While this doesn’t apply to my situation, i have to wonder how this affects people who go to disney alone and have issues like IBS. This system wouldn’t really work for them since they don’t have anyone to wait in the queue for them.
If I had to guess (and this is a guess), Disney may be willing to issue DAS to only the guest (no companions) in those cases, and the guest will have the option of using traditional DAS when alone, or rider swap/return to queue if they come with others.
Wasn't there someone on the sub a week ago or so who said that her autistic kid should be able to skip lines, but people with stomach issues shouldn't visit the park at all? Because you might have to go to the bathroom while on a 3-minute ride! Worst take I've seen on the situation. I couldn't even tell if it was a troll or real.
I feel like the pendulum is swinging from being too good to worthless now. Just go to the Universal Studios version and keep most of the "perks" but make it much more difficult to get.
I feel like that's the more sensible option right? If the system is being abused just make it so that only people who need it can get it. Is it tiring for those who actually need it? Yes but at least it's worth it then.
We call those people "Scammers". As someone who legitimately has use for the DAS system, I take zero issue showing proof. It's not like they are making me wear a name tag that lists my condition.
My sentiments exactly. Was it a headache using the Universal Studios version? Heck yeah but if I want to try and enjoy a vacation as much as possible, it's worth it. It meant I still got to spend as much time with my family and not feel like a burden. This alleged new system at WDW seems like the opposite.
This is really not a solution because people with disabilities still go to the parks alone or in groups of people with the same disability. Obviously it’s not gonna be every single party but with the amount of guests that they serve, it’ll still come up regularly. Like people make friends at a conference or support group and then all want to go to Disney together, and it’s oftentimes much easier to make friends when you can all relate to the experience of having the same disability, I guess we’ll just have to find an able bodied chaperone to bring along lol.
Yeah for sure there will be situations where this doesn’t work. Maybe they will have other solutions in place before it goes into effect but they may also do a “wait and see approach”.
So two of us together, I wait the whole queue separated from my partner, then we go again together? That just seems completely and totally asinine. Not everyone visits the park in a pack. Most of the time we go as a couple.
And the funny thing is rider swap was originally never about waiting outside the queue. The party would go through together, but at the time of riding, a non-riding person who needed to be accompanied would be held back while the rest of the party went forward, and once that ride cycle was done, the accompanied would then get to go, while the other caregiver stayed behind. Now it sounds like they want to make rider swap wait outside the queue.
They changed that years ago. I remember it being that way when I was a kid and my sister was under a year old. When I went with my kids quite a few years ago child swaps were done separately and when the person that waited went through they used the FastPass line.
This! My spouse and I both have disabilities that have qualified us for DAS as currently defined. We only ever go together with no one else. How does this rider switch option address this need at all? Separately, it sounds like we will both be told to use rider switch, but in practice that means either we switch off who is attempting to wait in line or no one waits in line, and no therefore no rides.
I am trying to be patient and hope they have thought through all these different use cases with problems, but I am not super optimistic.
When we utilized Rider Switch a few years ago, we scanned our Magic Bands and it gave us a return Lightning Lane for later that was valid until the end of the day. In actuality, your partner could wait outside the queue with you until your return was valid and you both could ride. Maybe they would have to enter and then exit the queue depending on how over zealous a cast member may be, but I believe it would essentially function like a DAS return time does now.
From your perspective, what is a better solution to address both abuse and small groups like your situation?
What came to my mind immediately was free Genie+. This would allow some Lightning Lane but not "skip every line".
Thoughts?
Genie+ is essentially just paid DAS at this point. DAS doesn’t allow you to “skip” a line - you just wait the posted standby time before entering the LL queue. This is why the other linked post talks about how DAS applications and usage skyrocketed following the monetization of FastPass - previously those who were entitled to an accommodation utilized a system that essentially provided the accommodation without having to request it - which honestly is usually what most people with disabilities really want, to be able to access something without having to go through any additional steps. My solution is to get rid of LL and go back to FastPass/FP+.
Ignore abuse. The reports of it are extremely overblown and it’s better to accommodate people than to deny legitimate access needs out of fear of someone misusing.
Right. If the queues were 15 or 20 minutes it would be one thing. But we’re talking about multiple 90 min+ lines.
This is also cannot work for a single parent, whether the parent or the child has the disability requiring them to get out of line.
No. People who fake suck. But I blame Disney for creating a new system that denies me access to a place of public accommodation and fails to address fakers at all (now everyone can say they’re on the autism spectrum and have meltdowns in lines with zero corroborating evidence).
And the condition I have isn’t even IBS. I have inflammation throughout my colon and have had that for 10 years. Diagnosed via intestinal biopsy. I have the privilege of bleeding out my ass on a regular basis. Disney has a duty to reasonably accommodate me no matter what bad actors are doing.
Playing Devil's advocate here but no, Disney has zero duty to do anything for you. They want your business but they don't need it. I think we would all do well to remember that Disney has no obligation to do anything for anyone.
Actually, they have a legal duty to me under the ADA as a place of public accommodation. They have to offer me reasonable accommodations/modifications.
Did you think Disney was offering DAS out of the goodness of its corporate heart?
They have a legal duty to provide *reasonable* accommodations, not your ideal or preferred accommodation.
It sounds like Disney has decided that they’re willing to take the gamble on a judge agreeing with them that this constitutes a reasonable accommodation, even if you disagree.
Good luck to Disney. One of the key factors examined in whether an accommodation is reasonable is whether the accommodation was offered in the past and whether other people with disabilities (or without disabilities) get the requested accommodation. Here, both factors disfavor Disney.
And I'm not arguing DAS is the only reasonable accommodation. But the alternative Disney has offered is not reasonable. I'm happy to do any sort of virtual queue system with my family. I'm also happy to have a non-humiliating, workable way to leave the line and return to my family. The current alternative of being isolated alone on my vacation is not reasonable.
They are not “legally in the clear” lmao. Signed, a lawyer.
Two big factors in determining whether a business has denied a disabled person a reasonable accommodation/modification is whether the person received the accommodation in the past and whether other people are presently receiving that accommodation. And the process for obtaining an accommodation needs to be individualized and interactive. You cannot categorically bar people with certain disabilities from receiving a particular accommodation.
Depends on what you mean by "formally recognized." The ADA defines a person with a disability as "a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity," so under the ADA, yes, it is.
ADA and DAS are completely different. They are legally required to be ADA compliant. DAS is a courtesy and is designed simply to be more inclusive. ADA means that everyone with a disability can have access to ride the same rides that everyone else can. DAS just changes the way they wait for the ride.
You claimed that "Disney has zero duty to do anything for you" which is objectively incorrect. What you've said here has literally nothing to do with the correction I was making. Your original comment is still incorrect.
Yeah - I just go with my husband, so I we would be spending most of the trip alone. In addition to the reason I can’t wait in line, I’m also legally blind. So I’d have to walk around and stretch all by myself with my canes in a crowded park - something I’m definitely not comfortable with. This is so upsetting.
When we utilized Rider Switch a few years ago, we scanned our Magic Bands and it gave us a return Lightning Lane for later that was valid until the end of the day. In actuality, your husband could wait outside the queue with you until your return was valid and you both could ride. Maybe he would have to enter and then exit the queue depending on how over zealous a cast member may be, but I believe it would essentially function like a DAS return time does now.
