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

[DFelt1]

I can't math this early in the morning, but are you counting the DAS member's guests? That would be around 4 extra people per DAS guest.

All I have is the post that says 8%, it doesn't clarify if that's all guests granted DAS or just the one guest who the DAS is intended for.

Even if you multiplied by 5 (DAS + 5 people), which is over-estimating, the math still doesn't seem to add up.

 

[starlite_]

I can't speak before 2017, but I've been using DAS or (the equivalent service since then) after I was diagnosed with UC in 2014, I attempted to go to theme parks in 2016 when I was on a somewhat normal lifestyle again, and it didn't go well at parks, wasn't able to consistently stay in lines and luckily I read into it more for 2017 and realized I qualified for theme park disabilities and it has been helpful since

Indeed. That is not my question tho. Several folks here have claimed that if Disney doesn't guarantee them their DAS before their refund cutout date then they won't go on their vacations. I am wondering what happened in years past were the only place to actually request a DAS was in person.

 

[Marrila]

So said someone inside of inside information sourcing. And there goes the echo chamber.

Those numbers are way outside of reality.

I think there will be varying opinions on the source. Still, something caused WDW to clamp down pretty hard. It's worth a ponder to me.

 

[Disturbia]

People are making the assumption that the Genie service is only Genie + which is a paid service. There is a completely free part of Genie where you can put in your 'must do' attractions and it will help you plan an itinerary with the lowest wait times for those attractions. We've never used it to plan an itinerary because we knew the parks so well before it existed. But, I do know that some people with disabilities use and like it. Even with DAS, it can help to know when an attraction is likely to have the lowest wait time. It's a tool that can be used and is listed as another tool on the Disability information page. I've also seen the CMs at the Guest Experience umbrellas help people figure it out.
Link to Disney Genie information


I totally agree with lanejudy. Normally, we would be dealing with those posts. But, we are having a hard time keeping up. Sometimes I write a post and during the time I'm typing and the time it posts, there are 3 more pages to read.
We COULD close the thread temporarily to go thru and take care of them, but we want to keep the thread open.
Besides what lanejudy posted in bold above, I'd encourage people to think about what you already posted on this thread. IF YOU THINK YOU MIGHT HAVE POSTED TOO MUCH PERSONAL INFO ABOUT YOUR/YOUR FAMILY'S DISABILITIES/NEEDS, PLEASE GO BACK AND EDIT IT.

are you able to remove the entire thread and start anew? I had a hard time going back and looking for my post when I realized I might have said too much

So far all we’ve done is speculate, attack each other and vent

 

[DFelt1]

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...sney-world-2024.983481/page-124#post-10897857

they come from insiders on WDWMagic. I don't think the numbers are per ride but overall.

I'm not getting into an inter-board war, but posts prior to the one you linked by other members seem to make numbers up from whole cloth. In fact, one says "using up to 70% capacity."

Sure, you know what else is "up to 70%"? Anything less than 70%.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I think there will be varying opinions on the source. Still, something caused WDW to clamp down pretty hard. It's worth a ponder to me.

A small handful of people posting on that thread claiming to be insiders have said things that were correct in the past (mostly about ride details and opening dates) so I'm not totally discrediting what they're saying.

 

[Jrb1979]

I'm not getting into an inter-board war, but posts prior to the one you linked by other members seem to make numbers up from whole cloth. In fact, one says "using up to 70% capacity."

Sure, you know what else is "up to 70%"? Anything less than 70%.

All I was trying to do is post some information to help people understand why they are changing things.

 

[jlundeen]

I agree there should be a backup plan, would be a huge disappointment to get there and it be denied without a backup.

I just didn't want to jump into a conversation about how to discuss with a CM to get authorization for a stroller wagon because only Disney can make that decision and they are the ones to be discussing it with the person and even if that person gets approved and reports back another person with the same explanation to a CM may not get approved. I agree saying that there is a process Disney has for when a stroller wagon is needed for a medical need isn't an issue but with the poster saying "I’m still trying to bring my wagon next trip." (with saying their special needs stroller didn't come in time and acknowledging that "they’re strict. Many wagons are turned away. Even, apparently, those for medical needs.") I didn't feel comfortable with the Board rules discussing that further. That was me being cautious but I appreciate you giving your comment here

Just an observation on wagons in the parks. We just returned from a week in WDW. There were many wagons. I have no idea what the ratio is, much smaller than stollers to be sure, but this trip I did notice more wagons than in previous ones. Who was using them and for what reason? No idea... Burt children (usually one, but sometimes a couple in the wagon) in them seemed happy so it really doesn't matter what the need was as long as the family was able to have a good day. Just my opinion. Not for or aganist wagons... just that the ones I saw were working for those families' needs.

