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

[JoelB]

If I understand correctly, this is available to everyone. Now, let me play this out for you as devil's advocate. Family of five Mom, Dad, 13ish year old kid and a sevenish and five year old. Mom says to Dad, hey you guys wait here in the space mountain line while I take the two younger ones to the bathroom (aka Dumbo and barnstormer). Mom tells the cast member they need to use the bathroom, takes the two younger kids to the bathroom and then comes back 50 mins later to join the 13 year old and the Dad with the other two kids. Genius F'n plan disney. This will be more abused than DAS was.

I'm sure some people will get away with that, but that is a lot more inconvenient and provides far less of a reward than saying "I have bathroom issues" (or whatever) so your entire family can skip having to wait in long standby lines at all and also get two prebooked FastPasses for every day of your trip. There's no possible way AQR will be abused even remotely as much as DAS was.

Besides, people have been leaving queues and re-entering to meet back up with their party for all sorts of reasons (some less legitimate than others) since amusement parks came into existence. You did not just invent some novel park hack.

 

[SueM in MN]

That's 100% what I meant. Think of it in the same sense as DAS. People have probably been abusing it forever, right? But once abuse got to the point that people were making instructional videos it caused real problems (if we are to believe Disney). For all we know, they could be cooking the books to kill off DAS.

People WERE making instructional videos on how to get DAS without having a disability.
I've seen some. I've also seen videos live-streamed by 'influencers' showing how to have the person registered for DAS scan into an attraction for a DAS Return Time then leave the line so the rest of their group could ride without them.

If the goal was just to filter fakers they would just copy the universal/6 Flags system that has a 3rd party validate the requested accomodation.

The system Universal/6 Flags doesn't validate requested accommodation.
They require proof that the person has a disability, but the 'proofs' are non- specific and don't show need for accommodation. For example, they will accept a copy of a handicapped parking permit, National Park Access Pass, page of an IEP with diagnosis, letter from a doctor which only has to say 'this patient has a disability'. People could have any of them and not have need for accommodations in a theme park.
The requested accommodations part of the process is filled out by the person applying to the third party.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

If I understand correctly, this is available to everyone. Now, let me play this out for you as devil's advocate. Family of five Mom, Dad, 13ish year old kid and a sevenish and five year old. Mom says to Dad, hey you guys wait here in the space mountain line while I take the two younger ones to the bathroom (aka Dumbo and barnstormer). Mom tells the cast member they need to use the bathroom, takes the two younger kids to the bathroom and then comes back 50 mins later to join the 13 year old and the Dad with the other two kids. Genius F'n plan disney. This will be more abused than DAS was.

It’s not clear that this would be considered abuse. It is literally the same system as current DAS except some fraction of guests must remain in line, so Disney has eliminated 50-90% of the people in the LL, even if 10-50% of the people go watch a show in an air conditioned room. We need to wait for reports, but my guess is AQR staff won’t let one person waiting in line have 5 people return.

 

[Tatebeck]

Yeah, the maximum number of people leaving the line in a larger group should ideally be limited at 2. The one having the problem/disability and a helper if needed.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

I am feeling charitable today but, perhaps the “hold it” comment was meant as “you may not be aware of how close you are to the front of the queue. If you stay here you will be able to ride and exit within 5 minutes. Would that work for you instead of exiting now and holding up your party, or riding without them?”

People have different tolerances for how long they can wait after feeling like they need to go to the bathroom, and if one is unfamiliar with the queues it’s quite possible not to know how much longer it will be. This very much happened to us the first time we rode Hagrids. 30 more minutes - may as well go now so that I can definitely rejoin my party - vs 5 minutes but OH MY GOSH I HAVE TO GO! - are very different problems. Also my niece can apparently “hold it” for hours after she first starts acting like she needs to pee whereas for my son for years the window was under a minute (and thus had to be managed proactively).

Disney CMs can’t read minds, so what may seem obvious to the guest isn’t necessarily true for all. S/he wasn’t requiring anyone to “hold it.” S/he was just giving guest the information to make an informed decision.

I once had to take my daughter to the bathroom FROM the boarding zone on safari. The CM could not have been more gracious about it, and I highly doubt that attitude has changed.

 

[nalababybear]

It’s not clear that this would be considered abuse. It is literally the same system as current DAS except some fraction of guests must remain in line, so Disney has eliminated 50-90% of the people in the LL, even if 10-50% of the people go watch a show in an air conditioned room. We need to wait for reports, but my guess is AQR staff won’t let one person waiting in line have 5 people return.

This happens a lot in DLR. Adult with several.kids return to line and push forward rather far into the line. Perfectly acceptable by the rules

 

[KMP12]

And...cancelled. They waived my fee as well. And with that my son's days of visiting Disney have come to an end.

This breaks my heart

 

[lanejudy]

I’ve gone so far down the rabbit hole here that I can’t remember where I saw this. I think it was on this thread. Anyway, I’ve search elsewhere to verify and haven’t been able to. Here goes…

Someone posted that the new DAS, if you are approved, will actually include all the members on your trip (from you Friends and Family list), but only 4 can ride on any one DAS reservation. Something about Travel Party vs. Ride Party.

I’m only asking because we are a family of five with the same last name and address, but I am the aunt, not the parent or sibling. The above scenario would at least allow me to ride some of the time with my autistic nephew. Anyone see anything that would indicate this to be the case? TIA!

It was this thread, pretty sure today but search is failing me at the moment.

