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

[sprem96]

So you are abusing DAS . And don't really need it.

G+ and ILL are available to everyone, so it's not abusing if its a feature everyone can enjoy

I think every person, DAS or not, should be using these features if they want to enjoy their days more, it mainly comes down to their budgets and ability to use them effectively enough to warrant buying them

 

[Jellybean9]

I've never bought genie plus, but if I am understanding right , you buy genie plus and then at 7 am, try to get a time for a ride? I've heard stories of slinky being gone by 7 :00:01. Isn't that the same thing? So you paid the $30 and still can't get the "FP" for the ride?

Correct. Which is why DAS is so desirable and primed to be abused/overused.

That being said, if you keep refreshing you have a good chance of getting a G+ LL for just about every attraction.

 

[wiihoo888]

G+ and ILL are available to everyone, so it's not abusing if its a feature everyone can enjoy

I think every person, DAS or not, should be using these features if they want to enjoy their days more, it mainly comes down to their budgets and ability to use them effectively enough to warrant buying them

Yah, I honestly just scrolled right on by that comment. I’d venture to say that us DAS users that are limited by time have purchased our fair share of ILL’s

 

[AJA]

Am I the only one that has been wondering why if the LL lines are too long because of "DAS abuse" or an increase in DAS users, then how in the hell is denying those people and intentionally telling them to buy Genie+ going to decrease the LL line length?

It weeds out a lot of abuse. The LL is now a one time use, not a loop. Also (of course) They know not everyone will pay for it. The percentage of park guests willing to pay was part of the calculations to starr with.

 

[lanejudy]

does it have to be equal?

It has to be at least equal. Limiting DAS users by number of rides or hours is not allowed. The number of HA parking spots is determined by law, so many based on the size of the parking lot.

Disney is now deciding who is disabled or not.

No. As PP stated, Disney is determining which accommodation to offer based on the individual’s stated needs.

 

[wiihoo888]

It has to be at least equal. Limiting DAS users by number of rides or hours is not allowed. The number of HA parking spots is determined by law, so many based on the size of the parking lot.



No. As PP stated, Disney is determining which accommodation to offer based on the individual’s stated needs.

As others have said already, I commend you on doing an amazing job at moderating this discussion. Sincerely…thank you

 

[SteveMouse]

I don’t mean to suggest that DAS was the only (or perhaps primary) reason people’s satisfaction was decreasing (I personally am still dissatisfied with how few nights there are extended evening hours, which has nothing to do with DAS, along with most items you bulleted!) but I am certain that it was a significant factor or they wouldn’t be going through the hassle of changing it.

Many casual guests don’t care about merch quality and variety (in my opinion, it’s about the same as it ever was except that they really love the spirit jerseys which I do not like — saved us 100s over the past few years) or the food (I don’t see a decline there either), but they do care if the average wait time is 35m instead of 25m— 10m a ride aounds like a negligible amount in the abstract but it adds up and can be 2 (or more) extra hours over the course of a day, or put another way 3-5 rides. In addition, if there are zero (near zero) rides without at least a 15m wait, it makes the day more exhausting even for able bodied families. I’m less familiar with WDW, but at DLR, even the rides that were often walk ons (on weekdays in slow seasons) are increasingly likely to be 20-30m waits.

Or, perhaps. individuals with disabilities are a convenient scapegoat? The infrastructure to provide and support DAS is not inexpensive, nor are the other costs associated with services such as ramped buses. While the law requires certain minimums, Disney may be spending more on the disabled then they are generating (from that community) in revenue. Stating that the disabled community is responsible for slow lines that affect the non-disabled visitor helps rationalize changing the program for the disabled, including lowering costs if the program is reduced/eliminated.

 

[shaqfor3]

Am I the only one that has been wondering why if the LL lines are too long because of "DAS abuse" or an increase in DAS users, then how in the hell is denying those people and intentionally telling them to buy Genie+ going to decrease the LL line length?

