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

[Disneychick75]

That's true, I just didn't know if incognito mode would work similar to that in this case.

No, incognito mode won't hide your IP. The website would still know it's foreign.

 

[Disturbia]

They do keep data, so whoever is abusing the system watch out:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/does-disney-keep-das-info-and-pictures-on-file.3683098/

https://www.disboards.com/threads/record-of-past-das-use.3663887/

If the abuse is as bad as people are describing, wouldn’t the bans for people who try to cheat make the parks less crowded? It’s a double win for us!

I’m rethinking my plans now.

 

[Disneychick75]

They do keep data, so whoever is abusing the system watch out:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/does-disney-keep-das-info-and-pictures-on-file.3683098/

If the abuse is as bad as people are describing, wouldn’t the bans for people who try to cheat make the parks less crowded? It’s a double win for us!

I’m rethinking my plans now.

Really happy to see this! Thanks for posting!

 

[Angel Ariel]

I hope they are keeping recordings or at least limited notes. Giving two different reasons for using DAS months or years apart is very different than calling and calling with different limitations until you finally unlock the specific accommodation you want or became used to having.

It has been clear when we've renewed DAS for DD that they have some level of notes or references in their system.

 

[SteveMouse]

I don’t think they actually keep records on the reason you needed an accommodation. They would just be begging for a lawsuit.

And there’s no way they can safely assume someone is lying just because they have given two different reasons on different trips. There’s a 100% chance that they would ban someone who wasn’t lying, and get a bunch of bad press and pay out a hefty settlement.

Two easy examples of not lying that are problematic:

1) I have a condition that is progressive and, as such, there are new needs that were not present during my last visit.

2) I have a new condition that needs accommodation.

In my particular case, both are true today and are not hypothetical.

 

[HyperspaceMountainPilot]

It has been clear when we've renewed DAS for DD that they have some level of notes or references in their system.

Even beyond trying to detect fraud, it makes sense for the sake of their own business efficiency that they would keep tabs on long-term disability guests so they can expedite the process on subsequent calls.

I also wonder if they may have started coding accommodation reason type over the past year or two to get a handle on how much of the DAS system was used for various conditions and what the average party size is by condition. Purely extrapolating from this thread and people we know in real life, it sounds like certain developmental disabilities tended to be immediate family, and other conditions were more common for older guests who also requested DAS parties that covered their adult kids, spouses of adult kids, and grandkids.

 

[Kgrace1989]

Two easy examples of not lying that are problematic:

1) I have a condition that is progressive and, as such, there are new needs that were not present during my last visit.

2) I have a new condition that needs accommodation.

In my particular case, both are true today and are not hypothetical.

Hopefully this would be a situation where maybe the connection to the healthcare professionals can help them to be able to see that your situation is progressive.

 

[SteveMouse]

Hopefully this would be a situation where maybe the connection to the healthcare professionals can help them to be able to see that your situation is progressive.

It is abundantly clear to most that one of my conditions is progressive since a clear version of the word has been in the name of the condition for almost 50 years. It also happens to be exceedingly rare. Very few health care providers are familiar with it. Most have never seen a case. They would not recognize it without prompting,

 

[Karin1984]

Just thought would let you know the response we had from disability services to us who live in UK

We asked - how do we do the live DAS video for people in the UK
They kindly sent a website link to the Disneyworld.co.uk site

We replied - no live video link
Disney sent another link to the .co.uk site

We replied - need the link to the .com site or are we in the UK not allowed to apply for DAS

Disney sent an interesting response - International visitors cannot apply for DAS
They have to go to guest services on First day where they will be given an I Pad to contact DAS for a live video chat .

We told them , have been DVC members for over 20 years and this is biggest shambles we have seen .
We are coming end of may for two weeks and wished we weren't

Hey Andy, I tried to send you a private message, but as you are a new DIS member, this option is not available yet.

It totally sucks that they do not give the DAS options on the international websites. (And to have uneducated CMs who try to tell you to do it anyways). And it sucks even more that Disney blocks the US website for anyone not in the US. You always get rerouted to the EU website, also with incognito browser.

The only option we have is to use a VPN. I am from the Netherlands and signed up via the video call last weekend. No issues.

Disney says they cannot approve the use of a VPN, but they do not forbid it (because they can't). Therefore they don't give you this as an option.

The CM in the video call will not ask you where you are from, if you use a VPN. All they want to know is why you cannot stand in a conventional waiting line. For your own peace of mind and a less stressed start of your holiday, get a VPN and do the call on forehand.

 

[Kgrace1989]

It is abundantly clear to most that one of my conditions is progressive since a clear version of the word has been in the name of the condition for almost 50 years. It also happens to be exceedingly rare. Very few health care providers are familiar with it. Most have never seen a case.

I’m so sorry that your condition is worsening…
Hopefully though, if they are keeping records they will be able to see that your symptoms are more pronounced.

 

[sprem96]

Our first day at our resort is May 19, but our first day in a theme park is May 20. So I can’t do the video chat tomorrow, right, I have to wait until the 20th? Or is it your first day of your resort stay is 30 days?

