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

[DiznyDiva]

Problem is when hurting, tunnel vision occurs. The key is to understand that and try to reset to get to the next step.

People may develop mal-adaptive behaviors too -- Karens and Kevins don't happen overnight and abound everywhere. If we allow them to drive the conversations and agenda, yeah -- it becomes a poop show.

Exactly. I think the Facebook page had the right idea, but has been taken over by the zealots and anyone new coming is on the extreme side. The calm voices such as yourself are so few and far between and drowned out. It has given that page not a great reputation.

 

[lanejudy]

I have simply tried to say that although they were in the past the difference is not now that great and so therefore not ‘vastly discounted’

Understood that the discount may not be as big as it once was -- but you did make the claim that a UK 14-day ticket costs more than a US 10-day ticket, which posters have correctly pointed out is entirely false.

UK tickets are no longer vastly discounted - a 14 day ticket costs more than a 10 day US ticket and more than Florida resident annual passes.

Again I understand the frustration and challenges the DAS changes have brought about for everybody everywhere. But claiming others have it better and international travelers have it worse is not accurate either. It's a common reaction to think we have it "worse" when a change impacts us negatively, but doesn't make it true. UK and EU residents seem to enjoy the protections of their internet safety/privacy laws...until such laws make it more difficult. US businesses are not required to abide by the UK and EU internet laws as long as they don't allow those transactions to take place; so they are within their legal rights to block it. Is it crappy? Yeah, I can see that perspective, and I certainly understand that the situation may mean international travelers may no longer feel a visit to the US is worth the expense.

 

[mistysue]

Most of us don’t think UK visitors are at a disadvantage as most go for 2wks and get free dining offers. Leaving them more time enjoy all aspects of the park. I suspect many US visitors go for less than half that time, so they need to try to get everything in a shorter period. I prefer longer trips because we can’t handle open to close and prefer a more relaxed pace, but many people can’t do that due to vacation limits, school, money, etc. So I think it’s hard to say UK visitors are worse off….

So true. Better hotel and dining deals, plus longer tickets for less money, it's hard to be terribly sympathetic to "I can't get LLMP 7 days ahead" when a person is going to be around for 2-3 weeks. So start booking 4 days out and you "only" have maybe 2 1/2 weeks of days to book it for?

Last time DS had a DAS and we were allowed to do pre-selections there was a brief talk about how weird it felt to select the couple lines we need it for over and over, and how it had I think a 7 day limit because for people with longer trips it was unfair. It immediately made me think of all these overseas travelers coming for 2-3 full weeks, and how we prefer the longer trips (we've been over 9 days I think once ever) because it's easier to get good lines without even needing lightening lanes- you just go at the better times of day because you aren't forced to fit everything into one day per park.

(edit because a couple spots needed an extra word)

 

[SueM in MN]

I’m starting to think people think DAS is a program Disney HAS to do to be ADA compliant, and therefore if they make enough noise publicly it will be available to more people like it was before. It’s been reiterated over and over that DAS goes beyond what is required. You know what will happen if they get too much flack for it? They will stop the program entirely for being an unreasonable accommodation the negatively impacts operations.

Going on a Disney Trip in the US inherently means:
-being around thousands of people
-waiting for things like rides, shows, characters, transportation, being seated for a meal, checking out in a store
-long distances between things that require walking or some mobility device
-exposure to heat and sunlight, especially in Florida where it is hot and humid a good portion of the year

The ADA requires public facilities, like theme parks, to make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. But, just because someone has a disability doesn't mean they have accommodation needs.
Many people DO seem to think that the ADA requires DAS for ALL disabilities. It's true that it is a reasonable accommodation for some disabilities, but it's well over what other people need. Disney isn't abandoning those guests; it's just providing other accommodations that are reasonable based on their needs.

I generally agree with you, but I feel it's appropriate to clarify that in the case the court ruled that DAS was sufficient for those specific plaintiffs, not for everyone with ASD as a whole. Since everyone is different it is plausible that a different person with different needs could have more success. Having said that, the standard applied by the court (and affirmed by the appeals court) implies (IMO) that there is an almost impossibly high bar to clear for anyone attempting to claim an ADA violation with regard to the DAS changes.

I would say that the court ruled that DAS was appropriate and was a reasonable accommodation for people with the needs the plaintiffs in the lawsuit said they had. As you point out, not all people with autism have the same needs. Some may have more and not even be able to do something like a trip to WDW. Some may need less and could do well with other accommodations or not need any.

The plaintiffs' claim was that they needed immediate access to whatever attraction they wanted whenever they wanted without wait. They claimed they needed this because they had to follow a rigid schedule of preferred attractions. The court found that the plaintiffs had not proved they needed the level of access they claimed and that DAS was a reasonable accommodation for their needs.
Disney was able to show that going back to GAC (Guest Assistance Card) which was what the plaintiffs wanted would unfairly impact Disney's business operation.

