How does DAS work with a party of 8?

[jnoran]

We are a family of 8 (going to WDW in April) with one member who we expect to qualify for DAS. But we are concerned that officially the limit for a DAS party is 6 people. Is Disney really going to tell two of us that we can't go on a ride with the rest of our group? Does anyone have any real-life experiences with this?

 

[lanejudy]

They might. It may depend on the make-up of your party. 2 parents + 6 minor children may get an exception not granted to 2 parents + 2 kids + 2 grandparents or 6 adults. Reports are no exceptions during the video chat any exception will be granted in-person. And just be aware that even if all 8 are allowed to be linked to the DAS, some attractions may limit to just 6. There is more discussion on the disABILITIES Forum.

 

[jnoran]

Thanks for your prompt reply. We are a party of 2 grandparents, 2 parents and 4 children.

 

[coastermom]

When we were there last week there was a party of 12 on DAS .. not sure the make up of the party but they told the CM at the front they were on DAS for their ride and it was a party of 12

I too Am concerned with our trip in August… I have a DAS ..for multiple reasons .. we are taking my 3 children , mySIL & DIL with my infant grand daughter. There are a total of 8 with the baby but 7 that would be on the DAS as baby is under 2 . ( at least that was my understanding since she doesn’t need a ticket ) isDisney really going To tell on of them they can’t ride with us ? My SIL can also qualify for a DAS as he had a stroke at a young age and has some disabilities that would / could prevent him from standing in line . Is it better to just have him apply for one ?

 

[DisneyOma]

When we were there last week there was a party of 12 on DAS .. not sure the make up of the party but they told the CM at the front they were on DAS for their ride and it was a party of 12

I too Am concerned with our trip in August… I have a DAS ..for multiple reasons .. we are taking my 3 children , mySIL & DIL with my infant grand daughter. There are a total of 8 with the baby but 7 that would be on the DAS as baby is under 2 . ( at least that was my understanding since she doesn’t need a ticket ) isDisney really going To tell on of them they can’t ride with us ? My SIL can also qualify for a DAS as he had a stroke at a young age and has some disabilities that would / could prevent him from standing in line . Is it better to just have him apply for one ?

If his disabilities are considered a mobility issue, Disney suggests using a mobility device, etc. DAS is for non-mobility issues.

 

[coastermom]

If his disabilities are considered a mobility issue, Disney suggests using a mobility device, etc. DAS is for non-mobility issues.

Yes I am aware of the DAS requirements and the recommendations for mobility issues ( the issues aren’t mobility) ..

 

[OurBigTrip]

When we were there last week there was a party of 12 on DAS .. not sure the make up of the party but they told the CM at the front they were on DAS for their ride and it was a party of 12

I too Am concerned with our trip in August… I have a DAS ..for multiple reasons .. we are taking my 3 children , mySIL & DIL with my infant grand daughter. There are a total of 8 with the baby but 7 that would be on the DAS as baby is under 2 . ( at least that was my understanding since she doesn’t need a ticket ) isDisney really going To tell on of them they can’t ride with us ? My SIL can also qualify for a DAS as he had a stroke at a young age and has some disabilities that would / could prevent him from standing in line . Is it better to just have him apply for one ?

If your SIL doesn’t need the DAS, he shouldn’t ask for it just so that you all can ride together.

 

[coastermom]

If your SIL doesn’t need the DAS, he shouldn’t ask for it just so that you all can ride together.

He will definitely need it .. it just makes no sense for two of us to have it if we could all just use mine . He will 100 percent qualify for it he also can’t ride all the rides due to his disability.

 

[piccolopat]

If your SIL qualifies for his own DAS, it's probably safer for you both to have your own. You can then get go together and get the same return times without worrying about whether an exception will be made for your group.

 

[DisneyOma]

Yes I am aware of the DAS requirements and the recommendations for mobility issues ( the issues aren’t mobility) ..

Oh, sorry, you mentioned he couldn't stand in the queue, which would be a mobility issue, IMO. If he needs to sit, then he would be better off bringing a mobility device to guarantee a place to sit down when he can't stand.

