Hey everyone, it's Jacqueline for Pixie Dust PhD. With the launch of Genie+ we got an update to
the Disability Access Service pass program at Walt Disney World. For anyone unfamiliar with
the Disability Access Service program at Walt Disney World we will discuss who is eligible,
how you register, how you obtain Disability Access Service passes in the parks to go on rides,
and how you redeem them. Plus I’ll be sure to highlight those updates that happened with
the Genie+ launch, and we will also talk about how Disability Access Service integrates with
other programs at Walt Disney World--stay tuned!
Thanks so much for being here, I really appreciate it. This is a topic I’ve been wanting to cover on
the channel for quite a long time; I know many of you have been patient while I gather all
the information I can and try to make the most accurate video possible. If you have personal
experience with a Disability Access Service program I would love to hear about that in the
comments down below. Additionally, if you have further questions please do leave a comment and
I’ll do my best to get you a useful answer. And thanks so much for leaving a like on the video
and subscribing to the channel. Let's get into Disability Access Service. The Disability Access
Service program, or D-A-S or “DAS” for short, is intended for guests who have a difficulty
tolerating extended waits in conventional queue environments due to a disability.
This does include non-apparent disabilities. The most common misconception about the DAS program
I see is folks think that this is specifically for people with mobility disabilities. The Walt Disney
World website states that if your only disability is a mobility impairment, that you actually do not
need DAS. Just being in a wheelchair or scooter or needing crutches or similar alone does not qualify
you for the DAS program. For example, if someone in your travel party recently broke their leg
and they are using a wheelchair to get around the theme parks on vacation they are not eligible for
a DAS pass. As a quick side note, let's discuss mobility disabilities at Walt Disney World theme
parks. Attractions at Walt Disney World are broken down into the following categories:
there are some attractions where guests may remain in their wheelchair or ECV to ride the ride;
then there's other attractions where guests would have to transfer from their wheelchair or their
ECV to the ride vehicle, so you can remain in your wheelchair or ECV throughout the line
and you just need to get out to get into the ride vehicle; the next category is transferring
from an ECV to a wheelchair--so if you are an ECV user there will be some attractions where
you will need to be in the wheelchair and not the ECV; the fourth category is attractions where the
guests must transfer from an ECV to a wheelchair presumably just for the queue portion of the ride,
and then from the wheelchair to the ride vehicle itself; and finally, the last category is
attractions where the guests must be ambulatory. Let's take a closer look at that. For attractions
where guests must be ambulatory, this means that the guests must be able to walk themselves through
the queue and onto the ride vehicle--again either by themselves, or with assistance from
someone in their travel party. There are very few attractions where guests must be fully ambulatory
to experience the attraction. Officially listed as attractions where guests must be ambulatory on the
Walt Disney World website are Peter Pan's Flight, Tom Sawyer Island, Swiss Family Treehouse, and the
PeopleMover. Additionally, there are smattering of attractions at both water parks where guests must
be ambulatory--that is Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon. But this is it. This is the extensive
list. When you're looking at the four main theme parks there are only four rides officially listed
where guests must be ambulatory. Overall by standards in the United States of America,
Walt Disney World is actually highly accessible for folks with mobility-only disabilities. A vast
majority of the attractions you are able to use your aid, be it a wheelchair or an ECV. Therefore,
if you go and speak with a Guest Relations Cast Member about obtaining a DAS pass specifically
for a mobility disability they probably will be encouraging you to rent a wheelchair instead.
The baseline thought here, in my opinion, is that given that a vast majority of the attractions are
accessible for folks in a wheelchair or ECV, if you rent a wheelchair you'll be able to sit in
it through the queue, and then in many cases you can take the wheelchair onto the ride or you only
have to transfer from the wheelchair into the ride vehicle--a very limited amount of time.
Every trip I’ve taken to Walt Disney World and frequently online I often see guests complaining
that Cast Members are suggesting that they rent a wheelchair instead of giving them the DAS pass.
