DAS Approval/Denial with New DAS Guidelines START 5/20 WDW & 6/18 DL

[voxparse]

FWIW, I just did a WDW DAS call and waited less than 2 min for a CM.

 

[KPeterso]

Disneyland is having a huge problem with the online chat, I was told that they are giving priority to those who are waiting in person in comparison to those online so it does take longer. I waited all day for multiple days before being able to talk to someone.

Disneyland has an on-site team handling in-person requests. It shouldn’t be the same people handling the online video chats.

I don't believe my post said anything about Disney World. I'm talking about my personal experience to what I was told. But okay thank you.

I didn’t say anything about WDW either.
My point was that I believe there are 2 separate “staffs” — those assign to in-person at the kiosks are not also handling online video chats therefore online waits shouldn’t be slow due to the those doing in-person requests.

But maybe you meant guests doing video chat from within the park, not guests at the kiosk. Apologies if I misunderstood.

When I tried at Disneyland on 6/22, the cast member I spoke with told me to try the online for my Mom from home (gave me the QR code). She said they are doing both and moved to the side so I could see someone who was behind her that was on an online call. And there was definitely someone back there working from a computer and talking. The other side of that booth was not open so I tend to believe that was an online person. Not sure if they are all there or not, but it seemed from talking to the CM that they are doing both in the same place at Disneyland.

 

[Kooks and Bay Bay]

There should not be priority to those already there. If they are going to do that then they should have just kept the in person registration at the parks.
It should not fall back on those that chose to do it pre arrival like Disney asks of us.
And if people are doing it in the parks because they were denied and now want to argue that they should be approved then again that should be handled in person at guest services not prioritized above others online.

 

[lanejudy]

The other side of that booth was not open so I tend to believe that was an online person.

Right, so the CM working online was not covering the window with in-person requests. Therefore the online wait was not impacted by in-person requests getting prioritized ahead of online. Different CMs handling online vs in-person.

 

[lanejudy]

And if people are doing it in the parks because they were denied and now want to argue that they should be approved then again that should be handled in person at guest services not prioritized above others online.

Guest Relations is not handling any questions about DAS. They will refer folks to either connect online (WDW) or either online or the kiosks (DL/DCA).

I do believe in-park guests are either prioritized online over others, or routed to a team handling in-park connections.

 

[voxparse]

Cross posting here as suggested in case any of this is helpful.

Just got off a DAS call and a couple of interesting things. The CM was great and we had a very pleasant conversation. We were discussing favorite rides and Peter Pan came up. The CM did not realize it is ambulatory only and was visibly shocked to hear the limitations on the ride and that I’m not permitted to ride it. No knock on the CM I just think in all the vitriol I see about accessibility it’s funny Disney seems to get away with this one. To be clear, I get it, not every ride can be perfectly accessible but it’s interesting what most people get up in arms about and what issues seem to get swept under the rug. I suspect the percentage of disabled people who can’t briefly be ambulatory if necessary is low so stuff like this doesn’t get much attention. (Also before anyone tries to go down this road, my wheelchair wasn’t why I was applying for DAS).

The most interesting thing to me was discussing how to use AQR. The CM was confident that my whole party (2 adults 1 kid) could leave and return together. I had not heard this before but she said just tell the CM the three of us have to be together and they will make it work. I got the impression that any view of AQR as a hard and fast ruleset is not reflective of the flexibility the CMs have at each ride. We will see how the reality turns out but if her characterization was accurate I think people are drastically underestimating how accommodating the park can be if they work with the CMs. She was also adamant that if a CM didn’t seem to understand the request to ask for a coordinator especially in summer with lots of new college kids on staff.

Lastly, for anyone wondering my DAS was denied. This was the expected outcome as my disabilities are not developmental and I went in to it not willing to do anything beyond honestly explaining my issues.

A little bummed because DAS was great but also very glad they are cutting the program to be more exclusive because DAS as it stood previously was far more than equal access. I’m happy to take one for the disabled team if it helps better serve people with more severe or limiting disabilities. I also hope it makes for better LL times so my multipass works well.

 

[etherealcaitiff]

Cross posting here as suggested in case any of this is helpful.

