used both universals new gac and disney`s during the worst crowd week ever

[Coonhound]

Ok again to clarify I am comparing accommodations here. Of course it is a given that you can wait standby which then has NOTHING to do with guest assistance. Also you can not use fast pass AND fast pass plus. It's either or. And you get three for the entire day even if you park hop and you cannot use the three in different parks. The three you get have to used in one park.

I guess I don't see the problem because you ARE receiving accommodations to allow you to wait in another place rather than waiting in the line itself, and you do have the ability to look for other things to do while waiting instead of just standing in the line...are you looking for more of a ""move toward the front with little wait" type of thing?

 

[aaarcher86]

Ok again to clarify I am comparing accommodations here. Of course it is a given that you can wait standby which then has NOTHING to do with guest assistance. Also you can not use fast pass AND fast pass plus. It's either or. And you get three for the entire day even if you park hop and you cannot use the three in different parks. The three you get have to used in one park.

But universals accommodations wouldn't have helped you at Disney because there was only 1 ride in each park that had a 30 minute or less wait. You would have been in the exact same position you were in.

At a slower time it wouldn't be necessary because the waits are much shorter.

 

[4DisneyNUTS]

I guess I don't see the problem because you ARE receiving accommodations to allow you to wait in another place rather than waiting in the line itself, and you do have the ability to look for other things to do while waiting instead of just standing in the line...are you looking for more of a ""move toward the front with little wait" type of thing?

Why is this turning into a debate? Not once did I say anything was or is unfair. What I am doing is giving what I think is valeuable information to people who want to know the differences. Also in my experience universal is more acaccomadating with their new system. I also booked this trip over 7months ago well before these changed were announced. I calleddDisney when these were being put in effect and told this would be better than the old system by the cast member. To me it is definitely not better for my son and his needs.

Hopefully the info I am providing will help others plan so that their trip is the best it can be for them.

My advice from my experience these past almost two weeks is if you can go off season. If that's not possible I would try to stay on universal property so you can use their unlimited express and get a gap.

I will also be calling/emailing Disney on how the das limited our experience tremendously compared to many other times we have gone to the world.

Again comparing apples to apple's universals pass allowed us to do much more. Than Disney's fp and das.

 

[OurBigTrip]

I will also be calling/emailing Disney on how the das limited our experience tremendously compared to many other times we have gone to the world.

Which is exactly why the changes were made, i.e., to make the experience of those with the DAS more in line with the experience of those without the DAS.

 

[4DisneyNUTS]

But universals accommodations wouldn't have helped you at Disney because there was only 1 ride in each park that had a 30 minute or less wait. You would have been in the exact same position you were in.

At a slower time it wouldn't be necessary because the waits are much shorter.

Wrong it would give my son an alternate ride to go one rather than walk around the parks waiting. If we had a 2 hour wait walking to the ride and back during give 20 mins round trip then 30 minutes for the ride and wait. That's 50 minutes killed which helps a child like my son way more than having to wait the full 2 hours. I again am not here to debate my opinion. Its your right to disagree. IN MY OPINION universals pass system if immplementef at Disney would make our trip much more enjoyable. the other day 4.5 hours at Hollywood studios we got on one attraction and saw buzz and had popcorn. Not worth the money or effort imo.

 

[aaarcher86]

Wrong it would give my son an alternate ride to go one rather than walk around the parks waiting. If we had a 2 hour wait walking to the ride and back during give 20 mins round trip then 30 minutes for the ride and wait. That's 50 minutes killed which helps a child like my son way more than having to wait the full 2 hours. I again am not here to debate my opinion. Its your right to disagree. IN MY OPINION universals pass system if immplementef at Disney would make our trip much more enjoyable. the other day 4.5 hours at Hollywood studios we got on one attraction and saw buzz and had popcorn. Not worth the money or effort imo.

I'm sorry. I'm not understanding what you're saying here.

