Fastest way to get the DAS card?

[3littlecuties]

We are checking in this Saturday afternoon. My daughter will need a DAS card. What is the fastest way to get it? Can we go to one of the parks on Saturday afternoon/evening and go to the Guest Services outside of the park? Will they issue it there? Or do we need to be inside the park? We can not go into the park on Saturday because we didn't pay for a park day on Saturday. We are planning on arriving at the parks each day as soon as they open and I would hate to spend an hour or more at Guest Services on our first morning.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

your daughter would have to be with you outside the park if you can get the DAS. how will she handle being at the park and not going in? I know that would be a problem for us with my grandkids even promising to come back the next morning

 

[aaarcher86]

Getting the DAS outside the park is hit or miss. I'd just wait until your first day. It should take about 10-15 minutes first thing in the morning. Not an hour.

 

[3littlecuties]

If it's hit or miss, is there any particular park that has a higher chance?

As far as going there but not entering the park, it won't be a problem. My DD has Down syndrome and has cognitive delays. I can just tell her we're going to there to get her picture taken. She probably won't realize that the fun stuff is on the other side of the gates...especially on our first night. On any subsequent night, she would figure it out!

 

[SueM in MN]

We are checking in this Saturday afternoon. My daughter will need a DAS card. What is the fastest way to get it? Can we go to one of the parks on Saturday afternoon/evening and go to the Guest Services outside of the park? Will they issue it there? Or do we need to be inside the park?

Follow the link to this thread
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3178976
The first post is DAS FAQs. It lists the places where you can request DAS.

It does have to be one of the theme parks, but there is no guarantee that you would be able to request one at the Guest Relations outside of the parks.

Some people have reported getting one at Guest Relations outside of the park, but at times people have also reported they were not able to get one there.
Sometimes it is because Guest Relations outside is too busy with guests who need problems resolved before they can get into the parks.
Other people were told that the iPad and/or printer needed to process DAS were not available at Guest Relations outside of the park.

As long as you are OK with the possibility of going to a park, but not being able to request a card there, I would go for it.

Another thing to think about is how your child will react to going to the park, being able to see inside, but not go in. Some kids are fine with that, but others would not be too happy.

We can not go into the park on Saturday because we didn't pay for a park day on Saturday. We are planning on arriving at the parks each day as soon as they open and I would hate to spend an hour or more at Guest Services on our first morning.

Although it's possible to spend a long time in Guest Relations, it's likely that your wait will be MUCH shorter. Most people wait 15 minutes or less and it takes around 5 minutes to request DAS and get a card issued.
EDITED TO ADD: I started writing this about an hour ago, before the other posters replied, so sorry for repeats of things already posted.

Whether or not DAS is available at a particular park is really random, so there is no way to tell which park may be easiest. I would probably suggest not going to Magic Kingdom, because that is the park with highest attendance.
Other than that, I would choose based on how easy it is to get there.

 

[kathleendsm]

We have always had great luck with guest relations at the Animal Kingdom in terms of having the shortest wait (or the International Gateway at Epcot, though not first thing in the morning). February was our first time obtaining a DAS, but we never had the issues with getting GAC that I saw reported in terms of cast member attitude. Everyone we have ever dealt with has been friendly, kind, prompt and sensitive to our son. Good luck!