News New DAS System at Walt Disney World 2024

[ConfettiCupcake]

I think the ideal scenario would be Disney officially allowing refunds for those who do not receive DAS and who feel like they cannot manage without it. IME Disney is fairly lenient on refunding or changing non refundable items, and overruling their own policies (so long as you are approaching them politely), however I understand that’s not reassuring enough when it’s not an official policy. The move to 60 days to allow for package guests to still receive a refund is a good direction.

I know it’s been said many times throughout this thread, but it still feels relevant… much of the criticisms of Disney due to the initial major change are criticisms they have and are facing from the general guest population for years now. It may feel personal and targeted at people with disabilities and that ‘they’ don’t want them in the parks unless they can extract $$$ from them, but from my perspective its a similar yucky nickel and diming feel that a lot of us have felt for years now. This is what they’ve have done to the parks in recent years, and guests unwilling to pay the various up charges often get the short end of the stick compared to those who are willing. I know even with DAS people are not completely insulated from feeling that, but it’s an all encompassing shift that’s impacted all of us.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I think the ideal scenario would be Disney officially allowing refunds for those who do not receive DAS and who feel like they cannot manage without it. IME Disney is fairly lenient on refunding or changing non refundable items, and overruling their own policies (so long as you are approaching them politely), however I understand that’s not reassuring enough when it’s not an official policy. The move to 60 days to allow for package guests to still receive a refund is a good direction.

Agreed with all of this

I know it’s been said many times throughout this thread, but it still feels relevant… much of the criticisms of Disney due to the initial major change are criticisms they have and are facing from the general guest population for years now. It may feel personal and targeted at people with disabilities and that ‘they’ don’t want them in the parks unless they can extract $$$ from them, but from my perspective its a similar yucky nickel and diming feel that a lot of us have felt for years now. This is what they’ve have done to the parks in recent years, and guests unwilling to pay the various up charges often get the short end of the stick compared to those who are willing. I know even with DAS people are not completely insulated from feeling that, but it’s an all encompassing shift that’s impacted all of us.

also agree with this. The discounts we qualify for are what have insulated us more and allowed us to continue visiting, not the DAS access, so I don't feel the targeted at people with disabilities piece that I know I've seen from others (esp in the DAS Defenders group). But even with those discounts the nickel and diming is very evident and has been for a long time.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I think the ideal scenario would be Disney officially allowing refunds for those who do not receive DAS and who feel like they cannot manage without it. IME Disney is fairly lenient on refunding or changing non refundable items, and overruling their own policies (so long as you are approaching them politely), however I understand that’s not reassuring enough when it’s not an official policy. The move to 60 days to allow for package guests to still receive a refund is a good direction.

I know it’s been said many times throughout this thread, but it still feels relevant… much of the criticisms of Disney due to the initial major change are criticisms they have and are facing from the general guest population for years now. It may feel personal and targeted at people with disabilities and that ‘they’ don’t want them in the parks unless they can extract $$$ from them, but from my perspective its a similar yucky nickel and diming feel that a lot of us have felt for years now. This is what they’ve have done to the parks in recent years, and guests unwilling to pay the various up charges often get the short end of the stick compared to those who are willing. I know even with DAS people are not completely insulated from feeling that, but it’s an all encompassing shift that’s impacted all of us.

Unfortunately DAS guests were equally impacted by most of the negative changes over the last several years, the lone exception was the monetization of FP, I agree we are also stuck with the same choice of paying up or having a difficult day now though. (Or simply not going)

We’re fortunate enough we can still go under certain conditions so we’ve made peace with the changes but I still think some of the policies are ridiculous and need to be drastically changed for those who can’t adapt so easily. WDW still requires a ton of pre planning, buying tickets months in advance, booking rooms months in advance, make dining reservations months in advance… it would drive me crazy to completely plan a trip knowing we’d have to wait until 60 days before the trip to know if we could actually go.

