Disney World announces new measures to address abuse of Disability Access Service

22 days ago in "Magic Kingdom"

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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

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RamblinWreck9 minutes ago

I wonder if this isn’t quite correct The Disney website states that DAS right now is only good for 30 days after the date of registration. But I’ve also seen people say that the passes they’ve been isssued have been good specifically for the length of their tickets. I was only throwing this out as a hypothetical but now I’m kind of curious how that would play out, registering on May 19 for a trip that starts on June 18

pdude811 day ago

As a minor correction I think it'd be 5/19 registration. Just made it!

ditzee1 day ago

As HappyDay posted, be sure to register on May 18th. You would likely be grandfathered in under the existing rules because Disney wouldn't change during your trip IF all remains as we have been told, e.g., new rules for DAS video chats go into effect on May 20th.

Angel Ariel1 day ago

And this is consistent with what I have read in reports from those doing pre registration now in other DAS forums as well.

Angel Ariel1 day ago

And multiple reports from those who've asked when they've gone to register have indicated that old rules are in effect *during registration* until May 20th. Disney has not yet had their accessibility service team trained by inspire health alliance.

Fido Chuckwagon1 day ago

It’s not May 20th yet. We’re still under the old system.

SourcererMark791 day ago

That's because EVERYONE wants to ride the triangle!

Happyday1 day ago

I would make sure you get a video chat on May 18th😁

RamblinWreck1 day ago

What if you have a 10 day ticket starting June 18? 😂

Ayla1 day ago

If you have a trip starting after May 19th, your only option is video chatting.

MickeyLuv'r1 day ago

It appears there is a bit of an in-between period, at least where registration is concerned.

MickeyLuv'r1 day ago

This is true. I was merely questioning the notion that (all/most) DAS users are power-using DAS to optimize park touring to optimal perfection. From what I know of park touring, the QS are places like Casey's Corner are empty from opening through 11:45am. They get crazy busy 11:55-1:15pm, then wind down quickly until dinner. The average park goer doesn't tour optimally, they tour based on emotion/wants, or what they read somewhere. If they toured optimally, they'd avoid the lunch rush. In March, I visited AK on a slow day. Just after rope drop, FoP had a 90 minute wait, but EVERYTHING else was walk-on and stayed near walk-on for about 2 hours. People still chose to follow the herd and head to FoP. Parkgoers were touring based on emotion, not the most effective way to tour. They would have done much better if they had chosen to ride FoP later in the day, when the wait was only 50-60minutes, but Dinosaur was 30minutes. I've seen the same pattern many times.

Vacationeer1 day ago

WDW hasn’t been very clear on the rollout. I think what’s happening is a transition where some overlap between old/new will occur between May 20 and June 20. This might be intentional so the changes don’t shock park operations. Possibly this is what’s happening: 2 groups are coming in with first park day May 28. The first group pre-registers before May 20 and for the most part not much changed. The second group registers after May 20, and that process includes more or most of the changes. People have confirmed video chatting this week for trips starting after May 20 and reporting not much seems changed. Maybe the first changes won’t really be seen until registrations taking place after May 20, and full changes won’t be seen until after the June cutoff date.

ConfettiCupcake1 day ago

At the end of the day there are some DAS groups who have the ability to leverage DAS and some groups for whom DAS is doing nothing more than providing needed access. The examples and anecdotes to me are irrelevant on both ends of the spectrum, because I think what’s more meaningful is the way we know Disney is implementing changes and I think a conclusion we can draw from that is that enough DAS groups were capable of leveraging it enough to stress the entire operation too much. They know so much more than we do, they will never release that kind of info, so all we have to go on beyond anecdotes is their actions. Those actions say to me it was able to be leveraged by enough of the legitimate (and illegitimate) qualifiers to need a change.