You said if a ride time is 30 minutes or less you can use the card to go right in while waiting for your written down return time. But if there aren't any rides that are 30 minutes or less then that feature is of no benefit. During this time of year It is rare for Disney to have a ride that has a wait time of 30 minutes or less. So having that feature at Disney wouldn't have mattered because there is nothing you could use the pass to get onto immediately while waiting for your DAS time.

 

[4DisneyNUTS]

Which is exactly why the changes were made, i.e., to make the experience of those with the DAS more in line with the experience of those without the DAS.

So you are under the assumption that under the old system my son got to experence more than the average guest? Well you would be hugely mistaken. Even with the old pass on good days we would experience 75% max of what a typical family would and for those days I was thankful. Even at 50% we were estatic. Now my family's experience was closer to 10% . I learned a valueable lesson. First was to never attempt Disney again during Christmas and secondly is not to even attempt to post my experience on here to help others and not expect to be told repeatedly that somehow it is our expectations that are wrong. If we have to pay the same price as the nondisabled I have the right to expect to be able to get at least a 50% experience for my money.

 

[4DisneyNUTS]

I'm sorry. I'm not understanding what you're saying here.

You said if a ride time is 30 minutes or less you can use the card to go right in while waiting for your written down return time. But if there aren't any rides that are 30 minutess then that feature is of no benefit. During this time of year It is rare for Disney to have a ride that has a wait time of 30 minutes or less. So having that feature at Disney wouldn't have mattered because there is nothing you could use the pass to get onto immediately while waiting for your DAS time.

Did you not say there is only one ride ? That one would help compared to having no ride option at all. Even at Disney at near capacity there are rides that are 30or less. Pirates was one if them. I was there. So you are just grasping at straws here trying to defend disneys change I guess? What is your point?

 

[aaarcher86]

Did you not say there is only one ride ? That one would help compared to having no ride option at all. Even at Disney at near capacity there are rides that are 30or less. Pirates was one if them. I was there. So you are just grasping at straws here trying to defend disneys change I guess? What is your point?

I'm not grasping at all. If that one ride is something your kid will do, then alright. You've got one ride. That may not be the case for many people. I didn't personally see anything at all posted with those times. I saw waits of 2-3 hours all day long. Someone had mentioned one ride did earlier. I wouldn't think anything would have that small of a wait time during the busiest time of the year.

I'm in favor of Disney's changes to the DAS. I think it's awesome that you can wait your turn for a ride meeting characters, eating lunch, going on other rides, or resting while the rest of us are simply stuck in that 2 hour line your mentioned. Unfortunately, I just don't think you're comparing apples to apples given the crowds at both parks. If Disney followed Universal, in February a DAS guest could walk onto to almost everything while waiting for one ride or using a FP and that's practically the GAC.

 

[OurBigTrip]

So you are under the assumption that under the old system my son got to experence more than the average guest? Well you would be hugely mistaken. Even with the old pass on good days we would experience 75% max of what a typical family would and for those days I was thankful. Even at 50% we were estatic. Now my family's experience was closer to 10% . I learned a valueable lesson. First was to never attempt Disney again during Christmas and secondly is not to even attempt to post my experience on here to help others and not expect to be told repeatedly that somehow it is our expectations that are wrong. If we have to pay the same price as the nondisabled I have the right to expect to be able to get at least a 50% experience for my money.

I don't see where anyone has attacked you in any way regarding your comments.

The GAC was an unlimited FastPass, which is far superior to anything that non-GAC holders were able to experience, unless they paid for a tour. Under the DAS, you had to wait just like everyone else did. Sorry, but I don't see how that's not getting your money's worth, so I guess I'm missing a piece somewhere.

If Universal works better for you, then by all means, that's where you should go.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

So you are under the assumption that under the old system my son got to experence more than the average guest? Well you would be hugely mistaken. Even with the old pass on good days we would experience 75% max of what a typical family would and for those days I was thankful. Even at 50% we were estatic. Now my family's experience was closer to 10% . I learned a valueable lesson. First was to never attempt Disney again during Christmas and secondly is not to even attempt to post my experience on here to help others and not expect to be told repeatedly that somehow it is our expectations that are wrong. If we have to pay the same price as the nondisabled I have the right to expect to be able to get at least a 50% experience for my money.