It should reduce the line a bit as now the people who use to has DAS has to find an open time slot (if available) and can't use the LL line more than once.

 

[BingoJoe]

Or, perhaps. individuals with disabilities are a convenient scapegoat? The infrastructure to provide and support DAS is not inexpensive, nor are the other costs associated with services such as ramped buses. While the law requires certain minimums, Disney may be spending more on the disabled then they are generating in revenue.

I think they were probably offering so much to anyone who applied to DAS that it was suppressing revenue from everyone else as well.

 

[Liquidice]

This sounds so very reasonable to most of us. And would solve so many of the limitations people on these threads have posted about! But because of ADA laws (as I understand them) Disney cannot restrict DAS availability if the stand-by line is open. They cannot accept the guests needs disability access through the DAS rider line and then restrict that access or cap it.
They have to not issue it to start with.

This is the way laws get changed though. The population changes and laws should adapt so Disney could do something like that.

Disney could modify DAS though to say that a typical person can ride 8 rides per day while waiting in the standby line and therefore DAS is now restricted to 8 Return Times per day. If a person wanted to ride the same ride 8 times, they still could but it would be more in line with what a person typically experiences by waiting in the standby line.

Or if they wanted to come up with some kind of tiered structure and based on your needs offer more or less return times per day.

I have to say I think a system that includes more people who need the system but restricts its usage so it does not exceed the experience someone waiting in standby may have is preferred to an unrestricted system that excludes most people who need it.

 

[nalababybear]

Totally agree. If we had received an email from Disney, or were told when we reapplied for DAS that the rules would be changing but that they were grandfathering the old DAS rules during the last two months of our passes I would have understood.

But we invested with one set of rules, and then the game changed. We don't know how the other options might work, and the roll out has been a disaster. We have tried other options over the years, and they haven't worked. Just terrible implementation.

Have you reached out to them on the situation that you have with out of state and passes?

You have 5 trips in two months to wdw so it's worthwhile to get a direct official response from them

 

[lanejudy]

Folks - we asked no speculation while waiting for this to take effect. We know DAS is not changing; what’s changing is qualifications. All this “Disney could change DAS by…” is unnecessary at this point because how DAS works in the parks IS NOT CHANGING.

 

[Liquidice]

It has to be at least equal. Limiting DAS users by number of rides or hours is not allowed. The number of HA parking spots is determined by law, so many based on the size of the parking lot.



No. As PP stated, Disney is determining which accommodation to offer based on the individual’s stated needs.

May I ask why they couldn't limit the number of rides? If Disney said a typical / average person without Genie+ is able to ride 8 rides per day, therefore we will limit DAS to 8 rides per day, why would that not work?

 

[nalababybear]

Disney could modify DAS though to say that a typical person can ride 8 rides per day while waiting in the standby line and therefore DAS is now restricted to 8 Return Times per day. If a person wanted to ride the same ride 8 times, they still could but it would be more in line with what a person typically experiences by waiting in the standby line.

Or if they wanted to come up with some kind of tiered structure and based on your needs offer more or less return times per day.

I have to say I think a system that includes more people who need the system but restricts its usage so it does not exceed the experience someone waiting in standby may have is preferred to an unrestricted system that excludes most people who need it.

A rider is literally limited by the wait time which the DAS holder is relegated to on the same ride.

By placing an artificial limit on it makes it an unequal balance...defeating the intent of the accomodation.

Disney lawyers would block that in a sec.

 

[starlite_]

Anyone who went to Disney World from 1973 or so to about 2005,

1973 or so to about 2005.....1973 to 2005..... My parents were children, most younger millennials don't have living memory of 2005 since they were kids in 2005. There are whole adults that hadn't been born in 2005.

I truly can't state enough how silly it is to realistically try to compare anyplace to what it was 20 to 50 years ago.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I think people are missing the point of REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION. If you have lots of specific needs, including test results, to enjoy Disney, they'll probably help you out for a vacation.

