DAS changes coming WDW May 20/ DL June 18, 2024

[AnnaKristoff2013]

DL's website does suggest RS as an accommodation if someone cannot wait in the queue and it has been rumored that that will be an accommodation offered at WDW for those who no longer qualify for DAS and cannot wait in the queue itself. Someone in the party would still be waiting in the standby line though in order for someone in the party to wait outside the line and qualify for RS. For an individual with a DAS, they are already being accommodated by the DAS. There would be no need for a RS to be issued.

The suggestion of RS as an option for larger parties I don't think is meant to be construed as a suggested or even possible way to bypass the 4 person limit on DAS. I think that's just referring to people who no longer qualify for DAS. If you have enough people in your party, then the individual who is unable to wait in the line could potentially wait outside it while everyone else waits in standby, then the individual waiting outside the line could ride through LL. The "larger party" aspect refers to the idea that RS wouldn't work for many smaller parties if there's not an extra adult in the group able to wait in standby (like single riders, an adult with a couple of kids, a party of 2 adults and the person needing to wait outside the line needs the assistance of the other person so they can't be separated, etc).

This makes sense, thank you.

 

[AnnaKristoff2013]

Hi, I thought I would share my concerns. I am from the Uk. Last year I travelled to WDW I was a little worried purely because I have a disability that massively impacts every single day. I suffer fro many different symptoms one being that I have very limited energy. I knew I wasn't going to be able to do full on park days. I qualified and used DAS and for the short time I was in the park I could only manage a couple of hours at a time DAS worked so well as it let me go and rest while waiting for the ride time. I actually used the phrase Disney made the impossible possible. I had such a great trip and mostly managed to get the balance of activity and rest about right. (we even booked Caribbean Beach so it was easy to get from 2 of the parks back to the resort for me to rest) When I got home last May there was an offer on for Uk guests and if we booked last summer it made the holiday very attractive(I got dining credits and merch credits). I decided to book a solo trip for September this year (I had travelled with my mum last year who is in her 70s) I am meeting up with friends but will be solo for most of the trip. I booked the trip with the assumption that since I qualified for DAS last year I would qualify again this year. I have paid for most of the holiday as I booked the flights from Scotland to Orlando in November. Had I known there was a good chance I wouldn't get DAS on this years trip I would never have booked. I can't get a refund for the money I have spent so for which is well over $1000 dollars. I am so worried that I will have wasted my money. My life is very limited in terms of what I am able to physically do but nothing makes me more excited and happy than a trip to Orlando. I know nobody really knows what sort of assistance will be available but a wheel chair wouldn't help me if I am on my own and I suffer from concentration issues as well so I don't think it would be safe for me to hire and drive an ECV around the parks. I emailed Disney and explained all of the above and basically got the standard reply. I wish they would just accept documentation that confirms a disability. I understand why they can't. I just think Disney could have handled this so much better. I suspect this will be my last trip to Disney World on a very long time. Other Disney parks around the world ask for evidence and grant me the help for the very same disability so it's very disappointing.

If you are booked through Disney directly (it sounds like you are), if you call and ask for a refund based on the above, and then ask to escalate to a supervisor, I think you are extremely likely to get a refund of the deposit.

 

[nreid77]

My daughter has type 1 diabetes. I wonder if she would qualify still?

 

[SueM in MN]

Repeating again for ground rules:

OK to say: I think the new accommodations will work for me.
NOT OK to say: I think the new accommodations will work for me, so it will work for everyone.

OK to say: My (non disabled) child used return to line to leave and go to the bathroom.
NOT OK to say: It worked for me/my child, so it will work for anyone with a disability.

OK to say: I/my child has a developmental disability, so we think we will still be covered.
NOT OK to say: I/my child has a developmental disability, I think other people should be happy with whatever accommodations they get.
NOT OK to say: Developmental Disabilities are the only ones that deserve accommodations.
NOT OK to say: You are lucky you/your child has a developmental disability.

