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

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Not to mention what has been mentioned multiple times already in this thread that prior to fall of 2021 there wasn't an advanced option for DAS, it was in-person.

I'm not saying that doing all this stuff before you did your call/video doesn't bite as in the cancellation or refund policies but as far as has been reported it's been not even 3 years that you could do advanced registration. I agree with another poster that likely a large part of this is coming from a continual expectation (warranted at times, unwarranted at times) of approval and now that is up in the air. And if someone has been using the services available from Disney over many years nothing has actually changed for them in terms of what they have at stake on their trip; before you would have been arriving at the parks to even do the process. That decision of whether to go on a trip or not hinging on approval would have held the same risk (actually more since you were already there) as before.

 

[DarthChurro]

I was following here a few hundred pages ago.. summer got the best of me but popping back in.
We have an upcoming stay in 2 weeks for me , my 10yr old & my wife.

Finally did my DAS call (after having it last year for the first time and not even knowing what it was), unfortunately this year we were declined.

When i saw all the changes & ran the risk that we might not get it again i actually shortened our trip so that if we got approved it was workable (my daughter & I are on the spectrum for different reasons and i was a survivor in the north on 9/11 so also have anxiety/ptsd)

I told my wife that is we did get declined we couldnt do 10days and 7 days of parks , wdw is a mountain for me to climb BUT also dont want to be a burden for my family so it is what it is.
I called back a second time and spoke to a supervisor, not to throw a cast member under the bus BUT to just know my options in case i needed help in the park or my daughter did.

She was gracious enough to give us lightning lanes for every park day and said to speak to a ride coordinator before boarding if i have issues. She also clarified the 2 reps before her that gave conflicting info on what return to line/return to que was to the point where i still dont know what it was. Not sure if we will use them but nice to know if we are feeling up to it we have the option.
They also thanked me for being nice & not yelling at the cast members doing the calls, was shocked when chatting he said that dailly people scream at them when they get denied.

Thankful for the boards here , i scan in to look into offerings for us while we stay and because of my issues its one of the places that i can tackle because i can plan things ahead of time and not have a panic attack when there. Its level 100 overwhelming.

Appreciate u all

 

[lanejudy]

She also clarified the 2 reps before her that gave conflicting info on what return to line/return to que was to the point where i still dont know what it was. Not sure if we will use them but nice to know if we are feeling up to it we have the option.

This seems to be causing a lot of consternation. Essentially -- if you think you may need to leave a queue, ask the CM before entering "how do I would rejoin my party if I need to leave?" It will vary by attraction and possibly by other factors such as how many in the party, ages of your party, how far along the queue before you left, etc. The phone (or video chat) CMs are unable to give specifics because it varies.

Just a thought... instead of shortening your stay, I might have kept it longer and planned shorter days in the parks. More days but less time each day. It's probably too late to change it back now but something to consider for another time.

 

[SueM in MN]

I think this is where so much abuse came with the GAC. If you had the Alternative Entrance Stamp for people who had issues with the queue design itself (my DS) then you were supposed to go get a return time to come back. Yes, on GAC it was not lined on the card, but they would hand us a paper FP/RE-AD. Unfortunately CMs, for whatever reason, started letting guests have immediate access without waiting in or outside the line. Over the years it evolved to we would walk up, hand them the card (for a time) and they would just wave us in. At that point we were "front of line" access, we literally went on ride after ride after ride with no wait at all. I remember telling DH over and over, we are not supposed to be getting on right away they need to give us a RE-AD, and him saying "they sent us straight on so we'll do what they say". It is no wonder some guests went nuts when the DAS came about, forcing a return time. They had literally been riding with no wait for years.

We first got GAC for a member of our party in 1999. We did have the Alternative Entrance stamp, but never got a paper FP/RE-AD.
It's possible they stopped doing that prior to 1999, although that doesn't make sense since Fastpass first began in 1999. It's also possible that we didn't run into it because we tried to use Fastpass and go on things with low wait times to minimize our use of GAC. So, when we did go to an attraction, the posted wait was often 20 minutes or less, so we would go right in.

 

[DiznyDiva]

Just a thought... instead of shortening your stay, I might have kept it longer and planned shorter days in the parks. More days but less time each day. It's probably too late to change it back now but something to consider for another time.

This what we do now and before, even with being approved with DAS for kiddo. We don't go until around 9, take off for lunch, a swim, a nap, a quiet place away(usually the animation academy or Tom Sawyer), and return around 4, leaving again right before fireworks.

We also always have park day that is more people watching..a few simple easy rides but mostly sitting eating foods and just catching up. It does wonders! We do week long trips so we are never pushed and anyone that has an off day can relax.

