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

[lanejudy]

I’ve probably seen 8-12 reports that were described as physical and/or not developmental and/or not autism. I do not know the specific needs that qualified. Admittedly I’m not on a lot of social media sites or FB groups.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I’ve probably seen 8-12 reports that were described as physical and/or not developmental and/or not autism. I do not know the specific needs that qualified. Admittedly I’m not on a lot of social media sites or FB groups.

Thanks for the reply. How many of those did you get the feeling were related solely to physical disabilities & related symptoms? Not developmental or autism related could also include other mental disabilities.

 

[SueM in MN]

Thanks for the reply. How many of those did you get the feeling were related solely to physical disabilities & related symptoms? Not developmental or autism related could also include other mental disabilities.

Some of the approval reports I've seen said their situation was not developmental/autism/cognitive or mental health related

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Some of the approval reports I've seen said their situation was not developmental/autism/cognitive or mental health related

That's good to know. The key words for me are "not mental health related" meaning physical health related only. Since I've only seen one report of that very early on, I've wondered how often that occurs.

 

[SueM in MN]

That's good to know. The key words for me are "not mental health related" meaning physical health related only. Since I've only seen one report of that very early on, I've wondered how often that occurs.

I don't know how often, but I have seen more than one account

 

[voxparse]

That's good to know. The key words for me are "not mental health related" meaning physical health related only. Since I've only seen one report of that very early on, I've wondered how often that occurs.

The likelihood of being approved with only physical disabilities is VERY low. Having read a lot of reports and done the interview myself, I’m surprised there are any getting approved and strongly suspect there is more to those stories. If you are going into the DAS request with only physical disabilities I would plan for being denied and then be pleasantly surprised if you aren’t.

 

[nalababybear]

The likelihood of being approved with only physical disabilities is VERY low. Having read a lot of reports and done the interview myself, I’m surprised there are any getting approved and strongly suspect there is more to those stories. If you are going into the DAS request with only physical disabilities I would plan for being denied and then be pleasantly surprised if you aren’t.

The ones I've seen are either tried accommodations multiple times and failed and request to reassess.

Even one that spoke with D'Amaro's response team and had a follow up call with the DAS team, only got her daughter approved and herself not approved.

 

[jennab]

The ones I've seen are either tried accommodations multiple times and failed and request to reassess.

Even one that spoke with D'Amaro's response team and had a follow up call with the DAS team, only got her daughter approved and herself not approved.

This is interesting. Was the daughter approved for a non developmental disability?

 

[nalababybear]

This is interesting. Was the daughter approved for a non developmental disability?

Sounds like it from the poster.

 

[mistysue]

The likelihood of being approved with only physical disabilities is VERY low. Having read a lot of reports and done the interview myself, I’m surprised there are any getting approved and strongly suspect there is more to those stories. If you are going into the DAS request with only physical disabilities I would plan for being denied and then be pleasantly surprised if you aren’t.

I think this is the right approach.

It may also be important for people to keep in mind that regardless of actual results from calls, people are more likely to comment/post/report to every single site they can find (or post viral videos) when denied. People who get a "yes" are happy. When happy, a person is likely to say something once. When denied, as a species we get upset and venting begets more venting, so we might see 10 posts of the same denial and nothing at all from the happy person who shuts off their monitor and goes on with life. Yes, there is an uptick in denials, but without being behind the Disney scenes with actual stats, we can't have a real sense of how much it is.

 

[jennab]

Sounds like it from the poster.

My worry is others will now follow what this person did. Just complain and keep going until someone finally gives an approval. That’s how we got in this mess in the first place.

 

[lanejudy]

The ones I've seen are either tried accommodations multiple times and failed and request to reassess.

Even one that spoke with D'Amaro's response team and had a follow up call with the DAS team, only got her daughter approved and herself not approved.

My worry is others will now follow what this person did. Just complain and keep going until someone finally gives an approval.

I think we have to recognize that there are going to be some "misses" with first-round pre-registration denials. No system is perfect, and this one is still in the relatively stages of roll-out or training. There needs to be a process of appeal.

I'm not aware of the specifics of the case mentioned, and the short blurb shared here leaves several questions:
1) did the family attempt the alternative accommodations and then pushed it up the chain of command when those alternates failed?
2) did they attempt to reconnect to the Accessibility Team for a review and again got denied or did they send the appeal directly to D'Amaro bypassing the normal channels?
3) was the daughter approved for a single-person DAS (for use when she goes solo) or did both the daughter and the mother originally request DAS but only the daughter's case was approved on review?

This is the challenge of third-hand reports where we don't have full info. Each of us tends to read into it what we think it means, filling in the blanks of some of those unanswered questions with our own take on the situation. Much like how the media has spun some recent stories.

 

[nalababybear]

I think we have to recognize that there are going to be some "misses" with first-round pre-registration denials. No system is perfect, and this one is still in the relatively stages of roll-out or training. There needs to be a process of appeal.

I'm not aware of the specifics of the case mentioned, and the short blurb shared here leaves several questions:
1) did the family attempt the alternative accommodations and then pushed it up the chain of command when those alternates failed?
2) did they attempt to reconnect to the Accessibility Team for a review and again got denied or did they send the appeal directly to D'Amaro bypassing the normal channels?
3) was the daughter approved for a single-person DAS (for use when she goes solo) or did both the daughter and the mother originally request DAS but only the daughter's case was approved on review?