OK to say: I'm worried because the accommodations for my disability are changing.
OK to say: Things are too unclear and unsettled for me to feel safe
NOT OK to say: Anyone who is upset because accommodations are changing for them is just upset they won't get 'free Fastpasses'
NOT OK to say: Anyone who is upset is faking/didn't really need DAS

OK to say: I wouldn't mind providing proof of disability/I think proof of disability should be required
NOT OK to say: Anyone who is against documentation or doesn't want to provide it feels that way because they are faking a disability or don't have proof

NEVER OK:
Saying someone else's disability doesn't matter
Dismissing, minimizing or making fun of anyone's disability or concerns
Telling anyone what to say to try to obtain DAS

 

[AnneK]

My daughter has type 1 diabetes. I wonder if she would qualify still?

From what Disney has stated, physical disabilities in general will no longer qualify for DAS. If you have a sugar low, they will issue a return to the line pass or (in DL's case so far) you may be able to utilize rider swap.

 

[SarahC97]

So, I'm even more confused. Yesterday in some other social media groups people are reporting that their May 20 trips are still covered under the old DAS process. Do we know if the new process is starting for interviews May 20th and beyond (so trips starting June 20th on) at WDW? I have been under the impression that the May 20 date was when the new accommodations would start in the parks, not just for the DAS interview. My trip starts June 16 so I can do the DAS interview May 17 and I'm very unclear about what rules I'm operating under.

 

[lanejudy]

So, I'm even more confused.

Yes, I think many are confused. The initial announcement indicated the new rules would be in effect May 20th (at WDW). Recent reports from folks doing the pre-registration suggest that some new aspects of DAS will be in place — such as the 10 minute restriction and party size limits — but the new rules for qualification are not yet. Someone reported being told those go into effect for video calls on/after May 20th. We honestly just have to wait and see.

 

[SarahC97]

Yes, I think many are confused. The initial announcement indicated the new rules would be in effect May 20th (at WDW). Recent reports from folks doing the pre-registration suggest that some new aspects of DAS will be in place — such as the 10 minute restriction and party size limits — but the new rules for qualification are not yet. Someone reported being told those go into effect for video calls on/after May 20th. We honestly just have to wait and see.

Thank you. Makes me feel better I'm not the only one confused! I love Disney, but you'd think they could be clearer about stuff like this.

 

[SueM in MN]

Reposting from yesterday

Some things to keep in mind:
Guests are able to do Advance Video Registration 30 to 2 days before their visit.
This means that some guests registering now have trips that:

• begin and end before the new program starts (May 20 for WDW and June 18 for DL). They would be under the 'old rules'
• begin before before the new program starts, but end after the new program starts. From what people have reported, their entire trip was under the 'old rules' - this makes sense; it would be very confusing to have a change in the middle of a trip
• begin after the new program starts. Some whose trip starts a few days before the start have apparently are under the old rules. I would expect there might be some 'overlap' for a while

The first dates ALL people doing Advance Video Registration would be May 20 for WDW and June 18 for DL
If you are doing video registration and want to report here, please include:

• Does your trip start before or after the 'new rules' date? If before, are all the days of your trip before?
• What kind of tickets? Did your ticket type require park reservations? Only date based tickets don't require reservations
• Does the person you did registration for fit into the category of developmental disability (autism or similar) that is listed on the website or some other issues/concerns with waiting in the regular lines? REMINDER: don't post specific diagnosis, symptoms or conditions, just 'yes' or 'other'
• Did the person end up registered for DAS or other accommodations? If other accommodations, do they sound like they will meet the needs?

Disney has indicated they will be doing individual assessments and accommodations based on needs/concerns related to waiting in the regular lines. Pretty much every condition/diagnosis has a spectrum - some have many needs. Some have very few needs.
This means MAY NOT give everyone with the same condition/concern the same accommodations.
Disney MAY NOT publish exactly how other accommodations will work or what exact accommodations will be given for which needs. They MAY (hopefully will) have kind of a 'cookbook' of accommodations they can pull additional from to meet individual needs.

