New Spin on the DAS Experience

[jacquelinemc]

We had some experiences with the new DAS over Thanksgiving that I haven't seen echoed before. (And apologies if they have-some of these threads are very long!)

We traveled November 27-December 1 with two children with autism, 9 and 7. On our one and only trip previously in April, both qualified for the GAC and both names appeared on the card.

I did my research and was prepared for the changes but was still anxious that it would go smoothly. We arrived at MK at 7:30 for an 8:00 am EMH opening on our first morning.to allow enough time at the outside entrance Customer Service.

The first change was that I was initially told that DAS would no longer be issued at the outside locations and that I would have to wait again in another customer service line at Town Hall inside the park to be eligible. When I explained that that was not what I was told on numerous phone calls with reps prior to our trip, the CM informed me that they no longer did it that way because some people tried to abuse the system by securing one DAS outside the park, and a second inside the park! (With technology what it is that seemed unlikely that Disney couldn't rectify or monitor this, but I wasn't in a position to argue!) I did try to point out that the whole point of us arriving early was to sidestep additional waits and take advantage of the EMH, just like everyone else.

The second change was that I was told that only one DAS could be issued per family. That didn't seem right then (and didn't match what I had been previously told and read) and doesn't seem right now, but at the time she was very matter of fact about it and I just decided I would go with it.

As we continued to talk, my DS with moderate autism continued to interrupt, stating random things, asking the CM if she knew his "helper" at school in CT, being silly, and frankly, presenting like a child with autism. At one point, she referenced, "Some people try to manipulate the system-but obviously not you." and indicated the "machine" was still warming up and that we should stay by her window. So basically, I'm guessing that once she realized we were legit she was going to help us, though I wonder if some would have been offended by her comment! My skin is thick...I have to say I was very relieved not to have to wait in yet another line!

So...once she stated that we would only get a single DAS I started asking a lot of questions. She said that as long as we were all going on rides together it would work fine for the four of us in my son's name. When she came out to take his picture I explained that even though my DS is older, he has a lot less stamina than his higher-functioning little sister, and returns to the hotel every afternoon for a nap and a swim. How would that meet her needs? (She presents very differently...high anxiety, panic, etc.) So then she says she has the perfect solution, switches gears and takes my DD's picture instead. Then I'm waiting for her to take my DS's picture, the one with the typical presenting of limited expression, tantrums, lashing out, etc and she doesn't. This way, she says, this is in your daughter's name, so it will work whether your son is present or not!

At this point I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! LOL! I was so grateful for anything, yet it seemed crazy for my very affected son to not be documented as having need, while my eligible daughter had her own card! At that point I was prepared to make it work, and knew that if there was an issue I would just return to Customer Service.

The good news-it did work and didn't require any additional tweaking. Both children's interests are similar enough that the single card met all their needs. It also worked as advertised, and with (lots and lots!) of advance planning we were able to do quite a bit by combining rope drop, FP+ and the DAS during the busy Thanksgiving holiday.

I would love to know others' experiences re: multiple children with special needs in a single family, and if anyone else had difficulty procuring the DAS on the outside of the parks. Also, I believe this information is stored on file and I worry that when we return in July that someone might think I'm trying to take advantage of the system if I request a DAS for my son based on the way our family's needs were handled this trip. Thanks!

 

[Vidia2]

This CM should have given you a separate DAS for each of your children. I'm glad that you ended up not needing it but if you had needed an additional one you would have obviously needed to make yet another trip to GS. At some point hopefully the CMs will have better training.

 

[OurBigTrip]

While I can understand the CM's reluctance to issue two separate DAS cards, if both children have needs, then each should have their own DAS.

The potential for abuse could be mitigated by noting on each DAS that there are two DAS cards in the party, then attraction CMs could limit the number of people that are permitted to be waiting on each one to eliminate double-dipping.

 

[jacquelinemc]

While I can understand the CM's reluctance to issue two separate DAS cards, if both children have needs, then each should have their own DAS. The potential for abuse could be mitigated by noting on each DAS that there are two DAS cards in the party, then attraction CMs could limit the number of people that are permitted to be waiting on each one to eliminate double-dipping.

Exactly! That would have been the only issue...if both wanted to ride at the exclusion of the other...which child would have to wait 60 minutes and which would have to wait 120? It would allow us to divide and conquer. if necessary. I'd also like to think that with the new guidelines and procedures in place that any family who had made it that far in the process wouldn't abuse it...no need for double dipping if you've done your homework.