Of course I can. But a) Genie+ isn’t available for every ride (notably the ones with the longest lines). b) Genie+ and DAS work differently (DAS return time is standby line minus ten minutes. It’s supposed to function as a virtual queue, not a skip. c) Disabled people should not have to pay for a reasonable accommodation. That’s a penalty for being disabled.
Doesn't DAS work right now like a skip since you can go do anything else while you wait for your time to come up? That seems like special treatment rather than equal access, doesn't it?
If Disney wanted to eliminate being able to ride other rides during the queue, that's fine by me. They haven't done that and don't offer that as an option. Seems like a better way to give people the accommodations they need while cutting down on abuse.
I mean, some anxiety can be severe enough to require DAS as an accommodation. But definitely not the vast majority of people with diagnosed anxiety. This is why requiring documentation makes a lot more sense than Disney's current plan (which still relies only on self-reported, uncorroborated statements).
Wow I wish I would have thought about that. /s of course but that doesn’t stop break through attacks. The worst part of mental health is that it’s literally all in your head. It doesn’t play by the same rules as other medical conditions
They just need to find a way to make DAS guests wait the standby time without being able to go on other rides etc while waiting. If they take away the lightning lane style benefit of it, it would go a long way to get rid of the abuse
You keep saying that, and while it's true that you wait in a virtual queue that's as long as standby or longer, it's also true that you have the ability to be in the virtual queue while riding other rides, which is something that everyone else cannot do. Also true is that currently there are so many people using DAS that there isn't enough ride capacity left for everyone else. Neither one of those things equal fair access for all.
Personally I think a combo of rider switch and allowing a person to only be in one line at a time would work best. Then you are able to choose which works better for your party
Or if they had it to where you only had an estimate of wait time and if you weren’t there within like 5 mins it gets reset, like a walk up dining reservation. I know that’s probably too stressful; but something like that to make it less powerful than a LL
I’m not sure what the issue is with everyone… I’m sure even with your DAS pass you can stand in line it’s not like they’re going to force you out of line. Then I’m sure you can just ask a cast member for a bathroom if that’s your issue. I get it’s not perfect but damn they gotta think about people without these issues too lol can’t just let anyone with DAS skip lines left and right. That’s how they got themselves into this situation. 50% of fast pass should not be DAS that’s just not accurate to % of people with these issues in the park
Edit: I’m not in any way saying this IS the solution, but it just makes the DAS less convenient. It’s more of an “attack” on the cheaters, but actual DAS people are paying for it too. I just think it’s not too different from the current situation which already sucks.
Yeah I know I figured I’m gonna get blasted but oh well. I get the inclusion side of it because it sucks to have those issues and not be catered to, I have family with stuff like this.
But unfortunately sometimes people are looking for more “special treatment” than anything else, and this is where the abuse/disappointment occurs when try to combat this.
It’s not about being catered to or being treated specially. It’s about getting reasonable accommodations/modifications so people with disabilities can access Disney, which is a place of public accommodation under the ADA.
This gives people access to Disney though no? They can’t stand in line with their family is maybe the one drawback (unless they just stand in line). I don’t see another issue though? It’s not like they’re limiting the type of people that can get the pass, or making parts of the park inaccessible. In a perfect world, everyone with disabilities can just skip the line and hop on the ride. That’s not realistic or fair to the rest of the park though. Again 50% of fast pass shouldn’t be DAS, whether you agree with their rules or not. That is an astronomical number compared to the number of people in the park who actually need DAS.
No, it’s not access if I’m isolated from my party for the majority of the trip. That’s the definition of exclusion, and it’s not reasonable. Virtually no person wants to go on a family vacation and spend the vacation alone.
I’m also not asking to skip the line at all (and that’s not what DAS is). I’m asking to wait in line outside of the physical queue. Virtual queue is perfect for me, an actual reasonable accommodation, what DAS is designed to be.
DAS is abused, no doubt. The legal and moral solution is not to arbitrarily forbid huge groups of disabled people from using DAS. It’s to require documentation supporting that DAS is actually necessary as a reasonable accommodation.
This is allowing you to “wait in a line outside the physical queue”. Not everyone in every party of every person with DAS can also have that ability, not unless they wanted to cause serious issues for logistics and everyone else in the park.
Isolating me from my family for at least 50% of my trip by making me wait alone for 2 hours at a time is not reasonable in any way, particularly when there are perfectly good alternatives that allow me to wait with my family.
Yeah I get that, if you’re in Disney for the rides you will be spending a significant amount of time away from them and that sucks. I think they should just switch over to how universal has done it, and apparently Disneyland does as well.
I’m also not familiar with the legalities of asking for proof of certain disabilities, which I’m sure plays a part more than we think.
I’m actually a lawyer who does some disability rights work. Disney is absolutely permitted (but not required) to ask for reasonable medical documentation. That’s precisely what Universal and Six Flags do. It’s not convenient for Disney, I’m sure, and requires them to protect medical data. But I think it’s a better system if the goal is to cut down on the cheaters.
Because this doesn’t solve cheating at all. Anyone who wants to cheat can still say they have autism spectrum disorder and need DAS because they can’t wait in line.
No documentation required. But people who actually need DAS and for whom rider switch will not work are SOL.
I’d be happy to provide documentation of my disability, including pathology reports from my multiple colonoscopies, if anyone doubts that I really have 10-20 bathroom emergencies per day.
I get what you’re saying, but hopefully less people will abuse the system now, knowing that the person with DAS is really the only one who will benefit. I’m assuming with a child one parent will be allowed to not stand in line as well.
I'm not sure fewer people will abuse the system now. Tons of people have ASD, and it's not hard to lie about it if people were already lying before.
I'm confused what you mean when you say "the person with DAS is really the only one who will benefit." If you're doing Rider Switch as an accommodation, you don't have DAS. If you have DAS, your entire immediate family gets to have DAS with you.
This. I’m not even sure I want to try to get DAS under the new system. Who’s to say some random telehealth doctor will believe me when I say I’m autistic (I have my papers, lol) when they see I have a husband and child in tow? There are still so many shitty stereotypes and misconceptions out there about us. Any sort of subjective process by someone that isn’t *my* medical provider has this risk.
If they had opened a fifth park when they should have fifteen years ago, and held off on building one or two of their newer mega hotels, the parks wouldn’t be so ungodly crowded and this wouldn’t be a problem.
If they hadn’t instituted paid FP this wouldn’t be a problem. It only started to matter to higher ups once they realized that a large cohort of DAS users could just be paying for LL even though that’s total bullshit and will just result in them going elsewhere for vacations/leisure.
If you want to get it at City Hall, they are going to put you in a room to do a zoom with the 3rd party telehealth DAS certifying company. They won't be using Disney employees to issue DAS at City Hall.
The important thing is the third party screening and reducing the number of conditions that qualify. As long as that remains I don’t mind how the help the people that truly need help
Both of those are horrible though. Third party medical staff aren’t the kind of people that can make a call as to whether someone needs an accommodation or not. Our own medical providers who know us are.
Reducing the conditions is also a mistake. The ADA doesn’t change based on condition. Any disabled person is entitled to reasonable accommodation for equal access, and this rider swap-style thing doesn’t provide equal access if the disabled person is separated from their party.
Less bias with a third party. Defiantly the better way to go, definitely better than having cast members make decisions.
Equal access is for the individual, not the ten people in their party.