 

[DarthChurro]

This seems to be causing a lot of consternation. Essentially -- if you think you may need to leave a queue, ask the CM before entering "how do I would rejoin my party if I need to leave?" It will vary by attraction and possibly by other factors such as how many in the party, ages of your party, how far along the queue before you left, etc. The phone (or video chat) CMs are unable to give specifics because it varies.

Just a thought... instead of shortening your stay, I might have kept it longer and planned shorter days in the parks. More days but less time each day. It's probably too late to change it back now but something to consider for another time.

Yea in hindsight that would have been the smarter play, its a tough logistics game for me mentally and then physically with the heat & everything else.
We shortened the trip from 10 days at resort and 8park days to 8 days at resort , 6 park days and halloween thing ( only mapped 5 days ) and the last park day would be a morning visit then pool to do like you said of not go open to close.

The original cast member said i would leave my wife and daughter on the line and rejoin them
The second one said my wife stays on the line, my daughter comes with me then we rejoin her
& the supervisor said to just go to the coordinator or ride cast member & say we have a unique party size.. she said summer help starts 8/4 on site so theymight not be trained to know what that is but a coordinator would so will see on the 16th i guess



Appreciate what you guys do here.

 

[jennab]

This seems to be causing a lot of consternation. Essentially -- if you think you may need to leave a queue, ask the CM before entering "how do I would rejoin my party if I need to leave?" It will vary by attraction and possibly by other factors such as how many in the party, ages of your party, how far along the queue before you left, etc. The phone (or video chat) CMs are unable to give specifics because it varies.

Just a thought... instead of shortening your stay, I might have kept it longer and planned shorter days in the parks. More days but less time each day. It's probably too late to change it back now but something to consider for another time.

Yes!! We always do longer stays because our park hours are shorter than a lot of people. We can not do open to close, so to be able to fit things in and not be as stressed we do more shorter park days and then do other things in between (swimming, monorail crawl, checking out other resorts, meals, DS, etc.)

 

[SueM in MN]

Yea in hindsight that would have been the smarter play, its a tough logistics game for me mentally and then physically with the heat & everything else.
We shortened the trip from 10 days at resort and 8park days to 8 days at resort , 6 park days and halloween thing ( only mapped 5 days ) and the last park day would be a morning visit then pool to do like you said of not go open to close.

The original cast member said i would leave my wife and daughter on the line and rejoin them
The second one said my wife stays on the line, my daughter comes with me then we rejoin her
& the supervisor said to just go to the coordinator or ride cast member & say we have a unique party size.. she said summer help starts 8/4 on site so theymight not be trained to know what that is but a coordinator would so will see on the 16th i guess



Appreciate what you guys do here.

Neither CM was technically wrong. If your wife DID wait in line, you could decide if your child would wait with you or your wife.
All attractions do have a lead/coordinator who can be called in for additional questions/concerns.

 

[HopperFan]

We first got GAC for a member of our party in 1999. We did have the Alternative Entrance stamp, but never got a paper FP/RE-AD.
It's possible they stopped doing that prior to 1999, although that doesn't make sense since Fastpass first began in 1999. It's also possible that we didn't run into it because we tried to use Fastpass and go on things with low wait times to minimize our use of GAC. So, when we did go to an attraction, the posted wait was often 20 minutes or less, so we would go right in.

So you were let right on every ride that you showed the pass to? That was not our experience until the later years. And it says on the back of the pass "Alternate entrances are not intended to provide immediate access". The only way that would really work would be a return time???

Now it might depend on times of years (we went on school breaks) as I saw an archived article with instructions to state ~

How Do I use a Guest Assistance Card?

• If there is a Fast Pass entrance, you would show your pass to the cast member.
• If there isn’t a Fast Pass for a specific ride, you would go the exit of the ride.
• The person who’s name is on GAC and their guests (up to 5 guests + themselves) can enter together and ride the ride.
• Guest Relations can also give you a map of handicap accessible entrances.

During the busier seasons, you may be given a time to come back and ride the ride. The GAC doesn’t give you immediate access to the ride.

And maybe it depended on how the guest presented. We did not have a mobility issues so perhaps they were to give us RE-ADs. I can remember the CMs pulling out the RE-ADs from their pocket where they had a small pile of them in a rubber band. I can even remember GR giving us a few when we got our GAC card to use whenever that day.

The lack of consistency and the free for all was the downfall.

 

[Just_another_figment]

The fact that you saw tons of scooters in the line is really the issue. I’m assuming you haven’t used a scooter. There is very little room to maneuver to begin with and if you need to get by scooters lined up behind you then you are more than likely not getting out. Think halfway through the standby line at Navi and all the switchbacks. Even if you can turn around, the minute you run into another scooter… you’re stuck.

