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

[mickeyluv'r]

Even so, your experience is the first one I've ever seen of this type. I've left lots of lines, no one has said anything to me. I've also hurried to catch up with my group lots of times, and no one has said anything or looked at me with angry eyes either.

I have to say, I've seen the opposite happen a number of times. People leaving the queue are not always treated with kindness.

A number of times I have seen families get split up at the funneled ride entrances, small world comes to mind: part of the family parks the stroller, toddlers run ahead, so the family gets separated by 5-10 people. When they try to rejoin family, the people that are between them get oddly territorial, even though the distance is only 10 feet, and it is very clear they are all one family.

And I've seen lots of people getting very territorial in the quick serve places over a moved chair. The tables by the Friar's Nook are especially in high demand. Politely asking to move an open chair brings out the Gollum in plenty of folks!

I can understand why the idea of leaving the line makes folks a bit nervous. Strangers often behave in ways that are not rational when they don't know why someone is doing something. In your case, you might have had time to smile and ask permission to pass, whereas a person in distress might not be able to manage their exit in the same way.

One plus of reading this discussion is that I hope all of us here will be part of the solution if we see someone trying to leave the queue.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

O

A number of times I have seen families get split up at the funneled ride entrances, small world comes to mind: part of the family parks the stroller, toddlers run ahead, so the family gets separated by 5-10 people. When they try to rejoin family, the people that are between them get oddly territorial, even though the distance is only 10 feet, and it is very clear they are all one family.

Moving FORWARD (aka cutting the line) is generally the problem. Only an idiot would say “no, that’s ok. I don’t want to go ahead of you so you can reunite with your family behind me."

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

A number of times I have seen families get split up at the funneled ride entrances, small world comes to mind: part of the family parks the stroller, toddlers run ahead, so the family gets separated by 5-10 people. When they try to rejoin family, the people that are between them get oddly territorial, even though the distance is only 10 feet, and it is very clear they are all one family.

That situation is one I don't know is the best example. Entering in a line for a ride is a lot different than "let me out and you go park the car" kind of situation. It's also different than people trying to exit the line. I think people have been thinking about good reasons why physically speaking leaving the line could present an issue but the attitude towards guests is vast majority going to be okay with someone leaving the line because practically speaking it's one less person in front of them at that moment. I think it's worth separating out people viewing the slight inconvenience on their part of having to move out of the way for someone with an actual attitude towards someone leaving the line which I think was getting intermixed before.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I thought I’d maybe try getting a little positivity going on here because it’s been pretty bleak the last few days:

Do people have good methods to keep distracted in queues, for both adults and kids? Specific phone apps, games, etc.

Does using MDE to book/modify G+ passes, monitor return times, and mobile ordering food count?

Another game or sorts we play is 'Where in the WDW World?" We take photos of oddball parts of WDW then quiz each other later, or else we take repeat photos of the same location, like a garden, and see how it changes over time.

 

[starlite_]

I have to say, I've seen the opposite happen a number of times. People leaving the queue are not always treated with kindness.

A number of times I have seen families get split up at the funneled ride entrances, small world comes to mind: part of the family parks the stroller, toddlers run ahead, so the family gets separated by 5-10 people. When they try to rejoin family, the people that are between them get oddly territorial, even though the distance is only 10 feet, and it is very clear they are all one family.

And I've seen lots of people getting very territorial in the quick serve places over a moved chair. The tables by the Friar's Nook are especially in high demand. Politely asking to move an open chair brings out the Gollum in plenty of folks!

I can understand why the idea of leaving the line makes folks a bit nervous. Strangers often behave in ways that are not rational when they don't know why someone is doing something. In your case, you might have had time to smile and ask permission to pass, whereas a person in distress might not be able to manage their exit in the same way.

One plus of reading this discussion is that I hope all of us here will be part of the solution if we see someone trying to leave the queue.

This is very sad to hear. I wonder if the dif is between WDW and DLR or if we have been lucky.

We've never encountered the chair phenomenon either. And we have asked plenty of times if someone was using a chair.