I guess we will see.

 

[PrincessV]

So, I’ve been at WDW the past 2 days as a solo local…

I’m not at all sure if the reason I’ve used DAS the past few years will qualify under the new rules or not: it’s not physical, nor is it autism or a DD. Is it “severe” enough under whatever new guidelines Len’s contacts indicate??? I had a particularly rough day Friday and yeah… it was pretty severe. I did one ride with DAS and called it a day. Yesterday wasn’t much better: I did one ride with DAS, then none until the end of the day, when I did a standby that was only 10 minutes. I’d really love to not experience the symptoms DAS helps with, but have to concede that they’re there.

My takeaway? I still do need DAS to do much of anything other than wander around and avoid triggers for things with long waits in queues. Which won’t be great if I no longer qualify. But also, I did have a really nice day at AK not riding much. Is there enough value in that to keep renewing my AP? IDK. I have no interest in wandering around MK, for instance, not doing any of my favorite attractions.

My first planned visit after the new rules go into effect will come a month before my AP expires, and that’s an actual multi-day vacation at a rather busy time - if I can’t renew my DAS and there is no alternative accommodation that will help, at least I’ll see if WDW is still enjoyable enough without it before needing to renew, downgrade and visit less, or let my AP expire. As a 30-year APer, this is just a really weird feeling!

 

[Disturbia]

Are you sure this is still the case? I swear I’ve seen swaps done at the ride entrance for rides without a height requirement (like HM where a child may be too scared to ride).

We’ve done a swap like that at park close many times for Test track. They close the queue so they make the second party wait at the exit and a CM let’s them on when the first party arrives.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

.

Yesterday I saw on FB, a person said, we had a great day at MK. Over 15 rides including tron with DAS. Don't know why or who had the DAS.

Last year at MK, we had what we thought was a great day. We went on JC with wheelchair boat, haunted, hall of presidents, small world with wheelchair boat, Mickey's philharmagic , buzz , web way and COP. That was 4 uses of DAS. Of course we are two old people. Kids will want different rides and we have limitations aside from DAS needs. So maybe a kid will hit 8 rides with DAS and a few shows

But even using genie + and LL , can anyone do over 15 rides in one day?

Sorry I am skimming and several days behind.

We went last May and had an excellent day!! We are a small party of two and had a great day with just Genie plus. We do not have DAS. I would say we rode 15 rides, plus shows and eating. We even did the scavenger hunt!

The reason we had a great day was crowds were LOW, maybe a 2 or 3. We were flat out lucky period. It was nothing more than luck to pick a day where lines are low.

Unfortunately so much of the success of Disney day still depends on the overall crowd levels and I wish Disney would put this effort and time on making them overall more manageable.
This targeting feels like them not taking responsibility for over crowding the parks.

 

[audrey2580]

Just finished with the chat.
Logged on at 6:00a PST / 9:00a EST
Waited about 30 mins for the chat
See below for details.

Take aways: we were able to still reserve 2 advance rides for the length of the trip. The DAS expires when the tickets do.
She informed us that the new 10 min rules will be in effect while we are there.

• Does your trip start before or after the 'new rules' date? If before, are all the days of your trip before?
• 5/21-5/24 (new rules)
• What kind of tickets? Did your ticket type require park reservations? Only date based tickets don't require reservations
• Date based tickets
• Does the person you did registration for fit into the category of developmental disability (autism or similar) that is listed on the website or some other issues/concerns with waiting in the regular lines? REMINDER: don't post specific diagnosis, symptoms or conditions, just 'yes' or 'other'
• Not a developmental disability.
• Did the person end up registered for DAS or other accommodations? If other accommodations, do they sound like they will meet the needs?
• Standard das

 

[nalababybear]

So, I’ve been at WDW the past 2 days as a solo local…

I’m not at all sure if the reason I’ve used DAS the past few years will qualify under the new rules or not: it’s not physical, nor is it autism or a DD. Is it “severe” enough under whatever new guidelines Len’s contacts indicate??? I had a particularly rough day Friday and yeah… it was pretty severe. I did one ride with DAS and called it a day. Yesterday wasn’t much better: I did one ride with DAS, then none until the end of the day, when I did a standby that was only 10 minutes. I’d really love to not experience the symptoms DAS helps with, but have to concede that they’re there.