 

[ttintagel]

Every member of your party who needs DAS should request it. You never know when or how your party is going to be split up during the course of your stay.

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

When my family went to AK in June 2021, there was a large group (I would estimate 12-20 people) trying to use a DAS at Nav'i River. It took several minutes of back and forth, but that entire group was allowed into the queue by the CM. The wife/mother of the family in front of us turned to me and said "I thought there was a 6 person limit." I replied "Yeah."

Interestingly, when we went to Kilo. Safaris much later in the day that same large group was ahead of us again with the same estimated amount of people as I mentioned above. The group was situated to the side of the queue and I could hear the family arguing with the CM because the CM was not going to allow the entire group on and I heard the CM say only the person with the DAS and those linked to the DAS account could move through the queue and everyone else had to use standby queue.

So, based upon this very limited experience, I wouldn't count on CMs just letting the extra two people on a ride that are not linked to the DAS account.

I do feel badly that large groups can get split up in this way, because of the maximum party DAS rule established by Disney. But, trying to add every member of large groups to a DAS account at the ride queue isn't in accord with Disney rules and isn't fair to those trying to utliize DAS under the rules. The max limit for DAS parties needs to be communicated clearly by Disney (which I actually think Disney does a good job of that communication) and the larger parties shouldn't violate the DAS rules or be asking CMs to violate Disney's DAS rules. Guests need to follow the rules and CMs shouldn't be put in the position of guests asking them to break the rules. It isn't fair to the CMs.

 

[Kerr84]

I preregistered my daughter for DAS and they put 7 of us on there. She is under 3 though so maybe she doesn't count. My Advanced Selections say for 7.

 

[Lacoccinelle]

We were at DL this summer and they are much less customer friendly. We were 2 grandparents 4 adults and 4 kids. I wrote down on a piece of paper the six people that I wanted link to the disability pass. Mainly the kids. Not everybody rides all the crazy rides I told them. They put everyone on it.

 

[Claudia1]

We went in June with our DD's blended family of eight, 2 adults 6 children with the oldest being 13. They also had 2 additional under the age of 3 which didn't count. They were granted an exception and all 8 above the age of 3 were on the DAS. I wouldn't count on it, tho. They might have just gotten a sympathetic CM. DD understood it was a special exception.

 

[AirplaneJane]

I’ve been wondering about this, too … Two of my kiddos have disabilities 11yo (Autistic & Bipolar) and 4yo (nonverbal autistic).

We are a party of eight (2 parents, 4 kids, 2 grandparents). I plan to get DAS for the 11 and 4 year olds. adults will be taking turns having fun with the 4yo while the rest of the party takes the older kids on rides she can’t go on. A lot of the time the whole group won’t even be all together, and with both of them on DAS it would be just one extra party member linked to each of them.

But it would be very helpful to have that extra party member linked, for rides that all of us can go on, and also to make it easier to switch who is with the 4yo. It would also make it easier to take either of them back to the hotel room if needed and allow the other to stay with the rest of the party without worrying which party members are linked and which are not.

But in the scenario that an exception isn’t granted …

Let’s say I had everyone but grandma linked to the 11yo, and everyone but grandpa linked to the 4yo. In that case, if we were all together for a ride, everyone would be allowed on. But, if grandma really wanted to take the 11yo away for a ride with just the two of them, they couldn’t use DAS. And if Grandpa wanted to take the 4yo on dumbo while the rest of us rode space mountain, they couldn’t use DAS.

Is that right? Or is it just, the DAS user can bring up to five party members on the ride with them? We will be linked through our Disney account, just not sure how the DAS linking works.

And what about rider switch? Say grandma had the 4yo while the rest of the party rode space mountain with the 11yo’s DAS. If she’s not linked to his DAS, can she still use rider switch to ride space mountain after we ride?

There would never be a scenario where only one of them would be riding with six other people, because if one of them isn’t riding, an adult is staying with them and also not riding.

If both are riding, they are technically each only bringing three people along with them.

