My experience doing DAS this morning

[asafko]

I know there are others on here far more versed than I am with the system but thought I would share my experience/tips:

* I did a trial run of the system previously and I strongly recommend it to familiarize yourself with the steps (especially the way it logs you out)
* The trial run showed I needed to use Safari rather than Google Chrome. I think others have said this here as well.
* I started refreshing at 6:59am EST and got into the chat at 7am. By 7:12 I was texting with the cast member in prep for the video call. The video call happened around 7:20.
* I found it interesting that my daughter being legally blind wasn't enough for her to get the pass (she has another disability that did allow for it but ironically that one impacts her less in the context of being in the parks). She struggles a lot with the queues and going from sunlight to dark - we usually have to navigate her through the winding queues and she is 20 and really doesn't like that. The cast member said we could use a wheelchair for mobility so therefore can do the queues...not how we want to go through the parks in the heat of summer as she can navigate in normal lighting sufficiently (sometimes with us holding her hand or her putting her hand on our shoulder). So that was strange to me but it was fine ultimately. I am glad they are being stricter with those who abuse the system though.
* Important glitch fix if it happens to you: the system logged me out - I expected it based on the helpful info in this forum - but it would not allow me to sign back in like I had in the trial run. I grabbed my iphone and got into our account that way and was able to rejoin the chat but be prepared with both your laptop and phone.
* We were completely done just before 8am. So overall not bad at all. If you have any questions, I would be happy to help!
-Amy

 

[preemiemama]

I reported my experience yesterday on the main DAS thread here, but thought it important to mention that my laptop browser froze for the video part of the call on Safari. The CM initiated the call but I could not join, or even close out of Safari. (I was told that people using phones/iPads did not encounter this issue when on safari on those devices- it seems contained to MacBooks?)

Luckily(?) I was having the same log-out glitch you encountered and had been going between Safari and Chrome to be able to remain logged in, so I was able to quickly get over to Chrome, log in again, and the CM had just sent a link to try again. It worked from Chrome. That glitch was unnerving at times because it could take several attempts on different browsers/devices to log back in to the chat.

 

[ttintagel]

Yeah, I know this is a terrible pun, but my own experience has been that visual disabilities are a real blind spot for Disney. Accommodations for vision are left totally up to the discretion of individual cast members at each attraction, and that’s just not optimal.

I have the same issue your daughter has with changing light levels causing temporary blindness, because my eyes don’t adjust anywhere near as quickly as people with normal vision. (I only ride Peter Pan after dark; otherwise my eyes are just starting to adjust to the dark as the ride is ending.) That results in a lot of queues being unsafe for me, especially if I don’t have someone who can lead me.

And so many cast members can’t wrap their head around the fact that there is a lot of gray area in between having normal vision and not being able to see anything at all. (The same mindset that can’t understand why a person might only need a wheelchair some of the time.) The example I always think of is this one time at the Haunted Mansion, when I told the cast member that I needed to skip the stretching room because I couldn’t see in the dark to get from there to the load area. Not only was the accommodation denied (as it usually is) but the cast member actually said, “If you really can’t see, why are you even bothering to go on the ride at all?” I’ll tell the cast member at a theater show that I need to sit in the front to be able to see the stage, and nine times out of ten they’ll come back with, “Oh, there aren’t any bad seats in the house! You can see from anywhere!” Uh, no, I literally can’t.

And so much of my precious vacation time is lost through having to explain my situation at every attraction instead of just explaining it once to Guest Relations.

Anyway, that’s enough from my soapbox for now. Your daughter is lucky to have you to assist her around Disney’s barriers.

 

[asafko]

Yeah, I know this is a terrible pun, but my own experience has been that visual disabilities are a real blind spot for Disney. Accommodations for vision are left totally up to the discretion of individual cast members at each attraction, and that’s just not optimal.

I have the same issue your daughter has with changing light levels causing temporary blindness, because my eyes don’t adjust anywhere near as quickly as people with normal vision. (I only ride Peter Pan after dark; otherwise my eyes are just starting to adjust to the dark as the ride is ending.) That results in a lot of queues being unsafe for me, especially if I don’t have someone who can lead me.

And so many cast members can’t wrap their head around the fact that there is a lot of gray area in between having normal vision and not being able to see anything at all. (The same mindset that can’t understand why a person might only need a wheelchair some of the time.) The example I always think of is this one time at the Haunted Mansion, when I told the cast member that I needed to skip the stretching room because I couldn’t see in the dark to get from there to the load area. Not only was the accommodation denied (as it usually is) but the cast member actually said, “If you really can’t see, why are you even bothering to go on the ride at all?” I’ll tell the cast member at a theater show that I need to sit in the front to be able to see the stage, and nine times out of ten they’ll come back with, “Oh, there aren’t any bad seats in the house! You can see from anywhere!” Uh, no, I literally can’t.