 

[MaggieMollyMom]

We will be in the same situation in mid-Feb. I would like one for each child, so that it will be documented for the future. But, essentially, if I have to have it for only one, it would have to be for the child who is less severely affected...which sort of doesn't make sense to me as well ( like the OP stated).
I wll report back to you after our trip!

 

[aaarcher86]

This is the first I've seen of this. Hopefully it was a fluke (and I'm glad it worked out regardless!). There should be a card for each child with needs.

 

[jacquelinemc]

This is the first I've seen of this. Hopefully it was a fluke (and I'm glad it worked out regardless!). There should be a card for each child with needs.

Have you ever heard of an insistence of having the cards issued inside the park vs outside? I had no intention of rocking the boat but it just didn't seem typical based on all the research I had done prior to traveling.

 

[Kellykins1218]

We have 3 boys that are autistic. We will, without a doubt, split up sometime during the day and the 2 youngest will each need their own DAS.

 

[SueM in MN]

Have you ever heard of an insistence of having the cards issued inside the park vs outside? I had no intention of rocking the boat but it just didn't seem typical based on all the research I had done prior to traveling.

The first reports before they started were that DAS cards would be issued inside the parks.
But, when they actually started issuing them, they were also doing it at the outside the park Guest Relations.

I have heard of abuse connected with multiple cards for one family (for example, saying they had lost or left the DAS at their resort with the intent of getting a 2nd DAS to get multiple Return Times). So, it's possible they are only issuing them inside the park for abuse reasons.

I do know that in the past during busy times, they have sometimes reserved the outside the park Guest Relations for ticketing problems that would prevent guests from entering the park (or for pick up of previously purchased tickets). People with other reasons to visit Guest Relations were sent inside.
The explanation I got from CMs when people said GACs were not issued outside parks previously. When it slowed down, they went back to issuing them outside the park.

I do know when we were at Guest Relations in late October 2013, the lines at the outside Guest Relations were very long. We had to wait there because we had AP to activate, as well as requesting a DAS card for DD. We expected to also see long lines at Guest Relations inside, but the ones inside each park were a lot shorter than the outside the park ones as far as we could see.

 

[aaarcher86]

Have you ever heard of an insistence of having the cards issued inside the park vs outside? I had no intention of rocking the boat but it just didn't seem typical based on all the research I had done prior to traveling.

Nothing more than what Sue posted. Definitely new to me.

 

[jacquelinemc]

The first reports before they started were that DAS cards would be issued inside the parks. But, when they actually started issuing them, they were also doing it at the outside the park Guest Relations. I have heard of abuse connected with multiple cards for one family (for example, saying they had lost or left the DAS at their resort with the intent of getting a 2nd DAS to get multiple Return Times). So, it's possible they are only issuing them inside the park for abuse reasons. I do know that in the past during busy times, they have sometimes reserved the outside the park Guest Relations for ticketing problems that would prevent guests from entering the park (or for pick up of previously purchased tickets). People with other reasons to visit Guest Relations were sent inside. The explanation I got from CMs when people said GACs were not issued outside parks previously. When it slowed down, they went back to issuing them outside the park. I do know when we were at Guest Relations in late October 2013, the lines at the outside Guest Relations were very long. We had to wait there because we had AP to activate, as well as requesting a DAS card for DD. We expected to also see long lines at Guest Relations inside, but the ones inside each park were a lot shorter than the outside the park ones as far as we could see.[/

 

[jacquelinemc]

The first reports before they started were that DAS cards would be issued inside the parks. But, when they actually started issuing them, they were also doing it at the outside the park Guest Relations. I have heard of abuse connected with multiple cards for one family (for example, saying they had lost or left the DAS at their resort with the intent of getting a 2nd DAS to get multiple Return Times). So, it's possible they are only issuing them inside the park for abuse reasons. I do know that in the past during busy times, they have sometimes reserved the outside the park Guest Relations for ticketing problems that would prevent guests from entering the park (or for pick up of previously purchased tickets). People with other reasons to visit Guest Relations were sent inside. The explanation I got from CMs when people said GACs were not issued outside parks previously. When it slowed down, they went back to issuing them outside the park. I do know when we were at Guest Relations in late October 2013, the lines at the outside Guest Relations were very long. We had to wait there because we had AP to activate, as well as requesting a DAS card for DD. We expected to also see long lines at Guest Relations inside, but the ones inside each park were a lot shorter than the outside the park ones as far as we could see.

