Here is what I will say as far as what ppl who work in operations have to go off of right now:
DAS program is entirely run through Disney Central now. Guest Relations has ZERO access to DAS. For either granting passes or adding people to an existing pass. The most that guest relations can do is set you up with a video chat to a Disney Central CM. No exceptions to this are possible because only Disney Central CM's within the DAS team have access.
They are not going to give DAS out just by saying "ADHD" or "Autism." It's supposed to work like understanding why the person needs specifically DAS. But it's essentially geared only towards developmental disabilities. But they probably don't want to give it out to a 24 year old who has a college degree and a full time job as a barista, but also has documented ADHD. Why do you need it? Explain? That's the main thing in getting one once you are past the "developmental disabilities" threshold.
Front line CM'S at attractions have other options for those who don't have a DAS pass but come up and ask if they can use lightning lane for x, y, z, etc.
Options include:
Advising guests in parties of 2 or more to form a "buffer" around someone with claustrophobia or anxiety while waiting in standby. Because of this, property wide there is to be a removal of CM language involving "move all the way forward in line..." so there isn't any encouragement to crowd each other. Just to focus on moving forward.
If they need to use the restroom they are welcome to leave at any time and can flag down a cast member and their party can wait in the line for them to return. But the most accommodation they will get in this regard is to come back in through the lightning lane to find their party. Not skipping to the exit to meet them unless their bathroom emergency happens right before getting on the ride or something. But those accommodations already happen in those situations.
There is also another version, where let's say there is a party of 4 and one of the kids(or an adult) doesn't have a DAS pass and they just can't wait in the standby line. So, the person who can't wait is allowed to wait outside the ride with maximum 1 other member of the party while the other ppl go into the standby line and then when they get to the merge point(where LL joins standby) they can tell the merge CM that they have ppl outside and the merge CM will let them wait in a designated area at merge while the party members(not the CM!!!) Will call the rest of their party that is outside and tell them to come meet them. Then the greeter CM will let them in and they will still have to wait in the LL and join their party at merge to then continue. This option is a much longer wait than just standby obviously.
Rider switch as it currently exists is also a viable option for the CM's to suggest.
If none of these things work, CM's can give out the "return to queue" passes. But CM's have to sign into the podiums or iPads when they are in charge of the scanners or issuing redemptions. And Disney will be heavily auditing when these passes are given out. CM's better have a good reason to give one out and it's been made clear that if they even remotely question how many you are issuing, you will have to explain yourself in a formal meeting/investigation. Basically, CM's aren't going to give these out like candy unless they are stupid.
Abd it's not even a good option, cause it's essentially DAS but you have to physically walk to the ride and you are beholden to your pass being based on the posted wait time. And if you are getting tons of these passes all the time, Disney is gonna know and will follow up(tour guides/influencer prevention), because they aren't a DAS alternative. It's a different accommodation.
As you can probably tell, none of these are as good as DAS and all of them are less convenient than just waiting in standby in terms of time. But they are accommodations. Disney seems to be hoping that none of these see heavy use by those that don't need them because they aren't better than standby.
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As for changes to DAS, one thing is that after you scan in to your ride you will have to wait 10 minutes to book your next one. This is to reduce the advantage of the system and try to curb the ability to be in the LL for one ride and by the time you are off your ride you already have your next one ready to scan.
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Everything that isn't the virtual meetings is coming down on the CM's who work on the frontline. Some agree with the changes, some don't. None of them are adversarial to guests needs, but this is essentially the framework in place now that they have to work in. Try to keep that in mind when visiting. And know again that the sheer amount of LL usage via the DAS system was out of control as many in here have expertly laid out. It couldn't continue as it was. I'm not saying these are the correct changes. But I am saying it's no shock Disney did something.
It was also stressed to CM's that Disney is listening and will be constantly willing to tweak the alternate accommodations other than DAS and co tinuing to tweak how DAS works. And the accommodations will probably become different based on the realities of each individual ride's operation. This is just the starting point. So make your voices heard!
