Disastrous DAS Changes In Effect

Hey everyone. I know it’s been a while. Life has been crazy – I’ll give a more in-depth update later on about what my life has looked like recently soon. But for now, I really need to dive into what has happened to the Disability Access Service.

This is NOT the update I wanted to make. This site is literally called “Access the Mouse” because I’ve always focused on how amazingly accessible the parks are – whether it be for guests with different body sizes, identities, food allergies, or various disabilities. As a disabled person, I’ve always been able to enjoy my vacations at Walt Disney World feeling like I was wanted there – that I belonged.

Unfortunately, I don’t think this is going to be the case anymore.

I’ve always been careful not to give much in the way of the specifics of “qualifying” for the DAS on my blog because there is a fraud issue. No one is denying there are people who are faking disabilities to have what they *think* is an advantage in the parks. But because of things happening right now, I’m going to be detailing a lot of secondhand information from others who have gone through the process in the last couple days, and specifically those who have been denied. This is important as we try to figure out where we go from here – what “alternative accommodations” are being offered? Can we still access the parks safely? Can we work together to advocate for a change that is more inclusive? I’m not going to specifically announce how people are being approved – it seems really arbitrary anyway. There’s no major patterns here that I can see, yet.

The Initial Announcement

On April 9, Disney announced major changes to the Disability Access Service, known as DAS, beginning on May 20 at Walt Disney World and June 17 at Disneyland Resort.

Who Qualifies: The wording was somewhat ambiguous, stating that the the DAS is “intended to accommodate a small percentage of Guests, who, due to a developmental disability such as autism or similar, are unable to wait in a conventional queue for a long period of time.” The old wording was that it was for “guests who have difficulty tolerating extended waits in a conventional queue environment due to a disability.” The new wording left guests with a lot of questions about who would be able to access the service. The disability services email and phone lines were flooded with people worried about their trip and whether they would qualify. Did this wording mean “only developmental disabilities” or were “developmental disabilities” one example of what would be approved. Disney sent the same unhelpful cookie cutter email back as a response to everyone messaging questions, assuring everyone that there would be “individualized conversations” and an “appropriate match of tools and services” that may “include Rider Switch, Mobility Services, options for those who may unexpectedly need to leave a queue, and/or other recommendations.”

The Registration Process: Disney announced that they would be partnering with “Inspire Health Alliance” to change the registration process. Now registration would have to be done via chat. Guests arriving to the parks would be given a tablet to chat with these “medical professionals” at Guest Services instead of having a Cast Member assist them in person. You would start the process with a Cast Member, who would then pass you over to a “medical professional” to “verify your disability”.

Changes to How DAS Works: Guests who were approved for DAS are now covered for 120 days, double the amount of time they had before. This is particularly helpful for local guests or Annual Passholders who tend to visit more frequently. A “cooldown period” of 10 minutes was introduced – you have to wait 10 minutes after scanning into an attraction to reserve your next return time. The “advance” selections that guests could select ahead of their trip at registration were eliminated. The party size was also reduced – previously you could have a party of 6 and now it’s been cut down to 4, including the DAS holder.

The Roll Out

Today is May 23, 2024. The changes officially began at Walt Disney World three days ago, and let me tell you, it has been a mess. The more people have their registration chats, the more clear it becomes that whoever approved these changes didn’t realize the impact they’re about to see.

The ambiguity of the eligibility terms is gone. This program is really only being approved for developmentally disabled and autistic individuals with very high support needs. There have been multiple guests with autism, sensory processing disorder, and other developmental disabilities turned down. Panic disorders, anxiety, and PTSD… all being turned down. Physical disabilities and chronic illnesses… turned down. (A quick note: mobility-based disabilities were not part of the “old” DAS, either. Guests with mobility needs who could wait in a queue in a wheelchair or ECV were directed to utilize mobility devices and go through the standard queue – with the exception of some older attractions that don’t have accessible queues. The changes don’t affect mobility needs. This is impacting guests with GI disorders, endocrine diseases, cancer, and neurologic conditions who aren’t helped by a mobility device.)

