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

[SarahC97]

Honestly, one of my first thoughts is that this RTQ procedure could easily be abused by the same tour guide-type folks that exploit everything else. I guess we'll see how it all shakes out but I'm not particularly optimistic and I feel bad for the attraction CMs.

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

Ohh my..... wow and now I wonder when will my son age out.... when will they say nope he is old enough now he should have learned by now how to deal with it... he is 7 now... they really need to be more upfront with this...

Yes, that’s the sad part. Autistic kids become autistic adults. We still struggle. The world just forgets about us when we age out, and now it appears Disney is doing the same.

 

[Alex7352]

I’ll be in the parks on Wednesday-Friday and have DAS but plan fo ask the umbrella CMs about this type of issue. If you want to message me I’m happy to report back what o find.

That would be great to hear! Im very concerned and confused about to expect when I go at the start of June and looking unlikely that I will be accepted now! :/

 

[TwoMisfits]

Ohh my..... wow and now I wonder when will my son age out.... when will they say nope he is old enough now he should have learned by now how to deal with it... he is 7 now... they really need to be more upfront with this...

They were - I also originally thought the crackdown would be HARD on adults and teens, and lesser on children, and it seems it is. The use of the term "developmental" was intentional in the original announcement.

They REALLY do not want to give DAS to adults unless it IS absolutely necessary, not just b/c it MAY be necessary or really helpful.

 

[Dog Is Love]

I think it’s all “wait and see”. Maybe they assume a lot of people won’t actually need this accommodation once they try it out. If it begins to be a problem maybe they adjust where people wait? No one can know the answers to any of this yet as it’s just been implemented.

Disney really should know the answers though... they should have thought of the implications of the return to queue recommendations they're pushing so hard now, and should have been ready with a plan to share with CMs and guests.

I bet the poor attraction CMs are going to have figure out most of the details themselves such as where to find room for parties waiting for their RTQ member in the very small merge points.

 

[sprem96]

Oh gotcha. I’d probably just tell them to ride without me and talk to the CM. Maybe do like a rider swap situation because they had to ride without you? So you can go back through LL like within someone in your party to ride.

And if you're doing that 5-10 times in a day (I won't specify the disability and issue, but it can happen), the point of DAS gives certain disabilities the predictability to plan their days around their conditions, I have zero issues, getting DAS return times 30 min-300 min away because I know when I get there whenever that is, I can be confident I got my disability relatively under control and can trust going into a LL queue for the 10-20 min it will take to wait and ride.

I just went through the same process with Canada's Wonderland (CW) trying to push RTQ on me, ultimately I won that battle because they realized it wouldn't help me most times, because RTQ may work for some, but should not be categorized as the new solution for most disabilities, there is still many situations where this is not the case

I can only hope when I call in 2 months that they show the same common sense the CW did with me this spring.

 

[OregonRN]

Report from my adult friend who is also autistic:
Denied DAS
Told to practice waiting in lines
Told to work on coping skills
Told panic attacks and anxiety needs to be managed
Told their autism wasn’t “as severe”

That last one makes me very mad as, myself also an autistic person, someone talking to you for a few minutes has no idea how “severe” your autism is..not that’s even a thing anyways. It’s based on levels of support.

I’m glad my trip just ended and we are not renewing our APs and this whole thing has caused me such worry about my own DAS eligibility status. Now with my friend being denied, I have little hope they’d approve me either. Sounds like they are being very exclusive in approving disabled people. In my opinion when they say qualifying developmental disorders, the unsaid part is small children. I think there aren’t many adults they’re going to approve. Which makes me very sad as I love WDW. But now I don’t think I could handle going back without the DAS as an accommodation. Return to line would not work for me as it’s just me and my husband which I need as caregiver. I’ll keep reading reports and hope this changes and Disney reverses course.

This is shocking and grotesque to me. I cannot believe they would say that to someone. An adult should know how to take of their needs and now Disney is treating them like children who don’t. I really hope this is not the “advice” the Health Agency has told them to say.

 

[jennab]

And if you're doing that 5-10 times in a day (I won't specify the disability and issue, but it can happen), the point of DAS gives certain disabilities the predictability to plan their days around their conditions, I have zero issues, getting DAS return times 30 min-300 min away because I know when I get there whenever that is, I can be confident I got my disability relatively under control and can trust going into a LL queue for the 10-20 min it will take to wait and ride.