Disney specifically shows on the website that you can call in your DAS registration 30 days from your visit ---BUT if you have multiple visits on your trip, it's 30 days from the LAST visit, so example if your first day is the 20th, and your last visit is lets say May 25th, you need to call them April 25th. So be mindful of that rule may still apply. You can always be safe and call on the 20th and see, but don't be shocked if they say you need to call a few days later if you have multiple days. Please inform me if you have multiple park visits, because even myself I have multiple days in August and would love to know when to call under the rule regime starting May 20th


Important Pre-Registration and DAS Advance Planning Update
Eligible Guests can now pre-register for DAS Advance virtually with a Cast Member, using live video chat. Please note that you may pre-register as soon as 30 days in advance of a park visit, but no less than 2 days before arrival.
During the registration chat, you will be able to work with a Cast Member to book up to 2 one-hour return windows for select experiences using our new DAS Advance planning option (you may also make additional DAS selections on the day of your visit). Please note that all park visits must be within 30 to 2 days of the live chat. Learn more.

 

[sprem96]

Disney’s response to international travelers makes me very sad. They expect families to invest thousands of dollars in a trip without knowing until after they arrive if they will receive the accommodation they need.

Personally, I feel all guests applying for DAS, regardless of where they live, should be able to get a yes or no far enough ahead that they can cancel their trip without penalty if they feel they can’t work with the accommodation offered. To make people wait until after arrival, or even after the package paid-in-full date when penalties are higher, has the potential to be a huge customer service blunder that could give Disney a lot of bad publicity.

This is the exact fear I am having now on my trip. I booked in November for August and I'm from Canada; with this announcement in April, I have had no chance to anticipate it or react to it. I only go maybe once a year and spend A LOT to make it happen and I'm financially committed a lot already. Now my disability is one of the unlucky not specifically mentioned on the (hopefully temporary) DAS update. To further compound the issue, typically I need 1 additional adult present on our trips alongside my family of 4 because my kids are under 7 and if I have to remove myself from lines or unable to ride before entering, I need a 5th person with us so that my kids and wife can still ride attractions, with this new rule of 4, it has me worrying even more, usually with the party of 6 rule before, I had my mother or my in-laws with me on previous trips and it really helped in emergencies.

 

[Disturbia]

Two easy examples of not lying that are problematic:

1) I have a condition that is progressive and, as such, there are new needs that were not present during my last visit.

2) I have a new condition that needs accommodation.

In my particular case, both are true today and are not hypothetical.

They are not targeting people who actually need DAS.

We didn’t know about even think of needing DAS for the past 11 years we’ve been going (once or twice a year and we are not AP or DVC so our trips cost 17-18k for a week for 5 people). Our needs changed and our DD’s therapist recommended DAS given her current issues (can’t detail here per Mod guidelines). She had been to the parks 4 times prior but didn’t need DAS.

Same thing with RS. We didn’t know about it until 5-6 years of going to WDW when a CM suggested it to us as a party of 3 with one child too young to ride.

 

[Disturbia]

Even beyond trying to detect fraud, it makes sense for the sake of their own business efficiency that they would keep tabs on long-term disability guests so they can expedite the process on subsequent calls.

I also wonder if they may have started coding accommodation reason type over the past year or two to get a handle on how much of the DAS system was used for various conditions and what the average party size is by condition. Purely extrapolating from this thread and people we know in real life, it sounds like certain developmental disabilities tended to be immediate family, and other conditions were more common for older guests who also requested DAS parties that covered their adult kids, spouses of adult kids, and grandkids.

That’s true. They’re trying to restrict adults with disabilities taking their entire extended families by saying ‘immediate family’ only. It’s kind of sad if they purchased AP or DVC based on those expectations. That’s where they should at least give people 6 months of lead time before announcing major changes.

 

[lanejudy]

Folks -- I again remind you to please stop the speculation. It has now turned to hypothesizing about how Disney may determine fraud and banning based on multiple calls, different disabilities, etc. Most of what has been floated here is possible to happen with legitimate users. Stop.

Disney pulled the "will be banned" warning to front and center last week and news media/social media took off with it. That same warning has been present for years, at least back to when DAS started and quite possibly for GAC (I'd have to really dig to get one of those out). It's not new. They have used it in the past. But the CMs on the video chats are NOT trying to do a "gotcha!" so they can tally who ends up ferreting out the most fraud. The video chat CMs are focused on providing you with the accommodations you need and will be trained to direct the conversation in that manner.

Every time folks try to guess it simply ends up ostracizing one of our own in the disabled community. Please bring it together.

 

[Disturbia]

This is the exact fear I am having now on my trip. I booked in November for August and I'm from Canada; with this announcement in April, I have had no chance to anticipate it or react to it. I only go maybe once a year and spend A LOT to make it happen and I'm financially committed a lot already. Now my disability is one of the unlucky not specifically mentioned on the (hopefully temporary) DAS update. To further compound the issue, typically I need 1 additional adult present on our trips alongside my family of 4 because my kids are under 7 and if I have to remove myself from lines or unable to ride before entering, I need a 5th person with us so that my kids and wife can still ride attractions, with this new rule of 4, it has me worrying even more, usually with the party of 6 rule before, I had my mother or my in-laws with me on previous trips and it really helped in emergencies.

