Without minor kids, that may be what's coming.
I only mentioned what I did b/c of Disney not letting anyone change DAS parties themselves and having to go back through full reg. Why do that, unless you are looking at 4 as a Max and not a "permitted for all"...
That immediate family original wording may have been pointing right at this issue.
I have not seen anything that says people who want to change their DAS party needing to go back thru the
whole registration.
People NEVER have been able to change members of their DAS parties themselves before, so it's not a change to say it needs to be done by Disney.
Previously, guests could change/add guests to DAS by using the DAS chat on the Disney website OR at a park with Guest Relations of the Guest Experience umbrellas.
Going forward, changes will not be able to be made in the parks; it will only be available thru Accessibility Services. I'm pretty sure this is aimed primarily at the guests who were using DAS for 'commercial' purposes - like people using DAS as 'tour guides' and some influencers
Reminds me of the issues we had at the airline I worked for. Too many frequent flyers at the hub airports. Priority boarding didn't mean anything as half the plane had priority boarding. It led to adjustments in the benefits.
When everyone has priority, then no one has.
The point about 'when everyone has priority, then no one has' is pertinent to the discussion.
Not necessarily to current DAS changes, but it was a consideration in the change from GAC to DAS.
1) GAC had different stamps for different accommodations. One of the stamps was for 'alternate entry' . Those were the wheelchair accessible entrances, which were often the Fastpass entrance or the exit. Guests using mobility devices did not need that stamp, but many demanded it anyway when regular lines were updated and they could no longer use the exit.
At that point, the Alternative Entry stamp was meant for situations where shorter wait time in line was the need.
Unfortunately, that often led to longer waits in the alternative entrance when that was the only wheelchair accessible entrance. For example, the wait in the Small World alternative entry was often 20 to 40 minutes longer than the wait in the regular line. Before the change to DAS, the line for the alternative entry, which is the accessible entry for Small World often extended down the entire ramp and outside the building. Often there were only 3 or so mobility devices and the rest of the long line was people without one. I often heard CMs telling people that they would have a much shorter wait in the regular line, but the guests insisted they needed to use the Alternative Entrance
That was a GAC case.
Was thinking a couple of minutes ago that we'll be here discussing 5 years from now when Disney announces they're changing DAS to some other acronym.
All I can say is the company relies on money made from their parks so they had better step up. The movie division lost almost 1 billion dollars in 2023 and 2024 is not looking a lot better. The parks, on the other hand generated more than 32 billion dollars.
Hey, Disney, here's my idea, use some of the 32 billion to make the parks better without taking years to finish a project and make quality family movies again. You're welcome.
It actually was a DAS lawsuit.
The plaintiffs in the case started the lawsuit when it was announced that GAC was changing to DAS. They claimed that DAS would not work for them and they wanted Disney to continue GAC only for people with autism.
The biggest difference in GAC vs DAS was that GAC allowed immediate entry into the Fastpass or Alternate Entry (often the exit at DL). Guests using DAS are required to get a DAS Return Time roughly equal to th currently posted wait time.
Disney won the case because they were able to prove in court that allowing some guests to continue with unlimited access without waiting would severely impact park operations for all guests, including other guests with disabilities.
Maybe they should change the name completely from Disability?
25% of the US population has some type of disability and 100% of the US population prefers not waiting in lines.
Glad they are making an effort to fix this. Not easy.
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographic-disability-impacts-all.html
The original programs for guests with disabilities were called Special Assistance Pass/Program and Guest Assistance Card.
A lot of people without disabilities rationalized that they could use them, even though they knew they were meant for disabilities which they didn't have. (i.e. people writing "I'm a guest and anyone could use assistance, so I am applying....bringing children to Disney is hard, I need assistance."
The DAS name was meant to make it clear the program was for guests with disabilities. There were a lot of comments from people at the time it changed in 2013 saying they didn't want to be thought of as disabled.
Just going by the last what 20 yrs of history - can't find when GAC program was instituted. GAC worked until it didn't and now DAS isn't working.
It's hard to say exactly when the disability programs began. I know GAC had been in existence at WDW and DL at least since the early 1990s. But the Internet was no where near the force of what it is now. Disney did not actually have any specific information on their website until DAS began in 2013.