Return to Queue/Queue Re-Entry

One thing we expected based on the earlier information was the “return to queue” system being offered for guests with bathroom urgency issues. The new accessibility guide details the process to the Attraction Queue Re-Entry. Key takeaways are that “each location has a defined process to support this option based on a person’s disability while the rest of the party remains in line.” The short version is that they want you to flag down a Cast Member, explain that you need to exit the line due to a disability, then when your symptoms have resolved, seek out a Cast Member to let you rejoin the line. They also mention “briefly” twice, as they seem to expect that disabled guests will only be away for five or so minutes. That’s just not the reality here. It often takes hours for disabled guests to recover enough to be able to ride.

There are so many issues that come up with this return to queue system:

Guests with mobility devices such as rollators, ECVs, and wheelchairs cannot navigate out of lines easily. There is no separate “lane” for people to exit and return through, and these guests will potentially cause injuries to themselves or others trying to get out. (Ever have an ECV roll over your foot? It hurts.)
Solo travelers don’t have someone to remain in line for them to return to. Guests travelling with a caregiver may need their caregiver to exit the line with them, leaving no one to hold their place.
Single parents of young kids are being told to leave their children in the queue. How does this work if the child is disabled and needs to exit? Who is watching these kids in the line if their parent is trying to address a medical issue?
Families with multiple disabled members – What happens if you exit the queue with the intent to return but the people holding your spot also have to exit before you make it back? What if I’m in the restroom for 30 minutes and then my teenager has a panic attack?
Having to push past a bunch of other people poses real problems. The rules at Disney parks have always been that your party must be together when you enter the queue. People know this, and physical fights have broken out over people trying to rejoin their party before. People are already harassing disabled guests online and would be mean to DAS (and previously GAC) users in the lines before these changes. There have been threats made in comments on TikTok videos about fighting guests who try to “cut in line.” This makes disabled guests targets of violence and ridicule.
Cast Members just aren’t available in long stretches of the queue. Having to flag down a Cast Member to “get permission” to leave is impossible when you’re in the middle of a long queue with no one in sight.
There are medical issues that can’t wait for you to get out of the line to be addressed: fainting disorders and low blood sugar are examples here. Guests may need to lie down immediately, or perform needle sticks and self-injections of emergency medications.
Guests with bowel diseases may not always make it to the toilet in time. Being told to use an adult diaper, announce you have bowel incontinence to cast members at every line, and being called names (one circulating online currently is “diarrhea crew”) is horribly dehumanizing.
Not all issues requiring a line exit are going to be brief. Able bodied guests needing to make a quick bathroom run might make it back in 10-15 minutes. Treatment of medical issues take significantly longer. Guests with sensory or anxiety disorders may easily take longer than that to come back to baseline. Guests with mobility devices who need restroom access will struggle to get into and out of lines and into and out of bathrooms due to the lack of availability of accessible stalls. Guests with bowel disorders are often in the restroom for more than 30 minutes. A return to line is a much more reasonable suggestion for able-bodied people and parents with young kids who need a quick bathroom break or to refill a water bottle, but typical disabled guests are not going to be fairly accommodated by this system.

Guest Reports

I’ll be sharing more in-depth reports of guest interactions in coming posts. For the sake of brevity and my own mental health (this is really hard for me as a disabled individual, hearing about all of the ableism and awful suggestions being offered to others), I’m going to have to split coverage of the DAS changes’ impact over several posts.

For today, I’m just going to share a couple specific things I’ve heard recommended as “alternative accommodations” for specific issues.

