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

[nalababybear]

An interesting data point. Wifi got much better in the buildings this weekend compared to last weekend here at DLR.

IJA typically cuts off at the well....got full wifi to boarding.

Soaring typically got until just after the merge. Got into the preshow.

That's never happened. Wondering if that's part of the transition plan for better communication to meet up

 

[cat4hurricane]

An interesting data point. Wifi got much better in the buildings this weekend compared to last weekend here at DLR.

IJA typically cuts off at the well....got full wifi to boarding.

Soaring typically got until just after the merge. Got into the preshow.

That's never happened. Wondering if that's part of the transition plan for better communication to meet up

That’s some interesting information. I wouldn’t really be surprised if Disney had to upgrade their tech (Wi-Fi, access points, overall strength, charging stations etc) in order to help facilitate the DAS changes. While DAS may not be the only reason they’re doing that, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have better park Wi-Fi. Makes me wonder if WDW is doing similar since so many people will now be apparently relying on AQR and therefore park Wi-Fi (not everyone has unlimited data or international data plans for the overseas visitors, so the WI-FI has to get a lot better to compensate). It could be also that Disney has just been overall improving their technology in general, and it coincides with the DAS switchover to the new system, but I’d personally like to think someone in their IT department must have thought ahead about how rough it is to get connection, especially in queues and on rides. Super interesting insights!

 

[jjpet]

This isn't a terrible idea. But you're still going to run into the problem that Disney is hoping to avoid...which is essentially paying a "tour guide" to stand in line for your group.

I'm probably alone in this opinion, but I think it would help to simply limit the number of times you can use the DAS per day. Without going into my medical reasons (as advised by folks here) the issue that necessitates the DAS for me also prevents me from being in the park for more than maybe 5 hours max. This of course could be an incorrect assumption, but someone who struggles in a line that's longer than 30 minutes would likely also struggle to stay in the park for a full day.

This would of course be a much more reasonable solution if Disney hadn't cut so many of the streetmosphere/roaming entertainment options in WDW (Great Moments in History, Citizens of Hollywood, parade reductions, wandering robots/characters).

Unfortunately it doesn't seem like there's a true solution that would both prevent abuse (for being too generous) or open Disney up to an expensive lawsuit (implying that guests need to prove a disability through medical documentation).

In my son's case (intellectual disability, OCD, and autism) this would absolutely be an entirely incorrect assumption. Near constant movement is what helps him stay regulated, and the centrifugal force of the ride motions is like a god-send for him to stay regulated in the chaos of the parks. I get what you're aiming for though, everyone is brainstorming ideas to make DAS more reasonable so that it could be extended to more people. For many, limiting DAS would make it an insufficient accommodation (the way people are explaining why Genie+ is an insufficient accommodation) and it would no longer function for the purpose it is intended to.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I'm probably alone in this opinion, but I think it would help to simply limit the number of times you can use the DAS per day.

I also think you'd have the abusers that use it for 5x a day (or however many) as a supplement to their other rides. So they'd wait for their return time while still doing other things, then essentially have 5 (or however many) free LLs per day.

Limiting it to 2 people coming back into the queue to rejoin the party does seem like the best way to combat the abuse, or at least make it least obtrusive since it's a smaller #.

*Circling back to the theory of if you’ll be with other people who can do the waiting in line, you don’t need DAS… I’ll admit that I’m tempted to dump my friends off my F&F list.

Which might technically work for parties of 1 or 2... but hopefully the CM would then not allow more than 2 into the line under the guise of RTQ. So it really doesn't accomplish anything for larger parties, as you're back at AQR for 2 people and the rest have to wait in the actual queue.

 

[Vampiress88]

Do you have to have a ticket linked to do the chat to see if you can get accommodation?

What then happens to those of us who need das and the RTQ will not be sufficient, Genie+ would be hit or miss to work. Do we get a refund for our tickets?

 

[nalababybear]

You can ask. Most tickets are nonrefundable, but some reports of refunds being processed with manager override, but certainly not policy .

 

[jennab]

Do you have to have a ticket linked to do the chat to see if you can get accommodation?

What then happens to those of us who need das and the RTQ will not be sufficient, Genie+ would be hit or miss to work. Do we get a refund for our tickets?

Disney states tickets are nonrefundable. You can always try to call and get a refund if they are unused, but it may not happen.