Ultimately, the Cast Members are just enforcing the eligibility rules set forth by the company
where a mobility disability alone, without any other types of disability,
does not make you eligible for the Disability Access Service program. If you run up to this,
remember to be kind Cast Members; they are simply doing their jobs. There is not an official list
of conditions that make you eligible for the Disability Access Service program, but mobility
only disabilities are excluded. Moving right along, let's say you believe that someone in
your travel party does qualify for the Disability Access Service program. You will need that person
to register. There are two ways you can do this: in person at Guest Relations in one of the four
main theme parks, or in advance online--this can be done online on your computer or on your phone
through the My Disney Experience app. Walt Disney World does not require any medical documentation;
you don't need a note from a doctor or anything like that to register. If you decide to register
in person you'll need to speak with a Cast Member at Guest Relations in one of the four main theme
parks. Notably you are not able to do this at Disney Springs. To do so you'll simply tell a
Cast Member that you would like to register for the Disability Access Service program, and they'll
engage in a brief conversation with you--ask you a few basic questions to make sure that you are
eligible. Once they determine you are, they will take your picture and confirm your travel party,
and that's pretty much it. It's a really fast process. Instead of doing this in person though,
thanks to that Genie+ tech update, you can now register for the Disability Access Service program
online via live video chat. If the member of your travel party looking to register for Disability
Access Service program is a minor their parent or guardian will need to be present for this.
You can do this advance online registration between 2 and 30 days prior to your park visit.
You will need a working camera and microphone to participate either on a computer--your
laptop or desktop--or on your phone through the My Disney Experience app. A functioning camera
is essential because once the Cast Member does determine eligibility and gets you all registered,
they will need to take a picture of the registered DAS guest. A few technical logistic notes about
registering for DAS in advance. Currently, this is only offered in English, and is only open from
7 a.m. til 10 p.m. Eastern time, or Walt Disney World time. For folks with visual impairments the
video chat is screen reader friendly, and for folks with hearing impairments there is a text
chat available. And while registering in person is usually fairly quick, anecdotally the waits to
register online can be quite long. And Disney will also sometimes close down the ability to even get
in line to start this chat if there are too many folks already waiting. In person registration may
take less time than online, but there is a really huge perk about waiting in that queue to do it
online. After that online in advance registration process, guests can work with that Cast Member to
go ahead and pick two advanced attractions to get a DAS pass for every day of their visit.
As you can see, DAS is an extremely appealing program. With all good things, some people are
not so honest and try to take advantage of the system. Particularly because Disney requires no
medical documentation, they really are counting on the honesty of the guests here not to abuse
the system. It's worth noting that if guests are found out to have lied in order to obtain a DAS
pass that they will be permanently barred from the theme parks, and also any money spent on an
Annual Pass or Magic Key over in Disneyland or day tickets will be forfeited. As we continue to
explore DAS program details, I’m sure it will look more and more appealing. But again, if you are
not eligible there are severe consequences if you are found to have lied. Let's not make the system
worse for folks who really need it. If you don't need the DAS please don't abuse it. Now that you
or someone in your travel party has registered for the Disability Access Service program,
let's go over actually using a DAS pass. There are two main methods here; the first we'll go
over is same day return times either in person or through the app, and then we'll talk more about
DAS Advance, which I touched on just briefly a minute ago. Same day DAS return times are very
similar to what you may be used to with FastPass or Genie+ Lightning Lane selections. These are
planned and redeemed on the day of the park visit. The wait time is based on the posted wait time,
which can be a little bit frustrating if posted wait times are inflated. A great perk for folks
who need a little more flexibility in their day is that there isn't a strict window for same day
DAS pass return times. There will be a return time listed: that's the earliest you can go. But then
they're valid through the end of the day, through park close. Therefore, it's distinctly unlike pass
or Genie+ Lightning Lane in that way where you have a specific time period you have to make it
to the ride to. DAS pass is not like that for same day return times. And any time after that return
time you just go back to the attraction speak with a Cast Member; typically speaking you're gonna end
up going through the Lightning Lane, so it's not instant access to the ride but it does tend to
help with wait time significantly. In order to obtain these return times you're highly advised
to use the My Disney Experience app. Navigating to the menu section of your app you will have
this Disability Access Service program icon. From there you can select the attraction that you're
interested in, and request a return time. Then you select your party and click confirm. If you'd
rather not use the app you can also go in person to the attraction and speak with a Cast Member.