If you say you plan on coming once a week, with your AP, with different people, they are probably going to back off the whole"going above and beyond" sort of thing.

Reasonable accommodation isn't limited by how often one goes someplace. A wheelchair user needs a ramp not just for a one time visit, but every time. A person's developmentally-related needs don't change because one is on vacation vs using an AP.

 

[Nikkimouse44]

After reading all of this, I am super nervous for our call for my two kids for our next trip. The call won’t be until November so maybe things will be less stressful then and more information will come out and more time for in park operations to be more fluid, but it’s scary thinking about what we might do as DVC owners without being able to get an accommodation that would work for our kids. We’re willing to try different ones out to see if they would work, but if we’re denied and cannot apply again, that’s frustrating.

 

[Liquidice]

A rider is literally limited by the wait time which the DAS holder is relegated to on the same ride.

By placing an artificial limit on it makes it an unequal balance...defeating the intent of the accomodation.

Disney lawyers would block that in a sec.

I don't see how it is unequal, if it would equate to the same as what a standby guest experiences? IIRC during the lawsuit when Disney changed to DAS, they showed that GAC gave a significant advantage and that even DAS gave an advantage over standby, exceeding ADA.

Disney lawyers could also argue that it is significantly impacting operations (increase LL waits and standby waits) which is likely their current argument for denying many people who were previously approved.

But I suppose if unlimited is the only way to equal the normal guest experience, it leaves us where we are today unfortunately, which is to significantly limit the people who qualify for DAS and alternative accommodations for everyone else.

Like I said previously, I'd prefer a system that allows Disney to include more disabilities but is more restricted than one that excludes more people but allows an unrestricted system.

 

[nalababybear]

The squeaky wheel always gets the grease. If they are folding that easily on an initial denial, this new system is only going to punish those who actually need it and aren’t great at advocating for themselves. Abusers and fakers are very good at it and have zero shame in repeatedly asking. It either needs to be a hard line in the sand or a modification of what it was before. Not a “only for this and this unless you ask us repeatedly”.

Disney is a service entertainment company. They are not the regional center or some government agency where rules are rules with no exceptions.

It is unfortunate that the person had to endure the new rules and jump through the options laid out. It is great to see that Disney adjusted to her case, albeit a day later, and made an accommodation change the hopefully would help her for the remainder of the visit.

If Disney played by hard rules, that wouldn't have happened either. I prefer CMs having the ability to pixie dust.

 

[mamaofsix]

Disney could modify DAS though to say that a typical person can ride 8 rides per day while waiting in the standby line and therefore DAS is now restricted to 8 Return Times per day. If a person wanted to ride the same ride 8 times, they still could but it would be more in line with what a person typically experiences by waiting in the standby line.

Or if they wanted to come up with some kind of tiered structure and based on your needs offer more or less return times per day.

I have to say I think a system that includes more people who need the system but restricts its usage so it does not exceed the experience someone waiting in standby may have is preferred to an unrestricted system that excludes most people who need it.

I think you might have a misunderstanding of how DAS works? Those using DAS already ARE limited to the exact same amount of rides per day as someone in a standby line. The wait to enter using DAS is the same as the wait time for standby. For example, if the standby queue is 70 minutes, that's basically your wait to get in using DAS. You are simply waiting somewhere else than the physical line. It's not instant access or a skip-the-wait privilege. You still wait.

You are also not allowed to make another DAS until the one you currently have is used up. You can't stack rides or get instant access.

For example, someone in only standby lines might have a morning like this:

60 Minutes 7DMT
40 Minutes HM
40 Minutes Pirates
60 Minutes Jungle Cruise

Someone using DAS under the current rules would wait the exact same amount of time between those rides and use it on the same 4 rides. Both standby and DAS are getting the literal exact same ride experience and quantity.