DAS changes coming WDW May 20/ DL June 18, 2024

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

Maybe I'm too cynical but I think it also has to do with wanting to sell more Genie+ to those that previously qualified for DAS.

I’ve seen this mentioned a few times today, but I really don’t think that’s it. Genie+ often sells out during crowded periods and they could just charge more for Genie+ if it was a revenue driven choice.

I think they are seeing serious guest satisfaction scores decrease among all the groups (DAS users, people who pay for LL, and standby line) that lines are too long—both with very long LL returns and slow moving general lines. As has been mentioned above, a significant percentage of Americans have legitimate disabilities requiring accommodation and, even before you add the fraction of users who are lying to get DAS, if you multiply legit users by parties of 4/5/6 it’s a LOT of guests, which (combined with Genie+) slows down regular lines making even more families require the DAS system.

 

[Disneylover99]

I’ve seen this mentioned a few times today, but I really don’t think that’s it. Genie+ often sells out during crowded periods and they could just charge more for Genie+ if it was a revenue driven choice.

But they could sell more Genie+ (and maybe not sell out) if they get rid of a significant chunk of DAS users.

 

[Kerr84]

This is my biggest issue. We have been doing DAS for years for our older son but never got a real diagnosis because 1. there was basically no need for it (no SSI, no IEP bc homeschool, and Disney never required one) and 2. my husband, who was diagnosed in the late 80s, used to be VERY sensitive to the diagnosis and gave a lot of pushback on getting it for our son when he was younger (even though I've tried to explain to him that there is much less stigma now than there used to be). Our trip is in 45 days, so not really much time to get a diagnosis now. We do have a diagnosis for our toddler for a genetic issue that includes GDD with autistic and ADHD-like features, but IDK if they would give a DAS to a toddler? He is tall enough to ride some height requirement rides (36" at last check up but possibly 38" by now), but not old enough to have a purchased ticket. I have severe anxiety issues myself, so the thought of having to wait in line with him while he is "stimming" or yelling loudly due to the over-stimulation of being in a tight space with a lot of people for a long time is making my nervous. I guess I at least need to see about getting his stroller marked as a mobility aid (he can't walk yet and is getting more difficult to hold for long periods of time with his weight + stimming behaviors) which we have never done before and is another reason I was *really* glad to already have the DAS for our older son. If they would have announced this sooner, I would have moved our check in up by a week.

They issued one for my daughter before she had a ticket. They issued her a fake ticket and tied it to that. I think I used my band to scan her into rides.

 

[gottalovepluto]

-

 

[Smugpugmug]

I’ve seen this mentioned a few times today, but I really don’t think that’s it. Genie+ often sells out during crowded periods and they could just charge more for Genie+ if it was a revenue driven choice.

I think they are seeing serious guest satisfaction scores decrease among all the groups (DAS users, people who pay for LL, and standby line) that lines are too long—both with very long LL returns and slow moving general lines. As has been mentioned above, a significant percentage of Americans have legitimate disabilities requiring accommodation and, even before you add the fraction of users who are lying to get DAS, if you multiply legit users by parties of 4/5/6 it’s a LOT of guests, which (combined with Genie+) slows down regular lines making even more families require the DAS system.

I think that is true. I'm pretty cyncical when it comes to what this company does with their decision making.

On my last few trips, I've seen massive lines for the LL. When I rode Remy, the Lightning Lane was so long it almost went towards the France festival booth.

Don't know how true or false this is but I've also seen people reporting that 60% of LL slots for the day are given to DAS. If that's true then that is probably a factor in why they wanted to make this change.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I’m really interested to see the return to line deal. If they do a good job with that, it would solve my issue actually…

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

Just what I wanted, to have every cast member and their mother know that I'm using the DAS lane because I have Autism & ADHD (as those are the only things that will now qualify). Thank goodness Disney doesn't ask for diagnoses.

Thank you. This was my first thought about myself. Like great. I get the “she doesn’t look autistic” comments enough already now that I’ll get to enjoy those comments in line at Disney now. Of course, I already had the she doesn’t look disabled ones before when scanning in. Now it’s more specific. I have several other disabilities but I guess those won’t matter to DAS.