One person was told that their tissue disorder, which impacts circulation, muscles, and causes pain and is triggered by heat and exertion, could be addressed with ice packs, cooling towels, a wheelchair, and the queue re-entry system discussed above. They were also told that their ADHD and sensory sensitivity was to purchase noise-canceling headphones being sold by the parks.
Another user inquired about PTSD was told that they would not be given the pass nor refunded the cost of their tickets, but that they could give their tickets away.
A user shared about her husband’s experience trying to get his DAS renewed as a disabled veteran with PTSD and a TBI. He was told he could wait by himself while his party remained in the line, and if that didn’t work they should purchase Genie+. They were not allowed to cancel their annual passes.
A guest with multiple disabilities who was currently on vacation stopped by Magic Kingdom to gather more information about what accommodation options were available. They were told that guests “can inquire if a refund would be a valid accommodation in the event you no longer qualify.” They gave no answers on how to handle situations like solo visitors in the return-to-queue “accommodation.”
One user with a young child with Type 1 Diabetes was told to utilize quiet areas, cooling locations, and shade. They were told that they may be offered a return time if they were in line, but that if their husband was with them he would have to remain in the line, even if the daughter needed urgent treatment requiring both parents.
Several guests have been asked how they handle lines in the grocery store.
Several guests with temperature regulation issues are simply told that Florida is hot, they aren’t responsible for accommodating them for the weather, and they shouldn’t be trying to vacation there.
Two parents of a childs with multiple disabilities, including (between the two families) seizures, congestive heart failure, lung disease, and a feeding tube were told to use rider swap. They were offered no alternatives.
A guest who was at the Magic Kingdom inquired about how to safely exit the line for return to queue, and was told by the CM to “say excuse me and be polite” when pushing through the other people in line. No additional help was offered, and no extra cast members were stationed through the queue.
A disabled parent of a disabled infant with a genetic condition that impacts his GI tract and circulatory system when affected by overheating. The condition can be life threatening. One of the “medical professionals” brought in denied him and told the mother to put infant head phones on him to help keep his blood pressure & heart rate stable so he won’t “panic.” This baby is not sensitive to sound. The mother was also told to leave the line to provide care, including tube feeds.
One chronically ill individual who was recommended for the DAS by a CM who saw them struggling previously shared that they were told to wait in line until they had to exit alone, and that their spouse and child would not be allowed to join them to help with medical supplies, medications or bathroom issues.
One person who has utilized DAS for several years was denied and was told to use return to queue and rider swap. When they shared that they often travel alone, they were offered single rider lines, which are only available at three attractions across the property.
People with developmental disabilities are being turned down as well. Over on X (formerly Twitter), @CubbyBearGames shared:

“#Disney should be ashamed. My cast member was in tears this morning on my DAS video call as she denied me, because ‘You do have a developmental disability, however it just doesn’t fit within the narrow acceptance that we have been provided.”

Another family impacted by a developmental disability shared that their 9 year old daughter was denied a DAS renewal for her autism. The mother was told that the child should leave the line alone to “be less stimulated” and then return. When the mom pushed back about not being comfortable sending her autistic kid out of the line alone, the “solution” suggested was to buy the child a cell phone.

Other Big Concerns

NO REFUNDS: The window for applying for a DAS is within the “no refund” period for guests with a vacation package booked. Tickets are non-refundable as well. You won’t even know that you’ll be denied until you’re locked in to flights, ground transport, hotel contracts, tickets. Annual passholders, some of whom renewed just before the changes were announce last month, are being told they cannot cancel their passes.

NO CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS: To even apply for a DAS, Disney is making you sign away your rights to file a class action lawsuit. Most disabled people are lower-income and are unable to secure an attorney on their own.

GENIE+ AS AN “ACCOMMODATION”: Firstly, this feels like a huge money grab, and it’s unethical to force disabled people to pay for accommodations. Secondly, Genie+ doesn’t work for many disabled guests due to the 1-hour window. When it was still free, we missed at least twice as many reservations than we made it to. It just didn’t work for us.

INSPIRE HEALTH ALLIANCE AND QUOTA SPECULATION: Several people online are speculating that CMs are being held to a quota and that the “medical professionals” are being paid based on how many denials they get or only being allotted a certain number of approvals, leading to inconsistencies with how the rules are applied and potential “rationing” of DAS accommodations for guests they deem are the “most worthy”.