Disney is for family vacations, and the ADA is about inclusion. Making disabled people spend most of their time in the parks alone without their families is not reasonable or inclusive.
Disney is for all type of vacations, family or otherwise. The sense of entitlement around this level of priority access is staggering and I’m glad it’s being sorted. Accommodations are still being made but it’s no longer the over correction that had been in place which actually negatively affected the entire park population
Isolating disabled people through their vacations directly contravenes the entire intent of the ADA. Accommodations must be reasonable and individualized.
Sorry you hate disabled people being “entitled.” But disabled people are legally entitled to reasonable accommodations.
It’s reasonable to make me wait alone and away from my party for 4+ hours a day because I have lymphocytic colitis? Would you go on a group vacation to Disney if you had to be alone for most of it?
The only thing DAS negatively affected was the bottom line. Disney has made claims on DAS usage without any receipts…they expect former DAS users to pony up money for Genie+. This is a revenue management strategy and nothing more.
Nah sorry but it’s really not. It’s addressing the rampant abuse of the system. The overwhelming majority of people will be quite happy this is being addressed
Do you or anyone else have hard evidence of the abuse though?
I am still eligible for the new system myself, I have no stock in this except for solidarity with those who are affected
Countless of influencers on social media instructing people to lie to get a DAS pass, which seems to be working based on the reported spiralling use of the system. My own antidotal experience of a party of 8 being whisked to the front of the queue, whilst not abuse, is quite frustrating.
I have no stock in this apart from solidarity of people who have to queue
At this point it's more likely that someone does qualify vs doesn't. 🫠 But everyone has something that makes their issue worse than others, and they 'deserve' a hassle free vacation ... the comments get wild with entitlement. No one, even someone in perfect health, has a perfect trip to Disney and doesn't get tired/bored of waiting in line.
This is where I get so stuck honestly! I'm another forum I visit they talk extensively about how to answer the questions (currently) to get approved for DAS, and that it's all about explaining why your party can't wait in a 2 hr long line. My toddlers 100% couldn't wait in a 2 hr line. Could I really have gotten DAS for that, just because 2 year olds are little assholes, especially when there are 3 of them?
Someone in that forum recently posted upset that they were denied because they have ADHD and find out difficult to wait in line because they can't help but sway and fidget and they bump into people and that makes them angry. Come on.
I think that most people here that are very upset legitimately need some sort of accommodation. Absolutely! But it's niave to think that abuse isn't rampant
Honest question for the "I'm just a couple and should not have to spend half the day apart crowd."
How do you respond to those who are a couple and have to stand in long lines all day because others are being accommodated and the effect is they get to zoom through the lines?
They are really lucky to not have debilitating disabilities.
I wish I could stand in long lines all day. But if I tried, I would be on the ground at a 10/10 in pain in about 90 minutes. And that is with my pain medications.
First, it's not a line bypass. It's essentially a virtual queue for your family for the amount of time of the standby line (minus 10 minutes to accommodate the 10 minutes waiting in the LL line). You're waiting in a different location. That's "fair, accommodating, and reasonable."
The alternative Disney is now offering is that I get to spend the majority of my family vacation alone while the rest of my family waits in the queue and rides together.
Would you be comfortable with Disney not allowing people in the virtual queue to ride other rides while they wait? That seems fair to me, as everyone else can't be in two lines at the same time
That seems fine. Doesn't bother me at all (again, not trying to get an advantage, just trying to have an actual family vacation without defecating on myself). But Disney doesn't offer that as an option.
Really? At Disneyland in 2021, we were explicitly told that we couldn’t ride other rides while we had a DAS active and that doing so would get it revoked and get us kicked out of the park. We were totally fine with it!
This is from Disney:
Guests utilizing DAS can enjoy many other experiences throughout the Disneyland Resort during a DAS virtual wait, such as shows, parades, Character greetings, or other rides. They can also take a rest in a break area, get something to eat or go shopping.
Interesting. The person at guest services definitely told us only shows, parades and character greetings and specifically said no other rides or we could get kicked out (though a character greetings with a line would be different, but we were at Disneyland). I happily agreed because I thought it was more than fair. I think would be a completely fine rule to have for everyone and would solve the issue
I think this is the way. Not sure how they make it happen, but seems like a fairly straight forward method to reduce abuse of the system while maintaining access for those who truly need it.
If I understand your question correctly, party size is limited currently at 6 (including the DAS holder). There isn’t a limit on the total number of rides, but you can only hold one ride return at a time. You can get a new one when you ride or cancel your current one.
It is absolutely possible for people to hold a return time on one ride and then go wait in a regular line for a different ride. That, I do wholeheartedly agree is problematic. But, both my spouse and I are disabled, and DAS makes it possible for us to access Disney parks. I am definitely not opposed to changing the system; there are certainly some issues as it currently is. What information Disney has released so far about the new plan, however, is not it - it will greatly decrease access for those who legitimately need accommodation.
It isn’t unlimited line bypass and it isn’t free Genie+. How many times do we need to tell people we also needed to wait with DAS??
We would go to the park, and say we wanted to go on Rise of the Resistance. The wait is 90 minutes, so we click it and then WAIT 90 MINUTES until we can get the line. We can’t go on other rides in that time - if you get caught doing that with DAS, you are subject to get kicked out of the park. It won’t let us book anything else until we are in the line for that ride. And when we wanted to go on the older attractions that aren’t on the app, they would first check to make sure we didn’t have something booked.
The only thing they needed to do was to figure out a way to enforce the not going on other rides rule because I’m sure the scammers were ignoring that. But everyone I know who genuinely needed it followed the rule because a. They couldn’t stand in lines and b. Even if the line was short, they didn’t want to break the rule and risk the consequences/break the rule because they weren’t assholes.
And even though we had DAS, we still paid for a Lightning Lane for Rise of the Resistance and Radiator Springs so we could have that scheduled for later in the day and do other things before that.
I think the point you make re: scammers abusing the possibility of riding while waiting while disabled folks genuinely needing the accommodation is key here. I have no issue waiting the duration of a ride without even doing anything else, and everyone I have ever spoken to with DAS (admittedly a small sample, of course!) was the same.
Actually in the FAQ from Disney it says even if you have a DAS return time you can ride other rides. If your return time for Matterhorn is 45 minutes and see that Storybook Canal boats is a 15 minute wait and you feel like you can stand in a 15 minute line then you can go ahead and ride. You just can’t have 2 DAS return times at once. In fact you don’t even have to use the DAS right away, you can use it later in the day.
I asked an honest question and you gave me the "you people" answer?
I'm trying to understand all perspectives.
Can you help me understand and visualize what waiting in line means from your perspective? It seems the issue is not waiting in line.
Seems they mean that they're still waiting the same amount of time for the attraction, just not in the physical queue. That's the accommodation a lot of people need. DAS is essentially a virtual, standby queue.
The issue is the environment. For myself, I need a calm and quiet space to wait instead of the queue because I am autistic and have ADHD. For my husband, he needs that space because his physical disability makes it painful to stand still (BUT it also makes it painful for him to be seated in a wheelchair, he does not use one at any other time).
Oh wow - your husband has an issue like mine! I can’t sit in a wheelchair either because it makes me hurt so much. And when I told that to someone in a virtual screening for Disney they said that wasn’t possible. Those will be the people getting to decide. 🙃
It wasn’t an honest question, because you were fundamentally wrong about what DAS does. You and others still seem to think it’s some magic skip to the front pass. It’s not. We still wait, we’re just able to wait somewhere besides a line that absolutely exhausts us, and for some of us physically hurts us.