I just went through the same process with Canada's Wonderland (CW) trying to push RTQ on me, ultimately I won that battle because they realized it wouldn't help me most times, because RTQ may work for some, but should not be categorized as the new solution for most disabilities, there is still many situations where this is not the case

I can only hope when I call in 2 months that they show the same common sense the CW did with me this spring.

So would rider swap work for you in all queues? I believe anyone can use this, not just children. So you approach the CM before your party gets in line and request a rider swap. I may be wrong, but I thought rider swap was open ended as in you didn’t need to use it within an hour.

 

[DisneyMountainWoman]

They were - I also originally thought the crackdown would be HARD on adults and teens, and lesser on children, and it seems it is. The use of the term "developmental" was intentional in the original announcement.

They REALLY do not want to give DAS to adults unless it IS absolutely necessary, not just b/c it MAY be necessary or really helpful.

Yes... that is such clear language.... clear as mud... just like so much of this role out. Clearer communication really could have helped out a lot.

But this is not an argument I want to get in with you or anyone. I am just focusing on getting as much info as possible to help me with my son. If I have to buy Genie + I will get it... we can afford it. When I travel without my son for rundisney trips, we do not get DAS we get Genie+... so I am not trying to take advantage of the system. I know how to use it and will plan around it as best as I can. Genie + will not help us out as much as DAS as listed in my previous comments and therefore we will have more melt downs. I like having less meltdowns... it is nice.

 

[sprem96]

I'm really hoping that it's going to be such a massive inconvenience that the fakers will just move on and those who have no choice will need to work w/ the CMs.

Before the app allowed you to book everything from wherever in the park, I had to personally go to each ride and get a return time, generally I would stay in that area or nearby until time was ready. I have no qualms to do that again, because i think that only contributed to the abuse of DAS. You could book a ride from 15 minutes away that had a 45 minute wait, and save essentially 30 minutes of back and forth walking and keep doing what you were doing for 30 minutes and then head over and boom you're on, and can repeat.

 

[lanejudy]

Yes, that’s the sad part. Autistic kids become autistic adults. We still struggle. The world just forgets about us when we age out, and now it appears Disney is doing the same.

I get it. My DD is right at that point as well. Different diagnosis but very similar. We've worked hard to get her to where she is now.

It's emotional. But when I stand back from the issue I can see the point they are trying to make. The diagnosis alone is not the qualifier and this individual obviously did not articulate needs at a level for which the CMs will issue DAS. I'm not sure there will be a hard-line cut-off of age, but the needs of a 20-yr-old with autism may or may not be very different from when that person was 6 or even 15. Some 25-yr-olds with autism are not capable of progressing past a 4-yr-old's abilities, while others have made considerable steps (with a lot of effort and teaching/coaching/guidance).

My recommendation for your friend is to try the parks with whatever they can do to prepare the young man. If it's not working... reconnect to the video chat and use the specific examples of what didn't work to ask them to reconsider.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Report from my adult friend who is also autistic:
Denied DAS
Told to practice waiting in lines
Told to work on coping skills
Told panic attacks and anxiety needs to be managed
Told their autism wasn’t “as severe”

Sounds like a brutal phone call. I cannot imagine being told all that by some ditz in a call center after telling them my personal issues.

 

[Princesca]

Report from my adult friend who is also autistic:
Denied DAS
Told to practice waiting in lines
Told to work on coping skills
Told panic attacks and anxiety needs to be managed
Told their autism wasn’t “as severe”

That feels very much like a 'you're not autistic, just suck it up' response, which is tantamount to telling someone with cancer that if they just think positive thoughts, they'll go into remission. Man, I hate hearing this. It makes me really sad. On the other hand, I guess my wife and son can become neurotypical if they just wish upon a star... isn't Disney magical?!

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

They were - I also originally thought the crackdown would be HARD on adults and teens, and lesser on children, and it seems it is. The use of the term "developmental" was intentional in the original announcement.

They REALLY do not want to give DAS to adults unless it IS absolutely necessary, not just b/c it MAY be necessary or really helpful.

Ugh - this is so hard for so many.

For those who haven't registered yet - hang in there - I know the uncertainty is hard. Deep breaths

 

[lanejudy]

Disney really should know the answers though... they really should have thought of the implications of the return to queue recommendations they're pushing so hard now, and should have been ready with a plan to share with CMs and guests.

I bet the poor attraction CMs are going to have figure out most of the details themselves such as where to find room for parties waiting for their RTQ member in the very small merge points.

The frontline attraction CMs have supposedly been trained by Inspire Health as well. We actually don't know that they haven't been trained yet because there have been zero reports (that I've seen) of anyone in the park utilizing these new accommodations. As has already been mentioned, how that plays out at each attraction may vary somewhat to posting a definitive process might not be correct.