Just got off a DAS call and a couple of interesting things. The CM was great and we had a very pleasant conversation. We were discussing favorite rides and Peter Pan came up. The CM did not realize it is ambulatory only and was visibly shocked to hear the limitations on the ride and that I’m not permitted to ride it. No knock on the CM I just think in all the vitriol I see about accessibility it’s funny Disney seems to get away with this one. To be clear, I get it, not every ride can be perfectly accessible but it’s interesting what most people get up in arms about and what issues seem to get swept under the rug. I suspect the percentage of disabled people who can’t briefly be ambulatory if necessary is low so stuff like this doesn’t get much attention. (Also before anyone tries to go down this road, my wheelchair wasn’t why I was applying for DAS).

The most interesting thing to me was discussing how to use AQR. The CM was confident that my whole party (2 adults 1 kid) could leave and return together. I had not heard this before but she said just tell the CM the three of us have to be together and they will make it work. I got the impression that any view of AQR as a hard and fast ruleset is not reflective of the flexibility the CMs have at each ride. We will see how the reality turns out but if her characterization was accurate I think people are drastically underestimating how accommodating the park can be if they work with the CMs. She was also adamant that if a CM didn’t seem to understand the request to ask for a coordinator especially in summer with lots of new college kids on staff.

Lastly, for anyone wondering my DAS was denied. This was the expected outcome as my disabilities are not developmental and I went in to it not willing to do anything beyond honestly explaining my issues.

A little bummed because DAS was great but also very glad they are cutting the program to be more exclusive because DAS as it stood previously was far more than equal access. I’m happy to take one for the disabled team if it helps better serve people with more severe or limiting disabilities. I also hope it makes for better LL times so my multipass works well.

Just wanted to say I appreciate your honesty and level-headed reception of the situation.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Lastly, for anyone wondering my DAS was denied. This was the expected outcome as my disabilities are not developmental and I went in to it not willing to do anything beyond honestly explaining my issues.

A little bummed because DAS was great but also very glad they are cutting the program to be more exclusive because DAS as it stood previously was far more than equal access. I’m happy to take one for the disabled team if it helps better serve people with more severe or limiting disabilities. I also hope it makes for better LL times so my multipass works well.

I expect to be in a similar place in a week or two when I get around to calling for our August trip—I plan to approach it the same way, but it’s one thing to anticipate rejection and another to actually go through it. Like you, I hope that the program will work better for the guests who truly cannot tolerate even a 15m line, and that LLs work better for everyone, including those of us who access them via AQR or $$.

 

[MomOTwins]

Well after almost 11 hours of waiting to get a Disneyland CM, my kiddo is going to bed, so I am throwing in the towel. I think we may just wait and try in person.

 

[CaliforniaGirl09]

DS (adult) with developmental disorder/cognitive impairment has had DAS and its previous iterations since he was very young. He was approved today at DL under the new system. I have been through this process countless times, but I will admit being anxious and surprisingly nervous. I think I rambled, but it was all good. Not looking forward to doing it again in 120 days (or the next time we go after that).

 

[Norandran]

Well after almost 11 hours of waiting to get a Disneyland CM, my kiddo is going to bed, so I am throwing in the towel. I think we may just wait and try in person.

I had to try the Disneyland line on three different days before I finally got someone. My only complaint is the CM are really hard to hear because they are in a call center space with a headset and I could hear all of the other conversations going on.

They asked a bunch of clarifying questions including how are things handled in the real world for the same situations. After a few questions and clarifications we were approved.

I did appreciate that they went out of there way to make sure we had all the information we needed for a successful trip. My BIL has stage 4 cancer and we are giving him a wish trip because he has never been and he wanted a fond memory to share with his sister.

Thank you everyone for all the information.

 

[carlyannek]

Got through immediately today for WDW. Was declined pretty quickly. What I found interesting was she was pushing for diagnosis information. I said, “can you ask me for my diagnosis?” And she said “over chat, no, because that is recorded, but over the zoom I can ask you whatever I want.” I described my issues in great detail, but ultimately she was hung up on my use of the word neurological instead of cognitive. I said I use them interchangeably, but she said, nope, have a magical day.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Got through immediately today for WDW. Was declined pretty quickly. What I found interesting was she was pushing for diagnosis information. I said, “can you ask me for my diagnosis?” And she said “over chat, no, because that is recorded, but over the zoom I can ask you whatever I want.” I described my issues in great detail, but ultimately she was hung up on my use of the word neurological instead of cognitive. I said I use them interchangeably, but she said, nope, have a magical day.