I wish they would say any 4 people from your party can ride esp since they’ve just dropped this bombshell and people have trips booked with extended family already. They can be stricter for later trips.

Our extended family had a really bad experience when they were added on to one of our trips. Disney flagged us or something.

We headed to Epcot 2.5 hours before close but checked all our MBs worked (at the front desk) before heading there (issues in the past). We were questioned for 2+ hours at the hot outdoor ticket booth (they would not let us go to Guest Services) one of the kids had fleece pants on from our flight. We missed 2 of our FP+ and food booths were about to close (dinner). The CM reinstated the passes which we could no longer use so close to park close and unapologetically said you have extended hours (they tried to cover by saying we’ve been too many times (6 times maybe by that point) and have MBs (4 only) attached, so blamed us!). I ran into the gift shop and the rest of the family hurried to the food booths (our kid with allergies had nothing to eat). We were so exhausted from standing in the heat that we did Nemo and Soarin (grandma’s favorite) and left.

The Epcot CM assured us everything was good but they flagged us at MNSSHP as well and again we stood for 1.5 hrs missing 2 passes booked prior to the party - nothing was done except to reinstate the passes which we could not use any longer.

That grandma never ever wants to join us again.

 

[lanejudy]

BUT if you have multiple visits on your trip, it's 30 days from the LAST visit

I don't believe that is required at this time, at least it has not been communicated as such on the website. What you posted about the 2-30 days in advance is from the current system. The video chat system was only doing "pre" registration, not onsite, and the Advanced Selections could only be booked for days at 2-30 days out. While experiences varied, many were told they had to reconnect to do the Advanced Selections all days were not within the 30-day window, but the DAS was approved as early as 30-days from first visit.

The WDW (and I think DLR) website initially noted the new pre-registration could be done "0-30 days" before your first visit. I think they took it down because the differing rules was confusing. They now state you can "Please note that you may have a pre-arrival conversation as soon as 30 days in advance of a park visit." Under those arriving April 9th thru May 19th, it does mention the 2-30 days for pre-registration and that DAS is "valid for up to 30 days, or when a new ticket is required."

 

[lanejudy]

To further compound the issue, typically I need 1 additional adult present on our trips alongside my family of 4 because my kids are under 7 and if I have to remove myself from lines or unable to ride before entering, I need a 5th person with us so that my kids and wife can still ride attractions

How old are the kids? WDW ride CMs work with this every day. Depending on the ride they may fit 3 together, or they may put the 2 kids next to each other with Mom immediately behind. I do think it's extremely rare they kick a family out of line at boarding because there are too many young kids.

 

[sprem96]

I don't believe that is required at this time, at least it has not been communicated as such on the website. What you posted about the 2-30 days in advance is from the current system. The video chat system was only doing "pre" registration, not onsite, and the Advanced Selections could only be booked for days at 2-30 days out. While experiences varied, many were told they had to reconnect to do the Advanced Selections all days were not within the 30-day window, but the DAS was approved as early as 30-days from first visit.

The WDW (and I think DLR) website initially noted the new pre-registration could be done "0-30 days" before your first visit. I think they took it down because the differing rules was confusing. They now state you can "Please note that you may have a pre-arrival conversation as soon as 30 days in advance of a park visit." Under those arriving April 9th thru May 19th, it does mention the 2-30 days for pre-registration and that DAS is "valid for up to 30 days, or when a new ticket is required."

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/guest-services/disability-access-service/plan/

It's on this page actively, I would think a good strategy would be call at the 1st day within 30 days, and if they say, oops sorry you need to call 30 days from your last day, at least no harm that way

 

[Jellybean9]

I wish they would say any 4 people from your party can ride esp since they’ve just dropped this bombshell and people have trips booked with extended family already. They can be stricter for later trips.

Our extended family had a really bad experience when they were added on to one of our trips. Disney flagged us or something.

We headed to Epcot 2.5 hours before close but checked all our MBs worked (at the front desk) before heading there (issues in the past). We were questioned for 2+ hours at the hot outdoor ticket booth (they would not let us go to Guest Services) one of the kids had fleece pants on from our flight. We missed 2 of our FP+ and food booths were about to close (dinner). The CM reinstated the passes which we could no longer use so close to park close and unapologetically said you have extended hours (they tried to cover by saying we’ve been too many times (6 times maybe by that point) and have MBs (4 only) attached, so blamed us!). I ran into the gift shop and the rest of the family hurried to the food booths (our kid with allergies had nothing to eat). We were so exhausted from standing in the heat that we did Nemo and Soarin (grandma’s favorite) and left.

The Epcot CM assured us everything was good but they flagged us at MNSSHP as well and again we stood for 1.5 hrs missing 2 passes booked prior to the party - nothing was done except to reinstate the passes which we could not use any longer.

That grandma never ever wants to join us again.

A cast member worked with you for 1.5 hours during the Halloween party?