I travel solo and have a large scooter. I will not get in a line I can’t get out of. Stand by lines are wheelchair accessible but they are not meant for scooters to turn around and exit.

I think people forget that most exits don’t require you to turn around. There are other places to exit the queues throughout. I watched several CMs open up doors or chains etc to allow people to exit. No one was turning around to leave. They were moving forward to exit. As for maneuvering around other scooters, it is doable when it doesn’t require one to turn around. Most areas of queues are pretty wide and the ones that aren’t have different entrances for mobility devices.

 

[jo-jo]

I think people forget that most exits don’t require you to turn around. There are other places to exit the queues throughout. I watched several CMs open up doors or chains etc to allow people to exit. No one was turning around to leave. They were moving forward to exit. As for maneuvering around other scooters, it is doable when it doesn’t require one to turn around. Most areas of queues are pretty wide and the ones that aren’t have different entrances for mobility devices.

I hope someone using a scooter that needed to leave a line or two, comes and tells their story.

The extra exits is something you don’t normally notice until you need it.

 

[SueM in MN]

So you were let right on every ride that you showed the pass to? That was not our experience until the later years. And it says on the back of the pass "Alternate entrances are not intended to provide immediate access". The only way that would really work would be a return time???

Now it might depend on times of years (we went on school breaks) as I saw an archived article with instructions to state ~

How Do I use a Guest Assistance Card?

• If there is a Fast Pass entrance, you would show your pass to the cast member.
• If there isn’t a Fast Pass for a specific ride, you would go the exit of the ride.
• The person who’s name is on GAC and their guests (up to 5 guests + themselves) can enter together and ride the ride.
• Guest Relations can also give you a map of handicap accessible entrances.

During the busier seasons, you may be given a time to come back and ride the ride. The GAC doesn’t give you immediate access to the ride.

And maybe it depended on how the guest presented. We did not have a mobility issues so perhaps they were to give us RE-ADs. I can remember the CMs pulling out the RE-ADs from their pocket where they had a small pile of them in a rubber band. I can even remember GR giving us a few when we got our GAC card to use whenever that day.

The lack of consistency and the free for all was the downfall.

I think the 'not intended to provide immediate access' didn't necessarily have to do with giving a re-ad. It was more to manage expectations - some people expected absolute immediate access, front of the line before other guests. There was always going to be some wait, even if you entered the line right away.

Disney didn't actually publish anything about GAC, so the archived article is not official, although it was how it worked for most guests who had the 'alternate access' stamp. The main issue was by the end of GAC, most guests using had seen articles like that and knew to 'get' that stamp, whether they needed that amount of access or not.
We did not end up in the 'extended wait' situation often because we used Fastpass as much as possible, went on shorter wait lines and had members of our group who could ride the longer wait rides go early/stay late. Our DAS person couldn't do some of the more turbulent thrill rides with longer waits anyway (Space Mountain, Big Thunder, etc).

Our GAC registered guest DID have a wheelchair (she had GAC for other reasons), but by 1999 at WDW, most lines had been mainstreamed to be accessible (DL is very different). That caused other problems/demand for GAC. People with mobility devices who used an alternate entrance (like the exit) for their first attraction or on a previous trip assumed that was the 'handicapped entrance' and expected to use it for everything.
On this board, we tried to explain that things had changed and that was not the case, but people didn't believe. Many of them went to Guest Services and demanded GAC to use the 'handicapped entrance'. I remember one very memorable situation where someone proudly posted she had a 30 minute yelling session at the CMs at an attraction "because they wouldn't me use the handicapped entrance" (she did say they told her the regular line was accessible and she did use the word 'yell').
People tried to explain that attraction had been mainstreamed since her last visit, but she wouldn't have any of that. She went on to explain that we were wrong because she went to Guest Relations and yelled at the CMs there; they finally gave her GAC with the alternate entry stamp and she actually posted that she waved the GAC in the CM's faces and said, 'I told you so'. She disappeared from the Disboards soon after that. From what I've heard from Guest Relations, that same thing happened pretty often

 

[nalababybear]

Yea in hindsight that would have been the smarter play, its a tough logistics game for me mentally and then physically with the heat & everything else.
We shortened the trip from 10 days at resort and 8park days to 8 days at resort , 6 park days and halloween thing ( only mapped 5 days ) and the last park day would be a morning visit then pool to do like you said of not go open to close.

The original cast member said i would leave my wife and daughter on the line and rejoin them
The second one said my wife stays on the line, my daughter comes with me then we rejoin her
& the supervisor said to just go to the coordinator or ride cast member & say we have a unique party size.. she said summer help starts 8/4 on site so theymight not be trained to know what that is but a coordinator would so will see on the 16th i guess



Appreciate what you guys do here.