And so much of my precious vacation time is lost through having to explain my situation at every attraction instead of just explaining it once to Guest Relations.

Anyway, that’s enough from my soapbox for now. Your daughter is lucky to have you to assist her around Disney’s barriers.

I am sorry you know our pain! I can not believe someone said that to you at Haunted Mansion. We always feel a need to explain that she has some vision, it just isn't super functional - especially in some settings. And yes, not many know that a very tiny percentage of people legally blind are COMPLETELY blind. It is tough because they have tried to get her to use a cane so people will be able to tell when she can't see them but this all started in 4th grade (bilateral retinal detachments leaving her with no vision in one eye, legally blind in the other) and she was a determined kid who didn't want to stand out. She does ok most of the time but also doesn't go a lot of places where she is unfamiliar. When we go into queues she does not have any vision at all and it can be frustrating is the wait is super long and she will be bumping into others without us helping the whole time. Thankfully, or not depending on your perspective, she had that other disability that got her in the system.

 

[mistysue]

They have a strange lack of understanding with hearing issues as well. My son is partially deaf and has noticeable trouble adjusting to light- which makes certain lines dangerous for him now that he is old enough that we can't carry him. We had a trip a few years ago where he was actually injured in multiple lines one day, prompting a CM to recommend a DAS.
It was a very uncomfortable conversation that followed when the deafness and vision issue combination does not qualify for a pass in spite of being dangerous. Fortunately (?) he had other reasons to qualify but it seemed backwards.
As long as we don't have to bring ice packs and bandaids every time we board Nemo I suppose it doesn't matter why they decided to help him out, but it's a reflection of poor understanding in our society.

 

[ttintagel]

That Nemo queue is a menace!

And in addition to the low light and tight turns, parents always seem to be letting their kids run around in there, which is fine if you can see them coming and get out of the way. Dangerous for everybody when they just plow into your legs out of nowhere.

 

[asafko]

That Nemo queue is a menace!

And in addition to the low light and tight turns, parents always seem to be letting their kids run around in there, which is fine if you can see them coming and get out of the way. Dangerous for everybody when they just plow into your legs out of nowhere.

That one is awful for her! She has no peripheral vision in the one eye that has vision and obviously the one with no vision also limits peripheral vision so we are always on guard to make sure no one gets hurt. People assume she can see them so they don't know their children running around her are at risk for getting hurt. It is a place for kids to have fun so I don't say that out of anger to those parents, just to underscore the vision issue needing a DAS pass.

 

[asafko]

They have a strange lack of understanding with hearing issues as well. My son is partially deaf and has noticeable trouble adjusting to light- which makes certain lines dangerous for him now that he is old enough that we can't carry him. We had a trip a few years ago where he was actually injured in multiple lines one day, prompting a CM to recommend a DAS.
It was a very uncomfortable conversation that followed when the deafness and vision issue combination does not qualify for a pass in spite of being dangerous. Fortunately (?) he had other reasons to qualify but it seemed backwards.
As long as we don't have to bring ice packs and bandaids every time we board Nemo I suppose it doesn't matter why they decided to help him out, but it's a reflection of poor understanding in our society.

I am sorry you have faced that as well, I can see how limited hearing along with difficulty with light sensitivity would also cause issues. I agree, we got the pass for something else, I just wish there was more understanding. I emailed Disability Services but didn't hear back asking for them to review their policies for how they determine the impact of those who are blind or visually impaired so that others who may be in our situation don't face this as well.

 

[mistysue]

I am sorry you have faced that as well, I can see how limited hearing along with difficulty with light sensitivity would also cause issues. I agree, we got the pass for something else, I just wish there was more understanding. I emailed Disability Services but didn't hear back asking for them to review their policies for how they determine the impact of those who are blind or visually impaired so that others who may be in our situation don't face this as well.

Emailing them is smart.
If nothing else, it would be awesome if at some of those rides the CMs were allowed to do something. Our most consistent issues that come to mind are Nemo and the little mermaid- so it's not even long lines just something about the echoey winding, light issues ones. Nemo is the one where he walked straight into a metal pole and ended up with a nose bleed and huge bump on his head. We were laughing thinking about how bad it would be if he was older and trying to do the queue in an ECV when they try to tell him use a mobility device- picturing the thing getting stuck sideways somewhere at a curve.