WDW Summary of NEW DAS changes and Disney Genie - Post ONE is an updated summary

[nikkid1]

Hope you have better luck this time. Wonder if it's due to the big crowds due for Easter and Spring Break...?

thank you!

 

[snoopy352]

Hi - I read through the first post but not the entire thread and have 3 questions that i apologize if have been already answered:

1.) Can you get a DAS return time during Morning Magic Hours? Or does the app force you to wait until park officially opens?
2.) Can you choose for your DAS return time the same attraction as one of your DAS ADV ones? (Wife and daughter love Splash so if we get DAS ADV for Splash can we get a DAS return BEFORE riding the DAS ADV SPlash or do we need to get a different ride?)
3.) Does anyone know the likelihood of getting DAS ADV return times for the first half of the day or does it depend on the ride/park?

TIA!!!

 

[bambialways4ever]

Hi - I read through the first post but not the entire thread and have 3 questions that i apologize if have been already answered:

1.) Can you get a DAS return time during Morning Magic Hours? Or does the app force you to wait until park officially opens?
2.) Can you choose for your DAS return time the same attraction as one of your DAS ADV ones? (Wife and daughter love Splash so if we get DAS ADV for Splash can we get a DAS return BEFORE riding the DAS ADV SPlash or do we need to get a different ride?)
3.) Does anyone know the likelihood of getting DAS ADV return times for the first half of the day or does it depend on the ride/park?

TIA!!!

1.) Do you mean early theme park entry at Walt Disney World? If so, yes, so long as the ride has a posted standby wait during that time. Not all of them do because the line is so short.
2.) yes you can do that
3.) depends on the ride/park/day/party size.

 

[keishashadow]

Pretty sure I’m over-thinking this but, don’t want to mess up

thus far, after having the DAS pre-selections in place…when we modified our onsite resort, keeping the same #, our selections & ADRs held - yea!

before the new system, if I would switch over to a DS property or Swolfin, I’d would just book an entirely new reservation. Link it to MDE, then cancel the first one. The ADRs would still be intact.

confused if the DAS pre selections run with the actual resort reservation or just with MDE. I’m thinking the latter, not sure tho.

if the DAS Pre-selections would go poof, think I’ll stop looking this go-round.

 

[lanejudy]

I do not believe the DAS Advanced Selections would cancel if you change hotels. As long as you have valid ticket media they should remain.

 

[chezcurrie]

Many thanks for the information in this thread. I am doing research for a friend who is doing a last minute trip to WDW in early April (I know, I know… first visit, no research, no plan, and it’s Spring Break season.) They are the type of people who will have a fantastic time regardless, but I’m trying to help them make the most of it. I don’t have any experience with DAS, but am familiar with Genie+ (at DL).

My question is, how do the two work together? Is Genie+ even necessary (they already have it added to their tickets.)

 

[lynzi2004]

I have a friend whose son will qualify for DAS. They are arriving on Sunday for one day. Staying offsite and going to AK first. I'm not familiar with the DAS system, but am trying to help her the best I can. They have not pre-registered for anything this trip, but did use DAS on a trip they took about 4 years ago. So help me explain to her how to get this all set up please. She remembers having it, but not much about it. They are hoping to NOT pay for any additional Genie+ or $ILL.

1. Go to guest services at AK to get her son approved. Will this be at the front of the park, any blue umbrella, what's her best bet??
2. They are wanting to do FOP, so after the DAS is approved she can book that on the app correct? Is it safe to assume that the return time will be within reason of the standby time or do these book out in advance like they would if you were paying for the $ILL. Meaning if the park opens to offsite guests at 7:30 and she gets DAS approved by 8am, if she goes on the app and the FOP standby is 120 min...a time around 10:30am would realistically be available or no? They are planning to park hop to either HS or Epcot after 2pm. If getting a decent return time booking FOP with a DAS at 8am isn't a possibility, they might decide to pay for the $ILL instead. Does that question makes sense?!
3. After FOP they would like to get a return time for Na'vi...same thing if they book after riding FOP, is getting a return time for Na'vi only the length of the standby line a possibility. So if they ride FOP at 10:30 and immediately book for Na'vi and its an hour wait...riding between 11:30-12 possible? I just want to make sure I understand how it works!
4. After 2pm, they would want to hop to HS and use DAS for MMRR and Toy Story Mania.
5. Once they do that, they would like to maybe take the Skyliner to Epcot and do Remy, Soarin, and Test Track. Will DAS still be available this late in the day? Im just terrified to tell them that they can continue to book DAS as the day goes along but in reality it turn out like Genie and things sell out.

If there's any other advice you can give me, I would greatly appreciate it. They won't be planning for many rollercoasters bc he isn't a fan of them. Thank you!