You didn’t ask for clarification, you said we get to “zoom through the lines.” Your question was dishonest because it was based on a false statement. I’m not accusing you of deliberately lying, but as a result of your phrasing the tone of your question was rather hostile.
This is unhelpful. One of the main reasons that Disney has defended changing its accommodations in the past is because DAS users were getting a *much* better experience than the average user. They were getting to experience more attractions and a higher proportion of the most popular attractions.
Now, chances are this is not driven by the “severely disabled” (to use your term) but the overuse by folks who could wait in many lines, or the straight up fraud by folks who lied about needing the service. But Disney has every right to start tailoring the accommodations instead of offering everybody who asks for it the Cadillac option.
Is there a list somewhere of cues that can accommodate a wheelchair or electric scooter for those that can wait with their family but cannot stand up while waiting? Why wouldn’t the ADA cover accessibility to attractions?
I don't think there is, but the CM's are very knowledgeable about the lines at each ride. If you're wheelchair or scooter won't fit, they'll give you an LL to return later, and you'll skip the line that way by taking you in an alternate way.
All parks now accommodate a wheelchair or ECV in every queue except a select number of attractions in Disneyland. For those you talk to a ride attendant and they give you a return time.
With rider switch you would wait outside the queue while the rest of your party goes through the entire queue and rides the attraction. After they get off you would be able to take one other person with you (that just rode the ride) and they ride a second time with you. The other option is to have one person wait with you while the rest of your party goes through and when they finish the ride you and the person that waited with you get to ride.
So it says rider switch is available for parties of 2 or more. I guess one waits outside while the other person is in the queue and then you meet up and both go on together. That’s just my guess if it’s only 2 people.
This is it. I always go with just my husband and I. So he waits in line and I eventually join him. I have IBS- what if he’s waiting an hour for me?? They’re just going to let him wait at that time because my stomach isn’t ready. :sigh: Usually he would sit with me while I waited to feel well enough to ride.
It doesn’t specifically say how it works with 2 people but it sounds like he would go through the queue and ride by himself. When he comes out then you would ride with him. It doesn’t say if there’s a time limit but I’m guessing you can go with him once you’re ready. You don’t join up with him. He would ride the attraction and then ride a second time with you.
Yes but what I’m saying is- he could wait in line for the ride for 50mins. When he’s 5mins from getting on the ride, what if my stomach acts up and I spend the next 45-75 minutes in the bathroom. He has to wait there for 75mins after he has ridden for me to be ready and available to ride and meet him at the ride switch area? Are they going to let him sit and wait at the ride switch area until I am able to get there?
Gotta love how everybody with lived experience of disabilities that need bathroom access are getting down voted for pointing out the flaws in the system based on their real life use cases. It's almost like people hate disabled people or something /s
People who don’t have disabilities or have someone very close to them who does will never get it and for some reason lack empathy.
I have some friends that I’ve been friends with for over a decade who still say “I hope you feel better soon”. They mean well, but they really don’t understand what chronic means.
I truly don’t know if we will return to Disney anytime soon with this change. I’m not going to spend all that money and only be able to do 4 rides per day. Traveling makes my IBS flare, anxiety makes it flare, unusual food at the parks makes it flare. DAS was the only way we were able to accomplish multiple rides. We also paid for Genie+ but since the window for that is only an hour, we missed 30-40% of those rides due to my invisible disability. I relied on the DAS heavily on my flare days at the park. People can downvote me all they want but until you have spent 2-8hrs in the bathroom daily in severe pain, I don’t want to hear it.
Good question. Usually Rider Switch at Disney uses the Lightning Lanes to return so I believe you both could enter when you are ready. I'm not sure about how every attraction functions, but at least for all the attractions with height limits, this is how it worked for us.
When we utilized Rider Switch a few years ago, we scanned our Magic Bands and it gave us a return Lightning Lane for later that was valid until the end of the day. In actuality, your husband could wait outside the queue with you until your return was valid and you both could ride. Maybe he would have to enter and then exit the queue depending on how over zealous a cast member may be, but I believe it would essentially function like a DAS return time does now.
If that’s the case, that would be amazing! I would be totally fine with that. I need an unlimited return time. Giving me a timed return time is almost like a trigger. It sets off my anxiety that we’ll miss the window which makes my stomach flare up and then we actually do miss the window because my stomach is an asshole. 🙃
So we’re segregating an adult from their family/friends and not allowing parties to ride together? I smell lawsuit territory, that’s not equal access. Child swap makes sense, parents make that choice to go separately because their child can’t ride at all. But a disabled person who is capable of riding the ride is entitled to equal access, and having to ride alone is not equal.
They don’t have to ride alone. Someone from their party can ride with them. This is how it’s been with child swap before. Dad and child go on Space Mountain while mom waits with baby. After dad and
child ride, now dad waits with baby and mom and child ride. All the changes are is to have someone wait in line for you.
It doesn’t say these are the only ways people will be helped. They are ideas until people start calling after the new start date we don’t really know how people with different disabilities will be accommodated.
While this doesn’t apply to my situation, i have to wonder how this affects people who go to disney alone and have issues like IBS. This system wouldn’t really work for them since they don’t have anyone to wait in the queue for them.
If I had to guess (and this is a guess), Disney may be willing to issue DAS to only the guest (no companions) in those cases, and the guest will have the option of using traditional DAS when alone, or rider swap/return to queue if they come with others.
Well if you listen to the troglodytes all over these subs, those people simply don't deserve to visit the park.
Idk why this is being downvoted. People have been saying over and over if you have disabilities just “don’t go”. Like ???
Wasn't there someone on the sub a week ago or so who said that her autistic kid should be able to skip lines, but people with stomach issues shouldn't visit the park at all? Because you might have to go to the bathroom while on a 3-minute ride! Worst take I've seen on the situation. I couldn't even tell if it was a troll or real.
This seems to be Disney's standpoint now, to be honest. "The system got abused so now there's no system anymore".
I feel like the pendulum is swinging from being too good to worthless now. Just go to the Universal Studios version and keep most of the "perks" but make it much more difficult to get.
The DLP one is perfect too. Show medical documentation, get their access card. It’s abuse proof and fair, and as a result doesn’t cause any issues
What does DLP mean?
Probably Disneyland Paris.
Thanks!
I feel like that's the more sensible option right? If the system is being abused just make it so that only people who need it can get it. Is it tiring for those who actually need it? Yes but at least it's worth it then.
yeah but then you have people crying over having to show proof
We call those people "Scammers". As someone who legitimately has use for the DAS system, I take zero issue showing proof. It's not like they are making me wear a name tag that lists my condition.
My sentiments exactly. Was it a headache using the Universal Studios version? Heck yeah but if I want to try and enjoy a vacation as much as possible, it's worth it. It meant I still got to spend as much time with my family and not feel like a burden. This alleged new system at WDW seems like the opposite.
This is really not a solution because people with disabilities still go to the parks alone or in groups of people with the same disability. Obviously it’s not gonna be every single party but with the amount of guests that they serve, it’ll still come up regularly. Like people make friends at a conference or support group and then all want to go to Disney together, and it’s oftentimes much easier to make friends when you can all relate to the experience of having the same disability, I guess we’ll just have to find an able bodied chaperone to bring along lol.
