to guest relations was still an option.
May 2024- Online chat with video call still works the same, just no longer offers the 2 preselected rides daily. Guest relations is what changed. Guest relations no longer decide the requests, instead they’ll help facilitate the online chat with video through iPad they supply. All DAS requests now go through online video call.
I know less about DL. It appears they still have live in person request available. With WDW, whether you do the chat prior to arrival or at Guest relations after arrival, both go through the same chat/video system online.
Basil of Baker Street
Well-Known Member
500 pages are we're still arguing semantics.
Splash4eva
Well-Known Member
Altho i get your point but there are people i still talk with that basically thought you could just walk up and ride anything anytime you wanted… so there are definitely some misinformation out there regarding how the system actually worked
pixiedust101
New Member
Sorry, not sure that someone hasn't already said this. I think people must be mistaken about some things about Universal and the comparison to Disney's ways to get DAS. There are actually 2 big differences, yet one people seem to overlook. Universal actually now has 2 steps to get the same form of a pass as DAS guests can get (I am directly referring to the complete DAS, not the other options). You first have to go through the IBBCES app to prove the disability with documentation, then wait to find out if approved. Then you will hear from a cast member from Universal about arranging a time to talk. Then speaking with them is the actual interview, such as the one step of the Disney interview. You then need to explain what you need and why you need it and all the same steps as Disney. That cast member decides if you get a pass or not, as well as what accommodation you will receive. I will tell you personally that it is a much longer drawn-out process than waiting online and getting a one-on-one interview with a Disney cast member that day.
I feel as though many people also forget, that while it is true that Disney did help a lot more of disability needs than they legally needed to, ADA wise they didn't have to. I get that. It bothers each of us in a different way depending on what our situation is. However, your point of it being legal to require a handicapped person to need to make a reservation when not every single other person that comes to the park needs to, makes me wonder how you believe this is legal. I'm not attacking with this question! I am all about knowledge on knowing. After all, life wouldn't seem the same if everyone simply stopped learning. As I said above, Disney did not have to grant all the accommodations as before, but the rule I personally believed (still do, until I now question it with your response) is the one thing that is required to be done is a company needs to provide the accommodations of allowing disabled guest to be at the same standards as those who aren't disabled. Therefore, just APs sometimes requiring a reservation isn't the same as all required to make one. I guarantee if Disney were to try this (which I honestly cannot see them doing), there would be a lot more people suing them with a lot of luck on their side.
Yeah, if I have to suddenly start explaining that I don't think any of my circle of family or friends would be willing or able to push me around for potentially up to 8 hours a day, in addition to the fact that I couldn't push myself, that's a little annoying. I'll happily explain it if that's the difference between getting DAS and not, but I would rather let my argument (and myself) stand on my own two feet.
It's an incredibly strange suggestion. If I went to my eye specialists and told them about a CM suggesting that as a reasonable accommodation, I think they'd probably laugh for 10 minutes before crying from laughing...
We almost never do Midway Mania at WDW, but assuming it works like DCA, having a lot of wheelchair users who can’t transfer (or tell ride attendants that they can’t transfer for the final 5-15m wait) can really slow down the loading and unloading process, pausing the ride. I have been wondering how pushing some groups of DAS users from DAS to all day in ECVs will impact park operations on the rides where ECV transfers slow things down.
I can’t imagine it’s the primary cause of TSMM at 2 hours today, but I am wondering which lines will routinely get longer going forward. I assume it’s more of an issue at DL (and perhaps MK) than any of the newer parks.