My takeaway? I still do need DAS to do much of anything other than wander around and avoid triggers for things with long waits in queues. Which won’t be great if I no longer qualify. But also, I did have a really nice day at AK not riding much. Is there enough value in that to keep renewing my AP? IDK. I have no interest in wandering around MK, for instance, not doing any of my favorite attractions.

My first planned visit after the new rules go into effect will come a month before my AP expires, and that’s an actual multi-day vacation at a rather busy time - if I can’t renew my DAS and there is no alternative accommodation that will help, at least I’ll see if WDW is still enjoyable enough without it before needing to renew, downgrade and visit less, or let my AP expire. As a 30-year APer, this is just a really weird feeling!

Hopefully you had the GAC in the past and Disney will reach that accommodation. It really appears that's what Disney is trying to return to...hopefully.

Hoping that you'll continue to be able experience that magic of Disney past the new changes

 

[SueM in MN]

So, I’ve been at WDW the past 2 days as a solo local…

I’m not at all sure if the reason I’ve used DAS the past few years will qualify under the new rules or not: it’s not physical, nor is it autism or a DD. Is it “severe” enough under whatever new guidelines Len’s contacts indicate??? I had a particularly rough day Friday and yeah… it was pretty severe. I did one ride with DAS and called it a day. Yesterday wasn’t much better: I did one ride with DAS, then none until the end of the day, when I did a standby that was only 10 minutes. I’d really love to not experience the symptoms DAS helps with, but have to concede that they’re there.

My takeaway? I still do need DAS to do much of anything other than wander around and avoid triggers for things with long waits in queues. Which won’t be great if I no longer qualify. But also, I did have a really nice day at AK not riding much. Is there enough value in that to keep renewing my AP? IDK. I have no interest in wandering around MK, for instance, not doing any of my favorite attractions.

My first planned visit after the new rules go into effect will come a month before my AP expires, and that’s an actual multi-day vacation at a rather busy time - if I can’t renew my DAS and there is no alternative accommodation that will help, at least I’ll see if WDW is still enjoyable enough without it before needing to renew, downgrade and visit less, or let my AP expire. As a 30-year APer, this is just a really weird feeling!

I'm glad you still had a good day despite challenges
I would take what Len says with a big grain of salt. Some of it is completely Out of line with what people have gotten in emails from Disability Services. And some doesn't make sense (i.e. no bending on a firm limit of 4, even family members ).
And, he says a lot of it comes from calls from 407 area code numbers that claim to have inside information. According to Google, there are almost 8,000,000 separate numbers in the 407 area code.
Some of the long time posters might remember Cheshire Figment who was a Moderator here until his death. He was on the Guest Relations team during the changeover from GAC (Guest Assistance Card) to DAS. Most of the information was on a 'need to know' basis which was rolled out during training and people who had received it could be fired for passing it on without authorization before Disney publicized it. The chances of large numbers of CMs even being privy to exact information is pretty low. If changes have been made to their attraction queue or processes, they probably know, but not further than that.

 

[Elephantay]

Liars or cheaters will lie or cheat regardless of the rules. “Autism” in and of itself does not qualify without having s conversation about needs.

I do question the “20 family members” as possibly being embellished. The current program has only allowed a max 6 for a ride so even if they managed to get all linked they had to trade off which 6 rode. The new limit is 4.