This is the challenge of third-hand reports where we don't have full info. Each of us tends to read into it what we think it means, filling in the blanks of some of those unanswered questions with our own take on the situation. Much like how the media has spun some recent stories.

Take home message.
Ask. Try alternative accommodations if denied. Reassess. Appeal if needed.

People and processes aren't perfect. Change is hard too. Adapt or not is a part of life, especially with those with disabilities....this isn't something new.

It's new from Disney parks, sure. It was deemed a necessary move from the operations standpoint and that is past us.

There will be adjustments for sure and we've already seen some. More to come too.

Support where we can.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

I think we have to recognize that there are going to be some "misses" with first-round pre-registration denials. No system is perfect, and this one is still in the relatively stages of roll-out or training. There needs to be a process of appeal.

I'm not aware of the specifics of the case mentioned, and the short blurb shared here leaves several questions:
1) did the family attempt the alternative accommodations and then pushed it up the chain of command when those alternates failed?
2) did they attempt to reconnect to the Accessibility Team for a review and again got denied or did they send the appeal directly to D'Amaro bypassing the normal channels?
3) was the daughter approved for a single-person DAS (for use when she goes solo) or did both the daughter and the mother originally request DAS but only the daughter's case was approved on review?

This is the challenge of third-hand reports where we don't have full info. Each of us tends to read into it what we think it means, filling in the blanks of some of those unanswered questions with our own take on the situation. Much like how the media has spun some recent stories.

You forgot:
0) make a video and go online to complain that you didn’t get your way

 

[jennab]

I think we have to recognize that there are going to be some "misses" with first-round pre-registration denials. No system is perfect, and this one is still in the relatively stages of roll-out or training. There needs to be a process of appeal.

I'm not aware of the specifics of the case mentioned, and the short blurb shared here leaves several questions:
1) did the family attempt the alternative accommodations and then pushed it up the chain of command when those alternates failed?
2) did they attempt to reconnect to the Accessibility Team for a review and again got denied or did they send the appeal directly to D'Amaro bypassing the normal channels?
3) was the daughter approved for a single-person DAS (for use when she goes solo) or did both the daughter and the mother originally request DAS but only the daughter's case was approved on review?

This is the challenge of third-hand reports where we don't have full info. Each of us tends to read into it what we think it means, filling in the blanks of some of those unanswered questions with our own take on the situation. Much like how the media has spun some recent stories.

True. I think one of my worries is that some groups are encouraging people to just call back until they get approval and what to say. Another is that people will say they tried the alternative accommodations, whether they did or not, and say it didn’t work so they can get their preferred accommodation.

Of course there will be some that fall into the category of, didn’t explain it fully during the first call, or really did try the alternatives and it didn’t work, but I feel like those should be the minority. Once it gets out that one just needs to keep calling back or complain to get their DAS back, I think people will start doing it even if the other accommodations do work (because it’s not preferred and it’s different than what they are used to).

 

[lanejudy]

think one of my worries is that some groups are encouraging people to just call back until they get approval and what to say.

My understanding of "just call back" is that the account is essentially flagged after the first denial. A subsequent call is escalated to a supervisor level. There has to be specific reason to call back, and doing an about-face on the needs may not work. If denied, they really want you to try the alternative accommodations...

Another is that people will say they tried the alternative accommodations, whether they did or not, and say it didn’t work so they can get their preferred accommodation.

But do such people have details of when/where/how/what didn't work? Again, my understanding is someone can't just say "I tried and it didn't work. I need DAS." I believe Disney has some parameters in place to help weed out those who want to just try try try until they get the answer they seek.

That said, liars and cheats will always find a way around any system.

 

[jennab]

My understanding of "just call back" is that the account is essentially flagged after the first denial. A subsequent call is escalated to a supervisor level. There has to be specific reason to call back, and doing an about-face on the needs may not work. If denied, they really want you to try the alternative accommodations...


But do such people have details of when/where/how/what didn't work? Again, my understanding is someone can't just say "I tried and it didn't work. I need DAS." I believe Disney has some parameters in place to help weed out those who want to just try try try until they get the answer they seek.

That said, liars and cheats will always find a way around any system.

I really do hope Disney isn’t just giving in like you said! Guess we will see over the next few months.

It feels like I’m seeing more approvals now than when the system first rolled out. Not sure the reason, but find it interesting.

 

[mistysue]

But do such people have details of when/where/how/what didn't work? Again, my understanding is someone can't just say "I tried and it didn't work. I need DAS." I believe Disney has some parameters in place to help weed out those who want to just try try try until they get the answer they seek.

That said, liars and cheats will always find a way around any system.

If they see a lot of this "don't even try, just lie and say I did" behavior - which they would be able to tell by looking at the account and seeing you never went to the parks, I suspect we would start to get "I asked for a disability pass and got a lifetime ban!" videos floating around.

 

[jennab]

If they see a lot of this "don't even try, just lie and say I did" behavior - which they would be able to tell by looking at the account and seeing you never went to the parks, I suspect we would start to get "I asked for a disability pass and got a lifetime ban!" videos floating around.

One can only hope! Although I don’t think they will ban people for that. If anything just say, well I see you haven’t been to the park yet…

 

[CAPSLOCK]

One can only hope! Although I don’t think they will ban people for that. If anything just say, well I see you haven’t been to the park yet…

And with any luck, get a perma-no on DAS. You are now banned from taking up the DAS team's time & trying to figure out what words to use. But feel free to visit the parks the old fashioned way & spend your money.