 

[RamblinWreck]

All I have is the post that says 8%, it doesn't clarify if that's all guests granted DAS or just the one guest who the DAS is intended for.

Even if you multiplied by 5 (DAS + 5 people), which is over-estimating, the math still doesn't seem to add up.

It would make sense on the rides with the most appeal / longest lines.

Abuse or not, any DAS user is most likely to use DAS on those rides. They could also easily do 3 or 4 of the rides with 120 minute waits in a day, while still experiencing dozens of other attractions.

Any non-DAS user is unlikely to do more than 1 of those in a day, and they're in line the whole time.

 

[PainInIL]

I can't math this early in the morning, but are you counting the DAS member's guests? That would be around 4 extra people per DAS guest.

Yes, I think it is really important to take the total number of guests attached to the DAS rider.

I believe Disney's numbers say there are somewhere around 8-10% of their daily guests on a DAS. That seems very reasonable. However, if each DAS guest is a memeber of a party of 4 or 5, now 40-50% of your guests are effectively on a DAS pass. For some of the most popular rides, this could easily lead to a vast majority of the LL inventory being used by those guests. This number is not sustainable given the way they staff and operate the parks today.

So, Disney needs to lower the overall DAS inventory. This is where alternate accomodations will come in. They will most likely do everything they can to AVOID giving out DAS access except for specific cases they have described.

Basically, Disney has the data to show that if they accomodate everyone, it will have massive impacts on their daily operations for all guests. With that data, they would most likely survive any court case since the requirement for ADA is based on not impacting your business.

As unfortunate it is for a lot of people, I think Disney is free to do whatever they want here. They most likely let this go on as long as it did so they they have months worth of data on how DAS is impacting all their guests. They have always been one of the most litigious companies in the world and they are very well versed in what they can and cannot do when it comes to legal matters.

It is most likely going to be a rocky few months ahead for a lot of people, and that is a shame. But, this is how the modern Disney corporation operates, quareterly profits before people and then leave operations to deal with the cleanup.

 

[nalababybear]

I think there will be varying opinions on the source. Still, something caused WDW to clamp down pretty hard. It's worth a ponder to me.

Definitely. As own experience for DLR, we have noticed an increase of DAS parties for sure. Hitting anywhere north of 5% of party tapins is hard to believe.

Even at 5%, that's a lot of capacity load being utilized within LL itself and Disney trying to optimize LL times.

Disney absolutely would have put a pin on it way before the quoted numbers. 8% of total gate taps are DAS associated ? That's just not credible. 8% of calls to DAS Team and granted DAS -- that's a lot more credible number finding.

 

[sprem96]

I'm not getting into an inter-board war, but posts prior to the one you linked by other members seem to make numbers up from whole cloth. In fact, one says "using up to 70% capacity."

Sure, you know what else is "up to 70%"? Anything less than 70%.

Did anyone ever consider the possibility that the reason for an uptick in usage is just from an increase in actual disabilities being discovered. Here is 1 stat alone: The rising incidence of IBD is propelled by pediatric-onset IBD, which is rising by 1.23% per year from 15.6 per 100,000 in 2023 to 18.0 per 100,000 in 2035" sourced from National Institutes of Heath in September 2023. As we learn about disabilities more, we are finding better ways to spot them earlier and more often which would explain the increase in DAS usage. I myself had no idea what UC was before I was diagnosed in 2014.

 

[Disturbia]

It would make sense on the rides with the most appeal / longest lines.

Abuse or not, any DAS user is most likely to use DAS on those rides. They could also easily do 3 or 4 of the rides with 120 minute waits in a day, while still experiencing dozens of other attractions.

Any non-DAS user is unlikely to do more than 1 of those in a day, and they're in line the whole time.

The DAS abusers are who Disney is targeting and rightfully so.

No not any DAS user can ride those rides. our now 4 year old was not even tall enough for SDMT, SDD or any of the big rides. We won’t take her on TOT until she is 6+ because of how scary it is. FOP has a 44 inch height requirement (kids 6+). RnRC won’t be until 7-8 years old.

So at HS she could ride 2 rides - TSMM and AlienSS. We did NOT want to re ride those (TSMM hands hurt; AlienSS queue is hot, fans ineffective).

