Disney World announces new measures to address abuse of Disability Access Service

Apr 09, 2024 in "Magic Kingdom"

Posted: Tuesday April 9, 2024 12:00pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Disney is making changes to Walt Disney World's Disability Access Service (DAS) to address the misuse of this widely used benefit, which skips conventional queue environments at the parks. The new system aims to ensure that DAS is used fairly and only by those who truly need it, improving the park experience for all guests.

A major change is in the works for Walt Disney World's Disability Access Service (DAS)

DAS is intended for guests with difficulty tolerating extended waits in a conventional queue environment due to a disability. DAS offers return times for attractions, similar to standby waits, allowing guests and their party to enjoy other park experiences instead of waiting in line. Notably, Disney has dramatically narrowed the scope of eligibility and now says that DAS is for guests with a "developmental disability like autism or similar." The new DAS also extends the enrollment period from 60 days to 120 days, and reduces the DAS party size to four guests.

Disney is facing increasing abuse of the system, which, according to sources who spoke with WDWMAGIC, is the primary cause for extended wait times in the Genie+ Lightning Lanes and occupies a significant quantity of available Lightning Lane inventory.

Disney plans to introduce the new DAS system on May 20, 2024 at Walt Disney World, and June 18, 2024 at Disneyland Resort in California. Disney is teaming up with Inspire Health Alliance to help Cast Members determine eligibility.

How to Register for DAS at Walt Disney World

Registration is available via live video chat.
Speak with a Cast Member via live video chat to determine eligibility as soon as 30 days in advance of a park visit.
At this time, live chat is offered in English only.
Guests visiting now through May 19 may visit a theme park Guest Relation location to speak with a Cast Member. In-person registration will no longer be available at theme park Guest Relations locations starting May 20, 2024.
If DAS is provided after a conversation with a Cast Member to determine eligibility, the Guest with a disability (or a parent/guardian) will participate in the registration process. This requires having a photo taken of the DAS-registered Guest.
DAS registration maximum party size is the registered DAS Guest and up to 3 additional party members, for a total of 4 people.
DAS is valid for up to 120 days. Once the service has elapsed, Guests will need to re-register.
Guests visiting now through May 19, 2024, DAS is valid for up to 30 days.

Disney says that, "If it is determined that any of the statements a Guest made in the process of obtaining DAS are not true, the Guest will be permanently barred from entering Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort, and any previously purchased Annual Passes, Magic Key passes, tickets and other park products and services will be forfeited and not refunded."

DAS Information for Guests visiting from April 9 through May 19, 2024

Pre-arrival conversations to determine eligibility for DAS are available 2-30 days prior to your park visit.
In-person conversations to determine eligibility for DAS will continue to be at Guest Relations locations.
You can book up to 2 one-hour return windows for select experiences using our DAS Advance planning option.
DAS is valid for up to 30 days from the start of the registration. Once the service has elapsed, Guests will need to re-register.

Discuss on the Forums

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RSoxNo11 day ago

I'm still baffled that approval for the DAS is behind a paywall. That part is absolutely ridiculous.

jennab552 days ago

Sounds like it was written with info from the people on the shady disability fb page…. Probably the only people who were actually surveyed and all of them believe they, or anyone else who claims any sort of disability, are entitled to DAS.

flynnibus2 days ago

“What is your concern with being in the line?” the park employee asked. “What do you mean, what’s my concern?” Steffen remembers replying. “My concern is I can’t be in the line.” Ergo... Disney's problem and the way entitlement works... The next day, she pulled out a card certifying her disability and needed accommodations. It said she needed frequent rest areas and may need to leave lines quickly. A cast member still asked her to read the card out loud. "certifying"?? "Acute Flaccid Myelitis" being handled like a chronic condition?? This seems like a poorly researched article

lentesta2 days ago

I spoke with the reporter. Haven’t read the article yet.

DoubleSwitchback2 days ago

I'm surprised they call what Burgess-Lefebvre did as "research", as she only made an effort to contact those most aggrieved about the changes. Saying "X% of former DAS users" is highly misleading, implies she has some sort of representative sample.

RSoxNo12 days ago

Posting this here: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2024/12/18/changes-at-disney-bring-challenges-frustration-for-those-with-disabilities/31227/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1KOG_8k3nhGc8Thhr-zNSFwVvXtZOYmbvcNBkO9b3uf3ZsFc4du3XOO4k_aem_H2Fg105PimygXcvhMJZ1Sw I'm curious, @lentesta, did they approach you for this article or were these quotes from things you put out in your podcast.

jennab557 days ago

Yep, this is what we do too! I can’t deal with the afternoon crowds and we all need a break to chill by then!