 

[Kerr84]

I have a friend whose son will qualify for DAS. They are arriving on Sunday for one day. Staying offsite and going to AK first. I'm not familiar with the DAS system, but am trying to help her the best I can. They have not pre-registered for anything this trip, but did use DAS on a trip they took about 4 years ago. So help me explain to her how to get this all set up please. She remembers having it, but not much about it. They are hoping to NOT pay for any additional Genie+ or $ILL.

1. Go to guest services at AK to get her son approved. Will this be at the front of the park, any blue umbrella, what's her best bet??
2. They are wanting to do FOP, so after the DAS is approved she can book that on the app correct? Is it safe to assume that the return time will be within reason of the standby time or do these book out in advance like they would if you were paying for the $ILL. Meaning if the park opens to offsite guests at 7:30 and she gets DAS approved by 8am, if she goes on the app and the FOP standby is 120 min...a time around 10:30am would realistically be available or no? They are planning to park hop to either HS or Epcot after 2pm. If getting a decent return time booking FOP with a DAS at 8am isn't a possibility, they might decide to pay for the $ILL instead. Does that question makes sense?!
3. After FOP they would like to get a return time for Na'vi...same thing if they book after riding FOP, is getting a return time for Na'vi only the length of the standby line a possibility. So if they ride FOP at 10:30 and immediately book for Na'vi and its an hour wait...riding between 11:30-12 possible? I just want to make sure I understand how it works!
4. After 2pm, they would want to hop to HS and use DAS for MMRR and Toy Story Mania.
5. Once they do that, they would like to maybe take the Skyliner to Epcot and do Remy, Soarin, and Test Track. Will DAS still be available this late in the day? Im just terrified to tell them that they can continue to book DAS as the day goes along but in reality it turn out like Genie and things sell out.

If there's any other advice you can give me, I would greatly appreciate it. They won't be planning for many rollercoasters bc he isn't a fan of them. Thank you!

DAS doesn’t work like genie plus. It doesn’t sell out. When you book a ride, your wait will be the standby wait time minus 10 minutes. So, if they book FoP at 9:00am and the wait is 75 minutes; then their DAS will be ready to use in 65 minutes. After they use that DAS they can book another one. You can only have 1 at a time. The only time it won’t work is let’s say that the park closes in 30 minutes, but the wait for Remy is 60 minutes. The app will not let them get a DAS in this case. I have heard that in this case, some people will go to the cast members at the ride and ask if they can get a DAS pass and that they are usually just let through the LL right then.

 

[10CJ]

I have a friend whose son will qualify for DAS. They are arriving on Sunday for one day. Staying offsite and going to AK first. I'm not familiar with the DAS system, but am trying to help her the best I can. They have not pre-registered for anything this trip, but did use DAS on a trip they took about 4 years ago. So help me explain to her how to get this all set up please. She remembers having it, but not much about it. They are hoping to NOT pay for any additional Genie+ or $ILL.

Is there a reason they don't want to try and pre-register? I would suggest they try and register tomorrow so they have it set up already and can then potentially book two passes to start the day with. Which day is their park day?

 

[lynzi2004]

Is there a reason they don't want to try and pre-register? I would suggest they try and register tomorrow so they have it set up already and can then potentially book two passes to start the day with. Which day is their park day?

Well that’s part of the problem…I didn’t realize pre-registering was an option and their park day is Sunday. She didn’t tell me they were going until yesterday so I was scrambling to find out info. Their flight left at 6am this morning so there just wasn’t time. Hopefully it won’t be too much trouble once they get to the park!

 

[lanejudy]

@linzi2004 If they are signing up in-person at the park, there really no change in registering from what the family did the last time they went. Stop at Guest Relations and explain why the son cannot wait in a standard queue environment. The biggest difference they'll find is that it's all on the app now -- they can walk out of Guest Relations and book the first DAS Return Time right then and there without walking to the attraction. They can still get return times at the attraction or at any blue umbrella if they need help.

 

[AmyMac1109]

My understanding is that a certain number of ‘slots’ are set aside for DAS Advance Selections for each day. Once the slots for a specific attraction are filled for that day, it‘s no longer available for DAS Advance Selection. It will still be available for DAS Return Times on the day of park visit since that’s based on current Standby wait time.

It may seem like the headliner attractions with the longest wait times would have their slots filled first, but many people registered for DAS may not be able to ride those. So, the more ‘tame’ attractions like Figment may actually fill up faster (especially some of the more iconic ones like Jungle Cruise).

I logged on to do our advanced registration this morning. It is technically a few days after our 30 day window, but it was the first day that I had the ability to sit for hours if needed. We completely lucked out and were approved and picking advanced selections by 7:45. And the luck held out, because we got all of our first choice picks for each park and at decent times that I think should work well with our plans and various reservations. And we were able to get Jungle Cruise and a few other iconic ones without issue. I feel quite lucky with our experience!

