WDW -Disability Access Service (DAS) - ARCHIVED THREAD; no longer vslid

[SueM in MN]

What is GKTW?

GKTW stands for Give Kids the World - it is a place where many kids with life threatening illnesses stay on their Wish trips.

 

[SueM in MN]

What I'm trying to say is, those with Cognitive issues aren't going to understand that. Even if you were to wait at a distance while mom or dad or whoever went up to the ride to get a return time, they aren't going to get that. They are still going to think that they are going on the ride now. You can't explain to them otherwise. I also found this in a mom blog that someone had written: People with these kind of issues, who were once able to enjoy this place... aren't going to have as good as a time as they used to. You have to remember that Disney parks are overstimulating enough for someone with a disability. Why add on to the stress of making them wait, especially when they don't understand the concept of having to come back later?

This is not a debate thread and we have asked that people not start debates here.
Any further debate posts will be deleted. If you want to debate, you can find many blogs (such as the one you quoted) where debating is welcome.
It is not welcome here.

 

[tkbbmom]

GKTW stands for Give Kids the World - it is a place where many kids with life threatening illnesses stay on their Wish trips.

Thanks -- I've heard of it I just didn't put the acronym with it. Since it was mentioned in relation to Universal and Sea World I thought it was maybe their DAS version.

 

[cmwade77]

SueMN, I was wondering if you could put the official Disney link for guests with disabilities in the first post?

I have been told that as changes are made to the system they will be updating that page and I think it might be helpful to go to for the latest information. I tried looking through the thread, but couldn't find the link. This might be good on the DL thread too. Just a thought.

 

[IndianaPrincess]

I made a post to the lady who is at disneyworld and it is no longer here. Can someone help me understand what happened to my reply?

 

[RubySlippers]

Nevermind.....sigh.....

 

[itsdisneytime]

pm if necessary but I really need to have this way dumbed down.

In 2009 I had cancer and went through treatments, I thought I was not going to live to see another year so I took my daughter to Disney as we had been doing every year since she was born.

I used a GAC for the first time ever, since it was she and I traveling alone & I was very symptomatic from my treatments I needed to be near a restroom far to frequently to stand in excessive lines ( I will not go further into it ).

I am really having a hard time digesting this new system. The beauty of the GAC for me as a person with a disability with a small child was that we were able to go through the fp lanes and finish a park in about 1/2 a day and I could go back and rest at the hotel.

How is it fair to those who genuinely need this pass to have to wait the wait time minus 10 min for each ride? That means they will be unable to do anything but wait in a will call line or something and you can only go one ride to the next? You cant get a couple times lined up to just knock them out and get out of the park?

 

[SueM in MN]

pm if necessary but I really need to have this way dumbed down.

In 2009 I had cancer and went through treatments, I thought I was not going to live to see another year so I took my daughter to Disney as we had been doing every year since she was born.

I used a GAC for the first time ever, since it was she and I traveling alone & I was very symptomatic from my treatments I needed to be near a restroom far to frequently to stand in excessive lines ( I will not go further into it ).

I am really having a hard time digesting this new system. The beauty of the GAC for me as a person with a disability with a small child was that we were able to go through the fp lanes and finish a park in about 1/2 a day and I could go back and rest at the hotel.

How is it fair to those who genuinely need this pass to have to wait the wait time minus 10 min for each ride? That means they will be unable to do anything but wait in a will call line or something and you can only go one ride to the next? You cant get a couple times lined up to just knock them out and get out of the park?

If you have not read post one of this thread, that is where the FAQs are.

 

[curemyreed]

My experience is in DL, not WDW, but I have been told to use the stand-by queue for a 10 minute wait, and when I told the CM that it was not safe for me (and explained why, which meant explaining my medical needs all over again at the attraction despite having a DAS in hand), I was told that I would have to go get a time for "NOW" to be allowed to use the FP queue (which was also a hill, but one without people, so I would do the wheeling all at once, then wait at the top).