Vegas Disney Fan7 days ago

Good advice, our typical day is now rope drop, afternoon break at the hotel, and return at sundown. We’ve had decent luck avoiding the worst of the lines with this plan, it stinks to miss 3-5 hours of afternoon park time but we find we get more done in the first 3, and last 3, hours than we’d get done by sleeping in (or leaving early) and staying through the day. This is the biggest thing I miss about FP+, we’d book them for 1, 2, and 3 and it would make our afternoons super easy to navigate. Now we typically spend that time sipping cocktails poolside.

jennab557 days ago

Couldn’t you plan ahead of time and pre-book the LLs with LLMP? Wouldn’t that make it easier to coordinate with DAS knowing what ride you have planned when? Other than that I suggest going to early hours if you can, as lower crowds for the first few hours.

peter114357 days ago

Your experience is the exception. That is not how it’s supposed to be handled at most attractions.

Comped7 days ago

Correct. I didn't have to reason with the CM over why I should get it, simply said I needed one and got it for my group of four.

Disstevefan17 days ago

Totally agree, never said it had anything to DAS. The terrible changes to DAS should have improved all wait times but since the LL system in inherently BROKEN, all wait times will be abnormally high and opened the door for LLPP.

RSoxNo17 days ago

We will be purchasing LLMP as well. We have always done both since the original GAC was retired. Even when the GAC was a thing, we would supplement with paper Fastpass. This was easier because they didn't enforce the end time on the Fastpass back in the day. We've always managed to adapt and always had larger groups. For the most part it has always been transparent to Matt. The issue now is that LLMP has less same day / flexible availability and the DAS accommodates less members of our party. It absolutely unequivocally should not be this complicated. It was always complicated to navigate with a larger party, but having to fuse together multiple systems shouldn't be this difficult. Honestly, if they wanted to say that they would accommodate 6 people on the DAS if we also paid for LLMP for everyone I'd do it because I was already buying LLMP. You're not wrong. To paint a picture here, my mother is 5'2", my brother is 6'1". While he's not particularly strong, he can be when he wants to be. It's been years since he's ever had to be restrained in a theme park. What's more likely now is that he has an itch and his arm goes elbow deep into his pants to address it. Forcably removing his arm from his pants is something that really only I'm strong enough to do. Can you clarify this. Were you able to get a return time by visiting the attraction without having a DAS? If that's an option, that would absolutely work as a means of complimenting this. I'll be honest, the biggest thing I'm worried about is Matt's favorite attraction, Jungle Cruise. I'd like to do as many family friendly attractions with all 7 of us as possible, so I'm hoping that when we're in our booking window I can book that as a LLMP for our two MK mornings. Failing that, my expectation is that two adults (probably myself and my father) will wait standby while the rest of the family uses the DAS. You hit this on the head here, and it's the crux of the argument against me. Determining what is a "fair accommodation" is a difficult task. I would argue (and have made the case on podcasts) that the previous accommodation was probably too generous. With that said, we were eligible for it and I don't feel guilty for utilizing it. Previously, Disney had a very soft cap of 6 guests and they allowed you to pre-book 3 DAS reservations ahead of your trip. I have no way of proving this (perhaps @lentesta knows), but I suspect that they instituted the pre-booked DAS reservations as a means of further amortizing the initial cost of the Fastpass+ infrastructure. Fastpass+ was retired around the same time as advanced DAS was introduced. Because of the soft cap, poor enforcement, and the pre-booked experiences, the system was remarkably advantageous and a target for abuse. I recognize this will come off as somewhat self serving, but I think they largely corrected this with the exception of two MAJOR flaws: The approval process has to take place before tickets are required to be purchased. The tickets are non-refundable and if Disney is truly limiting this accommodation to guests with a "developmental disability like autism or similar" then that group needs to know definitively what the accommodation will be. The reduction of party size from a soft 6 person cap to a hard 4 person cap is a significant over correction. If folks are waiting 30 minutes in the LL queue for this A ticket ride THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN! That has nothing to with DAS and everything to do with a ride being broken. That happens daily.

Comped8 days ago

Or those of us who do qualify but don't want the hassle. I noticed it was significantly shorter for a bunch of lines while walking through Epcot over the weekend, than previously.