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

[disney2025]

Curious as to where you're getting this information.

I don't know if the leads were supposed to give out that info so I'm not going to get into details.

 

[nalababybear]

I'm quite sure city hall folk get plenty of direct feedback on how DAS team is going. Daily reports on other sites on how they go over to city hall to complain...often. walking away with a few LL foe their troubles

 

[jennab]

I'm quite sure city hall folk get plenty of direct feedback on how DAS team is going. Daily reports on other sites on how they go over to city hall to complain...often. walking away with a few LL foe their troubles

So word gets out that people go complain at city hall about not getting DAS and they get some free LLs? That seems like just another thing that will get out and taken advantage of soon…

 

[nalababybear]

So word gets out that people go complain at city hall about not getting DAS and they get some free LLs? That seems like just another thing that will get out and taken advantage of soon…

Yep. For sure. At least the cms will get their feedback they are looking for.

 

[Philsfan77]

Are you saying the CMs in the accessibility team are not regular CMs?

I've wondered this as well. It long was rumored that some of the biggest abusers/overusers of DAS were CM's themselves. DAS castmembers basically rubber stamping approval for friends and fellow cast members. Based on some of the uproar from CM's themselves in other groups, I'm wondering if this is indeed the case. Bringing in a whole new team, outside the scope of Disney who is less likely to rubberstamp their friends and co-workers.

 

[disney2025]

I'm quite sure city hall folk get plenty of direct feedback on how DAS team is going. Daily reports on other sites on how they go over to city hall to complain...often. walking away with a few LL foe their troubles

I haven't heard about this happening, I doubt it's very widespread. Unless you have direct experience with getting free LLs?

Yep. For sure. At least the cms will get their feedback they are looking for.

They sure will. Not sure if that was meant to be an unkind comment(?), but it is definitely wanted feedback. It is helpful to understand the full scope of the issues that people are having.

 

[disney2025]

I've wondered this as well. It long was rumored that some of the biggest abusers/overusers of DAS were CM's themselves. DAS castmembers basically rubber stamping approval for friends and fellow cast members. Based on some of the uproar from CM's themselves in other groups, I'm wondering if this is indeed the case. Bringing in a whole new team, outside the scope of Disney who is less likely to rubberstamp their friends and co-workers.

I feel silly that I didn't come to this realization before, but it's obvious if you spend any time outside in the esplanade at Disneyland (different uniforms, different entrances, different abilities to access systems, etc). From the example you provided, it seems as if involving a third party would be beneficial but I think further training of those contracted CMs needs to happen before the system gets to where it needs to be. The discrepancies seen and differing reports were of most concern, according to the two I spoke with.

Our family has not needed GAC/DAS for years, but we struck up a conversation while we were in town hall off to the side for something else. The whole thing has been interesting to read up on and to find out this info and compare that to the experiences people have outlined here and other places has been fascinating.

 

[PrincessV]

I've wondered this as well. It long was rumored that some of the biggest abusers/overusers of DAS were CM's themselves. DAS castmembers basically rubber stamping approval for friends and fellow cast members. Based on some of the uproar from CM's themselves in other groups, I'm wondering if this is indeed the case. Bringing in a whole new team, outside the scope of Disney who is less likely to rubberstamp their friends and co-workers.

Interesting to add that the CM I spoke with first last week made a fairly big point of telling me the accommodation of only approving DAS for a single day at a time was the rule for issuing DAS approvals to CMs using their main entrance passes. Despite me not being a CM or using CM ticket media or ever mentioning anything about CMs requesting DAS. It felt like a really odd thing to mention.

IF that’s really how they’re handling DAS for CMs, and that particular CM decided it was also to be used for a local AP, it kinda sounds like at least that one decision-maker lumped CMs and APs into a single group requiring extra hoops to jump through.

That DAS interview CM also self-identified that they had previously worked as a park CM, for whatever that’s worth. So not new to Disney at all.

 

[Philsfan77]

Interesting to add that the CM I spoke with first last week made a fairly big point of telling me the accommodation of only approving DAS for a single day at a time was the rule for issuing DAS approvals to CMs using their main entrance passes. Despite me not being a CM or using CM ticket media or ever mentioning anything about CMs requesting DAS. It felt like a really odd thing to mention.

