WDW DAS experience from DLer

[midnight star]

Hi! Just wanted to give my experience of using DAS at WDW during my trip. We went from Jan 21-25. We did one day at each park and stayed on site. Since our first park day was Magic Kingdom, I signed up for the DAS at the Chamber of Commerce. The CM was very nice, and explained the process.

Getting Return Times: The big difference with WDW and DL DAS is that at WDW they prefer you to get return times at the rides themselves. During the whole trip, I think we got a return time from the actual ride once (alien saucer ride). The other times, it was at the Guest Services kiosks. Some CM's would say it's better to get the return time at the ride because the time is more accurate, however, with everything being so far away, it was just easier at the kiosks. Plus we got lost a few times trying to find the rides, so we gave up and just went to the umbrella that was nearby.

Guest Relations: At DL, you are allowed to get return times at the main City Hall and Chamber of Commerce, which are essentially guest relations. This is not the case at WDW. You can sign up there, but you cannot get return times. Guest relations is I guess different from Guest Experience (the umbrellas).

CM's: The CM's at the guest services umbrellas are the nicest people ever! They answered questions, and they gave us good tips on navigating the park. The ones at HS were probably the best. Considering all of the stuff with the new ROTR ride, they dealt with many tense guests. One at Epcot helped me locate first aid when I got sick (more on that below).

ROTR: We used the DAS line for the ROTR. Just to be clear, we DID get a boarding group. That is the only way to get on the ride. While the ride itself is absolutely amazing! I do not want to go through that again. That was the most exhausting Disney day I have ever had! So if you are a DAS user, make sure you know your limits and needs. Also don't be afraid to get clarification on what to do, or where to go. ROTR broke down a lot, and the line got cleared so the whole area in front of the ride was chaos! We had 3 CM's to get an answer because each one looked a little lost and overwhelmed. But nonetheless, everything worked out well.

First Aid: On our Epcot day, I got a severe migraine and had to make a visit to first aid. Not sure what happened, since I did everything my doctor told me too The CM's there were very nice, and let me rest for about an hour. I have a feeling it was stemming from the prior ROTR mania...

*Sidenote: My mom always jokes that our family is known for ending up in first aid at every theme park we go to. Looks like I'm carrying on the family tradition lol

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Thank you for this write up -- very helpful for those of us who really are only familiar with the DLR side of things. And, yes, add me to Team Theme Park First Aid! DH jokes that I'm just taking it for the team to share the information with others. Someone has to, right? Glad your experience was positive and that you did end up feeling better. (If you ever go to First Aid at DCA, Nurse Linda is amazing!)

 

[jo-jo]

Not to give anyway any spoilers.....but on ROTR, was it hard because it kept stopping or just moving through it. We have a trip in May (don't need DAS), but DH will use a wheelchair. If by some chance , we get a boarding pass, just wondering if a tough ride to get though. We did FP at FOP twice, once I pushed my DH up that 12 miles hill (it felt that long) and once he slowly walked it. Both times we took so long, we let gobs of people go by so we didn't delay them. My DH was exhausted getting up that hill. Never rode it again.

 

[midnight star]

Not to give anyway any spoilers.....but on ROTR, was it hard because it kept stopping or just moving through it. We have a trip in May (don't need DAS), but DH will use a wheelchair. If by some chance , we get a boarding pass, just wondering if a tough ride to get though. We did FP at FOP twice, once I pushed my DH up that 12 miles hill (it felt that long) and once he slowly walked it. Both times we took so long, we let gobs of people go by so we didn't delay them. My DH was exhausted getting up that hill. Never rode it again.

It was mostly hard because of breakdowns. We lucked out and got boarding group 18. We got called before 10am. However, less than 10 minutes after receiving the notification to come back to ride, the ride broke down. We never got stuck on the ride, thankfully. But it took us a long time to be able to board.

I am not sure how the main line is for ROTR. Since we used the DAS line, it wasn't the regular queue. I would ask on a separate thread to see if anyone has done it or not with a wheelchair.

 

[midnight star]

One more thing I forgot to add. At DL the guest services kiosks tend to have long lines. Especially on busy days. People in those lines ask about return times, park info, app info, etc.

At WDW never encountered a long line at the kiosks, which was nice. Not sure why there is such a big difference in that area.