 

[cat4hurricane]

I’ve heard of people getting something refunded by calling Disney (May have been hotel rooms?) due to DAS policy changes, but that was also within the first week or so, it’s possible that Disney is more stringent about what they refund with the new system being a bit older. I’m pretty sure tickets are nonrefundable, but if you've gotten anything else through Disney (Rooms, maybe the meal plan, any packages) those may be refundable. Either way, it’s worth a call, they may not refund, but you never know, at the very least it’s worth a call, the worst thing they can say is no.

 

[shannnsavage]

That's good news for parties with mostly adults. Do you have more than 4 people in your party? Wondering if this only affects larger parties who go over the 4 person limit. The 2nd party who added our son was able to add our entire family (even the 14+ ones) as "rotational" people within the party without any problem via chat the day after their approval, but I also know of a party who had an adult approval with 3 kids 14 and under who were not able to add a 16 yr old family member without it affecting their approval, so they kept him off. Hopefully all of this will be more clear by our fall trip, but I'm glad we were able to figure it out this trip. ETA: I think this is why they are asking you to name all the people who will be on it before the video call begin so they can determine who to steer to return to the line instead of DAS. From my memory, they never did they before. They approved you and then asked for the MB for who will be in it.

I do not like this at all. It makes me so sad. Families spend a lot of money to go on a FAMILY vacation. If one member of the immediate family qualifies for DAS, it makes no sense to me why the other members of the immediate family (adult or not) could not be included. I have a 17 year old daughter with developmental disability who was approved for DAS x3 in past. I also have 2 other children 5 and 20, and a husband. If I had to be separated from my 20 year old, I would be very sad.

 

[TwoHeartsBeat]

...So many of us have trouble with standing, not with walking (and walking can actually help). It has been hard to use an ECV when I do not really need one to navigate the parks...

I've found buying a motorized wheelchair to be the answer for this. Manual wheelchairs can be difficult to push all day with someone in them, especially in ques like Flight of Passage and Smugglers Run. ECVs require the user to set in them the entire day, because they aren't made to be pushed. We bought a motorized wheelchair, that can be turned off and pushed when not in use. You can also push someone in them if the battery dies, but it is difficult to push with someone in it.

 

[diablodancer]

To add to the general weirdness, I’ve now seen a couple reports of the DAS CMs giving out what I guess are basically the equivalent of FP/G+/FP+ freebies to people who are denied DAS - like a couple free LL entries per day.

Yep, have just seen another report of this on Facebook. To note this person was also explicitly told it’s only for developmental disabilities, the second case I’ve read of this this week, despite reading numerous reports of people getting it for non-developmental conditions.

 

[SueM in MN]

I have no doubt they'll have a way to extend the DAS if you add days while there. We just haven't heard reports of that yet.

I did read 1 report that someone was able to add (or maybe change?) party members at a blue umbrella. I don't know if that was a unique situation, maybe approved under old rules, because someone else was told they would need to reconnect to the video chat. Hopefully more clarity on this comes out soon.

It's hard to say until everybody is under the new rules.
The information I've seen has been that Guest Relations/blue umbrella CMs will be able to help with technical assistance - ie problems with the app, how to use the app, booking DAS Return Times.
Information Disney released said that DAS had been removed from the Guest Relations Department and would be under a new Accessibility Services Department for registration and administration. That does 'mesh' with reports I've seen that people were told they would need to call back in to add or change guests

I don't know if someone is allowed to answer this or not. Both of our boys have Autism and from my everyday living with these boys I know they qualify and they have an Autism diagnosis. Has anyone with children with Autism been denied since the new "rules" were released?

People have reported not being approved with autism, even if they were authorized for DAS previously. It's not the diagnosis that determines DAS eligibility, it's the needs and concerns with waiting in the regular lines

An interesting data point. Wifi got much better in the buildings this weekend compared to last weekend here at DLR.

IJA typically cuts off at the well....got full wifi to boarding.

Soaring typically got until just after the merge. Got into the preshow.

That's never happened. Wondering if that's part of the transition plan for better communication to meet up

That’s some interesting information. I wouldn’t really be surprised if Disney had to upgrade their tech (Wi-Fi, access points, overall strength, charging stations etc) in order to help facilitate the DAS changes. While DAS may not be the only reason they’re doing that, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have better park Wi-Fi. Makes me wonder if WDW is doing similar since so many people will now be apparently relying on AQR and therefore park Wi-Fi (not everyone has unlimited data or international data plans for the overseas visitors, so the WI-FI has to get a lot better to compensate). It could be also that Disney has just been overall improving their technology in general, and it coincides with the DAS switchover to the new system, but I’d personally like to think someone in their IT department must have thought ahead about how rough it is to get connection, especially in queues and on rides. Super interesting insights!