 

[lynzi2004]

Just coming back here to say thank you! My friends visited Disney today and it went better than they could have ever expected! They had plans to do AK, HS and Epcot and I only expected them to make it to one, maybe 2 parks…but they hit all 3 and rocked it! Her son loved it and her daughter had a great time too. Favorites were FOP and Remys!

 

[AmyMac1109]

I was reviewing the Genie+ thread to brush up tips and tricks since we may purchase it for at least one of our park days next month. But I noticed a question someone had about using Genie+ to reserve parade viewing. A mother of a toddler highly recommended it. I had no idea you could use Genie+ to book a parade viewing spot. Does this mean you could also reserve a spot with DAS? I have no idea what that would look like, but if it's a possibility, I'd want to look into it. My DS (the one with DAS) would greatly benefit from reserved space to view a parade. We aren't likely to catch one any other way. To be clear, he's not in a wheelchair or scooter, so I'm not referring to that type of section. Though, we do plan to request a tag for our stroller to use it as a wheelchair. So maybe that does make a difference?

Anyone have any insight?

 

[lanejudy]

We found the parade viewing spaces were usually restricted to wheelchairs/ECVs. We did use it a couple of times with a stroller-as-wheelchair tag, but they only allowed the stroller+1 companion (I think we did it with 2 once, one person sitting in front of the stroller and one standing behind). So it didn't really work well for us; we always found we're better off to arrive early, grab our spot, take a rest break/snack break while waiting for the parade.

There's a recent thread about DAS and fireworks viewing, which in my (pre-covid) experience is similar.

 

[SueM in MN]

We found the parade viewing spaces were usually restricted to wheelchairs/ECVs. We did use it a couple of times with a stroller-as-wheelchair tag, but they only allowed the stroller+1 companion (I think we did it with 2 once, one person sitting in front of the stroller and one standing behind). So it didn't really work well for us; we always found we're better off to arrive early, grab our spot, take a rest break/snack break while waiting for the parade.

There's a recent thread about DAS and fireworks viewing, which in my (pre-covid) experience is similar.

Our experience is using the parade and EPCOT fireworks viewing areas with an actual wheelchair.
In our experience, the CMs direct guests to park the wheelchairs/mobility devices very close together in a line across the front of the viewing area, with space for one person right behind the wheelchair and any other members of the group at the back of the area, with only one allowed if it was very busy.
My daughter doesn’t tolerate people parked right next to her wheelchair, so the spots don’t work well for us either most of the time.
They may also fill up quickly, even an hour before ’the show’

 

[AmyMac1109]

We found the parade viewing spaces were usually restricted to wheelchairs/ECVs. We did use it a couple of times with a stroller-as-wheelchair tag, but they only allowed the stroller+1 companion (I think we did it with 2 once, one person sitting in front of the stroller and one standing behind). So it didn't really work well for us; we always found we're better off to arrive early, grab our spot, take a rest break/snack break while waiting for the parade.

There's a recent thread about DAS and fireworks viewing, which in my (pre-covid) experience is similar.

Thanks!

Our experience is using the parade and EPCOT fireworks viewing areas with an actual wheelchair.
In our experience, the CMs direct guests to park the wheelchairs/mobility devices very close together in a line across the front of the viewing area, with space for one person right behind the wheelchair and any other members of the group at the back of the area, with only one allowed if it was very busy.
My daughter doesn’t tolerate people parked right next to her wheelchair, so the spots don’t work well for us either most of the time.
They may also fill up quickly, even an hour before ’the show’

Yeah, that probably won't work for my son. He wouldn't last log with the people right up next to him either. And truthfully, I don't know that he would be able to wait an hour for the show either. We will probably skip it this time. It's his first trip. Maybe in a future trip we could make an attempt. But I'm anticipating him to be mostly overstimulated and not able to tolerate much this trip.

Thanks for your experience!

 

[snoopy352]

Hi - one other question. If I have a park ressie for the morning at MK, and we plan to hop to AK in the afternoon, can we set up our two advanced ressies at the afternoon park (without the park ressie) and RD AK for the morning and do the in person ones there?

 

[jlundeen]

Hi - one other question. If I have a park ressie for the morning at MK, and we plan to hop to AK in the afternoon, can we set up our two advanced ressies at the afternoon park (without the park ressie) and RD AK for the morning and do the in person ones there?

Sorry, it's my experience that they will only set up the advanced reservations for the park with the park reservation. Also, you have to enter the second park before you can make day of reservation...

 

[rick1zoo2]

We are at Disney World this week and there is a slight change to the in-app DAS selection. It now lists all available DAS attractions for all four parks in one long alphabetical list no matter which park you are in. When we were getting my wife’s DAS (in person at Magic Kingdom) they explained it was a system change to help the app run better. Not sure about running better but now you need to scroll through all the rides to find ones you are looking for.

So one thing we have been doing is my wife will look at the wait time list on her phone to find a ride, then I will scroll through the DAS list on mine to select it.