DD going on field trip with DAS, how does her "party" work?

[spdustin]

DD will be going on a school trip to WDW, and we're planning to pre-register for her DAS. Assuming it's granted, how does it work for her "party" when her friend group will almost certainly be changing throughout each day in the parks? Do they need to be linked as a party member in MDE? Or can the cast member just scan the tickets of the friends that are with her? Naturally, as a teenager, she doesn't want to commit to hanging with the same exact people all day, every day! Thanks, in advance, for any info!

 

[ak517]

If she wants to do any DAS advance selections, her party needs to be connected in MDE prior to making those selections with a CM online.

At the parks, she can add any friend not already connected to her DAS at theme park guest relations including the “blue umbrellas” and then be connected for day-of selections.

There is a limit on the number of riders in addition the DAD holder, so depending on the group they may have to be selective. I believe it’s five riders in addition to the DAS holder, but happy to be corrected. I’ve never needed to hit my limit so I am not certain!

 

[lanejudy]

She will need to have her friends linked via MDE. That can be done at the Blue Umbrellas, and probably changed each day if she decides to do that. It may not necessarily work easily if friends groups change on the fly throughout the day, which teens may do. Plus as PP mentions it's a max of 5 guests + the DAS-holder. If she really wants to use DAS with her friends, I suggest she put some thought into whom she'll hang with AND (maybe more importantly) how to handle things if there are too many in her group and/or if changing up friends isn't working smoothly during her visit.

I can see challenges if she doesn't have a dedicated core group of friends willing to stick with her at least through a day.
1) A group of 4 runs into a group of 3 and all 7 decide to ride X but it's too many for the DAS.
2) The other 6 decide to just hit the standby and she's left waiting for a DAS Return Time and she ends up separated from all of them.

Will either of those scenarios cause her additional stress or problems? Try to think through various and assorted scenarios that could arise and help her problem-solve in advance.

 

[spdustin]

This is all great advice. Without going into any detail, her accommodation needs would definitely conflict with the added stress of having to shuffle things around if/as her group changes up throughout the day. I'll sit down with her and discuss if DAS is right for her, and how her day would change with it.

If she links to a larger group friends in the park (by scanning linking codes in MDE), can she choose which ones would join her on a given day-of selection?

IOW, is she required to visit a CM because DAS party members are assigned separately, or can she self-manage by linking to her party in MDE?

If she can self-manage her party by using linking codes, are those friends then unable to link to OTHER friends in THEIR MDE profile?

Y'all have been so helpful already, thank you so much for chiming in!

 

[lpereira]

Advance DAS selections may not be all that doable. She would need to be linked with friends in advance and k ow what day and what tine she would be In each park.

 

[lanejudy]

She can have more than 5 linked as Friends & Family but I do think a CM will need to connect those friends to her DAS. She can have more than 5 linked to her DAS but only a max of 5 can be selected for each DAS Return Time. (So she could have 8 friends linked but for each DAS Return Time only 5 so 3 doing something else.)

 

[ak517]

Yes, a CM will have to add any linked friends and family to her DAS, regardless of if they are connected in MDE. It really is easy enough to do this at a blue umbrella. I've only linked people to my DAS who I was already connected to, whether because I manage their account or because we connected ahead of time, but I would assume as long as the friend went to guest relations with her they can link them without issue. I could see it being an issue determining who gets to ride with her, unless it will never hit the cap and/or her friends are easy going enough to not worry about riding together!

Once added to her DAS, she will have full control over selecting who will ride with her from her available and connected friends and family list via the app.

 

[spdustin]

Thank you so much, @ak517 and @lanejudy!