WiFi has been an issue for a long time, not just for guests, but also for CMs.
We've had problems in places outside of lines; just really spotty. We've also run into times when app was not loading wait times and the CMs at blue umbrellas also couldn't access them because the Wi-Fi was out. My family had one time at Toy Story Mania where the CM was trying to send us an any time Lightning Lane because we had waited well over 45 minutes in the accessible loading area. They were having trouble with WiFi there

Do you have to have a ticket linked to do the chat to see if you can get accommodation?

What then happens to those of us who need das and the RTQ will not be sufficient, Genie+ would be hit or miss to work. Do we get a refund for our tickets?

Yes.
You do need a ticket linked.
Some people have reported getting refunds. I don't know how long they will continue doing that.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Yep, have just seen another report of this on Facebook. To note this person was also explicitly told it’s only for developmental disabilities, the second case I’ve read of this this week, despite reading numerous reports of people getting it for non-developmental conditions.

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Another board had a poster who said Disney was making slight changes to the DAS approval process a couple days back. Maybe this was part of that? It actually looks like a nice thing. Common issues with G+ are it expires and doesn’t allow repeats. 2 ME passes in select circumstances can help cushion those issues.

Working off a list and only a list? That’s not great though. Guess we’ll have to see more DPs going forward on Developmental vs Physical to see if they’ve tightened up on that.

Glad to see the poster felt the CMs were listening and not ignoring them even if they couldn’t help.

 

[traveler9]

I do not like this at all. It makes me so sad. Families spend a lot of money to go on a FAMILY vacation. If one member of the immediate family qualifies for DAS, it makes no sense to me why the other members of the immediate family (adult or not) could not be included. I have a 17 year old daughter with developmental disability who was approved for DAS x3 in past. I also have 2 other children 5 and 20, and a husband. If I had to be separated from my 20 year old, I would be very sad.

I for one am glad to see Disney clamping down on this. LL lines were sometimes ridiculously long.

 

[nalababybear]

I really hope that the wifi is a long term improvement as it really helped our adult son while in the final queue and pre-shows.

Checked out the esplanade too. No new signage yet that we could see for the upcoming change for DLR. I would guess it would be one of the ticket booths or the lost and found which is lightly used located in close proximity to city hall

 

[shannnsavage]

I for one am glad to see Disney clamping down on this. LL lines were sometimes ridiculously long.

I guess that's your opinion. My daughters disability have robbed my family of time together more times than I can count. Mt oldest daughter has had to go without her mother on many occasions as I was needed to deal with her disabled sister. The fact that I may have to break my family up again is just sad. It might be necessary I suppose, but its just hard and sad.

 

[brockash]

I guess that's your opinion. My daughters disability have robbed my family of time together more times than I can count. Mt oldest daughter has had to go without her mother on many occasions as I was needed to deal with her disabled sister. The fact that I may have to break my family up again is just sad. It might be necessary I suppose, but its just hard and sad.

This is what would keep us from returning. We're not going on a family vacation where we have to exclude someone...

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

This is what would keep us from returning. We're not going on a family vacation where we have to exclude someone...

Just to clarify, nobody is excluded…if you don’t qualify for DAS or your party is bigger than 4, the person who cannot tolerate lines is able to meet the rest of the family somewhere between the LL return and boarding the ride (it appears to vary by ride).

 

[Disneychick75]

Do you have to have a ticket linked to do the chat to see if you can get accommodation?

What then happens to those of us who need das and the RTQ will not be sufficient, Genie+ would be hit or miss to work. Do we get a refund for our tickets?

Read that Undercover Tourist issues refunds minus 5%.

 

[BingoJoe]

Another board had a poster who said Disney was making slight changes to the DAS approval process a couple days back. Maybe this was part of that? It actually looks like a nice thing. Common issues with G+ are it expires and doesn’t allow repeats. 2 ME passes in select circumstances can help cushion those issues.

Working off a list and only a list? That’s not great though. Guess we’ll have to see more DPs going forward on Developmental vs Physical to see if they’ve tightened up on that.

Glad to see the poster felt the CMs were listening and not ignoring them even if they couldn’t help.

Hopefully Disney has realised that joining the rest of your party in the queue works pretty well for most people and is really doubling down on limiting the DAS to significant cases of autism and similar.

I think giving other previous users of DAS a couple of free return times to soften the change is probably good policy and can be phased out over time.

I think stories like the one above where someone qualified for DAS but actually found RTQ to join the rest of the party a positive experience and so didn't even use DAS will be giving Disney confidence they are going in the right direction.