The CM was pushing you to give a specific diagnosis? That seems really strange.

These are the inconsistencies I'm worried about. I don't care about sharing DD's diagnosis, but no CM will have ever heard of it given how rare it is. Focusing on need is much more appropriate.

 

[carlyannek]

The CM was pushing you to give a specific diagnosis? That seems really strange.

These are the inconsistencies I'm worried about. I don't care about sharing DD's diagnosis, but no CM will have ever heard of it given how rare it is. Focusing on need is much more appropriate.

My jaw dropped when she asked me. I said “i don’t think you can ask me that” and that was her response. I was gobsmacked. Said they would only approve for autism, and because I had not said the word autism she would not approve me.

 

[Karin1984]

Got through immediately today for WDW. Was declined pretty quickly. What I found interesting was she was pushing for diagnosis information. I said, “can you ask me for my diagnosis?” And she said “over chat, no, because that is recorded, but over the zoom I can ask you whatever I want.” I described my issues in great detail, but ultimately she was hung up on my use of the word neurological instead of cognitive. I said I use them interchangeably, but she said, nope, have a magical day.

Definitely one to write a complaint about...
Telling you that she cannot type that question because it is recorded, but she can when it is not recorded. Huge huge red flag.
And if she cannot handle people using their own words and not the terminology she is trained on second red flag.
I would write an email with her name, date & time of call, plus what just happened.

Makes me wonder if this the same CM others have referred to regarding questions "do you understand the concept of a queue".

 

[carlyannek]

Definitely one to write a complaint about...
Telling you that she cannot type that question because it is recorded, but she can when it is not recorded. Huge huge red flag.
And if she cannot handle people using their own words and not the terminology she is trained on second red flag.
I would write an email with her name, date & time of call, plus what just happened.

Makes me wonder if this the same CM others have referred to regarding questions "do you understand the concept of a queue".

I could tell from the second the call started it was not going to happen. If any of you get “Harriet”, hang up and try again later.

 

[Karin1984]

I could tell from the second the call started it was not going to happen. If any of you get “Harriet”, hang up and try again later.

Would add that first sentence to a complaints letter. What was it in her tone of voice, phrasing or body language, that made you think this?

 

[carlyannek]

I could tell from the second the call started it was not going to happen. If any of you get “Harriet”, hang up and try again later.

She was giving Roz from Monsters Inc. Blank stare, monotone, I felt like my presence was an inconvenience to her. I began by stating that I get overwhelmed discussing my needs and if it was ok I was going to read a statement about my needs prepared by myself and my doctor. She did not respond and just stared at me, eventually nodding once. I outlined why I couldn’t stand in line, she asked no questions and instantly declined me. Stated she would only approve Autism. I said how can you know that if you can’t ask for a diagnosis. She said “you said neurological, not cognitive” then proceeded to ask for a diagnosis, gave me the line about the call not being recorded so she could ask whatever she wanted. It was dehumanizing. I ended the call because I was sobbing.

 

[lanejudy]

ultimately she was hung up on my use of the word neurological instead of cognitive. I said I use them interchangeably

The terms are not necessarily interchangeable. Cognitive challenges are neurological in nature, but not all neurological conditions cause cognitive challenges. For example, epilepsy is a neurological diagnosis; one individual with epilepsy may have cognitive impairment but another individual with epilepsy does not.

 

[carlyannek]

The terms are not necessarily interchangeable. Cognitive challenges are neurological in nature, but not all neurological conditions cause cognitive challenges. For example, epilepsy is a neurological diagnosis; one individual with epilepsy may have cognitive impairment but another individual with epilepsy does not.

Right, I understand, but i’m not often in a position where describing my disability comes down to semantics. It was one word in a paragraph that clearly explained my needs. When she said that, I clarified that I use them interchangeably. That should have been enough clarification.