Disney should make the DAS meeting available as soon as a package is booked, even if that’s a year out, that way people know exactly what they’re signing up for, that should have been apparent from day 1 to any company focused on customer service, something Disney is/was notorious for.

 

[Purduevian]

I think the ideal scenario would be Disney officially allowing refunds for those who do not receive DAS and who feel like they cannot manage without it. IME Disney is fairly lenient on refunding or changing non refundable items, and overruling their own policies (so long as you are approaching them politely), however I understand that’s not reassuring enough when it’s not an official policy. The move to 60 days to allow for package guests to still receive a refund is a good direction.

I wish they could do this, and I'm glad it's unofficial policy. However, if you make it official policy people will abuse it to get refunds. I don't know what the solution is

 

[Angel Ariel]

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We couldn't have built this without Disney's help. Their Centralized Inventory Management team is great.

This was seriously helpful for us, @lentesta ! We used your site to figure out where to request our rooms for our CBR stay last fall, and it worked out perfectly! Disney fulfilled our room request and it was a perfect location!

 

[jaklgreen]

Obviously i dont know everyone but anyone i know has been refunded in full after being denied DAS. Granted need to get others involved etc my guess is they changed it to avoid just that and now full refunds most likely will not be given out if denied bc you are outside the 30 day window. Issue will be with certain ticket types

I still think that the date should be further out than 60 days. For many people, getting time off of work needs to be put in months ahead of time. And then you book your flights, etc. It is not so easy to just not go and try to plan something else in that short of time. Sad that people have to just skip Disney or plan 2 different vacations in case they are not approved for DAS. This policy most definitely puts an extra burden on those with disabilities.

 

[Splash4eva]

I still think that the date should be further out than 60 days. For many people, getting time off of work needs to be put in months ahead of time. And then you book your flights, etc. It is not so easy to just not go and try to plan something else in that short of time. Sad that people have to just skip Disney or plan 2 different vacations in case they are not approved for DAS. This policy most definitely puts an extra burden on those with disabilities.

Altho not ideal and far from the leader its pretty clear who is and who isnt getting approval now with the new policy. People. Booking should have a pretty decent idea on how the call will work out. I just went thru it and in the end it all worked out and ill leave it at that….

 

[Disney Analyst]

 

[jennab55]

Telling people which rides just gave her LLs to return probably isn’t the best idea. That is how more abuse will happen…. Not sure why she didn’t just have her friends wait in line for Tron and meet up with them at the merge point.

 

[DoubleSwitchback]

A whole group of friends getting free lightning lines because she's colorblind. Hmmm.

 

[Chip Chipperson]

A whole group of friends getting free lightning lines because she's colorblind. Hmmm.

Yeah, I really don't see the logic behind "I'm color blind, therefore I can't wait in the Standby line." It’s not like the queues have traffic lights. If the colorblindness is her only issue then she's a perfect example of someone abusing the system.

 

[Splash4eva]

Granted im sure she doesnt care but she shouldnt be posting this…

 

[DoubleSwitchback]

Granted im sure she doesnt care but she shouldnt be posting this…

I'm torn. Yes, it's a "how to" for other tour guides, but the more this stuff spreads, the faster it becomes a problem and Disney can crack down on the remaining abusers.

 

[Purduevian]

Telling people which rides just gave her LLs to return probably isn’t the best idea. That is how more abuse will happen…. Not sure why she didn’t just have her friends wait in line for Tron and meet up with them at the merge point.

I don't think it's the case that 7D will always give a whole group LLs if there is an issue.

As I understand it, the CM at the front should always allow the return to queue (everyone waits in line except the disabled and 1 extra person then meet at LL merge). It is up to the CM if they want to give one of the other better accommodations (a LL set approximately the wait time in the future, or letting the group instantly access the LL).

 

[Ayla]

Way to out yourself as a cheater on the internet. She also has no idea what "visible" disability means. Being color-blind is NOT a disability when it comes to theme parks. Geezus.