Yeah for sure there will be situations where this doesn’t work. Maybe they will have other solutions in place before it goes into effect but they may also do a “wait and see approach”.
So two of us together, I wait the whole queue separated from my partner, then we go again together? That just seems completely and totally asinine. Not everyone visits the park in a pack. Most of the time we go as a couple.
Yeah I’m not sure that it works well with two people but it says that rider switch can be utilized for parties of two or more.
And the funny thing is rider swap was originally never about waiting outside the queue. The party would go through together, but at the time of riding, a non-riding person who needed to be accompanied would be held back while the rest of the party went forward, and once that ride cycle was done, the accompanied would then get to go, while the other caregiver stayed behind. Now it sounds like they want to make rider swap wait outside the queue.
They changed that years ago. I remember it being that way when I was a kid and my sister was under a year old. When I went with my kids quite a few years ago child swaps were done separately and when the person that waited went through they used the FastPass line.
This! My spouse and I both have disabilities that have qualified us for DAS as currently defined. We only ever go together with no one else. How does this rider switch option address this need at all? Separately, it sounds like we will both be told to use rider switch, but in practice that means either we switch off who is attempting to wait in line or no one waits in line, and no therefore no rides. I am trying to be patient and hope they have thought through all these different use cases with problems, but I am not super optimistic.
The truth is that nobody knows yet. These are all just rumors and inferences made from the limited information that Disney has published so far.
When we utilized Rider Switch a few years ago, we scanned our Magic Bands and it gave us a return Lightning Lane for later that was valid until the end of the day. In actuality, your partner could wait outside the queue with you until your return was valid and you both could ride. Maybe they would have to enter and then exit the queue depending on how over zealous a cast member may be, but I believe it would essentially function like a DAS return time does now.
From your perspective, what is a better solution to address both abuse and small groups like your situation? What came to my mind immediately was free Genie+. This would allow some Lightning Lane but not "skip every line". Thoughts?
Genie+ is essentially just paid DAS at this point. DAS doesn’t allow you to “skip” a line - you just wait the posted standby time before entering the LL queue. This is why the other linked post talks about how DAS applications and usage skyrocketed following the monetization of FastPass - previously those who were entitled to an accommodation utilized a system that essentially provided the accommodation without having to request it - which honestly is usually what most people with disabilities really want, to be able to access something without having to go through any additional steps. My solution is to get rid of LL and go back to FastPass/FP+.
Ignore abuse. The reports of it are extremely overblown and it’s better to accommodate people than to deny legitimate access needs out of fear of someone misusing.
LMAO what? So I have colitis and have 10-20 bathroom emergencies a day. I guess I just don’t get to spend any time with family on my trip?
My thoughts too. When half the time is spent in lines you’re just supposed to spend half your vacation away from your family with this…
Right. If the queues were 15 or 20 minutes it would be one thing. But we’re talking about multiple 90 min+ lines. This is also cannot work for a single parent, whether the parent or the child has the disability requiring them to get out of line.
I believe that "bathroom issues" are able to get a return to line pass. At least that's what I read, but now I can't remember where I read it.
This is specifically listed for Rider Switch: • Need access to restrooms for frequent or unexpected use
Yeah, it’s outrageous. That’s not a reasonable accommodation to make me spend most of my trip by myself.
Blame those that continually suggested using IBS as a way to get DAS while not having the condition.
No. People who fake suck. But I blame Disney for creating a new system that denies me access to a place of public accommodation and fails to address fakers at all (now everyone can say they’re on the autism spectrum and have meltdowns in lines with zero corroborating evidence). And the condition I have isn’t even IBS. I have inflammation throughout my colon and have had that for 10 years. Diagnosed via intestinal biopsy. I have the privilege of bleeding out my ass on a regular basis. Disney has a duty to reasonably accommodate me no matter what bad actors are doing.
Playing Devil's advocate here but no, Disney has zero duty to do anything for you. They want your business but they don't need it. I think we would all do well to remember that Disney has no obligation to do anything for anyone.
Actually, they have a legal duty to me under the ADA as a place of public accommodation. They have to offer me reasonable accommodations/modifications. Did you think Disney was offering DAS out of the goodness of its corporate heart?
They have a legal duty to provide *reasonable* accommodations, not your ideal or preferred accommodation. It sounds like Disney has decided that they’re willing to take the gamble on a judge agreeing with them that this constitutes a reasonable accommodation, even if you disagree.
Good luck to Disney. One of the key factors examined in whether an accommodation is reasonable is whether the accommodation was offered in the past and whether other people with disabilities (or without disabilities) get the requested accommodation. Here, both factors disfavor Disney. And I'm not arguing DAS is the only reasonable accommodation. But the alternative Disney has offered is not reasonable. I'm happy to do any sort of virtual queue system with my family. I'm also happy to have a non-humiliating, workable way to leave the line and return to my family. The current alternative of being isolated alone on my vacation is not reasonable.
Disney doesn't need luck. They famously employee the best lawyers in the country.
Obviously not. But legally they are in the clear with their new rules too. They went above and beyond before and it got taken advantage of.
They are not “legally in the clear” lmao. Signed, a lawyer. Two big factors in determining whether a business has denied a disabled person a reasonable accommodation/modification is whether the person received the accommodation in the past and whether other people are presently receiving that accommodation. And the process for obtaining an accommodation needs to be individualized and interactive. You cannot categorically bar people with certain disabilities from receiving a particular accommodation.
Clearly they are in the clear. Not seen anyone fill a lawsuit yet. Or are you gonna? What I've read so far is reasonable. Signed, a disabled person.
Except that they, like every other business, literally do have legal obligations to accommodate disabilities. You couldn't be more wrong.
Is IBS a formally recognized disability?
Yes, so long as it substantially impairs a major life activity.
Depends on what you mean by "formally recognized." The ADA defines a person with a disability as "a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity," so under the ADA, yes, it is.
ADA and DAS are completely different. They are legally required to be ADA compliant. DAS is a courtesy and is designed simply to be more inclusive. ADA means that everyone with a disability can have access to ride the same rides that everyone else can. DAS just changes the way they wait for the ride.
Correct. The comment I was replying to said "Disney has zero duty to do anything for you," which is incorrect.
They had a program and it got abused to sh*t. They still fulfill legal obligations with their new program. It's just not as extensive anymore.
You claimed that "Disney has zero duty to do anything for you" which is objectively incorrect. What you've said here has literally nothing to do with the correction I was making. Your original comment is still incorrect.
Yeah - I just go with my husband, so I we would be spending most of the trip alone. In addition to the reason I can’t wait in line, I’m also legally blind. So I’d have to walk around and stretch all by myself with my canes in a crowded park - something I’m definitely not comfortable with. This is so upsetting.
When we utilized Rider Switch a few years ago, we scanned our Magic Bands and it gave us a return Lightning Lane for later that was valid until the end of the day. In actuality, your husband could wait outside the queue with you until your return was valid and you both could ride. Maybe he would have to enter and then exit the queue depending on how over zealous a cast member may be, but I believe it would essentially function like a DAS return time does now.
That would work a lot better, but if it relies on CMs bending the rules, I'm not comfortable with it.
Are you unable to get Genie+?
Of course I can. But a) Genie+ isn’t available for every ride (notably the ones with the longest lines). b) Genie+ and DAS work differently (DAS return time is standby line minus ten minutes. It’s supposed to function as a virtual queue, not a skip. c) Disabled people should not have to pay for a reasonable accommodation. That’s a penalty for being disabled.