Logistically I could see that being in their best interest, though it does cancel out the effort a family makes to arrive early to take advantage of the customer service/EMH. We were the first (and only) customers at the time...maybe they ultimately issued us the card there because no line was forming.

 

[Michigan]

We tried to renew one at the International Gateway in EPCOT guest relations and they said you can only get it or renew it at guest relations in the front of the park because they don't have a camera.

 

[emeraldmom]

We were there for Christmas. We got our DAS's on Dec 25 at MK, inside the park. I have to DS's both with their own needs. I explained this to the CM. She ended up getting another CM, I'm guessing he was a lead, but not sure. We had a party of five total. They issued DAS cards to each of my DS's, but one was for a party of 3, the other a party of 2. I told them that I was not at all happy about it, but that was the best they would do. So, whenever DS16 wanted to ride something that DS12 did not want to ride, only one of us could go with him.

On the one hand I was glad that they did give us two cards. On the other hand, we were all a bit bummed. I understand the potential for abuse, but to a point, I don't care. Watching my autistic kid struggling to decide if he wanted his mother or grandfather to go with him was just painful at times.

 

[disneydenisel]

We tried to renew one at the International Gateway in EPCOT guest relations and they said you can only get it or renew it at guest relations in the front of the park because they don't have a camera.

That's interesting. They told us that their printer was not working so that we either had to make our way to the main EPCOT gate or go to HS to get a card issued. They did make a "file" with my name and told me to reference that file number when I went to the next Guest Relations person.

Is it true that they will keep my file for a while? That would certainly save me a lot of explaining during our next proposed trip!

 

[SueM in MN]

We tried to renew one at the International Gateway in EPCOT guest relations and they said you can only get it or renew it at guest relations in the front of the park because they don't have a camera.

That's interesting since some people reported getting one there in October.
So, it sounds like they removed the iPads and printers that were being used.

 

[SueM in MN]

We were there for Christmas. We got our DAS's on Dec 25 at MK, inside the park. I have to DS's both with their own needs. I explained this to the CM. She ended up getting another CM, I'm guessing he was a lead, but not sure. We had a party of five total. They issued DAS cards to each of my DS's, but one was for a party of 3, the other a party of 2. I told them that I was not at all happy about it, but that was the best they would do. So, whenever DS16 wanted to ride something that DS12 did not want to ride, only one of us could go with him.

On the one hand I was glad that they did give us two cards. On the other hand, we were all a bit bummed. I understand the potential for abuse, but to a point, I don't care. Watching my autistic kid struggling to decide if he wanted his mother or grandfather to go with him was just painful at times.

Getting a DAS issued to include more than a total of six people requires a supervisor, so I would assume issuing a DAS to more than one person in a group also requires a supervisor also.

 

[jacquelinemc]

We were there for Christmas. We got our DAS's on Dec 25 at MK, inside the park. I have to DS's both with their own needs. I explained this to the CM. She ended up getting another CM, I'm guessing he was a lead, but not sure. We had a party of five total. They issued DAS cards to each of my DS's, but one was for a party of 3, the other a party of 2. I told them that I was not at all happy about it, but that was the best they would do. So, whenever DS16 wanted to ride something that DS12 did not want to ride, only one of us could go with him. On the one hand I was glad that they did give us two cards. On the other hand, we were all a bit bummed. I understand the potential for abuse, but to a point, I don't care. Watching my autistic kid struggling to decide if he wanted his mother or grandfather to go with him was just painful at times.

I understand that you are a party off five, and if both boys were willing to go on the same ride you could still board your entire party...but it would have also made sense to issue you as two parties of three. This way one brother is not arbitrarily singled out to choose 1 of 3 adults while his brother always got to select 2 out of 3 adults if you needed to split up. The math doesn't add up but the logic does, and would have given you more flexibility without any abuse of the system whatsoever.

 

[Schmeck]

I understand that you are a party off five, and if both boys were willing to go on the same ride you could still board your entire party...but it would have also made sense to issue you as two parties of three. This way one brother is not arbitrarily singled out to choose 1 of 3 adults while his brother always got to select 2 out of 3 adults if you needed to split up. The math doesn't add up but the logic does, and would have given you more flexibility without any abuse of the system whatsoever.

I'm wondering how many attractions have 3 in one vehicle anyways. Wouldn't the other adult be riding alone in a separate seat anyways?

 

[SueM in MN]

I'm wondering how many attractions have 3 in one vehicle anyways. Wouldn't the other adult be riding alone in a separate seat anyways?

A lot would be in a separate seat in the same vehicle. But, still they would be together within sight of each other.