 

[keishashadow]

It means you can't join a class action lawsuit.
It does not mean you can't bring suit on your own merits.
Whether the waiver could hold up in court may depend on many variables.

Oh, i understand that. For most the costs are rather prohibitive to file on one’s own behalf vs joining an applicable class action suit.

It’s the fact that to use even the basic app, it appears one must now sign away “rights”, in perpetuity, that has me dumbfounded.

Sounds about right. Why not? Maybe it sticks legally, maybe it doesn't. Worth a shot from Disney's perspective.

It saddens me that this is where they are coming from (as to their perspective).

I can understand a corporation wanting to avoid frivolous class action suits.

just find it troubling that merely utilizing their app, that one really needs to (in order to visit the park using LL, gene, genie + or DAS) is shackled to the consent.

If anything, will start to read the fine print on any apps I’m currently using.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

O

Moving FORWARD (aka cutting the line) is generally the problem. Only an idiot would say “no, that’s ok. I don’t want to go ahead of you so you can reunite with your family behind me."

that was only a small part of my post, but I specifically referred to a situation where the distance is small, the family is attempting to re-group within a few feet of the ride entrance.

And I didn't specify that they were moving forward to try to rejoin their family. You assumed that part.

People getting split up at the entrance of small world is so common, that I have seen all kinds of splits and attempts to rejoin each other. No matter how the family tries to regroup, people nearby don't always react favorably, especially when they are hot and tired.

I often visit WDW in August and major holiday weeks. Both can be factors that make parkgoers grouchy. We have learned to be especially careful while touring in August, especially in the afternoon.

 

[Aladora]

Can a person in this situation safely ride many rides at Disney? Don't most rides have a chance of some mechanical or other issue that could make the ride close to 60 minutes? There was an issue one time when I was on Pirates that made the ride well over an hour.

So, here is a situation that you might not have thought of.

When DS was younger and we used the accommodations Disney provided (I think at this point in his life it was GAC?) there was a day we showed up at ToonTown right after opening. He wanted to ride Roger Rabbit and there was literally zero line, like no one else there. But, we walked up to the CM and asked to use his disability pass on the ride. The CM was confused and told us we could just walk through the regular line and board right away but we could not do that. Why? The standby queue was too dark and too tight for our son to deal with. There was literally no way we could get him to walk through the queue and after we explained this to the CM, she let us go through the FP line.

So, sometimes it is not about the wait time but the actual queue itself. We have gone up a back staircase at Haunted Mansion once when DS refused to go through the stretching room. I am not 100% sure if it was an actual alternate entrance or a CM entrance but it was really cool!

Lines with stall points are more complicated. We pack noise canceling headphones for when things become too much. We don’t police laying on the ground like we do in other public locations, I bring a stash of dollar store toys (cars, slinky, mini play dohs) and we pull out YouTube or his switch without shame when needed.

Somewhere I think I have a photo of DS sitting on the ground near the Storybook boats playing on his Nintendo DS. He used to bring it with to the parks and would want to sit down out of the way to decompress when the crowds became too much for him. We used to get a TON of looks from people who must have thought we were terrible parents for letting our kid play a video game while he was a Disneyland but I never really cared what others thought.

I think you make a really good point about building resilience.

My daughter has been completely deaf since birth and used to be very anxious in unfamiliar or busy locations. We decided she had to live in the world as it is and so decided not to avoid anything. She is now a confident teenager and able to go pretty much anywhere and navigate almost any situation.

I think as a parent of a disabled child the instinct can be to be too protective when what all children need is to learn to be the most independent and capable that they can, whatever that looks like for them.

We found WDW a great place to build confidence and reduce anxiety.

I know I have posted this before but I think it bears repeating.

As parents, I believe it is our responsibility to prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child.

Quite simply, the world is not going to change for our son, we need to work with him to ensure he is as prepared as possible work within society.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

that was only a small part of my post, but I specifically referred to a situation where the distance is small, the family is attempting to re-group within a few feet of the ride entrance.

And I didn't specify that they were moving forward to try to rejoin their family. You assumed that part.