POTENTIAL CASH GRAB: Lots of these “alternative accommodations” are example of Disney creating a problem and “selling the solution”. In addition to Genie+ (and Individual Lightning Lanes, in the same way) as I discussed above, they are now recommending products that they sell, even when those products don’t make sense. They are recommending guests purchase ear defenders, incontinence supplies (adult diapers), cooling towels, etc. from them.

INTERNATIONAL GUESTS: Guests outside of the US don’t have access to the online chat registration that domestic guests do. These guests are being required to chat from a guest relations tablet at the parks, but this means that they won’t even know whether they’ll be approved until they’re already on-site, tickets used, hotels checked into, flights taken, etc.

PRIVACY VIOLATIONS: One parent of an autistic teen shared their concern about privacy, since the DAS lights up a different color at scan-in at the attractions than Genie+. With the accepted disabilities being limited in this way, they are concerned that anyone who sees their child scan in will know the nature of her disability, which could leave her vulnerable to malicious or predatory behavior.

SERIOUS ABLEISM FROM CAST AND CONTRACTED “MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS”: At least one adult was reportedly told that “adults can’t be on the (autism) spectrum” and others have been told that they have “no business being at a theme park” because of their medical issues.

RUMORED CHANGES TO STROLLER AS WHEELCHAIR: This is not confirmed, but there is speculation that the “red tagging” for conventional strollers that are used as wheelchairs is going to end next month and that medical strollers will specifically be required. I’ll be watching for more info on this one way or the other.

DIVISION WITHIN THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY: This is particularly a challenge between able bodied parent of kids that still qualify and people with disabilities that are being denied. As one user puts it “… a perfect storm… a lot of people who are still getting approved because their kids qualify… are dismissing people with physical health disabilities. I’ve seen numerous people say they are happy about the changes (and that) it’s a ‘good thing’… because it doesn’t personally affect them… That dismissal coupled with the fact that legitimate health disabilities are being dismissed while autism and the like are being accepted is a storm of anger. I don’t like to think of disabilities as… whose disability is worse or more worthy… (however) there’s nothing anyone could say to convince me that there is anything about neuro disorders that make them more needing of DAS than physical health disorders.” I’ve seen this in the comments on DAS-related posts for the last three days. Lots of parents of neurodiverse kids that are being approved are praising this system for “cutting down on abuse” and eliminating the “cheaters” making the lightning lanes shorter waits for their families, because they are benefitting from the system.

ABLEISM WITHIN THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY: Another DAS user said that while they see it as unfair that physical disabilities are excluded, something “had to be done about the abuse” and “unfairness” to able bodied guests – citing that it wasn’t fair that disabled guests got to shop, eat and drink, sit, use the restroom, or ride rides with shorter wait times before their return window (which they refer to as “double dipping”). First of all, let’s not forget that this was what we were told to do. The DAS was set up to let these guests have an equitable experience, as much as possible. We were literally encouraged to use the longer waits to get on rides with little-to-no wait by Cast Members when this system was set up. Secondly, we’re probably dumping more money into the parks than Genie+ is making by spending time at table service meals and in quick service restaurants and shops. Thirdly, this is such a backwards take – “won’t somebody please think of the ‘abled’s?” I assure you, we don’t actually have an advantage here. Waiting outside a toilet for two hours, or having to upwards of 45 minutes in a crowded quick-service restaurant with sensory kids who are melting down from the heat and the noise and all the visual input, isn’t the flex you think it is. I’m really not trying to be facetious here, but in my family’s experience, we average 3-4 rides or shows per park day WITH DAS. The rest of that time is used to mitigate disability symptoms and wait in safe places that work for our families needs.

