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

[PrincessV]

What do other races around the nation do? I've never actually thought about something like that especially in the case of service animals or assistive devices. My assumption is that with Disney they have such a controlled environment within their parks that they could do things other races/marathons can't.




Interestingly I looked up what is probably the most notable one in my area which is the Garmin one and they state

• Can I race with a wheelchair or handcycle?
  • Due to the lack of sustainable participation numbers in these divisions, these options have been suspended."

They only allow service animals if they are for visually impaired runners though they also allow human guides via United in Stride (used for visually impaired). None of the paperwork I can find specifies those with visual impairment are able to get any special treatment be it race starting position or leeway on race time (they have a vehicle that follows the course and picks up being who are exceeding the time for their spot on the course).

If you're a walker you start at the back. But the Garmin race is also on public roads (some routes are on public park trails) with no full closure of them for the duration of the race. There are instead closed portions of the race with the rest only having partial closures until a set time so there is a safety component that isn't quite the same as Disney.

But I also know that RunDisney has gotten incredibly popular over the years, two of our Orlando DISers participate in them a good amount of time, so it makes me wonder if part of the adjustment and hard stance towards assistive devices or guides is related to an increase in participants to the point where they can't accommodate/ensure safety those groups the same as in the past. So maybe they aren't outright prohibiting it like the Garmin race for example but they are making is less likely to have a larger group of participants with those needs. Circling back around to the undercurrent vibe of too many users of DAS may be potentially not allowing certain groups within that to have accommodation in a way they did before (likening it to the increase in popularity of RunDisney participants creating issues to properly accommodate certain groups).

I didn’t pay close enough attention to say what other major races allow/provide - I know some AWDs have said, but I just didn’t retain that info. I can say though that the rD race field sizes now are actually smaller than they once were, and overall the number of registered AWDs is a very, very small percentage of the field (plenty of AWDs like me with invisible disabilities don’t register as such and just find a way to participate, so I’m sure there are plenty more actual AWDs, but Avery small number of those registered as such.) Which is what has caused much confusion for the AWDs affected by the change. They’re now much MORE in the way of the rest of the field than they used to be, which has created a LESS safe situation for everyone. It’s all rather odd.

RD definitely isn’t prohibiting AWDs or their assistive devices (there are some rules about what devices can be used, and chair athletes are a totally separate division with its own start group that begins ahead of the elites) - they just aren’t giving them a a separate starting group anymore. It’s hard to explain, but the earlier start did give them a little extra time to finish, but also allowed the field behind them to spread out more before encountering them.

Since start times are based on running pace and anticipated finish time, I wonder if the start time slots between the elite runners and the rest of the field just got too close to accommodate an 'in-between' group

I don’t think so - it’s a HUGE variance in paces in any rD race, from 4-5-minute milers up front to 16+-minute milers in the back, and literally everything in between at any given point. The huge majority of the field isn’t remotely close to the elites. Add in people stopping for photos, and you get a lot more variance in speed, if that makes sense. Having the AWDs start earlier than the masses seemed to more effectively give them some extra space, which made it easier for faster runners behind them to see the AWDs sooner and the space to go around safely. What I saw happen in the more recent races was that AWDs - particularly those with guides/dogs - struggled more with the crowdedness and many faster runners didn’t have enough space to safely assess the situation and take avoidable action. There were a lot of near-misses in the couple miles I witnessed, which I’d never seen before.

~~~

It’s an incredibly small fraction that AWDs make up in any rD race, so it’s felt really odd that they made that change and the rD community’s kind of given up trying to understand, because it just feels SO illogical… but coupled with the DAS changes it maybe makes more sense, even if the end result isn’t an increase in safety??? IDK - it still makes no sense to me but suddenly feels less of a random change out of nowhere.

 

[lanejudy]

It’s an incredibly small fraction that AWDs make up in any rD race, so it’s felt really odd that they made that change and the rD community’s kind of given up trying to understand, because it just feels SO illogical… but coupled with the DAS changes it maybe makes more sense, even if the end result isn’t an increase in safety??? IDK - it still makes no sense to me but suddenly feels less of a random change out of nowhere.

Admittedly I know next to nothing about runDisney events. But I do think that trying to connect changes to DAS with changes to runDisney procedures is putting apples and oranges together. DAS is specific to the parks, and even more specifically to attraction access within the parks; it has nothing to do with transportation, restaurants, shopping, resorts, Disney Springs and I honestly can't imagine it is connected to runDisney procedures. There are new buses at WDW with new configuration and loading procedures for ECVs/wheelchairs, but I wouldn't never attempt to say that is related to the upcoming DAS changes. They are completely separate. The only connection might be the word "disability."

Let's keep this thread on-topic about DAS.

 

[BingoJoe]

Neither you nor Disney has any way of knowing how many people are being "dishonourable."

It crazy that anyone thinks the current system is the best it can be and doesn't need reforming.

They quite literally perform zero checks at the moment, you ask you get.

Obviously that kind of system is going to fail over time, its a miracle it has lasted this long.

 

[PrincessV]

Admittedly I know next to nothing about runDisney events. But I do think that trying to connect changes to DAS with changes to runDisney procedures is putting apples and oranges together. DAS is specific to the parks, and even more specifically to attraction access within the parks; it has nothing to do with transportation, restaurants, shopping, resorts, Disney Springs and I honestly can't imagine it is connected to runDisney procedures. There are new buses at WDW with new configuration and loading procedures for ECVs/wheelchairs, but I wouldn't never attempt to say that is related to the upcoming DAS changes. They are completely separate. The only connection might be the word "disability."

Let's keep this thread on-topic about DAS.

No problem and that makes sense! In my mind the commonality was a recent change in what’s being offered as a form of accomodation, but agree completely that there’s not a direct connection. Please LMK if you’d like me to edit my previous post.