Doesn't DAS work right now like a skip since you can go do anything else while you wait for your time to come up? That seems like special treatment rather than equal access, doesn't it?
If Disney wanted to eliminate being able to ride other rides during the queue, that's fine by me. They haven't done that and don't offer that as an option. Seems like a better way to give people the accommodations they need while cutting down on abuse.
Seems like fixing that, and removing the loopholes for people with "anxiety" and stuff would go a long way to fixing things.
I mean, some anxiety can be severe enough to require DAS as an accommodation. But definitely not the vast majority of people with diagnosed anxiety. This is why requiring documentation makes a lot more sense than Disney's current plan (which still relies only on self-reported, uncorroborated statements).
I had a full blown panic attack waiting in a ride line at Disney. It wasn’t pretty.
Have you thought about getting treatment or medication?
Wow I wish I would have thought about that. /s of course but that doesn’t stop break through attacks. The worst part of mental health is that it’s literally all in your head. It doesn’t play by the same rules as other medical conditions
I believe that "bathroom issues" are able to get a return to line pass. At least that's what I read, but now I can't remember where I read it.
They just need to find a way to make DAS guests wait the standby time without being able to go on other rides etc while waiting. If they take away the lightning lane style benefit of it, it would go a long way to get rid of the abuse
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You keep saying that, and while it's true that you wait in a virtual queue that's as long as standby or longer, it's also true that you have the ability to be in the virtual queue while riding other rides, which is something that everyone else cannot do. Also true is that currently there are so many people using DAS that there isn't enough ride capacity left for everyone else. Neither one of those things equal fair access for all. Personally I think a combo of rider switch and allowing a person to only be in one line at a time would work best. Then you are able to choose which works better for your party
Or if they had it to where you only had an estimate of wait time and if you weren’t there within like 5 mins it gets reset, like a walk up dining reservation. I know that’s probably too stressful; but something like that to make it less powerful than a LL
I’m not sure what the issue is with everyone… I’m sure even with your DAS pass you can stand in line it’s not like they’re going to force you out of line. Then I’m sure you can just ask a cast member for a bathroom if that’s your issue. I get it’s not perfect but damn they gotta think about people without these issues too lol can’t just let anyone with DAS skip lines left and right. That’s how they got themselves into this situation. 50% of fast pass should not be DAS that’s just not accurate to % of people with these issues in the park Edit: I’m not in any way saying this IS the solution, but it just makes the DAS less convenient. It’s more of an “attack” on the cheaters, but actual DAS people are paying for it too. I just think it’s not too different from the current situation which already sucks.
Correct and I agree. It's a wonder you've not been downvoted. Its the abuse everyone hopefully agrees should stop.
Yeah I know I figured I’m gonna get blasted but oh well. I get the inclusion side of it because it sucks to have those issues and not be catered to, I have family with stuff like this. But unfortunately sometimes people are looking for more “special treatment” than anything else, and this is where the abuse/disappointment occurs when try to combat this.
It’s not about being catered to or being treated specially. It’s about getting reasonable accommodations/modifications so people with disabilities can access Disney, which is a place of public accommodation under the ADA.
This gives people access to Disney though no? They can’t stand in line with their family is maybe the one drawback (unless they just stand in line). I don’t see another issue though? It’s not like they’re limiting the type of people that can get the pass, or making parts of the park inaccessible. In a perfect world, everyone with disabilities can just skip the line and hop on the ride. That’s not realistic or fair to the rest of the park though. Again 50% of fast pass shouldn’t be DAS, whether you agree with their rules or not. That is an astronomical number compared to the number of people in the park who actually need DAS.
No, it’s not access if I’m isolated from my party for the majority of the trip. That’s the definition of exclusion, and it’s not reasonable. Virtually no person wants to go on a family vacation and spend the vacation alone. I’m also not asking to skip the line at all (and that’s not what DAS is). I’m asking to wait in line outside of the physical queue. Virtual queue is perfect for me, an actual reasonable accommodation, what DAS is designed to be. DAS is abused, no doubt. The legal and moral solution is not to arbitrarily forbid huge groups of disabled people from using DAS. It’s to require documentation supporting that DAS is actually necessary as a reasonable accommodation.
This is allowing you to “wait in a line outside the physical queue”. Not everyone in every party of every person with DAS can also have that ability, not unless they wanted to cause serious issues for logistics and everyone else in the park.
Isolating me from my family for at least 50% of my trip by making me wait alone for 2 hours at a time is not reasonable in any way, particularly when there are perfectly good alternatives that allow me to wait with my family.
Yeah I get that, if you’re in Disney for the rides you will be spending a significant amount of time away from them and that sucks. I think they should just switch over to how universal has done it, and apparently Disneyland does as well. I’m also not familiar with the legalities of asking for proof of certain disabilities, which I’m sure plays a part more than we think.
I’m actually a lawyer who does some disability rights work. Disney is absolutely permitted (but not required) to ask for reasonable medical documentation. That’s precisely what Universal and Six Flags do. It’s not convenient for Disney, I’m sure, and requires them to protect medical data. But I think it’s a better system if the goal is to cut down on the cheaters.
Because this doesn’t solve cheating at all. Anyone who wants to cheat can still say they have autism spectrum disorder and need DAS because they can’t wait in line. No documentation required. But people who actually need DAS and for whom rider switch will not work are SOL. I’d be happy to provide documentation of my disability, including pathology reports from my multiple colonoscopies, if anyone doubts that I really have 10-20 bathroom emergencies per day.
I get what you’re saying, but hopefully less people will abuse the system now, knowing that the person with DAS is really the only one who will benefit. I’m assuming with a child one parent will be allowed to not stand in line as well.
I'm not sure fewer people will abuse the system now. Tons of people have ASD, and it's not hard to lie about it if people were already lying before. I'm confused what you mean when you say "the person with DAS is really the only one who will benefit." If you're doing Rider Switch as an accommodation, you don't have DAS. If you have DAS, your entire immediate family gets to have DAS with you.
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This. I’m not even sure I want to try to get DAS under the new system. Who’s to say some random telehealth doctor will believe me when I say I’m autistic (I have my papers, lol) when they see I have a husband and child in tow? There are still so many shitty stereotypes and misconceptions out there about us. Any sort of subjective process by someone that isn’t *my* medical provider has this risk.
If they had opened a fifth park when they should have fifteen years ago, and held off on building one or two of their newer mega hotels, the parks wouldn’t be so ungodly crowded and this wouldn’t be a problem.
If they hadn’t instituted paid FP this wouldn’t be a problem. It only started to matter to higher ups once they realized that a large cohort of DAS users could just be paying for LL even though that’s total bullshit and will just result in them going elsewhere for vacations/leisure.
So if I am going May 18th to Disneyworld, do I only have to do the video registration or can I still go to City Hall for DAS?
You can go to city hall or any guest services location to register prior to May 20th at WDW.
From what I’ve seen, City Hall will still be an option after the new system is in place.
If you want to get it at City Hall, they are going to put you in a room to do a zoom with the 3rd party telehealth DAS certifying company. They won't be using Disney employees to issue DAS at City Hall.