 

[Kerr84]

I’ve been wondering about this, too … Two of my kiddos have disabilities 11yo (Autistic & Bipolar) and 4yo (nonverbal autistic).

We are a party of eight (2 parents, 4 kids, 2 grandparents). I plan to get DAS for the 11 and 4 year olds. adults will be taking turns having fun with the 4yo while the rest of the party takes the older kids on rides she can’t go on. A lot of the time the whole group won’t even be all together, and with both of them on DAS it would be just one extra party member linked to each of them.

But it would be very helpful to have that extra party member linked, for rides that all of us can go on, and also to make it easier to switch who is with the 4yo. It would also make it easier to take either of them back to the hotel room if needed and allow the other to stay with the rest of the party without worrying which party members are linked and which are not.

But in the scenario that an exception isn’t granted …

Let’s say I had everyone but grandma linked to the 11yo, and everyone but grandpa linked to the 4yo. In that case, if we were all together for a ride, everyone would be allowed on. But, if grandma really wanted to take the 11yo away for a ride with just the two of them, they couldn’t use DAS. And if Grandpa wanted to take the 4yo on dumbo while the rest of us rode space mountain, they couldn’t use DAS.

Is that right? Or is it just, the DAS user can bring up to five party members on the ride with them? We will be linked through our Disney account, just not sure how the DAS linking works.

And what about rider switch? Say grandma had the 4yo while the rest of the party rode space mountain with the 11yo’s DAS. If she’s not linked to his DAS, can she still use rider switch to ride space mountain after we ride?

There would never be a scenario where only one of them would be riding with six other people, because if one of them isn’t riding, an adult is staying with them and also not riding.

If both are riding, they are technically each only bringing three people along with them.

I don’t know for certain in your case, but I think they would put everyone on each DAS pass if you explain that you may split into different groups. But the way I understand is that someone can be on 2 different DAS passes, but they can only be waiting for 1 ride at a time. I am not 100% sure on this, so maybe someone can give you a better answer.

 

[lanejudy]

Above is correct. Any individual may only have 1 active DAS Return Time at any point in the day. So if grandma and the 4-yr-old get a DAS for Dumbo, grandma can't also be included in a DAS Return Time with the 11-yr-old for HM. She should need to use the Dumbo return before the 11-yr-old gets a return for HM. Most likely they will allow the full party to be listed for each DAS, but any given ride may limit to a max of 6.

As for Rider Swap -- the DAS-holder must ride in "party 1." Otherwise, it works just the same as without DAS.

 

[bambialways4ever]

We were at DL this summer and they are much less customer friendly. We were 2 grandparents 4 adults and 4 kids. I wrote down on a piece of paper the six people that I wanted link to the disability pass. Mainly the kids. Not everybody rides all the crazy rides I told them. They put everyone on it.

I'm confused what about this experience makes Disneyland "much less customer friendly".

 

[AirplaneJane]

Above is correct. Any individual may only have 1 active DAS Return Time at any point in the day. So if grandma and the 4-yr-old get a DAS for Dumbo, grandma can't also be included in a DAS Return Time with the 11-yr-old for HM. She should need to use the Dumbo return before the 11-yr-old gets a return for HM. Most likely they will allow the full party to be listed for each DAS, but any given ride may limit to a max of 6.

As for Rider Swap -- the DAS-holder must ride in "party 1." Otherwise, it works just the same as without DAS.

Thank you!

Having a limit of 6 per ride won’t be a problem at all; there would never be a reason to need more.

So I guess that begs the question: if grandma wants to ride space mountain but the group uses DAS to get on and she’s doing rider switch, does her rider switch pass count as a DAS return time, or is it a separate system?

Or Would she need the original DAS pass in order to trigger the rider switch pass, and since she won’t tap in to the system until she’s ready to ride, she won’t be able to use DAS with the 4yo while the group rides space mountain?

I only ask because I need to plan the itinerary in advance so the kids can know the schedule to reduce frustration. If we can’t combine rider switch/DAS, we will plan our day differently than if we can.