I don't have any proof, but I suspect that Disney has been working on this DAS update/revamp for a long time. I think it's probably been in planning since the last part of the DAS lawsuit was settled.

This is essentially what the DAS Defenders facebook group has devolved into. There seem to be a lot of people who feel because they have a label within that group, DAS should just be rubber stamped for them, regardless of whether it actually impacts them waiting in a line.

I'm not a member of that group, but I was in other groups where people had joined that group. There were a lot of comments like 'The government agrees I'm disabled. They gave me a handicapped parking permit. Disney has no right to refuse to give me DAS'

 

[DiznyDiva]

FYI- Seeing multiple posts WITH screen shots from un happy people who have called back over and over, NOW being told they have to wait 120 days from their last call until they can apply again. So not the first detail, but the last of the multiple calls. The CM's are refusing to talk to them any further. This has been being reported little by little over the last couple of days across other sites too.

Unfortunately, this was going happen with so many telling each other to keep calling until they get accepted. The upside? Hopefully all kinks will be out of the system. That site is not going be pretty tonight..stay away.

 

[jennab]

FYI- Seeing multiple posts on multiple site WITH screen shots from un happy people who have called back over and over, NOW being told they have to wait 120 days from their last call until they can apply again. So not the first detail, but the last of the multiple calls. The CM's are refusing to talk to them any further.

Unfortunately, this was going happen with so many telling each other to keep calling until they get accepted. The upside? Hopefully all kinks will be out of the system. That site is not going be pretty tonight..stay away.

Interesting…. Maybe it’s just a flag for some people who keep calling or APs. I can’t imagine this would be a rule for someone who called once, got denied, then called back during their stay detailing how the other accommodations didn’t work. Now online of wish I was in that group just to see the posts

 

[DiznyDiva]

Interesting…. Maybe it’s just a flag for some people who keep calling or APs. I can’t imagine this would be a rule for someone who called once, got denied, then called back during their stay detailing how the other accommodations didn’t work. Now online of wish I was in that group just to see the posts

It's the **** show you imagine it to be. They are pissed. One of the key thing they do is telling each other to keep calling over and over getting more and more confrontational with the poor CM's. IF Disney is kneecapping that... . And hopeful that helps the phone Cm's to be able to concentrate on those who are being respectful.

No, I doubt they are doing it for those who call once and move on or even those who call back AFTER trying the accommodations. Most of these don't fall in either of those categories. They call multiple times day... it's like a badge on how many attempts they can do.

 

[jennab]

It's the **** show you imagine it to be. They are pissed. One of the key thing they do is telling each other to keep calling over and over getting more and more confrontational with the poor CM's. IF Disney is kneecapping that... . And hopeful that helps the phone Cm's to be able to concentrate on those who are being respectful.

No, I doubt they are doing it for those who call once and move on or even those who call back AFTER trying the accommodations. Most of these don't fall in either of those categories. They call multiple times day... it's like a badge on how many attempts they can do.

Oh yikes, that sounds horrible and borderline harassment. Disney should do something in that case as the CMs don’t need to keep dealing with people calling and screaming at them trying to bully them into getting what they want.

 

[mistysue]

It's the **** show you imagine it to be. They are pissed. One of the key thing they do is telling each other to keep calling over and over getting more and more confrontational with the poor CM's. IF Disney is kneecapping that... . And hopeful that helps the phone Cm's to be able to concentrate on those who are being respectful.

No, I doubt they are doing it for those who call once and move on or even those who call back AFTER trying the accommodations. Most of these don't fall in either of those categories. They call multiple times day... it's like a badge on how many attempts they can do.

You call ANYONE that much it's harassment. I don't get why they would think it would be any different to harass a business who can track your calling record.

 

[DiznyDiva]

You call ANYONE that much it's harassment. I don't get why they would think it would be any different to harass a business who can track your calling record.

The messages they are getting back from the chat CM's specifically tells them this action is result of many people doing multiple or multiple calls trying to get a different CM's to get DAS, even though they have been denied.

And of course it's Disney's fault.

I would say Disney okayed the CM's to not even open video chats after the second attempt. The Cm's are telling them this via messenger and then disconnecting. So of course what do they do???

 

[OurBigTrip]

The messages they are getting back from the chat CM's specifically tells them this action is result of many people doing multiple or multiple calls trying to get a different CM's to get DAS, even though they have been denied.

And of course it's Disney's fault.

So I wonder where they count the 120 days from? Last denial or last attempt to keep reaching out? Because if the crazies are telling people to keep calling even after Disney says stop, they'll never be able to get through to ask for DAS again.