My second thought was about how restrictive this is by limiting it to developmental disorders. There are many disabilities that are not accommodated by a get out of line pass. I’m sad they’ve went this hard. Life’s hard with disabilities, for many like me Disney is a happy place that I go to feel normal for a little while as they’ve been so accommodating compared to other places.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Legitimate question: can someone explain to me how leaving the line would work? Say I need to leave the line 4x’s over a two hour period, how does that play out?

Nobody can. Disney hasn’t said how it will work yet.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

But they could sell more Genie+ (and maybe not sell out) if they get rid of a significant chunk of DAS users.

This is absolutely a valid counterpoint—but based on current LL return times (as of our last visits), I think they would have to decrease DAS usage a lot before they had additional LL capacity for the top tier rides (it’s already rare for G+ return times to be long on the B and C list rides, at least the B/C rides my kids like).

 

[gottalovepluto]

Wow, if you think you can get an autism diagnosis with one doctor's visit you would be sorely mistaken. The process can take months to get an appointment for an evaluation, is sometimes multiple days of evaluation, and costs thousands of dollars.

Good lord you can probably get it on a Teledoc I bet these days. Or you can write it yourself for this- it’s not like anyone can call up the Dr and ask if it’s real, they can’t be giving out that info. Which is the problem with Universal’s approach. A doctors note is a cute idea until you realize in 5 mins you can write your own because they can’t verify them.

Disney’s approach may make more sense in this manner as you may actually have to talk to a medical professional/ have your case analyzed by a medical professional who you are not paying.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Yeah, I remember reading about this. It seems like such a strange waste of time.

There is actually a reason he does it. He has created a computer model that creates touring plans to minimize wait times. He uses the number of people using the standby line, LL, and DAS to determine which rides to use LL on and when. He’s been counting people entering lines for years, long before FP+.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Good lord you can get it on a Teledoc I bet these days. Or you can write it yourself. It’s not like anyone can call up the Dr and ask if it’s real, they can’t be giving out that info. Which is the problem with Universal’s approach. A doctors note is a cute idea until you realize in 5 mins you can write your own because they can’t verify them.

Disney’s approach may make more sense in this manner as you may actually have to talk to a medical professional/ have your case analyzed by a medical professional who you are not paying.

And while I appreciate Disney's system in this respect more, because I agree IBCCES does little to actually cut abuse (to paraphrase Ian Malcom...[the cheater] finds a way), this is also concerning for those whose disabilities are due to rare conditions. If all they continue to ask is re: accommodations, not a problem. But if they ask about diagnosis, when there's less than 1,000 people in the world with a condition the likelihood the "medical professionals" at Inspire Allied Health know what it is, when doctors in renowned hospitals in major metropolitan areas don't, is slim to none.

 

[PrincessV]

I don't think the uptick is all about abuse of the system. I feel like many people who used to use free FP to manage their conditions by getting 3 long line wait time rides and then riding shorter line rides for the rest of the day instead of asking for DAS felt like they has few options but to ask for DAS once those free FP options were taken away. We used to use free FP paired with baby swap like this before our youngest (at the time) aged out of baby swap and the actual DAS was necessary. Back then there were also less rides at most of the parks to actually need DAS for (no Star Wars, toy story, pandora, guardians, etc.)

Absolutely yes. My autistic son was a young adult by the time we requested DAS for him and part of our explanation for why he was seeking DAS then, when he’d been visiting WDW his entire life up to that point, was that in the past, we utilized FP to limit the amount of time he was physically in a line that caused him distress. I think a LOT of folks did that instead of using GAC/DAS.

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

I know they have an active online presence for years. So I definitely agree us talking should maybe get them to realize there is some flaws already with this system. At least i suppose it wasn’t entirely last minute so they can see the feedback.

Admittedly there are other diagnosis that fall under this category. I have one of them even if most people wouldn’t have heard of it. Unfortunately most people will still assume that.