 

[lanejudy]

People are making the assumption that the Genie service is only Genie + which is a paid service. There is a completely free part of Genie where you can put in your 'must do' attractions and it will help you plan an itinerary with the lowest wait times for those attractions.

Thanks for pointing this out -- I had completely missed that the "Disney Genie Service" listed as an option to assist guests in accessing attraction queues was actually the free planning version and not the paid in-parks version. To tell the truth, we also have not used it. I'll have to play around with it some more.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

in them seemed happy so it really doesn't matter what the need was as long as the family was able to have a good day.

They were prohibited for a reason so yes it does matter what the need was as that determines an exception

There were many wagons.

That's a shame on Disney for not enforcing their rules and for people to bring in a prohibited item but that's a conversation for another day.

**moving on from that topic

 

[Philsfan77]

It would make sense on the rides with the most appeal / longest lines.

Abuse or not, any DAS user is most likely to use DAS on those rides. They could also easily do 3 or 4 of the rides with 120 minute waits in a day, while still experiencing dozens of other attractions.

Any non-DAS user is unlikely to do more than 1 of those in a day, and they're in line the whole time.

I would say the math probably isn't that far off if you break it down by attraction and ride capacity. Take a ride like Peter Pan - if 8% of park guests qualify for DAS at Magic Kingdom and we take the general estimated attendance of 57,000 guests per day that averages out to around 4,560 people. multiply by on average lets say 4 people the family can use for DAS and now you're at 18,240 people eligible to ride Peter Pan via DAS. Will all of them ride it? probably not...but even if they all wanted to (they couldn't) because the daily capacity for Peter Pan is below that threshold. In fact 12 rides at MK alone fall below the total estimated number of DAS eligible users and guests capacity for the ride, which in itself poses a potential problem (assuming that 8% of guests receive DAS is close to accurate).

 

[Disturbia]

Thanks for pointing this out -- I had completely missed that the "Disney Genie Service" listed as an option to assist guests in accessing attraction queues was actually the free planning version and not the paid in-parks version. To tell the truth, we also have not used it. I'll have to play around with it some more.

It has you running one end to the other and prioritizes scattering crowds vs minimizing wait times for the guest.

The first time I used it it wanted us to go to POC which was a 45 min wait vs Buzz (right next to where we were waiting) which had a shorter line even though we had both rides on our list. This was close to the afternoon and it calculated most people going right after the hub.

We had purchased Genie+ and continued to ignore its suggestions. Now we don’t even bother selecting or setting it up and we get less interruptions from its suggestions.

 

[sprem96]

That's actually incorrect information. Once you are approved through IBCCES, you then have a phone call with Uni's disability accommodations team. They usually try to time it to a week or two before your trip, but you can call them at any time (call the main number and ask to be transferred to the disability accommodations team). Given your situation (coming from the UK), you can go ahead and talk to them before you put out the money for your trip.

In any event, during that phone call they assess your needs. Assuming they approve your accommodations, they give you a case number, which gets attached to your digital IBCCES card. You do have to stop by Guest Services when you get there, but not to be reassessed. You just show them that digital card on your phone, they put the case number in the computer, and it spits out the relevant accommodations. You're approved forever, as long as you remember to renew the IBCCES card once a year. If the original accommodations they provide don't work for you, go to Guest Services and let them know. They can get you back in touch with the accommodations team and get everything updated to the new accommodations, and then those are the ones that will spit out each time.

Thanks for the update, I'm still learning it 100%, but I'm still correct in needing to have a ticket purchased before being approved from Universal? How does it work, do I reach out to them, or how do they reach out to me, once I by my tickets?

 

[MediumSizedMermaid]

It has you running one end to the other and prioritizes scattering crowds vs maximizing wait times for the guest.

The first time I used it it wanted us to go to POC which was a 45 min wait vs Buzz (right next to where we were waiting) which had a shorter line even though we had both rides on our list. This was close to the afternoon and it calculated most people going right.

We had purchased Genie+ and continued to ignore its suggestions. Now we don’t even bother selecting or setting it up and we get less interruptions from its suggestions.

I highly recommend tourinplans instead. They have a lot of free plans and you can subscribe for customized options (this also includes access to their wait times apps, which I've found to be more accurate than Disney's.)

Disney Genie (without the plus) is utterly worthless.

 

[lanejudy]

... I had a hard time going back and looking for my post when I realized I might have said too much

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We will open another thread with details once known, and ask for experiences. At this point closing and restarting a new thread will just result in more of the same. Some posters may have missed the initial announcement last week and are only hearing about it now, may be coming to vent just like others did last week.