People getting split up at the entrance of small world is so common, that I have seen all kinds of splits and attempts to rejoin each other. No matter how the family tries to regroup, people nearby don't always react favorably, especially when they are hot and tired.

I often visit WDW in August and major holiday weeks. Both can be factors that make parkgoers grouchy. We have learned to be especially careful while touring in August, especially in the afternoon.

Fair enough. People don’t always react favorably. Occasionally there are even fights at Philharmagic.

But I’d be willing to wager at least one Dole Whip that the likelihood that someone reacts badly when attempting to rejoin the party AHEAD of someone is much higher than waving people ahead to rejoin a party by moving BACKWARDS.

Source: 40+ years of riding it’s a small world, which happens to be my favorite ride.

 

[jlundeen]

Over the years, I've just started asking folks if they are with the party ahead of me... (like in Guardians where the hallways purposely narrows to thin down the line)... often families do get separated especially with my ECV in the middle, so I always ask if they are with the group ahead and let them pass if they are. Most of the time, if they are not part of a group that got separated, they have been very polite and slowed down, but I often let the smaller groups of only a few folks go ahead. Then I make sure to keep up with the line so others aren't grumbling about being behind me.

 

[cat4hurricane]

I really didn’t think we solo/single adult accompanying minor children folks were all that rare, but as I’ve yet to find many reports on using AQR from them at all, let alone for more than one attraction in a visit, maybe we actually are the unicorns of the parks lol?!

I’ve seen so many fearing needing to backtrack out of queues and I don’t want to dismiss those worrying at all - speaking as someone for whom that can be almost as triggering to my disability as being in the queue, it’s not an unreasonable concern. But I have needed to backtrack through queues over the years, on my own, with a friend, and/or with my young child - and it was always okay. There was that one time we exited the MF:SR queue and wound up backstage, without a CM (or any other human) in sight, but we figured it out and got back to where we were supposed to be quickly. I’ve never had other guests be difficult, and found that most helped get their family’s and other guests’ attention to make a little space for me to get by. At worst, some were indifferent - but they didn’t block me or anything. I’m sure some people can be difficult, but I promise: that is not the norm.

That’s also not to dismiss those needing to backtrack in a scooter or wheelchair. The queues are admittedly not designed for that, and I fully understand concerns about it. But again: I think folks will find that most guests want to do the right thing and will be helpful.

I went solo last time, so there’s definitely some of us out here. Definitely wondering how the return to queue/AQR (?? I need a key for these..) would work for those of us who go solo or require caretakers that must go with them. From what I’ve heard, it’s basically just asking for a return time and stating your disability for solo riders, because you have no group to return to, though I have heard that apparently, somehow CMs are going to hold your spot in line? Unsure, I keep hearing differing things, including that management is apparently going to crack down on CMs that hand out too many return times?

 

[Evita_W]

Almost every time I have ridden it, the people who are supposed to ride in the back row go into the room first and then they jump into the front row even though that isn’t their color. One time there were 2 couples that were supposed to ride in the back, one couple jumped in the front and the other couple went to the back like they were supposed to which made my party of three break up. Another time, the CM specifically put my daughter in the front row because she’s short and guess what? We ended up in the back. This would work better if they let the front row dot in first. It would be a very simple change too.

We had that happen once (in all fairness the other party didn't speak English), DH needs them to open the side of the vehicle, so they moved us to the back vehicle, but that one ended up having door issues, we made it through the ride, but it broke down the entire ride when we got off because they couldn't close the door again.

 

[GoingSince1990]

I went solo last time, so there’s definitely some of us out here. Definitely wondering how the return to queue/AQR (?? I need a key for these..) would work for those of us who go solo or require caretakers that must go with them. From what I’ve heard, it’s basically just asking for a return time and stating your disability for solo riders, because you have no group to return to, though I have heard that apparently, somehow CMs are going to hold your spot in line? Unsure, I keep hearing differing things, including that management is apparently going to crack down on CMs that hand out too many return times?

