DAS changes coming WDW May 20/ DL June 18, 2024

[SueM in MN]

What have been the wait times like for the DAS call? We've heard horror stories about 6+ hours, so just want to gear her up if she is going to have a long wait.

Most of the horror stories were from before the changes, but even then, it was quite variable. It depended on whether you were lucky and called at a slow time or unlucky and called when it was busy.
When I registered my daughter for a trip last Fall, we were done in an hour. When I did it in March 2024, it took an hour for registration.

Lately, I've read mostly short, less than an hour. I've read about some outliers, but very few really long ones

 

[DisneylandFreak2013]

Most of the horror stories were from before the changes, but even then, it was quite variable. It depended on whether you were lucky and called at a slow time or unlucky and called when it was busy.
When I registered my daughter for a trip last Fall, we were done in an hour. When I did it in March 2024, it took an hour for registration.

Lately, I've read mostly short, less than an hour. I've read about some outliers, but very few really long ones

An hour or so is much more reasonable! Maybe they will give it a go.

The worst that can happen is they don't get approved and just need to go a bit slower than they would like.

 

[starlite_]

They guarantee it.
Europapark and Disney accept a autism card. To get this card you need to provide medical documentation.
Plopsaland only accept a doctor’s note that is max 6 months old.
Park adventura also accepts the autism card.

Well then I supposed that if I wanted the guarantee and had the proper documentation to get that autism card you mention then I would go to the almost all European parks that would fulfill my expectations instead of getting upset at the places that don't. That's just me thought.

I do wonder though, how attendance compares between the almost all European parks and WDW and DLR. Wonder how many guests with disabilities visit them. Would be a really interesting comparison, I would love to be able to analyze attendance data. Alas, I shall have to go without xD.

 

[theMoreDisneytheBetter]

Well then I supposed that if I wanted the guarantee and had the proper documentation to get that autism card you mention then I would go to the almost all European parks that would fulfill my expectations instead of getting upset at the places that don't. That's just me thought.

I do wonder though, how attendance compares between the almost all European parks and WDW and DLR. Wonder how many guests with disabilities visit them. Would be a really interesting comparison, I would love to be able to analyze attendance data. Alas, I shall have to go without xD.

We were at DLP in March on days when the park was “full.” We had their equivalent of anytime LLs. DAS riders were separate. I only ever saw a handful. Likewise the number of wheelchair users was dramatically lower (as an aside I was talking to a visitor from
South Africa in line once and he commented that he couldn’t believe how many people used mobility devices in Florida). Heck, even the lack of strollers was shocking aside from very young children.

I think that DLP is just an entirely different situation vs the US parks.

 

[dreamer17555]

I called tonight at 4:50 and was connected just after 7pm.

 

[mistysue]

You were allowed to bring food in with you. Did they allow you to have it reheated or did you have to keep it hot until you were ready to eat it

Unless there are public use microwaves at a location, that would certainly bring up health code issues for people to present their own items for reheating in a food service establishment.

 

[nalababybear]

Solution would be first aid or guest services having a microwave to assist on that

 

[Angel Ariel]

Ok, who else? What other vacation destination allows you to apply for accommodations before committing to the vacation?

I mean, I can't think of many destinations outside of theme parks where we've had to apply for disability accommodations at all. . Haven't needed to for NFL games, musical at equivalent of a Broadway theatre, historical sites...we have to do research to see what the accommodations are, and sometimes (for ex, the musical) it requires communication with the venue ahead of time - but it's not been an application process where we have to get someone to approve of the need for the accommodations outside of theme parks. It's just straight up communication of here's what we always have available and/or discussion of what else might we need and how can the venue work with us to meet that need.

 

[Angel Ariel]

This is not how it works at universal. Yes you need to provide documentation to get approved in phase one. In phase two you get the call and it is like the das call. You explain the issues for waiting in line. Answer the questions and get an approval or a not.
If you are approved you get the case number.
You do not need to buy tickets to go through this process

This wasn't actually the process we went through with universal.

We submitted the ibcces documentation, got the temporary approval, then got the permanent approval quickly. We never got a pre-trip call from universal at all, just an email with our case number that we then brought to guest services the day of the visit to actually get the in-park card. We talked briefly about needs at the time, but not in depth about needs beyond what had already been shared. (This was just a few months ago for universal Hollywood)

 

[Angel Ariel]

I suspect universal will he getting a bunch of calls and accommodations with the revamp of DAS, and they too will reevaluate and adjust their accommodations policy.

Their paid product will be similarly impacted soon enough with the surge of accommodations if all the folk saying they are moving to universal really truly are. Will the grass stay greener there?

Universal just revamped their version less than a year ago. I highly doubt they're going to do it again so quickly.

 

[nalababybear]

Universal just revamped their version less than a year ago. I highly doubt they're going to do it again so quickly.

If a bunch of people hit universal for accommodations to try them out over Disney and it's strong enough to impact their operations as deemed so at Disney.....yeah, they'll revamp in a jiffy.

It would insane if they're not monitoring requests.already as this has hit the general media already.

 

[Angel Ariel]

If a bunch of people hit universal for accommodations to try them out over Disney and it's strong enough to impact their operations as deemed so at Disney.....yeah, they'll revamp in a jiffy.

It would insane if they're not monitoring requests.already as this has hit the general media already.

I'm sure they are monitoring their requests, I just don't know that I quite believe it will be in such numbers (meaning number of people who had never been applying for universal at all now suddenly deciding to because of Disney's changes. I think it's more likely there are people who've applied for both consistently who will just stop going to Disney). The accessibility of attractions at universal (O/H) is significantly different than WDW/DLR, which I would expect to play a part in what any of those numbers would look like also. I don't think it'll be a 1:1 shift.

 

[nalababybear]

I'm sure they are monitoring their requests, I just don't know that I quite believe it will be in such numbers (meaning number of people who had never been applying for universal at all now suddenly deciding to because of Disney's changes. I think it's more likely there are people who've applied for both consistently who will just stop going to Disney). The accessibility of attractions at universal (O/H) is significantly different than WDW/DLR, which I would expect to play a part in what any of those numbers would look like also. I don't think it'll be a 1:1 shift.

It will be interesting to see. Wdw has a lot of outside visitors compared to DLR. If the outrage being seen at wdw is replicated locally for dlr goers, universal Hollywood will get a significant bump and that's not a big park at all.

We haven't visited universal since 2018 with no real plans either at the moment. We did get the ICEBES card though, rather easily.

 

[Ollivier]

See this is one of the major differences between US and Europe -- the US has no national "card" for autism or any other disability, no registration of disability or disability identification. Such things don't exist. And we don't have a national healthcare system that would allow all individuals to obtain the same type of documentation, some may not even have a primary care doctor. Those types of items are much easier to obtain in Europe, and easy to require of Europeans for accessing accommodations at the European parks. Americans sometimes have trouble providing the required documentation needed for accommodations at non-US destinations.

This is correct.

Obtaining documentation is not an easy process. It took us a year with multiple visits to specialists, tests and they came to school to observe. The easier part is rather the cost of all this.

To me the way Disney did and does it does not feel good. Before the change I knew that onsite we would be approved. But it was easy to fake. Now it feels like a lottery, and people that need it get denied. In my opinion, Disney is going from allowing to much to disallowing to much.
And I only speak about cognitive disability.