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.
Actually, you can't write your own for Universal. The documentation must contain not only the provider's name, but also their address, phone number, and license number. DO they check? I'm not 100% sure. But they reserve the RIGHT to check (which is perfectly legal, since the patient voluntarily provided the information), so you'd be taking a heck of a chance.
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.
They used to do that. It was murder for people like my dad, for whom every step is difficult, as well as for people with autism, who didn't understand why they had to go to the ride but not ride it.
They aren’t picking and choosing which disabilities will get accommodations - they’re picking and choosing which specific needs will get this specific accommodation.
No one is entitled to their preferred accommodation, it just need to be an accommodation.
You've said variations of this so many times in so many different ways. And it misses the entire point every single time. Everyone should be entitled to an accommodation that actually WORKS for them. Let's go to a random, ridiculous example: Disney decides that the one and only accommodation for EVERYONE, regardless of disability, is to use elevators instead of stairs. Well, that's a really great accommodation for those who use mobility devices and have no other disabilities. But what exactly does it do for those with autism or claustrophobia or any other reason they can't wait in line? It's AN accommodation, so by your theory, that should be good enough, whether it works for individuals or not.
Yep, and Disney has decided that the needs of many current DAS users can be met with a different accommodation than the DAS.
The DAS as currently utilized is obviously disruptive to park operations. Disney already has a federal court case win saying that they don’t have to further disrupt park operations in order to provide a specific requested accommodation. No way a decision like this is made without massive legal research, and I have no doubt that Disney is on firm legal ground here.
The complaints we’re hearing today are the same complaints we heard 11 years ago when Disney eliminated the GAC - they’re gonna get sued and lose, this is illegal, etc.
How did that all turn out?
Well, it's true enough that it worked out fine for Disney. It didn't work out so well for the guests that were impacted by it. My dad was an AP for decades, from back before he ever got disabled, when he happily waited in lines with everyone else. Once he became disabled, he didn't think he'd be able to go anymore. But the GAC was a lifesaver that let him keep going to the parks 2-4 times a week (and spending money every time). Once it switched to the DAS, going to Disney became a lot more painful and miserable for him. So now he goes maaaaybe once every year or two, assuming the stars are all aligned and his procedures are working well and he has a really good pain day. Now he won't even be able to do that because he gets zero accommodations apparently.
I believe by saying “developmental disabilities or similar” and using “autism” as an example, Disney is not limiting disabilities to only developmental disabilities, it is clearly eliminating physical disabilities. Face it, those physical disabilities are already accommodated with accessible queues, ramps, accommodating ride vehicles, return times, etc.
No they're not. Not for people with certain pain conditions that make sitting in a wheelchair an impossibility and every step feel like fire. There are physical disabilities that are NOT accommodated without a DAS.
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.”
With all due respect, some people know that the "leave the line" pass doesn't work for them because they know their personal conditions. When it's a vertebra completely pushed forward and held by a ligament, the issue isn't going to be resolved by expending even more steps to push your way out through a crowd, walk somewhere to recover, walk back, and push your way back into the line. It just doesn't work like that. And when that vertebra is in the very lower spine, you can't sit in a wheelchair either.
ETA: I think the fundamental problem is G+, and especially how they priced it. The program is just cheap enough that's huge demand for it. But just expensive enough (and difficult enough to use) for people to want to find a way around it. They need to either go back to a free system (FP+ or even original FP) or go ahead and go the universal route and make paid skip the line access a true premium product. Universal's able to accommodate everyone who needs it because there isn't THAT much demand for their express passes, because they're expensive. They sell enough that they still make a killing, but there aren't so many of them out there that they're clogging up the lines. My dad has a higher level of accommodations at Universal (based on a ton of medical documentation that Uni DID verify with his doctors), and even during
HHN on a sold out night, we've never waited more than 45 min in Express. Generally no more than 15 minutes on average day. Are people abusing the Uni system? Probably, though probably significantly less now that they have to go through the third party system. But not in enough numbers that it impacts anyone's experience, either those who have paid for express or those using various accommodations.
