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

Get Walt Disney World News Delivered to Your Inbox

JAN J22 days ago

Makes sense, I hadn't considered it from that perspective.

Tigger&Pooh23 days ago

Agree that is the assumed reason for not limiting DAS. I also believe re-rides are simply not the problem that some posters here claim it is. If Disney felt DAS re-rides were causing a considerable backlog at certain attractions they could probably tweak DAS to include some limits (likely X number of attractions per day rather than "no re-rides"), but since it's apparently not a particularly high volume of riders Disney isn't interested in creating such limits.

JAN J23 days ago

Probably was easier to just say "set it at 10 minutes" rather than "estimate each ride's running time". My solution would be a scanner at the exit but then it would cost them money to buy and maintain.

DisneyHead12323 days ago

I think this is a largely uncharted topic, because in the past, disabilities often involved physical differences, with an assumption that people still wanted to do the same things in general. Now, with the huge increase we’re seeing in the ND population, it’s a bit different because the desire to do things differently is itself the disability, at least in part (note - I’m using disability in the sense that it qualifies people for DAS. I know some people use the term disability, some use difference, and I am open to both, depending on a person‘s unique situation and self perception.) I don’t know if wanting to go on a ride over and over would be considered something that needs to be accommodated if it were ever brought up in a legal sense. I actually think this is one of the few areas where a difference in ND thinking styles might be granted legal protection. If a person wants Disney to turn on all the lights in the dark rides and lower the volume on everything, that’s changing the experience for everyone else. If a person wants to go on a ride over and over? I feel like that’s similar to a person who goes to a zoo or museum and stands at one exhibit the whole time. It’s well within the choices they are allowed to make for themselves to have an enjoyable day. Now if the entrance to said exhibit is small and they are blocking it for other people? That’s a bit different. Again, I think this is one that would have to be discussed in detail in court as there is little that has been said about it thus far, that I’m aware of. I could see it going either way. My guess is that if Disney ever does limit DAS rides, it will be for a handful of attractions with the highest number of riders, the argument being that re-rides prevent other park guests from experiencing the ride (but more likely they’ll just sidestep the issue entirely with virtual queues.)

Chi8423 days ago

Right. I’m speaking only about the possible legality because talking about what the disabled person needs is only part of the issue. Needs likely differ greatly based on the individual. The court was using “like experience” differently from how many use it here. A business has to provide reasonable accommodations to give the disabled guest a like park experience to that of the non-disabled guest. But it looked at what the average guest actually does, not what each person could do if they wished based on the absence of a disability.

DisneyHead12323 days ago

In practice I doubt they would ever cap DAS because fixation on certain rides can be a thing for ND people. It would be a bad look to tell children with autism they can’t re-ride Small World multiple times if they wait the same amount of time as everyone else. Comparing their experience to what the average guest does is going to be perceived differently if their experience differs specifically because of the nature of their disability. (I say perceived vs legally different because I realize the need for alternative line programs hasn’t even been established from a legal standpoint, so it’s possible DAS isn’t required from a legal perspective at all.)

Splash4eva23 days ago

Thats why they implemented the “10 minute rule” as noted by myself before there definitely are rides/attractions that go well beyond that but for whatever reason Disney chose 10 minutes as the time frame. Im not a tech guy but im surprised Disney couldnt write some code where each ride is programmed in that DAS users use and the next tap isnt available until the ride time is up…

Chi8424 days ago

No, I’m saying that Disney would be able to cap DAS to limit or prevent re-rides. At least based on my reading of the GAC to DAS case. The court looked at statistics of what the average guest did, not what the guest could have done if they wished.

Figgy124 days ago

People can use stand by as many times as they wish, capping DAS to once per ride would give a much different experience to those needing DAS

JAN J24 days ago

I apologize but I absolutely don't understand what you mean. The first part is true for all accomodations (based on previous discussions in this thread, it's also the law: a business does not have to significantly impact its operations to provide an accomodation). As for the second part... I don't understand your point. Why are you saying Disney would not cap DAS to one use? The other person that replied to you had the same opinion as me but I don't understand your answer. PS: English is not my first language

Chi8424 days ago

JAN J24 days ago

How so?

Chi8424 days ago

Its not like that at all.

JAN J24 days ago

I believe the reason that they don't do it is because the DAS holder is technically queueing as well (even if virtually), so that would be the equivalent of saying a person can't go twice in a stand-by line.