This seems to be a point of confusion on both coasts, and seems to vary depending on the CM working the attraction. Even Guest Relations did not seem to understand that it would be a problem for some people to wait in the stand-by queue even 10 minutes - that is may be the physical queue that is the problem and not the wait time. It does not matter to me whether the queue for that attraction is 5 or 55 minutes - I cannot physically do it.

I think this is a learning point, as so much of the focus has been "wait time." Sometimes there seems to be a CMs understanding that "waiting place" may be just as big or an even bigger issue. This is something that, on both coasts, polite but detailed feedback to Guest Relations (make sure they are actually going to submit a report on it, that it is feedback for all future visits and not a complaint that a re-admit pass will fix) will help.

The person I spoke with at Guest Relations had never considered why waiting for the Aladdin show would be a problem. It has 4 fixed show times a day, and therefore no "wait time" to write on a DAS. And when I asked "what do I do for the show" - no one had an answer. I did insist that she make sure her supervisor send it up the chain, so that an answer can be decided for the future, not just for me but for others who want to see the Aladdin show with a DAS who cannot use the regular queue.

Basically, Disney cannot fix it until they know of an issue. In this case, they need to have an answer they can give to Attractions CMs when a guest arrives with a 10 minute wait time and cannot use the stand-by queue.

Since this is a major issue, apparently on both coasts (with GS telling people one thing, and Attractions doing another), I very much hope they have an answer quickly - both for the guests and the CMs' sakes!

@KPeveler---I know you are busy moderating along with your everyday life.
But something struck me in your post. For one issue, you noted even Guest Relations didn't seem to understand it was a problem. How can they notify their supervisors of a problem if they don't recognize there is one? Hearing this causes me to be concerned that higher-level decision makers may not be aware of an issue that needs to be addressed. Do you think you should email or snail mail Disney to ensure this issue is known & understood?

Like you and others here, I understand that I may need to provide GR in the park with feedback of problems I encounter as they work on perfecting the DAS system. This way they can work to fix unforeseen issues. But if I get the impression that GR doesn't grasp the problem or is not physically writing it down to pass up the chain, then I think I would want to send an email or letter to confirm my concerns have a chance to be noted.

 

[SueM in MN]

@KPeveler---I know you are busy moderating along with your everyday life.
But something struck me in your post. For one issue, you noted even Guest Relations didn't seem to understand it was a problem. How can they notify their supervisors of a problem if they don't recognize there is one? Hearing this causes me to be concerned that higher-level decision makers may not be aware of an issue that needs to be addressed. Do you think you should email or snail mail Disney to ensure this issue is known & understood?

Like you and others here, I understand that I may need to provide GR in the park with feedback of problems I encounter as they work on perfecting the DAS system. This way they can work to fix unforeseen issues. But if I get the impression that GR doesn't grasp the problem or is not physically writing it down to pass up the chain, then I think I would want to send an email or letter to confirm my concerns have a chance to be noted.

I am not sure that it is an issue on both coasts - from what I have been reading, it us more of a DL issue.
If you have an issue, I would recommend writing clearly and concisely what the issue is.

And, their answer may be to get a Return Time for 'now' if the wait is 10 minutes or less.

 

[Schmeck]

And, at WDW, since most attractions have Fastpass or Fastpass Plus, that is the access point that people are being sent into in most cases with a DAS Return Time.
We are at WDW now and have experienced some 'go right in' for 15 minute posted wait times. I don't think it is totally random. It appears CMs issuing times can make a decision based on what is going on at the ride. We have gotten 10 minute Return Times for attractions with 20 minute waits.

So the DAS is still a bit like an unlimited FP as one never is sent into the standby queue, even if the wait is less than 15 minutes? To me, that means the wait time with a DAS is much less than the standby wait when the wait is below 16 minutes.

 

[cmwade77]

I am not sure that it is an issue on both coasts - from what I have been reading, it us more of a DL issue.
If you have an issue, I would recommend writing clearly and concisely what the issue is.

And, their answer may be to get a Return Time for 'now' if the wait is 10 minutes or less.