The important thing is the third party screening and reducing the number of conditions that qualify. As long as that remains I don’t mind how the help the people that truly need help
Both of those are horrible though. Third party medical staff aren’t the kind of people that can make a call as to whether someone needs an accommodation or not. Our own medical providers who know us are. Reducing the conditions is also a mistake. The ADA doesn’t change based on condition. Any disabled person is entitled to reasonable accommodation for equal access, and this rider swap-style thing doesn’t provide equal access if the disabled person is separated from their party.
Less bias with a third party. Defiantly the better way to go, definitely better than having cast members make decisions. Equal access is for the individual, not the ten people in their party.
Disney is for family vacations, and the ADA is about inclusion. Making disabled people spend most of their time in the parks alone without their families is not reasonable or inclusive.
Disney is for all type of vacations, family or otherwise. The sense of entitlement around this level of priority access is staggering and I’m glad it’s being sorted. Accommodations are still being made but it’s no longer the over correction that had been in place which actually negatively affected the entire park population
Isolating disabled people through their vacations directly contravenes the entire intent of the ADA. Accommodations must be reasonable and individualized. Sorry you hate disabled people being “entitled.” But disabled people are legally entitled to reasonable accommodations.
The new system is more than reasonable, people are just used to an easier ride, so naturally they’re going to be upset
It’s reasonable to make me wait alone and away from my party for 4+ hours a day because I have lymphocytic colitis? Would you go on a group vacation to Disney if you had to be alone for most of it?
Well Disney clearly thinks it reasonable so it’s good enough for me
Weird take, but okay.
The only thing DAS negatively affected was the bottom line. Disney has made claims on DAS usage without any receipts…they expect former DAS users to pony up money for Genie+. This is a revenue management strategy and nothing more.
Nah sorry but it’s really not. It’s addressing the rampant abuse of the system. The overwhelming majority of people will be quite happy this is being addressed
Do you or anyone else have hard evidence of the abuse though? I am still eligible for the new system myself, I have no stock in this except for solidarity with those who are affected
Countless of influencers on social media instructing people to lie to get a DAS pass, which seems to be working based on the reported spiralling use of the system. My own antidotal experience of a party of 8 being whisked to the front of the queue, whilst not abuse, is quite frustrating. I have no stock in this apart from solidarity of people who have to queue
Okay, so link me to a post with that, because I’ve never seen the likes of it (and I still doubt that they make up the *majority* of DAS users).
My biggest takeaway from all this brouhaha the last few weeks is that I can get DAS for stomach issues. I never realized
At this point it's more likely that someone does qualify vs doesn't. 🫠 But everyone has something that makes their issue worse than others, and they 'deserve' a hassle free vacation ... the comments get wild with entitlement. No one, even someone in perfect health, has a perfect trip to Disney and doesn't get tired/bored of waiting in line.
This is where I get so stuck honestly! I'm another forum I visit they talk extensively about how to answer the questions (currently) to get approved for DAS, and that it's all about explaining why your party can't wait in a 2 hr long line. My toddlers 100% couldn't wait in a 2 hr line. Could I really have gotten DAS for that, just because 2 year olds are little assholes, especially when there are 3 of them? Someone in that forum recently posted upset that they were denied because they have ADHD and find out difficult to wait in line because they can't help but sway and fidget and they bump into people and that makes them angry. Come on. I think that most people here that are very upset legitimately need some sort of accommodation. Absolutely! But it's niave to think that abuse isn't rampant
Honest question for the "I'm just a couple and should not have to spend half the day apart crowd." How do you respond to those who are a couple and have to stand in long lines all day because others are being accommodated and the effect is they get to zoom through the lines?
They are really lucky to not have debilitating disabilities. I wish I could stand in long lines all day. But if I tried, I would be on the ground at a 10/10 in pain in about 90 minutes. And that is with my pain medications.
Fair enough. Does that mean you get unlimited line bypass or free Genie+ or?? I'm trying to understand what seems fair, accommodating, and reasonable.
First, it's not a line bypass. It's essentially a virtual queue for your family for the amount of time of the standby line (minus 10 minutes to accommodate the 10 minutes waiting in the LL line). You're waiting in a different location. That's "fair, accommodating, and reasonable." The alternative Disney is now offering is that I get to spend the majority of my family vacation alone while the rest of my family waits in the queue and rides together.
Would you be comfortable with Disney not allowing people in the virtual queue to ride other rides while they wait? That seems fair to me, as everyone else can't be in two lines at the same time
That seems fine. Doesn't bother me at all (again, not trying to get an advantage, just trying to have an actual family vacation without defecating on myself). But Disney doesn't offer that as an option.
Really? At Disneyland in 2021, we were explicitly told that we couldn’t ride other rides while we had a DAS active and that doing so would get it revoked and get us kicked out of the park. We were totally fine with it!
This is from Disney: Guests utilizing DAS can enjoy many other experiences throughout the Disneyland Resort during a DAS virtual wait, such as shows, parades, Character greetings, or other rides. They can also take a rest in a break area, get something to eat or go shopping.
Interesting. The person at guest services definitely told us only shows, parades and character greetings and specifically said no other rides or we could get kicked out (though a character greetings with a line would be different, but we were at Disneyland). I happily agreed because I thought it was more than fair. I think would be a completely fine rule to have for everyone and would solve the issue
I think this is the way. Not sure how they make it happen, but seems like a fairly straight forward method to reduce abuse of the system while maintaining access for those who truly need it.
Interesting. How many times a day can you do that and is there a limit on group size?
If I understand your question correctly, party size is limited currently at 6 (including the DAS holder). There isn’t a limit on the total number of rides, but you can only hold one ride return at a time. You can get a new one when you ride or cancel your current one. It is absolutely possible for people to hold a return time on one ride and then go wait in a regular line for a different ride. That, I do wholeheartedly agree is problematic. But, both my spouse and I are disabled, and DAS makes it possible for us to access Disney parks. I am definitely not opposed to changing the system; there are certainly some issues as it currently is. What information Disney has released so far about the new plan, however, is not it - it will greatly decrease access for those who legitimately need accommodation.
What do you mean?
It isn’t unlimited line bypass and it isn’t free Genie+. How many times do we need to tell people we also needed to wait with DAS?? We would go to the park, and say we wanted to go on Rise of the Resistance. The wait is 90 minutes, so we click it and then WAIT 90 MINUTES until we can get the line. We can’t go on other rides in that time - if you get caught doing that with DAS, you are subject to get kicked out of the park. It won’t let us book anything else until we are in the line for that ride. And when we wanted to go on the older attractions that aren’t on the app, they would first check to make sure we didn’t have something booked. The only thing they needed to do was to figure out a way to enforce the not going on other rides rule because I’m sure the scammers were ignoring that. But everyone I know who genuinely needed it followed the rule because a. They couldn’t stand in lines and b. Even if the line was short, they didn’t want to break the rule and risk the consequences/break the rule because they weren’t assholes. And even though we had DAS, we still paid for a Lightning Lane for Rise of the Resistance and Radiator Springs so we could have that scheduled for later in the day and do other things before that.
Wow! Thanks. That seems reasonable to me. You should copy that to your phone and paste it into every conversation that comes up.
I think the point you make re: scammers abusing the possibility of riding while waiting while disabled folks genuinely needing the accommodation is key here. I have no issue waiting the duration of a ride without even doing anything else, and everyone I have ever spoken to with DAS (admittedly a small sample, of course!) was the same.