Like all GAC threads I expect this to deteriorate quickly. People who need the GAC hate the new system because they don't get to skip the lines and those that don't need the GAC (but have to stand in lines all day) resent hearing how upset people are that they don't get to skip the lines.

Next will be the argument that people with babies and the elderly don't get to experience 50% of what a typical family does so they should get to skip the lines also. I got a bad cold my 2nd day in WDW and had to go back to my resort for afternoon naps or I couldn't make it through the night, I lost 4-5 hours a day for half my trip and I didn't get to experience tons of things I wanted to, it is what it is.

There is no one size fits all system and the old system was abused so badly they had to get rid of it, Disney's new system isn't perfect but seems the most fair to me, you still wait to ride like everyone else but without having to physically wait in lines.

Glad you had a good time over a crazy weekend. Don't take it to personally, all these threads get ugly.

 

[4DisneyNUTS]

I don't see where anyone has attacked you in any way regarding your comments.

The GAC was an unlimited FastPass, which is far superior to anything that non-GAC holders were able to experience, unless they paid for a tour. Under the DAS, you had to wait just like everyone else did. Sorry, but I don't see how that's not getting your money's worth, so I guess I'm missing a piece somewhere.

If Universal works better for you, then by all means, that's where you should go.

See you have your opinion skewed that all the disabled folks were in the past had days running around the parks Willy nilly clogging up all of the fp lines going on 15 rides a day to your one. Even with the accommodations my son was lucky to get on maybe 4-5 rides a day. Now with the new accommodations we were able to do about 5 rides at universal in a day park hopping. We also got to see a lot of characters in between ( can't use the pass for those at universal either fyi). That is all my son will tolerate. The reason for the accommodations is to help people who are disabled experience the park close to what others can. I think most people would we that 4-5 attractions a day is not that successful or valuable but for us it works and what my son can handle. Doing 1 attraction, seeing a character and getting a popcorn in 4·5 hours is absurd disabled or not!
Disney really needs to revisit this system as well as the fast pass system imo. It is far too limiting for what they charge. Again disabled or not.

 

[Gracie09]

Honestly there have been any times when we only went on 4-5 rides especially at the busiest time of the year. Perhaps in the past you were able to do more because you were able to skip most of the lines. I'm sorry but you are acting as if Disney expects you to sit on a bench and wait. That is far from the truth and if you took A step back you would realize that.

 

[4DisneyNUTS]

Like all GAC threads I expect this to deteriorate quickly. People who need the GAC hate the new system because they don't get to skip the lines and those that don't need the GAC (but have to stand in lines all day) resent hearing how upset people are that they don't get to skip the lines.

Next will be the argument that people with babies and the elderly don't get to experience 50% of what a typical family does so they should get to skip the lines also. I got a bad cold my 2nd day in WDW and had to go back to my resort for afternoon naps or I couldn't make it through the night, I lost 4-5 hours a day for half my trip and I didn't get to experience tons of things I wanted to, it is what it is.

There is no one size fits all system and the old system was abused so badly they had to get rid of it, Disney's new system isn't perfect but seems the most fair to me, you still wait to ride like everyone else but without having to physically wait in lines.

Glad you had a good time over a crazy weekend. Don't take it to personally, all these threads get ugly.

Thanks and for the record we still love disney, we are dvc members for crying out loud. I also have to say a bad day at disney is way better than a good day home. That being said I hope my experience helps other families in my position and that they can plan accordingly. But just because I am a disney nut doesn't mean I see everything through disney colored glasses. When I see a problem I speak up. Hopefully disney will work out the kinks. I too agree that the system was so abused that it needed to be overhauled.

