I've been out a while and had quoted a few things to respond to. I think there are about 10 more pages since I last looked
Just yesterday I read an article about this change and in it, mentions someone overhearing a parent bragging that they said their
child had autism and now they don't have to wait in lines. This is infuriating to me, but how do you prove it, and now with this being the only diagnosis they accept as ok, how many more will be "saying" this to get the pass. Heartbreaking to those of us that really need it and aren't allowed to prove it.
The whole getting out of line and then you can get back in? The thought of saying "excuse me" to a hundred or more people to get out and then the same thing to get back in, to try to remember where you were and annoy a whole lot of people who are hungry, tired, hot, etc? yeah, that sounds like a blast.
I looked on the
DAS site this morning and it says for arrival now through May 19, DAS will be available for 30 days. After that it will be good for 120 days. We arrive on the 18th so I am curious how this will work for us. Anxious to do my chat next week when we are 30 days out. And not gonna lie, really stressed about it.
Autism is NOT the only diagnosis they will accept. The website says 'developmental disabilities' and gives autism as an example. I believe this was strategic on Disney's part. When they changed from Guest Assistance Card to DAS in 2013, 'autism influencers' started posting that DAS would not work for them and started planning their lawsuit BEFORE DAS even went into effect. A number of them purposely went on the first day DAS went into effect and live-streamed, hoping to show chaos.
And diagnosis does not necessarily equal need for accommodation. Disney is not going to say, 'Ok. You have autism. Here's your DAS'. There will continue to be an application process.
It's good to remember that the vast majority of guests are honest people who would never consider faking a disability / diagnosis in order to get DAS. The very few who would do this are not the majority. We are doing a lot of extrapolating based on stories read online about that one person who abuses it.
Even the "80% of those in the LL are using DAS" being circulated as fact - when it's a bogus rumor. Anyone who has used DAS knows that almost no one scanning in around them in the LL is also using DAS. Most are G+ or Ride swap users. It's easy to tell the difference at scan in. And it's not 80%.
I agree the "80% of those in the LL are using DAS" is bogus. But, people tend to repeat those things as fact. My family personally has only seen anyone scanning in to use DAS a few times in multiple trips.
There are still lots of people saying wheelchair users go in all attractions thru the exit without waiting. That hasn't been the case for many, many years.
But the ADA tempers that with accommodations that significantly impact operations and/or other guests are not required. I do believe the issue Disney is trying to correct is the vast number of people in the LL queue. I don’t have the answer and wish Disney had shared more about how the “leave the line” pass will work. How/where do folks rejoin? Whole party or individual (or individual w/helper)? When? Those all need to be known before one can say “ it doesn’t work.”
Agree
I would buy
Genie+ if I could not get DAS, but what concerns me is the hour window. Part of what made DAS so usable for me personally was getting a return time and then if I needed more time to get to the ride for reasons related to my disability, it was no problem. If they want me to buy Genie+ instead of DAS, OK, but I don't see how they address the hour window.
And if I'm in the LL for a Genie return time and I have to leave it, can I come back even if I've already scanned in? If I miss the return window altogether, can I get another return time for the same ride or am I just out of luck because of the cap on how many times you can use Genie for attractions? So many questions. While I feel marginally better about things today and am hopeful about more info to come, all this uncertainty for my June trip is not a good time.
There are a lot of unknowns, but there have been posts about Disney trying out various things for 'return to line' issues.
I know the last few times I applied for DAS registration for my daughter, they were asking pointed questions about what might cause us to need to leave the line, whether we'd be likely to be able to come back after leaving and, if so, how long. So, I think they have been gathering data for quite a while.
This blurb on WDW's '
Accessing Attraction Queues' page corroborates your hypothesis. It seems as though Autism/ADHD/etc. won't be guaranteed in any capacity to be eligible for DAS:
Here are a few tips and techniques to manage waiting in queues:
- Encourage other members of your party to help create space around you in line to make it more comfortable.
- In a theme park environment that requires additional walking or standing, bring a mobility device such as a wheelchair, ECV, walker with a seat or a cane chair.
- Bring a sensory toy or a calming item—such as a stress ball, favorite device or activity like a tablet, video game, comic book or another item that may be calming or distracting while waiting in a queue.
- Grab a snack or drink to enjoy while waiting in a queue. Just be sure to finish it before boarding the attraction.
- Break up your day with other offerings at the Resort that don’t require waiting in a queue, such as entertainment.