Sadly, it's not embellished. They had a family group of 30+ people and were actually able to get DAS for several people in their group. One child was given it due to valid needs, extended family was upset they were getting that and wouldn't be able to ride together and didn't have to wait in the same lines, and several adults somehow convinced whoever that they too, needed accommodations.

Agreed …it is about a balance and you are right things have gotten way off center when we are taking groups of 20 with open ended return times (I really think that is one of the main issues with the current DAS is that unlike Genie plus - the DAS has no set time). So it’s all a gamble as to when that group of 20 or maybe several large DAS groups come back to ride all at the same time. Causing major slow down of the LL and then a related slow down of the standby.
And you are right, it’s really unfortunate for those who are set to vacation right as this is being implemented. I do feel for them… that said, there really would not be an ideal time to put this new system in place, Disney is busy all year now.

I understand, but I'd hope that people who have reservations could be allowed since it's happening fairly soon.

 

[SueM in MN]

Just finished with the chat.
Logged on at 6:00a PST / 9:00a EST
Waited about 30 mins for the chat
See below for details.

Take aways: we were able to still reserve 2 advance rides for the length of the trip. The DAS expires when the tickets do.
She informed us that the new 10 min rules will be in effect while we are there.

• Does your trip start before or after the 'new rules' date? If before, are all the days of your trip before?
• 5/21-5/24 (new rules)
• What kind of tickets? Did your ticket type require park reservations? Only date based tickets don't require reservations
• Date based tickets
• Does the person you did registration for fit into the category of developmental disability (autism or similar) that is listed on the website or some other issues/concerns with waiting in the regular lines? REMINDER: don't post specific diagnosis, symptoms or conditions, just 'yes' or 'other'
• Not a developmental disability.
• Did the person end up registered for DAS or other accommodations? If other accommodations, do they sound like they will meet the needs?
• Standard das

Thanks for your report!
From email replies I've seen that people got from Disability Services, it appears guests won't actually be registering under ALL the new rules until all the new procedures are in place.

The things I've seen have been that the number of guests limit and 10 minute wait after scanning into the LL entrance are in effect now for people registering. But, some of the procedures, like line re-entry and Rider Switch will not be fully in effect until May 20 for WDW and June 18 for DL

 

[SteveMouse]

My daughter has type 1 diabetes. I wonder if she would qualify still?

Disney has announced that the DAS is focused as an accommodation for individuals with developmental disabilities such as autism. DAS is not the only accommodation possible or available. There are other tools and approaches that Disney can offer. Hopefully, one or more of the tools Disney provides will be able to meet your child's needs.

I think everyone still has much to learn regarding how Disney's policy changes will affect people visiting the parks.

 

[krismom345]

Just finished with the chat.
Logged on at 6:00a PST / 9:00a EST
Waited about 30 mins for the chat
See below for details.

Take aways: we were able to still reserve 2 advance rides for the length of the trip. The DAS expires when the tickets do.
She informed us that the new 10 min rules will be in effect while we are there.

• Does your trip start before or after the 'new rules' date? If before, are all the days of your trip before?
• 5/21-5/24 (new rules)
• What kind of tickets? Did your ticket type require park reservations? Only date based tickets don't require reservations
• Date based tickets
• Does the person you did registration for fit into the category of developmental disability (autism or similar) that is listed on the website or some other issues/concerns with waiting in the regular lines? REMINDER: don't post specific diagnosis, symptoms or conditions, just 'yes' or 'other'
• Not a developmental disability.
• Did the person end up registered for DAS or other accommodations? If other accommodations, do they sound like they will meet the needs?
• Standard das

Odd question, but if I’m doing the interview on behalf of my adult son, (he will be in room and available for photo) do I need to be logged into his MDE account? (We are obviously connected as friends and family and will be traveling as a duo.

 

[starlite_]

Right now you can definitely use Rider Switch if you are using the LL via Genie+, I’ve done that many times, so it’s not limited to those who are using standby.

I never said Genie+ users couldn't use RS. I simply only spoke of standby and LL via DAS.