IF that’s really how they’re handling DAS for CMs, and that particular CM decided it was also to be used for a local AP, it kinda sounds like at least that one decision-maker lumped CMs and APs into a single group requiring extra hoops to jump through.

That DAS interview CM also self-identified that they had previously worked as a park CM, for whatever that’s worth. So not new to Disney at all.

Your whole situation is so unique. I'm in a handful of different groups, all with a wide range of feelings related to this topic and the process, and yours is the only one I saw with your specific outcome in all of those groups. Maybe some of that uniqueness, was just a misunderstanding by that CM who somehow lumped you in with a new/different process for CM approvals.

 

[PrincessV]

Your whole situation is so unique. I'm in a handful of different groups, all with a wide range of feelings related to this topic and the process, and yours is the only one I saw with your specific outcome in all of those groups. Maybe some of that uniqueness, was just a misunderstanding by that CM who somehow lumped you in with a new/different process for CM approvals.

That’s exactly what I’m starting to think. I don’t frequent any other discussions on the topic outside of the DIS, but I’ve yet to hear anyone being given that unique accommodation, either. I’d love to know if that’s really what CMs are given, and whether any other local APs have heard the same!

 

[nalababybear]

That's a first on the day by day approval, and I'm on boards that are pretty vocal and lots of CMs on it without mentioning this process.

Glad you got it sorted out for your stay.

 

[Philsfan77]

That's a first on the day by day approval, and I'm on boards that are pretty vocal and lots of CMs on it without mentioning this process.

Glad you got it sorted out for your stay.

Same here...sounds like a rogue CM.

 

[Genie+]

Interesting to add that the CM I spoke with first last week made a fairly big point of telling me the accommodation of only approving DAS for a single day at a time was the rule for issuing DAS approvals to CMs using their main entrance passes. Despite me not being a CM or using CM ticket media or ever mentioning anything about CMs requesting DAS. It felt like a really odd thing to mention.

IF that’s really how they’re handling DAS for CMs, and that particular CM decided it was also to be used for a local AP, it kinda sounds like at least that one decision-maker lumped CMs and APs into a single group requiring extra hoops to jump through.

That DAS interview CM also self-identified that they had previously worked as a park CM, for whatever that’s worth. So not new to Disney at all.

We may never know what motivated CM1 to issue a single day DAS approval. Could’ve come from their own perspective of questioning why CMs are treated different than other guests for DAS approval. If they were told to do x for certain CM DAS requests maybe they thought it only right if it applies to everyone across the board in matching circumstances. Unless more cases end up like this it could remain a mystery.

 

[EasinEpcot]

Don’t you think the excess of people asking for DAS since the introduction of paid LL is because those people could cope using the old FP system. I’m sure there were/are people abusing the system but that doesn’t mean that some people genuinely need DAS. The new accommodations seem to be very hit and miss. eg how can someone request a return to queue in the middle of a queue when there are literally no cast members throughout most of the queue- it seems totally impractical.

This! We made 4 trips with my child with ASD when you could still book FP in advance. Having a set schedule was so helpful, we could preview the day with her, we knew exactly when we would sit down for lunch so she had a lot less stress. We all looked forward to our trip because we could count on doing our favorite experiences and knew our daughter would have a good experience too. We maybe did 6-7 rides a day, and that's including multiple carousel because she loved it the most. We rarely stood in line for a ride because she couldn't manage it, but she also didn't want to do a lot of rides, she got tired. We never bothered with DAS because we were having a great experience.

But now, with no ability to advance schedule, the unpredictability of not getting to do the couple of experiences that she loves is too big a risk. So we will try to get DAS for her on our next trip. We just want her to do the few things she loves and not have to worry about it.

 

[jennab]

This! We made 4 trips with my child with ASD when you could still book FP in advance. Having a set schedule was so helpful, we could preview the day with her, we knew exactly when we would sit down for lunch so she had a lot less stress. We all looked forward to our trip because we could count on doing our favorite experiences and knew our daughter would have a good experience too. We maybe did 6-7 rides a day, and that's including multiple carousel because she loved it the most. We rarely stood in line for a ride because she couldn't manage it, but she also didn't want to do a lot of rides, she got tired. We never bothered with DAS because we were having a great experience.