Ty for the share and being calm with the CMs. They have an incredibly difficult job to do.

Like ladyjune l, We extend the length as ticket costs really is neglible between 7-10 days and routinely do split days to rest up and avoid the 10am-3p high crowd times as possible. (And heat too).

If your daughter helps you with the reason for leaving the line, ask for that accommodation. It can work both ways as sue mentioned earlier.

Split times really help us. Spacing resort hopping days are great off days too.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I wonder if you could purchase the LLMP the morning of depending how you are feeling?

My friend was there over the weekend. They have a spouse and child with disabilities . The spouse has multiple issues that manifested either from COVID or the vax. They went from Hero to zero almost over night with no hope for recovery. They have been approved for the past three visits but no longer qualify under the new rules. They were blindsided. Their last DAS expired the week prior to their visit. They purchased the LLMP but slots were gone by mid morning until the evening. It didn't benefit them because they have young children with early bedtimes.

They tried to use the accommodations provided. It was a mess. Some insisted you try the line at each attraction and a CM would determine if you could do the join option. One CM was particularly rude. Another allowed them to return. It was a very difficult trip. They spent a lot of time at the pool which was a waste of money. It was especially frustrating as one parent is a medical professional with a double masters....well versed in their needs and abilities. It was an awful scenario.

 

[Precmom1967]

First hand knowledge. My daughter and son in law were each asked their diagnosis when asking for a return to queue. My son in law was also told twice that he took “too long” he in bathroom as you are only given 10 minutes. So sorry but he has Chrohns. They were not allowed to return to any line. They felt totally humiliated expressing their diagnosis in front of 300 people. Both of them have serious medical issues including neurological, ADHD, anger, anxiety and PTSD. DAS was denied for both of them, despite one of them receiving federal benefits. Their attempt at multipass multilane was a disaster. The one day they paid all that one to get on 2 rides. What a money grab!!
Disney has forgotten that other medical issues exist causing reasons people cannot wait in lines. They need a revamp fast!!

 

[Angel Ariel]

First hand knowledge. My daughter and son in law were each asked their diagnosis when asking for a return to queue. My son in law was also told twice that he took “too long” he in bathroom as you are only given 10 minutes. So sorry but he has Chrohns. They were not allowed to return to any line. They felt totally humiliated expressing their diagnosis in front of 300 people. Both of them have serious medical issues including neurological, ADHD, anger, anxiety and PTSD. DAS was denied for both of them, despite one of them receiving federal benefits. Their attempt at multipass multilane was a disaster. The one day they paid all that one to get on 2 rides. What a money grab!!
Disney has forgotten that other medical issues exist causing reasons people cannot wait in lines. They need a revamp fast!!

How in the world is a return Cm keeping track of how long someone is gone from the line?

 

[Precmom1967]

How in the world is a return Cm keeping track of how long someone is gone from the line?

Well, there were 3 of them, including a 6 year old. It was a young 20ish cast member and my daughter and granddaughter waited by the entrance. There are clocks by the entrance for lightning lane purposes.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Well, there were 3 of them, including a 6 year old. It was a young 20ish cast member and my daughter and granddaughter waited by the entrance. There are clocks by the entrance for lightning lane purposes.

Why did they all leave the line? Your daughter could have stayed with your granddaughter in the line while your SIL exited. Then there would have been no problem coming back. Seems like something is missing from this account.

 

[Precmom1967]

Why did they all leave the line? Your daughter could have stayed with your granddaughter in the line while your SIL exited. Then there would have been no problem coming back. Seems like something is missing from this account.

My daughter has severe anxiety and won’t stay alone in line around strangers with her daughter. That is why they all left the line and she stood by the cast member, as she felt safer there.

 

[only hope]

First hand knowledge. My daughter and son in law were each asked their diagnosis when asking for a return to queue. My son in law was also told twice that he took “too long” he in bathroom as you are only given 10 minutes. So sorry but he has Chrohns. They were not allowed to return to any line. They felt totally humiliated expressing their diagnosis in front of 300 people. Both of them have serious medical issues including neurological, ADHD, anger, anxiety and PTSD. DAS was denied for both of them, despite one of them receiving federal benefits. Their attempt at multipass multilane was a disaster. The one day they paid all that one to get on 2 rides. What a money grab!!
Disney has forgotten that other medical issues exist causing reasons people cannot wait in lines. They need a revamp fast!!

Frontline CM’s are not supposed to be asking diagnoses per what DAS tm told me and others reported the same. All you are supposed to need to do is say I have a disability that prevents me from waiting in this queue because ___ or I may need to exit the line because of a disability that causes ____.