But they won't issue a Return Time if the wait time is under 15 minutes. So, there needs to be some communication between GR and the attractions CMs about this.

 

[cmwade77]

So the DAS is still a bit like an unlimited FP as one never is sent into the standby queue, even if the wait is less than 15 minutes? To me, that means the wait time with a DAS is much less than the standby wait when the wait is below 16 minutes.

Not really, the alternate queues usually have a wait of 10-15 minutes.

 

[SueM in MN]

But they won't issue a Return Time if the wait time is under 15 minutes. So, there needs to be some communication between GR and the attractions CMs about this.

I was saying that might be what the answer turns out to be.
And, it sounds like KPeveler was possibly given a 'now' return time.

So the DAS is still a bit like an unlimited FP as one never is sent into the standby queue, even if the wait is less than 15 minutes? To me, that means the wait time with a DAS is much less than the standby wait when the wait is below 16 minutes.

People may be sent into either Fastpass or regular queue if the wait is less than 15 minutes. It would depend on the attraction.

And, that doesn't necessarily mean a shorter wait

 

[connie254]

I want make sure I understand the DAS card. I got the GAC for my son, and want to know exactly how it works, for his sake.

Say we go to Jungle Cruise and the wait time is 45 minutes. The CM writes on the card (current time + 45 minutes). We can go see Tiki birds, ride Aladdin's Magic Carpet and if it is now that time, we check in with the FP Cm who confirms that it is time to be used, crosses off that time and we use the FP line. If the wait is less than 15 minutes, we may/may not have to have card.

 

[IndianaPrincess]

I made a post to the lady who is at disneyworld and it is no longer here. Can someone help me understand what happened to my reply?

Anyone?

 

[lovethattink]

Anyone?

It could be a technical issue or if you didn't follow the thread rules or quoted someone who didn't, there is a possibility it was removed.

 

[aaarcher86]

pm if necessary but I really need to have this way dumbed down. In 2009 I had cancer and went through treatments, I thought I was not going to live to see another year so I took my daughter to Disney as we had been doing every year since she was born. I used a GAC for the first time ever, since it was she and I traveling alone & I was very symptomatic from my treatments I needed to be near a restroom far to frequently to stand in excessive lines ( I will not go further into it ). I am really having a hard time digesting this new system. The beauty of the GAC for me as a person with a disability with a small child was that we were able to go through the fp lanes and finish a park in about 1/2 a day and I could go back and rest at the hotel. How is it fair to those who genuinely need this pass to have to wait the wait time minus 10 min for each ride? That means they will be unable to do anything but wait in a will call line or something and you can only go one ride to the next? You cant get a couple times lined up to just knock them out and get out of the park?

Basically, those with a DAS are asked to wait just like guests without a DAS. They are able to do so more comfortably. Also, during your wait you're welcome to ride other rides, shop, eat, see shows, do whatever you'd like. Using FP+ to schedule rides ahead of time is also something to look into. You can have 1 DAS return time on the card at a time.

While it was nice to get more done in less time, that wasn't the original intent of the GAC.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Guest with GKTW buttons are often moved ahead of all guests (even others with disabilities), so I would expect them to have shorter waits.

They did not move them ahead at Disney. As a matter of fact very few cm's acknowledged that they were on a wish trip. We stayed with them the entire day at the MK. They chose to not use their other two days ay Disney.

 

[aaarcher86]

I want make sure I understand the DAS card. I got the GAC for my son, and want to know exactly how it works, for his sake. Say we go to Jungle Cruise and the wait time is 45 minutes. The CM writes on the card (current time + 45 minutes). We can go see Tiki birds, ride Aladdin's Magic Carpet and if it is now that time, we check in with the FP Cm who confirms that it is time to be used, crosses off that time and we use the FP line. If the wait is less than 15 minutes, we may/may not have to have card.

If the standby line is 45 minutes you would be given a return time of 45 min - 10 min.... So 35 min total. You can do whatever you want while you wait and you can come back at any point after 35 minutes is up.

15 minutes is kind of a toss up as to if you'll have to wait 5 minutes or not.