But now, with no ability to advance schedule, the unpredictability of not getting to do the couple of experiences that she loves is too big a risk. So we will try to get DAS for her on our next trip. We just want her to do the few things she loves and not have to worry about it.

With LLMP you can prebook rides again, like old FP. Check it out as they may work better for you if scheduling works for your family!

 

[Genie+]

This! We made 4 trips with my child with ASD when you could still book FP in advance. Having a set schedule was so helpful, we could preview the day with her, we knew exactly when we would sit down for lunch so she had a lot less stress. We all looked forward to our trip because we could count on doing our favorite experiences and knew our daughter would have a good experience too. We maybe did 6-7 rides a day, and that's including multiple carousel because she loved it the most. We rarely stood in line for a ride because she couldn't manage it, but she also didn't want to do a lot of rides, she got tired. We never bothered with DAS because we were having a great experience.

But now, with no ability to advance schedule, the unpredictability of not getting to do the couple of experiences that she loves is too big a risk. So we will try to get DAS for her on our next trip. We just want her to do the few things she loves and not have to worry about it.

When taking all the recent changes together, one of the things it looks like WDW tried to correct is making paid LL more useful than DAS to those parties that fall in the ‘medium’ range of issues. Because at the end of the day, a family that had an issue commonly addressed by granting DAS, they had 2 choices. Request and accept DAS, or buy LL but that typically didn’t work as well as DAS would have. It made no logical sense to pay when something else was not only free but worked better than the paid option.

I’m not saying the goal is to make DAS worse than a paid option. I’m saying the goal looks to be making the differences between DAS and paid LL enough that parties on the lower needs end of the spectrum still find value in buying a paid option. Now LL has pre-selections, 3 rolling selections, lower multi-park cost if starting at less expensive park, while DAS has 10 minute cooldown, stricter approval criteria, and smaller party size. Overuse should be less of a problem if the paid option performs better than DAS. At least then a reason exists to buy it over a free accommodation. Previously there were little to no reasons to prefer paid LL over DAS.

I think this is the direction WDW is going. They do have accommodations for those who need it. If you pay for upgrades that is going to perform better than other options (which wasn’t true with the first versions of Genie+). This isn’t meant to debate or question morales. It assumes a party feels they have a valid issue accommodations could help.

 

[OurBigTrip]

When taking all the recent changes together, one of the things it looks like WDW tried to correct is making paid LL more useful than DAS to those parties that fall in the ‘medium’ range of issues. Because at the end of the day, a family that had an issue commonly addressed by granting DAS, they had 2 choices. Request and accept DAS, or buy LL but that typically didn’t work as well as DAS would have. It made no logical sense to pay when something else was not only free but worked better than the paid option.

I’m not saying the goal is to make DAS worse than a paid option. I’m saying the goal looks to be making the differences between DAS and paid LL enough that parties on the lower needs end of the spectrum still find value in buying a paid option. Now LL has pre-selections, 3 rolling selections, lower multi-park cost if starting at less expensive park, while DAS has 10 minute cooldown, stricter approval criteria, and smaller party size. Overuse should be less of a problem if the paid option performs better than DAS. At least then a reason exists to buy it over a free accommodation. Previously there were little to no reasons to prefer paid LL over DAS.

I think this is the direction WDW is going. They do have accommodations for those who need it. If you pay for upgrades that is going to perform better than other options (which wasn’t true with the first versions of Genie+). This isn’t meant to debate or question morales. It assumes a party feels they have a valid issue accommodations could help.

I disagree only in that I see no problem with a paid option being better than DAS. If DAS is an accommodation that is supposed to ( as much as possible) replicate a regular standby guest’s experience, then it should be expected that the paid option would be better than DAS.

 

[Genie+]

I disagree only in that I see no problem with a paid option being better than DAS. If DAS is an accommodation that is supposed to ( as much as possible) replicate a regular standby guest’s experience, then it should be expected that the paid option would be better than DAS.

Yeah, I totally agree here.

I was trying to speak to park operations and motivations. There was zero motivation to choose a paid option over DAS for most people. I think the most telling aspect of the FP/LL evolution is how many people were able to use FP to assist with their issues. For those people it made no sense to buy the paid option because it didn’t help as much as DAS would. In many respects mLL didn’t even help them as much as FP+, but then there was also the added cost. That basically removed any reason not to request DAS.