ILL-EQUIPPED CAST MEMBERS IN THE PARKS: One guest shared that when she had a medical emergency in a line without Lightning Lane (therefore not-accessible by DAS) at Animal Kingdom in late 2023 (before the changes took place), she was told by a cast member that the nearest place to lie down in AC to recover from an episode was the restroom floor.

DISNEYLAND ROLLOUT CONCERNS: A veteran with PTSD spoke to a CM at Disneyland and mentioned that they thought they would be okay with the changes when they start at Disneyland next month based on hearing from other disabled vets that PTSD was being accommmodated. The were told that “Disneyland will be even stricter with DAS due to the limited space.”

What I’m Expecting

I’m expecting things to get rough out there. I foresee a lot more medical issues that would normally happen in more secluded areas occurring in the lines.

Guests with fainting disorders are going to start passing out and guests with seizure disorders are probably going to start seizing in the standby queue due to lack of warning to be able to get out of line.
Guests who cant make it out of the line “in time” are going to lead to incontinence episodes that shut lines down due to biohazards.
Guests with mobility devices accidentally hurting someone trying to use the RTQ function, or getting injured themselves.
Guests having to perform diagnostics and administer rescue medications, including emergency injections, in the line.
People potentially having to lay down in the lines to treat medical issues.
Kids and adults who were deemed “not autistic enough” or “only having sensory issues that can be ‘solved’ with headphones” having massive meltdowns, and people with severe anxiety and panic disorders are really going to struggle here.
I think some people will turn to Genie+ and ILL. I don’t see this being even half of the former DAS users with disabilities, simply because a lot of people are fed up and cancelling vacations, and many disabled guest can’t work within the strict return windows.

What NOT To Do

DO NOT HARASS, ATTACK, OR GO OFF ON THE CAST MEMBERS HERE. This is not on them, they are mostly kids just trying to do their job and pay their bills. We are NOT going to take out upper-level-management’s poor decisions and discriminatory tactics out on front line cast members who have nothing to do with these policy changes. I’ve heard of several disabled Cast Members also being affected by this – even those who receive accommodations at work have been denied DAS this week for the same disability, and others who are genuinely crying with the guests who are being turned down. This is awful and unfair, but this is not on them. If just not being a jerk isn’t enough of a motivator for you, Disney can and WILL ban you if abuse the cast members.
Don’t stop paying on your annual pass if you’re on a pay-over-time plan. They will ban you from visiting the parks AND come after you in collections.
Don’t record your DAS call. Apparently this is against the terms and conditions. Take notes, get names and credentials, etc.

What Can We Do

I want to be VERY clear here – I am not recommending any specific course of action here. I don’t give legal or medical advice, and the suggestions here are not my own. I haven’t researched these options, I’m not endorsing them, I’m not part of any legal action, and I’m just sharing info here for information’s sake.

You can sign the Change.org petition by DAS Defenders here. We don’t know that this is going to actually do anything in terms of getting Disney to change the rules, but it gets the issue noticed, and makes it more likely that they will have to respond and address some of these glaring problems.

If you have a medical emergency in the park that requires assistance, contact 911 or get a cast member to call Reedy Creek Paramedics. Do not risk your health or safety by wasting time trying to get out of a line you are trapped in, when you are in a potentially life-threatening situation. If you have something going on that you can treat while you wait for help, do what you need to do to keep yourself alive.

I’ll share specific recommendations about steps that are being suggested in another post, because this one is LONG. I know this feels helpless, but we’re going to have to advocate like hell for ourselves, our families, our friends, and our communities. For now, when you’re on a DAS call, get names, take notes, ask questions. If you’re on a trip, follow cast instructions and gather information – names, locations, times, and what you’re told. If you HAVE information to share, comments are open or you can message me on social media (I’ll keep you anonymous if you prefer).

Be visible and be prepared to help others who may be struggling to the best of your ability. Disney’s made it pretty clear that they aren’t going to look out for us here. The disabled community is going to have to come together on this one to advocate for each other and provide mutual aid here.

Again, I’ll share more soon.