 

[taradelao]

Report from my adult friend who is also autistic:
Denied DAS
Told to practice waiting in lines
Told to work on coping skills
Told panic attacks and anxiety needs to be managed
Told their autism wasn’t “as severe”

That last one makes me very mad as, myself also an autistic person, someone talking to you for a few minutes has no idea how “severe” your autism is..not that’s even a thing anyways. It’s based on levels of support.

I’m glad my trip just ended and we are not renewing our APs and this whole thing has caused me such worry about my own DAS eligibility status. Now with my friend being denied, I have little hope they’d approve me either. Sounds like they are being very exclusive in approving disabled people. In my opinion when they say qualifying developmental disorders, the unsaid part is small children. I think there aren’t many adults they’re going to approve. Which makes me very sad as I love WDW. But now I don’t think I could handle going back without the DAS as an accommodation. Return to line would not work for me as it’s just me and my husband which I need as caregiver. I’ll keep reading reports and hope this changes and Disney reverses course.

I'll be quite honest... this absolutely disgusts me. I have no words. And I'm sorry for all the Disney lovers for which Disney was once a safe-space.

 

[gottalovepluto]

This is shocking and grotesque to me. I cannot believe they would say that to someone. An adult should know how to take of their needs and now Disney is treating them like children who don’t. I really hope this is not the “advice” the Health Agency has told them to say.

I'm worried it is because of the new outfit as it sounds like the patronizing way bad healthcare practitioners treat patients. BUT- it could also be a bad egg among the new CMs, just as we have bad eggs amongst medical professionals. I hope people are able to write their experiences to Disney and Disney listens. Although an experience as bad as this one it might be hard to re-count it.

Which also means if you're willing to write Disney if you feel something inappropriate was said on your call don't forget to note the CMs name in your note to Disney. It will be in your chat history.

 

[Liquidice]

So I asked this question too. On occasion (though not on our upcoming trip), my parents join us. I understand that with the new return to queue guidelines, when I would need to leave the line my child could wait with them. But when I inquired about length of wait, or how they would handle the need to leave the line multiple times, she did not know, and referred me to the CMs at the attraction.

I feel for the CMs - and I truly hope they are better equipped to deal with some of these scenarios - because it is puzzling that the CM doing the DAS interview didn’t have answers to these seemingly obvious questions. It's really comms 101 stuff.

It is becoming more clear to me that the video chat CMs that were trained by Inspire Health were primarily trained on how to deny DAS and offer alternative accommodations, even if the accommodation doesn't make sense. They were not trained on the alternative accommodations, just told that there are alternative accommodations and then deflecting on front line CMs in the parks to handle the situation.

For Genie+ they can identify how the Lightning Lane works for all of the eligible rides. They should be able to articulate how the other accommodations will work for most of the rides and then just list those rides. For any ride not on the list, say it will be explained by a CM at the entrance. The way they've left it, seems like the front line CMs will be forced to deal with a lot.

 

[sprem96]

So would rider swap work for you in all queues? I believe anyone can use this, not just children. So you approach the CM before your party gets in line and request a rider swap. I may be wrong, but I thought rider swap was open ended as in you didn’t need to use it within an hour.

Even if open ended time, how if I travel the park in a circle (like most people), generally you're not going to back afterwards with all that walking, tough with some disabilities, and if I have to ultimately use rider swap on almost ride, that is an additional 15-30 minutes for almost every ride on top of the standby waiting times of the rest of my party, that severely affects my time to ride attractions, ....assuming my condition allows me to ride it directly afterwards

DAS gave me the reassurance to deal with what I had to deal with and when I felt comfortable, I could attempt a ride with no issues of RTQ, RS, or time restraints like G+

On mother's day I went to CW and used the "DAS-like" feature 3 times in the 6 hours we were there, I had a couple episodes, we waited in a couple short queues, at one point, one of my return times was ready for over 1 hour, and I didn't go on the ride because I couldn't with disability plus we then took a break to eat. That is what DAS does for most people that truly need it, it lets them enjoy the park like an average guest when otherwise they could not.

 

[sprem96]

That feels very much like a 'you're not autistic, just suck it up' response, which is tantamount to telling someone with cancer that if they just think positive thoughts, they'll go into remission. Man, I hate hearing this. It makes me really sad. On the other hand, I guess my wife and son can become neurotypical if they just wish upon a star... isn't Disney magical?!

or telling someone with IBS/IBDs saying "just practice holding it in"