 

[keishashadow]

My party has used DAS @ WDW multiple times in the past.

Was approved for it @ DL for trip in late August this year

Had hour+ conversation with WDW DAS today. CM Never mentioned knowing what a line was, ADHD, autism etc.

Did indicate my party didn’t qualify for the new, standard DAS but, did for accommodations.

Indicated it was determined we are not to wait in any line more than 10 minutes.

Said we had a “DAS accommodation” & it would be noted in the file. First I’ve heard of that process. Called it:

RTQ/AQR
(Return to Queue/Attraction Queue Return)
Told to use the RTQ but, AQR is the internal acronym staff uses?)

Will work thusly:

*Approach CM with the tablet @ ride entrance

*Indicate we need a return time…

For all, nobody is to wait in line in our individual party this trip, which could possibly change if more people added to the F&F group.

*told to briefly state the general reason/need for the accommodation…as in a few sentences why we couldn’t wait in line

Was told specifically what we should say to them as it pertains to our party. I am not going to state it here or share further details - NO PMs asking please!

*if denied, supposed to tell them they are in violation of their training& to ask to speak to the ride co-ordinator or supervisor. If again denied, need to visit GS who will initiate a conversation with DAS to sort it out.

*explained it’s designed to be similar to prior DAS, other than you need to physically present yourself @ each line, explain yourself and then return.

Umm, I’d say it’s more of in the ballpark. Not intended to be ungracious.

Mentioned it would be easier if there would just be levels granted of DAS, so one didn’t need to appear at the attraction & go thru this request each time. Was told the system is continually being reviewed & evaluated.

I reported here we did “pretend” we didn’t have DAS mid June & early July & asked for a return time. It was an absolute failure. CMs acted as though they never heard of it, when one did they said they only give it out sporadically, etc.

Told things are going much more smoothly now, all the CMs @ the attractions have received training or they aren’t out in the parks.

I’d like to say I’m optimistic but, have a bad feeling about this

 

[Angel Ariel]

My party has used DAS @ WDW multiple times in the past.

Was approved for it @ DL for trip in late August this year

Had hour+ conversation with WDW DAS today. CM Never mentioned knowing what a line was, ADHD, autism etc.

Did indicate my party didn’t qualify for the new, standard DAS but, did for accommodations.

Indicated it was determined we are not to wait in any line more than 10 minutes.

Said we had a “DAS accommodation” & it would be noted in the file. First I’ve heard of that process. Called it:

RTQ/AQR
(Return to Queue/Attraction Queue Return)
Told to use the RTQ but, AQR is the internal acronym staff uses?)

Will work thusly:

*Approach CM with the tablet @ ride entrance

*Indicate we need a return time…

For all, nobody is to wait in line in our individual party this trip, which could possibly change if more people added to the F&F group.

*told to briefly state the general reason/need for the accommodation…as in a few sentences why we couldn’t wait in line

Was told specifically what we should say to them as it pertains to our party. I am not going to state it here or share further details - NO PMs asking please!

*if denied, supposed to tell them they are in violation of their training& to ask to speak to the ride co-ordinator or supervisor. If again denied, need to visit GS who will initiate a conversation with DAS to sort it out.

*explained it’s designed to be similar to prior DAS, other than you need to physically present yourself @ each line, explain yourself and then return.

Umm, I’d say it’s more of in the ballpark. Not intended to be ungracious.

Mentioned it would be easier if there would just be levels granted of DAS, so one didn’t need to appear at the attraction & go thru this request each time. Was told the system is continually being reviewed & evaluated.

I reported here we did “pretend” we didn’t have DAS mid June & early July & asked for a return time. It was an absolute failure. CMs acted as though they never heard of it, when one did they said they only give it out sporadically, etc.

Told things are going much more smoothly now, all the CMs @ the attractions have received training or they aren’t out in the parks.

I’d like to say I’m optimistic but, have a bad feeling about this

This is another one leaving me scratching my head. If the CM is saying they don't want you waiting in line for more than 10 mins for any ride, then why would they not just approve you for DAS? I wonder if you got the same CM as @PrincessV