Stroller as a wheelchair, still need DAS?

[oliviosis]

Hello everyone! We are heading to WDW in Dec 2016. Although my husband and I have been several times, this will be the first trip for my boys. My oldest will be 5 on our trip and he has Down Syndrome. My youngest will be 20 months. We plan to rent a double stroller from one of the off-site services. I don't know how my oldest will do at Disney. I know he won't be able to walk much so we will get the tag to use the stroller as a wheelchair. I guess, what I can't figure out is if we'd need a DAS or not. He does have a hard time waiting but I'd guess most 4/5 yr olds do. I'm not sure if he's different from a "typical" child in that regard since he's my oldest. I don't know what to expect so I'd like to hear about other people's experience with and/without it if the child was able to stay in the stroller in line.
Also, we plan to arrive at rope drop. Is the wait usually long at Guest Assistance? Should I plan to go into the park and come back later for the tag/DAS?

 

[lanejudy]

You can use stroller-as-wheelchair without having a DAS. Many people who use mobility aids in the queue do not need anything further. It may depend on your child's needs whether you should request DAS or not. Here is a link to the WDW - Disability Access Service thread that is pinned near the top of this forum. The first post explains what you need to know about DAS; you may ignore the rest of the thread which is simply discussion.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/wd...15-digital-das-on-tickets-magicbands.3178976/

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Kuch1000]

I would go to guest services right away. The lines there tend to build. When I have gone first thing in the morning I haven't waited more than 5 minutes.

Most rides will have queues where the stroller-as-a-wheelchair can be brought through the queue, but not every one. We used the DAS and stroller-as-a-wheelchair for my son on the autism spectrum to be able to have options if needed. We maybe used the stroller in line 1 or 2 times per day, but it was a huge help when needed. It's good to have the options. If you decide to start out without the DAS, you can always come back to guest services and request it later. Enjoy!

 

[Hoodie]

You can try without the DAS and if you find it hard, go back to Guest Services. You can have both a stroller as a wheelchair and a DAS. You also can get a DAS and not use it. We didn't get a DAS until halfway through our trip. We really didn't need one until he started getting too tired to wait.

 

[gap2368]

Hello everyone! We are heading to WDW in Dec 2016. Although my husband and I have been several times, this will be the first trip for my boys. My oldest will be 5 on our trip and he has Down Syndrome. My youngest will be 20 months. We plan to rent a double stroller from one of the off-site services. I don't know how my oldest will do at Disney. I know he won't be able to walk much so we will get the tag to use the stroller as a wheelchair. I guess, what I can't figure out is if we'd need a DAS or not. He does have a hard time waiting but I'd guess most 4/5 yr olds do. I'm not sure if he's different from a "typical" child in that regard since he's my oldest. I don't know what to expect so I'd like to hear about other people's experience with and/without it if the child was able to stay in the stroller in line.
Also, we plan to arrive at rope drop. Is the wait usually long at Guest Assistance? Should I plan to go into the park and come back later for the tag/DAS?

as others have said you can get the stroller as a wheel chair tag with out the DAS I would just get the tag first thing in the morning ( the lines normally are not that long and see how your son dose. you are right most kids do not like to wait but I think you will know if it is the typical I do not want to wait or if it is something that is bothering your child in line and he is demanding to leave type of thing if it is the there is something in line then go back to GR and talk to them about his needs. I know a few people with down syndrome one needs a DAS card and stroller as a wheel chair one just needs a stroller as a wheel chair and her iPad and is good to wait in any ninth of line.

this brings me to one more thing may be have some thing for your kids to do in line like a toy to play with an iPad phone something they only get while waiting in line. you can search on here why to keep kids busy in line or something like this and get some ideas


have a great vacation

 

[oliviosis]

as others have said you can get the stroller as a wheel chair tag with out the DAS I would just get the tag first thing in the morning ( the lines normally are not that long and see how your son dose. you are right most kids do not like to wait but I think you will know if it is the typical I do not want to wait or if it is something that is bothering your child in line and he is demanding to leave type of thing if it is the there is something in line then go back to GR and talk to them about his needs. I know a few people with down syndrome one needs a DAS card and stroller as a wheel chair one just needs a stroller as a wheel chair and her iPad and is good to wait in any ninth of line.

this brings me to one more thing may be have some thing for your kids to do in line like a toy to play with an iPad phone something they only get while waiting in line. you can search on here why to keep kids busy in line or something like this and get some ideas


have a great vacation

Yes, that's exactly what I was telling my husband. If we can figure out how to keep him entertained, he'll be good. We'll need lots of backup chargers for the iPad I guess.
Thanks everyone for your insight. I think we will get the stroller as a wheelchair tag and see how it goes. We picked a lower crowd time to help with the toll the heat takes on him and hopefully, with careful planning and use of Fastpasses, we can eliminate long waits.

 

[Nevada Jen]

Since you are going to be there getting the stroller as a wheelchair tag, I think it is worth at least asking about it. Simply say, I think the stroller as a wheelchair might do the trick but he has these other needs that make it difficult for him to wait in line. . . and see what they say.