How that translates to your situation is unknown — we simply haven’t had enough reports. I hope it works out!

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

This happens a lot in DLR. Adult with several.kids return to line and push forward rather far into the line. Perfectly acceptable by the rules

Yeah, it barely registers when it’s one or two people but sometimes it’s a pack of multiple adults and children and they are often not considerate of boundaries and personal space of the people around them.

 

[Violetspider]

It was this thread, pretty sure today but search is failing me at the moment.

How that translates to your situation is unknown — we simply haven’t had enough reports. I hope it works out!

Thanks! I spent about an hour searching this thread for that post before giving up. I really wanted to quote it and ask where the info came from, because no other source that I’ve seen verifies it. I was certain, before reading that, I was out of luck with the new rules. The odd family member out as it were. That post gave me some hope.

 

[JoelB]

Thanks! I spent about an hour searching this thread for that post before giving up. I really wanted to quote it and ask where the info came from, because no other source that I’ve seen verifies it. I was certain, before reading that, I was out of luck with the new rules. The odd family member out as it were. That post gave me some hope.

This one?

I forgot to include this in my original post about the DAS interview, but they no longer require everyone in your family and friends list to have an upcoming park reservation with you to add them to your travel party. I’m guessing this only applies to guests with APs.

After I was approved, they asked if there was anyone else I would be traveling with frequently and that they could add them. I was able to add 4 people from my family and friend’s list. They are trying to make it so you don’t have to go back to the online chat as often since you can no longer add/remove guests in the park.


This is Disney’s verbiage for clarity (as explained by the CM I talked to today):

Travel Party - An unlimited number of people linked to DAS holder from their family and friends list.

Riding Party - A group up to 4 from the Travel Party.

 

[rastuso]

Those whose disabilities require the use of a mobility device can and have been accessing the queues without DAS for many years now.

I love how physical disabilities are so easily swept away as solved with a wheelchair and wide queue paths.

Yet autism and others are split in to a million different special cases

 

[Violetspider]

This one?

Yes!! Thank you, thank you. At least I now remember it came from a recent DAS interview with a CM, which means it’s a possibility, depending…lol

 

[Evita_W]

Your failed attempt at either an analogy or a comparison also does not "come across well".

The point here was to highlight that the cast member's ridiculous response to someone saying they needed to leave the line was to ask them if they could hold it. Someone has reached the point of needing to ask to leave the line and the cast member was still resistant. Maybe we focus on that. Or in the alternative, just ignore my posts. That's also fine.

Not to mention they asked for the accommodation that is supposed to be available, yet the CM didn't seem to want to give it. This seems to pose a problem for Disney.

 

[nalababybear]

I love how physical disabilities are so easily swept away as solved with a wheelchair and wide queue paths.

Yet autism and others are split in to a million different special cases

Trying the 'Ole splitting action...

Physical disabilities have their own accommodations too and addressed accordingly.

ASD. Autism Spectrum Disorder. Its inherent complexity is right there in the actual name.

 

[Bearval]

Yeah, it barely registers when it’s one or two people but sometimes it’s a pack of multiple adults and children and they are often not considerate of boundaries and personal space of the people around them.

On more than one occasion I have seen an entire tour group of kids/young adults ( at least 15 or more ) push thru the line to get with 3 or 4 members of their group that were pretty far up in the line already.

 

[mlayton14]

Curious, and apologies if this has been covered. Why couldn’t Disney just require a doctors note or prefilled form from a physician requesting DAS based on medical need? This way a medical professional is on record of the need, and Disney doesn’t have to make these tough judgments themselves? Keep the time period limited so it would need to be renewed periodically. These would seem to be the easiest and most effective way to weed out the frauds hurting the system, while the truly disabled get accommodations

 

[Bearval]

I love how physical disabilities are so easily swept away as solved with a wheelchair and wide queue paths.

Yet autism and others are split in to a million different special cases

We are an aging population that where the number of people who are going to have mobility issues is just starting to explode in numbers due to all of the people from the "boomer" generation. In a few years if everyone who had some type of physical limitation for walking or standing in line was given a pass I think the entire DAS program will be an absolute mess. As information only, I am one of those boomers and I do have some mobility issues.

 

[White_Rabbit18]

Does anyone have any experience with getting a DAS pass for medical reasons. We have a family diagnosed with epilepsy. This isn’t a leave the line until you feel better because it can happen without warning. I imagine similar situations with people with Type 1 Diabetes where you are ok one minute and you aren’t the next. So I am not sure how return to line will help.

Is the idea now that we spend less time in the park and/or take long breaks?

I understand most people probably think that we should make those adjustments but I guess the value of a Disney trip isn’t there

 

[Becky Mouse]

Does anyone have any experience with getting a DAS pass for medical reasons.

This isn't the same thing, I know, but my son has a tendency to overheat in the heat. So, we plan our trips around queues. If a queue is mostly indoors in AC, we do those during the hot part of the day. For example, Soarin' and Living with the Land are both good to do in the hot part of the day if you're looking to avoid heat, even if the lines are long. If there is a ride we really want to do that has a lot of sun, then we do that very early or late in the day.

We also pack a portable UV umbrella for shade, cooling fever patches, cooling towels, fans, etc. We plan usually one sit down meal a day and during the hottest part of the day (like 2pm or 3pm, or after the parade at MK), that way we are in the AC for a long break in the hot part of the day. A lot of people choose to go back to their hotel for the hottest part of the day, too.