 

[OurBigTrip]

You call ANYONE that much it's harassment. I don't get why they would think it would be any different to harass a business who can track your calling record.

My guess is that these are the same people who wouldn't take no for an answer in the parks, and made a scene until they were issued a DAS.

 

[SueM in MN]

FYI- Seeing multiple posts on multiple site WITH screen shots from un happy people who have called back over and over, NOW being told they have to wait 120 days from their last call until they can apply again. So not the first detail, but the last of the multiple calls. The CM's are refusing to talk to them any further.

Unfortunately, this was going happen with so many telling each other to keep calling until they get accepted. The upside? Hopefully all kinks will be out of the system. That site is not going be pretty tonight..stay away.

Interesting…. Maybe it’s just a flag for some people who keep calling or APs. I can’t imagine this would be a rule for someone who called once, got denied, then called back during their stay detailing how the other accommodations didn’t work. Now online of wish I was in that group just to see the posts

I had not seen the '120 days before you can call back' until someone posted it a few days back.
I had seen posts about people calling back 10-20 times to try to get DAS after being told they didn't qualify. I've also seen posts where people said the CM was able to see they were not approved and the number of calls.
It makes sense that Disney would say ENOUGH and refuse to talk to the people who are repeatedly taking up their staff's time and clogging up the lines for others.

I have seen reports of people who called once and were denied, then called back with more information and get approved - several were posting on this board.

 

[DiznyDiva]

So I wonder where they count the 120 days from? Last denial or last attempt to keep reaching out? Because if the crazies are telling people to keep calling even after Disney says stop, they'll never be able to get through to ask for DAS again.

The last time the chatted. So say they were denied on 7/11 and then called multiple times between on 7/20-7/28 Getting denied each time, yelling at the CM. Then they call once today. It does't start from their first call. It starts from today. So I would assume this is a new Disney pivot to protect the cm's and stop the ongoing fraud.

I don't understand the logic... Did they think Disney was going to let them harass the CM's and clog up the phone lines? One of the reasons for DAS changing was the abuse and amount in the LL. Different line same reaction.

 

[mistysue]

So I wonder where they count the 120 days from? Last denial or last attempt to keep reaching out? Because if the crazies are telling people to keep calling even after Disney says stop, they'll never be able to get through to ask for DAS again.

I feel cruel that this thought made me laugh in a "serves them right" sort of way.
I would think it's going to have to be from the last denial. At the same time, the system is going to know when they've actually gone to the parks, so I wouldn't be surprised if there a bit of forgiveness built in when they can tell someone has tried.

 

[DiznyDiva]

I have seen reports of people who called once and were denied, then called back with more information and get approved - several were posting on this board.

That is logical thing to do if you had more info, got too overwhelmed, or just thought they weren't heard. But over and over? And the way they are treating and encouraging each other to treat the phone CM's....

The Cm's can see the dates your approved DAS run between, your denial, who you talked to, how many times you call and if there are any notes on you behavior. And not that is not illegal.. LOL.

 

[DiznyDiva]

My guess is that these are the same people who wouldn't take no for an answer in the parks, and made a scene until they were issued a DAS.

Dang, I hope Disney doesn't cave. Disneyland has been pretty strict on site with criteria.

I feel cruel that this thought made me laugh in a "serves them right" sort of way.
I would think it's going to have to be from the last denial. At the same time, the system is going to know when they've actually gone to the parks, so I wouldn't be surprised if there a bit of forgiveness built in when they can tell someone has tried.

Yes, I get that feeling and yes some of me agrees. I hope Disney does have a gentle touch to those who are HONESTLY trying.

 

[OurBigTrip]

Yes, I get that feeling and yes some of me agrees. I hope Disney does have a gentle touch to those who are HONESTLY trying.

Agree 100%, and I don't see why Disney wouldn't listen to people who tried and call back. They still might get denied, but I can't see Disney not taking the calls.

But if they're calling multiple times per day, or even every day after being denied, then oh well.

 

[Ms Bibbidi]

If the eligibility to call again is 120 days the applicant is a passholder. It would not surprise me that if they do not cease these harassing calls that they might be temporarily banned from the parks.

 

[nalababybear]

Interesting…. Maybe it’s just a flag for some people who keep calling or APs. I can’t imagine this would be a rule for someone who called once, got denied, then called back during their stay detailing how the other accommodations didn’t work. Now online of wish I was in that group just to see the posts

Trust me, you don't. You get a small ideal with how it is here when a poster comes in and dominates how awful the new system is and how Disney is dead to them.

Magnify that by x100 since it's 12k members and growing and many have no real other area to vent as most have been closed off to them, so concentrating in one area.

Some try to help and some truly want to be helped navigate; and some want to truly improve on the matter. It's the rest that's a lot of noise and cancelling with ableist labeling readily applied.