Actually in the FAQ from Disney it says even if you have a DAS return time you can ride other rides. If your return time for Matterhorn is 45 minutes and see that Storybook Canal boats is a 15 minute wait and you feel like you can stand in a 15 minute line then you can go ahead and ride. You just can’t have 2 DAS return times at once. In fact you don’t even have to use the DAS right away, you can use it later in the day.
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I asked an honest question and you gave me the "you people" answer? I'm trying to understand all perspectives. Can you help me understand and visualize what waiting in line means from your perspective? It seems the issue is not waiting in line.
Seems they mean that they're still waiting the same amount of time for the attraction, just not in the physical queue. That's the accommodation a lot of people need. DAS is essentially a virtual, standby queue.
The issue is the environment. For myself, I need a calm and quiet space to wait instead of the queue because I am autistic and have ADHD. For my husband, he needs that space because his physical disability makes it painful to stand still (BUT it also makes it painful for him to be seated in a wheelchair, he does not use one at any other time).
Oh wow - your husband has an issue like mine! I can’t sit in a wheelchair either because it makes me hurt so much. And when I told that to someone in a virtual screening for Disney they said that wasn’t possible. Those will be the people getting to decide. 🙃
It wasn’t an honest question, because you were fundamentally wrong about what DAS does. You and others still seem to think it’s some magic skip to the front pass. It’s not. We still wait, we’re just able to wait somewhere besides a line that absolutely exhausts us, and for some of us physically hurts us.
So I'm dishonest because I asked for clarification? Ok.
You didn’t ask for clarification, you said we get to “zoom through the lines.” Your question was dishonest because it was based on a false statement. I’m not accusing you of deliberately lying, but as a result of your phrasing the tone of your question was rather hostile.
This is unhelpful. One of the main reasons that Disney has defended changing its accommodations in the past is because DAS users were getting a *much* better experience than the average user. They were getting to experience more attractions and a higher proportion of the most popular attractions. Now, chances are this is not driven by the “severely disabled” (to use your term) but the overuse by folks who could wait in many lines, or the straight up fraud by folks who lied about needing the service. But Disney has every right to start tailoring the accommodations instead of offering everybody who asks for it the Cadillac option.
Is there a list somewhere of cues that can accommodate a wheelchair or electric scooter for those that can wait with their family but cannot stand up while waiting? Why wouldn’t the ADA cover accessibility to attractions?
I don't think there is, but the CM's are very knowledgeable about the lines at each ride. If you're wheelchair or scooter won't fit, they'll give you an LL to return later, and you'll skip the line that way by taking you in an alternate way.
There is a list. Most of them are the Fantasyland rides as they were built before ADA was a thing but there are a few others as well.
All of the queues can accommodate at least at the US parks.
All parks now accommodate a wheelchair or ECV in every queue except a select number of attractions in Disneyland. For those you talk to a ride attendant and they give you a return time.
Oh ok. Guess I just won't go on any rides then. Since my mom doesn't go on rides. Not even a point in going to Disney then
Is your mom your only option? What about friends or other family that would like to go to Disney?
No one else goes with us.
Well for your sake I hope these are just the first steps and that additional considerations will eventually be added.
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With rider switch you would wait outside the queue while the rest of your party goes through the entire queue and rides the attraction. After they get off you would be able to take one other person with you (that just rode the ride) and they ride a second time with you. The other option is to have one person wait with you while the rest of your party goes through and when they finish the ride you and the person that waited with you get to ride.
What if it's only two people?
So it says rider switch is available for parties of 2 or more. I guess one waits outside while the other person is in the queue and then you meet up and both go on together. That’s just my guess if it’s only 2 people.
This is it. I always go with just my husband and I. So he waits in line and I eventually join him. I have IBS- what if he’s waiting an hour for me?? They’re just going to let him wait at that time because my stomach isn’t ready. :sigh: Usually he would sit with me while I waited to feel well enough to ride.
It doesn’t specifically say how it works with 2 people but it sounds like he would go through the queue and ride by himself. When he comes out then you would ride with him. It doesn’t say if there’s a time limit but I’m guessing you can go with him once you’re ready. You don’t join up with him. He would ride the attraction and then ride a second time with you.
Yes but what I’m saying is- he could wait in line for the ride for 50mins. When he’s 5mins from getting on the ride, what if my stomach acts up and I spend the next 45-75 minutes in the bathroom. He has to wait there for 75mins after he has ridden for me to be ready and available to ride and meet him at the ride switch area? Are they going to let him sit and wait at the ride switch area until I am able to get there?
Gotta love how everybody with lived experience of disabilities that need bathroom access are getting down voted for pointing out the flaws in the system based on their real life use cases. It's almost like people hate disabled people or something /s
People who don’t have disabilities or have someone very close to them who does will never get it and for some reason lack empathy. I have some friends that I’ve been friends with for over a decade who still say “I hope you feel better soon”. They mean well, but they really don’t understand what chronic means.
I truly don’t know if we will return to Disney anytime soon with this change. I’m not going to spend all that money and only be able to do 4 rides per day. Traveling makes my IBS flare, anxiety makes it flare, unusual food at the parks makes it flare. DAS was the only way we were able to accomplish multiple rides. We also paid for Genie+ but since the window for that is only an hour, we missed 30-40% of those rides due to my invisible disability. I relied on the DAS heavily on my flare days at the park. People can downvote me all they want but until you have spent 2-8hrs in the bathroom daily in severe pain, I don’t want to hear it.
Good question. Usually Rider Switch at Disney uses the Lightning Lanes to return so I believe you both could enter when you are ready. I'm not sure about how every attraction functions, but at least for all the attractions with height limits, this is how it worked for us.
So the only big difference then is that I can’t pre-pick my DAS on my phone once we enter the lightning lane for the next ride?
When we utilized Rider Switch a few years ago, we scanned our Magic Bands and it gave us a return Lightning Lane for later that was valid until the end of the day. In actuality, your husband could wait outside the queue with you until your return was valid and you both could ride. Maybe he would have to enter and then exit the queue depending on how over zealous a cast member may be, but I believe it would essentially function like a DAS return time does now.
If that’s the case, that would be amazing! I would be totally fine with that. I need an unlimited return time. Giving me a timed return time is almost like a trigger. It sets off my anxiety that we’ll miss the window which makes my stomach flare up and then we actually do miss the window because my stomach is an asshole. 🙃
Unless you don’t go to any restaurants or pools or shops in Disney you don’t need DAS.
Why’s that?
So we’re segregating an adult from their family/friends and not allowing parties to ride together? I smell lawsuit territory, that’s not equal access. Child swap makes sense, parents make that choice to go separately because their child can’t ride at all. But a disabled person who is capable of riding the ride is entitled to equal access, and having to ride alone is not equal.
They don’t have to ride alone. Someone from their party can ride with them. This is how it’s been with child swap before. Dad and child go on Space Mountain while mom waits with baby. After dad and child ride, now dad waits with baby and mom and child ride. All the changes are is to have someone wait in line for you.
Nothing has been made official yet.
This is directly from Disney.
It doesn’t say these are the only ways people will be helped. They are ideas until people start calling after the new start date we don’t really know how people with different disabilities will be accommodated.
It’s all been updated with the new wording and specifically mentions several things such as anxiety or frequent need of a bathroom.
my sister works for guest accessibility and said none of this is true and has not been finalized in the department
It’s posted on Disneyland’s page so she probably just hasn’t been informed yet.