- Don’t forget other items to keep yourself comfortable.Some items to consider bringing include sweater or jacket, sun protection or hat.
That information was actually been part of a Guide for Guests with Cognitive Disabilities that was on the website since 2013 when DAS rolled out. It was several clicks in, so many people didn't see it. The current location just made it more 'front and center'. And, although it might seem to be obvious to many people. I've shared the link to the article with many people over the years who found I helpful because they had not been to a place similar to WDW before.
Insulin is a medication. Very different.
Disney has to provide reasonable accommodation. That could involve a variety of things. He’d be happy with a cooling vest, but I’m not sure how that would work, given that Disney isn’t requiring documentation. So what’s stopping people without MS from claiming they need one? What happens if we get there and there aren’t any left?
There ARE differences in the ADA regarding worksite accommodations and how they work for public accommodations like theme parks. They are covered by different parts of the ADA.
Workplaces are required to provide tools/equipment required to do their job. In his case, the cooling vest was apparently considered one of the tools he needs to do his job. Schools are covered by a different set of laws/requirements.
Public accommodations are not required to provide things like wheelchairs, headphones or equipment the person could provide for themselves. They do have to provide equipment like closed caption or audio description devices because there is not a way a consumer could bring things to support those things.
You may want to look into a program from the MS Society that
that has a program to provide cooling equipment for people with MS.
I know someone who gets a DAS for herself and her immediate family but always goes to disney with her sister and sister's family and her mother goes as well. They all have fallen under her DAS pass and get the accommodations that come with her pass (hidden disability). Will all the rest of her family members now not be able to use her DAS anymore?
We don't know exactly how this will work out or how exceptions will work.
I've seen some guesses that exceptions to the total number of 4 will be limited to family members. If it's friends, it would be limited to 4.
I know Disney watches social media and has seen some of the same things I've read:
- 'influencers' bringing in a revolving cast of friends and other influencers
- people posting they were able to get 11-14 people linked to DAS because they couldn't leave out any of their extended family
- people who posted 4 members of their family would be approved for DAS and they were wondering how to work it so all 24 members of their group could get the same DAS Return Time (often plus asking how to get more than a total of 6 for several people so they could get their whole group 'covered'
They should have just switched to Universal’s system. Requiring documentation and a medical process would have really cut down on abuse.
I am very happy personally that they didn't. I would not want my daughter's medical information on a Marketing organization website.
I've not seen any evidence that any 'medical process' is being used by IBCCES to evaluate who is disabled. It appears to be a clerical person matching things to a checklist of what they will accept as proof of disability. Many of the things they have approved, like handicapped parking permit, National Park Access pass, letter from a doctor that just says 'John Doe is disabled' don't say anything about need for accommodation in a park.
I didn’t read through every response so apologies if someone already said this but maybe they just need to remove the conditions of the DAS pass that takes away the possibility to strategize getting the most number of rides.
1) Don’t allow DAS holders to preselect two rides.
2) Don’t allow DAS holders to ride other rides while they are waiting. So for example if they tap for Space Mountain and it is a 50 minute wait then they can come back in 50 minutes but they can’t use the time to do other rides. You can shop, eat, rest but then you take away the advantage of being able to wait and ride more rides at the same time
Those were the 2 things that were apparently new on the website this morning.
I've seen posts on Social Media where people reported being at MK from early opening to closing and doing 47 attractions at MK. Those kinds of reports usually come up when someone is asking "Do I need Genie+ if I'm using DAS?" There is no way the average guest could expect to do that many without DAS (even with Genie+)
And, they often mentioned the strategy of getting a new DAS Return Time as soon as they tapped into the first one. They often mentioned that after finishing ride 1, they could go directly to ride 2 without waiting.
The 'wait 10 minutes after logging in' does a lot to equalize the wait for the same attraction to what other guests are waiting.
We are a family of 5 and just reading about the new DAS changes. So now half our party doesn’t get to go with the already limited rides our 4 year old qualifies for? This past trip we did the least amount of rides due to multiple issues with her (we lost sight of her as she sneaked off, sudden elopement etc). The biggest challenge with the chat was getting her to sit still and keep clothes on and look up for the picture. Someone mentioned they took a picture of a napping child. It was not the case for us last trip (Oct 2023).
Can anyone verify that immediate family is allowed
We don't know how big of a party over 4 total will be allowed, but in the past, they allowed more than 6 when it was parents and children.