It will depend on the attraction, the line configuration, and where you were in the line. As I’ve mentioned, this is nothing really new; solo guests and guests with small children have been having potty and other emergencies requiring them to leave the line as long as Disney has existed, and the CMs have tremendous discretion to come up with a fair and reasonable solution. If you were just about to board, they may tell you to return to the LL or through the exit. They might say “OK, you were behind that guy in the red jacket, I’ll take you back there when you’re done”. They might say “when you come back, go to my friend Chuck and he’ll let you in at that switchback”. In the rare cases where none of these work, CMs are permitted to issue a RTQ (return to queue) pass, with a LL return time, but this is very much discouraged and only intended as a last resort.

 

[Smugpugmug]

This is very sad to hear. I wonder if the dif is between WDW and DLR or if we have been lucky.

We've never encountered the chair phenomenon either. And we have asked plenty of times if someone was using a chair.

I find that 9/10 times people are fine when it comes to the chair problem but yesterday I asked a group at Sunshine Seasons if the chair they were using for their bags was available and I got a super rude response. They were like "WE'RE USING IT FOR OUR FAMILY!!!!"

Didn't see anyone using that chair the entire time I was there. It was used for bags and not for someone to sit there. Thankfully another group offered us an empty chair but the nasty responses do happen. It was a feel temp of 105 yesterday so I wonder if the heat was bringing out the nastiness of people.

 

[Chuckdlc]

We are in a similar situation in that my partner and my child are on the spectrum and have sensory issues, and my partner has panic attacks in close confines. It sounds like the recommendation will be for her to leave line, but that leaves me in charge of a ND child that I cannot physically restrain. Yet she can't take him with her, because she can't then tend to her own needs. I'm hopeful if we get DAS for both of them and explain our family situation, they will be kind and grant us sufficient accommodation.

It is so clear that the CM's/Health representatives either don't understand or don't care about people's conditions when I see posts like this. Having someone who recognizes that they are about to have an episode endure the stress of trying to quickly get through the line in an almost "race against the clock" situation is only going to heighten the stress and exacerbate the problem.

 

[Disneychick75]

DAS worked perfectly today at MK( grandfathered under the old rules). At first, it only had shows as available but after the park opened to everyone though the entire list of rides in every park populated.

 

[lanejudy]

It is so clear that the CM's/Health representatives either don't understand or don't care about people's conditions when I see posts like this. Having someone who recognizes that they are about to have an episode endure the stress of trying to quickly get through the line in an almost "race against the clock" situation is only going to heighten the stress and exacerbate the problem.

The PP you replied to hasn't requested DAS so I'm not sure your point? They haven't been denied anything in that situation yet.

 

[diablodancer]

Have just seen a report of someone’s mum’s call taking an hour This was specifically in reference to the time spent talking, not waiting. She was denied.

 

[Chuckdlc]

Well LaneJudy, my point was that based on the anecdotal suggestions she said "It sounds like the recommendation will be for her...."

So, while not yet denied, she was basing her expectations on what others had reported and what she was expecting to hear. Maybe you've never lost consciousness from any issue you suffer from but I have so my point stemmed from all of that.

 

[lanejudy]

Well LaneJudy, my point was that based on the anecdotal suggestions she said "It sounds like the recommendation will be for her...."

So, while not yet denied, she was basing her expectations on what others had reported and what she was expecting to hear. Maybe you've never lost consciousness from any issue you suffer from but I have so my point stemmed from all of that.

OK but there has been interaction yet with the CM so to automatically jump to "the CM's/Health representatives either don't understand or don't care" seems premature. It's kind of like posters jumping to the conclusion that everyone who uses DAS is a faker. It's not true, it's really negative thinking, and it's definitely not helpful. I fully understand this is challenging and very worrisome for many, and yes many are getting denied DAS. There have definitely been at least as many posts about caring CMs -- even when denying DAS accommodation -- as there are about rude or bad encounters. And negative is so much more likely to get called out than an average or good experience that the reality is probably most calls are not with "the CM's/Health representatives [who] either don't understand or don't care."

Or maybe I'm just a glass-is-half-full kind of outlook. I prefer to expect the best of everyone rather than fearing the worst.