 

[ConfettiCupcake]

The woman in the TikTok has a video posted previously where she applied for DAS, and she said due to day blindness or extreme photosensitivity she had qualified in the past. So there’s a little more to it than being colorblind.

Either way, we know the changes were about disqualifying those who don’t need it at every attraction all the time, and someone who struggles with outdoor queues in daylight (which there are not many) is an obvious candidate for alternate accommodations. Her TikTok is a great example as to why the often repeated suggestion of documentation or doctors notes would not fix anything. This woman is not fabricating anything, I suspect she could easily prove what she’s saying with medical records and a doctors note, but somebody who struggles with daylight can wait safely wait in the standby queue for many attractions and it makes a lot of sense to deal with these scenarios case by case at the attractions like they do.

I don’t think it’s her intention, but she’s showcasing exactly how the system got so overwhelmed and that she doesn’t actually need it. Another one of her videos goes on to explain that she planned her trip around indoor and shaded queue due to her extreme photosensitivity and low vision, and also lucked out with some overcast days. Between that, and the AQR or RTQ, she seemed pretty successful? Her caption suggests she wants to put pressure on Disney to change the program back, but her content shows pretty clearly it’s a want not a need.

 

[Angel Ariel]

According to her Instagram (I don't use TikTok so can't click on the video). it's not just colorblindness she has, but "achromatopsia". It sounds like this specific disorder also causes low vision, not just color blindness.

She was denied DAS as she should have been, and the DAS staff told her to ask for attraction queue re-entry. She did exactly as she was told by staff. She didn't ask for a return time either - she asked about AQR. CM at SDMT chose to do a LL instead - that's not the guest's fault.

 

[DoubleSwitchback]

I don’t think it’s her intention, but she’s showcasing exactly how the system got so overwhelmed and that she doesn’t actually need it.

Not only how it got so overwhelmed, but how it easily could again in the future. A nice how-to guide with no verification or validation; anyone can say they were "previously approved for DAS".

 

[Splash4eva]

I'm torn. Yes, it's a "how to" for other tour guides, but the more this stuff spreads, the faster it becomes a problem and Disney can crack down on the remaining abusers.

Lets put it this way. One of my posts i ended with “lets leave it at that”. I did get approval for DAS for my upcoming trip on 2 weeks with my daughter. It was something that went on about a week again not getting into details as i was asked not to and was actually explained how the RTQ would work etc which i was denied any info on multiple times etc. so yes this is a “how to” but its something Disney doesn't want out and as outlined her denial for Tron kinda falls in line in what i was told probably trying to abuse the system…

 

[Chip Chipperson]

According to her Instagram (I don't use TikTok so can't click on the video). it's not just colorblindness she has, but "achromatopsia". It sounds like this specific disorder also causes low vision, not just color blindness.

She was denied DAS as she should have been, and the DAS staff told her to ask for attraction queue re-entry. She did exactly as she was told by staff. She didn't ask for a return time either - she asked about AQR. CM at SDMT chose to do a LL instead - that's not the guest's fault.

Not saying it's her fault the CM gave her and her friends a return time, but her sense of entitlement for DAS is off-putting and is a perfect example of someone who doesn't need DAS, but wants it because she understands that it is better than Standby or paid LL options (despite her contention that it isn't a line-skipping service, which is just splitting hairs since it IS a free - and superior - version of LLMP). On one hand, she's lamenting the loss of DAS for herself while on the other she's showing how the alternative accommodations actually did work as they should.

Edited to add: This is the same person who was featured in the People Magazine article about the DAS changes back in April 2024. In that article, she shared photos of herself at WDW during the day without her sunglasses on. I don't doubt that she has a legitimate medical condition, but i also have no doubt that she is capable of enjoying the parks like anyone else without DAS and was using Disney's leniency to take advantage. Now that her Disney Hack has disappeared, she's upset.

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