Which could be a whole other issue now that I’m thinking about it

Good point. Yes, them also having everyone assuming autism works the other way too if that isn’t your developmental disorder.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

And while I appreciate Disney's system in this respect more, because I agree IBCCES does little to actually cut abuse (to paraphrase Ian Malcom...[the cheater] finds a way), this is also concerning for those whose disabilities are due to rare conditions. If all they continue to ask is re: accommodations, not a problem. But if they ask about diagnosis, when there's less than 1,000 people in the world with a condition the likelihood the "medical professionals" at Inspire Allied Health know what it is, when doctors in renowned hospitals in major metropolitan areas don't, is slim to none.

YES to all of this.

 

[keishashadow]

I feel like all the tiktok fakers with "IBS" have suddenly just been diagnosed with "autism" today. Terrible people.

The same way Disney can, with a few keystrokes, bring up what tix/AP one had years ago…

had thot Disney likely keeps a file on those who have utilized DAS previously???

or not, might violate HIPPA

If so, my point is, think they just might look very closely at those who suddenly backtrack on their disabilities

 

[gottalovepluto]

… I am desperately trying not to let it ruin my day.

Me too. I think I just need to step away from all of this until the system comes out and we see what is. Tempers are flaring, jerks who know nothing are coming out of the woodwork as they play this week’s Expert game, people are panicking because they don’t have enough info- there just seems no real news is to be had about this topic for a couple weeks at least so stepping back from this fear of what we don’t know is what I need to do mentally.

… Disney likely keeps a file on those who have utilized DAS previously???

Yes they know if you had it. They do not record the conversations though.

And while I appreciate Disney's system in this respect more, because I agree IBCCES does little to actually cut abuse (to paraphrase Ian Malcom...[the cheater] finds a way), this is also concerning for those whose disabilities are due to rare conditions. If all they continue to ask is re: accommodations, not a problem. But if they ask about diagnosis, when there's less than 1,000 people in the world with a condition the likelihood the "medical professionals" at Inspire Allied Health know what it is, when doctors in renowned hospitals in major metropolitan areas don't, is slim to none.

the emphasis on accommodation vs diagnosis has been well placed- I think. I hope that continues and they don’t get caught up in specific diagnosis.

 

[KCO5988]

I feel like a better way to cut back on abuse would be to require a scan in at the ride to get a DAS return time. Then abusers don’t see as much benefit (ie being able to select the next return time as soon as you scan in at your current ride and counting the walk over as part of your queue time). Because if you scan into RoR for example, that whole experience between pre shows and sorting into ride vehicles can easily take 30 min. Then add a 15 min walk to your next ride and you can immediately scan in at the LL on a ride that has a 60 min standby. I think that is a big motivator for the abusers.

 

[PrincessV]

A couple of questions based on what we know so far:

1. How long are the wait times to talk with a DAS CM online? I’ve seen the occasional horror story about 5+ hours waiting - but is that the norm?? Do we think there’s any chance they add more people to handle the workload, since nobody can take care of it in the parks going forward? While my disorder doesn’t prevent me from waiting online for many hours, my JOB certainly does!

2. I have days at WDW planned in mid-April, early May, probably a day visit in June, and a trip in early July… am I getting this right:
- I can request to renew my DAS in the park when I get there in April. That will be good for 30 days, not the 60 it used to be?
- That 30 days from mid-April WILL cover early May, so no need to re-apply for that?
- I’ll need to do the online thing for any day visit I might want to do in June - that would be good for 120 days, though, so would also cover July?

 

[honeymo78]

The same way Disney can, with a few keystrokes, bring up what tix/AP one had years ago…

had thot Disney likely keeps a file on those who have utilized DAS previously???

or not, might violate HIPPA

If so, my point is, think they just might look very closely at those who suddenly backtrack on their disabilities

I beleive they know if you've applied for and gotten DAS before. I'm postive a CM during a renewal session mentioned that they saw I'd been approved in the past but would still need to explain my issues. I don't know they they would keep the reason - but maybe they could since it wasn't a diagnosis.

I'm not sure what value there'd be in noting who backtracked as it appears the new DAS will be for much more limited developmental issues so plenty of people with real disabiltities likely won't be reapplying if their disability isn't developmental related.