 

[OurBigTrip]

See you have your opinion skewed that all the disabled folks were in the past had days running around the parks Willy nilly clogging up all of the fp lines going on 15 rides a day to your one. Even with the accommodations my son was lucky to get on maybe 4-5 rides a day. Now with the new accommodations we were able to do about 5 rides at universal in a day park hopping. We also got to see a lot of characters in between ( can't use the pass for those at universal either fyi). That is all my son will tolerate. The reason for the accommodations is to help people who are disabled experience the park close to what others can. I think most people would we that 4-5 attractions a day is not that successful or valuable but for us it works and what my son can handle. Doing 1 attraction, seeing a character and getting a popcorn in 4·5 hours is absurd disabled or not!
Disney really needs to revisit this system as well as the fast pass system imo. It is far too limiting for what they charge. Again disabled or not.

We'll just have to agree to disagree on what the purpose of the accommodation is. I don't know how you long you are able to stay in the parks, but regardless of how long it is, 3 hours or 10, you shouldn't be able to experience any more attractions in a given time than someone that doesn't have the DAS.

 

[4DisneyNUTS]

Honestly there have been any times when we only went on 4-5 rides especially at the busiest time of the year. Perhaps in the past you were able to do more because you were able to skip most of the lines. I'm sorry but you are acting as if Disney expects you to sit on a bench and wait. That is far from the truth and if you took A step back you would realize that.

I was talking about the past with the GAC. This time universal was closer to that. I never EVER did more than 5 rides ever my son will not tolerate it. Ok I'm off its really hard typing on this tablet!

 

[aaarcher86]

See you have your opinion skewed that all the disabled folks were in the past had days running around the parks Willy nilly clogging up all of the fp lines going on 15 rides a day to your one. Even with the accommodations my son was lucky to get on maybe 4-5 rides a day. Now with the new accommodations we were able to do about 5 rides at universal in a day park hopping. We also got to see a lot of characters in between ( can't use the pass for those at universal either fyi). That is all my son will tolerate. The reason for the accommodations is to help people who are disabled experience the park close to what others can. I think most people would we that 4-5 attractions a day is not that successful or valuable but for us it works and what my son can handle. Doing 1 attraction, seeing a character and getting a popcorn in 4·5 hours is absurd disabled or not! Disney really needs to revisit this system as well as the fast pass system imo. It is far too limiting for what they charge. Again disabled or not.

Yes, but it was also meant to experience the same amount of stuff in the same amount of time as someone non disabled. Not to allow someone to do a full day of touring in a few hours.

If you are waiting 2 hours for a ride and go on Pirates while you wait you've just done 2 attractions in the time it's taken me to get through 1/2 the line (using your 50 minute example). If that's all you could do you would have still doubled what someone waiting in line would have done in the same amount of time. I think that's pretty generous. You could possibly accomplish something else with the remaining hour making it triple.

Doing a ride, seeing a character, and eating a popcorn in 4.5 hours could very easily be what the average guest accomplished on the dates you chose to go. It comes with time of year.

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

no disney just doesn't let you skip the line to ride other rides while you are waiting for your return time on the one ride you choose. and I think that is perfectly fair. there are plenty of things to do in the meantime. plus nobody says you cannot ride standby.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

It's also important to keep in mind:

- Universal does not have as many visitors as WDW does

- Disney's Fastpass service is free to all guests

/ Universal's equivalent to Fastpass is their Express Pass, which they charge for

I have to agree with this there are many more guests using fastpasses or fastpass + now in the parks then use the express pass in universal. I think if it were possible for Disney to have such a system in place as Universal does they would. The Problem is that sometime the fastpass line can be just as long as the standby sometimes even if it does move faster.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

I have to agree with this there are many more guests using fastpasses or fastpass + now in the parks then use the express pass in universal. I think if it were possible for Disney to have such a system in place as Universal does they would. The Problem is that sometime the fastpass line can be just as long as the standby sometimes even if it does move faster.

How does the GAC handle long FP lines? I read of some 30+ minute FP lines last weekend, do the GAC guests still use the FP line or do they use the exit?

Even when I was there in early December when it was slow I had a few FP lines that had a 5-10 minute wait (TSMM and Soarin), what do you do if you or your child has anxiety attacks around people?