Simply tell them that you have the DAS pass and you would like a return time. They'll work with
you to load that into your profile. If you are going to do this in person method, the guest who
is DAS eligible does not have to go in person. For example, if it's your child that has registered
for the Disability Access Service program, you can leave your child with another member of your
party and you can walk over to the ride to get the return time for your party. Your child does
not have to come with you. But again, you can instead do this through the My Disney Experience
app yourself instead of having to go all the way to the attraction and speak with a Cast Member.
You can hold one of these same day return times at a time. For example, if you use the app or go in
person to get a return time for Frozen Ever After you're essentially waiting in a virtual queue.
Then once you've hit your return time you are free to ride whenever. But until you go ride
you cannot receive another return time for another attraction. This is a one-at-a-time system. Now,
other than same day return times, let's go back and talk a little bit more about DAS Advance.
When you register for the program online, in advance 2 to 30 days before your park visit,
you can also go ahead and pick up to two attractions per day as DAS Advance. This
is subject to availability though, and you will need to have all of your travel party
with their ducks in a row--you will all need to be connected on the friends and family list,
and they will all need valid theme park admission and park pass reservations already linked to their
accounts. Additionally, the DAS Advance selections have a one hour return window time. So this is
very unlike usual DAS where once it is your return time you can go whenever; DAS Advance you have to
go within this hour window. And while guests can hold two DAS Advance selections per park day,
they cannot be the same ride. So for example you couldn't have Frozen Ever After two times in the
same day for your DAS [Advance] selections; it would have to be Frozen Ever After and then a
different ride. And once you've gone through the process of making your DAS Advance selections,
they will appear in your plans section of the My Disney Experience app. You can combine using
DAS Advance with the traditional same day return times. Therefore, you can hold up to two Advance
selections and one normal same day return time selection for a total of up to three DAS pass
attractions in your plans at any one given time. And once you've hit an attraction return time,
it's time to redeem your DAS pass. Head to the attraction and speak with a Cast Member,
usually at the Lightning Lane entrance. If there is no Lightning Lane entrance for that attraction,
just speak with the Cast Members situated at the front of the attraction and they'll help you out.
Importantly, the DAS guests must be riding. For example, if your child is eligible and you use
the DAS pass system to get a return time for Big Thunder Mountain but your child does not want to
ride Big Thunder Mountain, none of the rest of your party can go without them. The point of
the system is to help the person that needs the accommodation. If that accommodation isn't needed
because the person doesn't want to ride, nobody else gets to use the system. Assuming that the DAS
eligible guest does want to ride, it is easiest if you have them scan in first. They will tap into a
touch point, typically at the Lightning Lane but it may be some sort of handheld device or similar
as well, and then the Cast Member needs to confirm the DAS eligible guest--that's why they take their
picture. Once they confirm that, they'll be marked through as okay, and then all the rest of the
party can follow. If other party members try to scan in first, it will tell them to wait; and then
you still have to go with the DAS eligible guest first. Again, they're trying to make sure that
the accommodation is helping the DAS eligible and registered guest; therefore, the Cast Members do
confirm the DAS eligible guest identity via that picture that was taken either online in advance
or in person with Guest Relations. Once the DAS eligible guest identity is confirmed, basically
everyone just scans in then. After registration, the Disability Access Service program is valid
for up to 60 days. But after those 60 days have passed, guests will need to re-register. And the
DAS program is only valid at the resort that it was issued at. For example, if you registered for
DAS at Walt Disney World and 30 days later you're off to Disneyland, even though you are within that
60-day time frame it doesn't transfer from Walt Disney World to Disneyland. So you would need to
register there. And the Disability Access Service program does interact with other services offered
at Walt Disney World. For rides where you need a virtual queue, for example, like Rise of the
Resistance in the past, having a DAS pass doesn't override the need for a virtual queue. Guests will
still need to obtain that virtual queue placement, and then you can use your DAS pass in combination
with it. Once your virtual queue number is called, go ahead and speak to a Cast Member let them know
you have the DAS pass and they will let you know what happens next. Often you're told that the DAS
pass entrance is through the Lightning Lane, but it's worth noting that in some rides going
through the Lightning Lane means missing quite a lot of story and interactive queue elements.
Then guests are simply able to decide what makes the most sense for them: use the DAS system to go
through the Lightning Lane, or go through the regular standby queue with your virtual queue.
That's a basic overview of the Disability Access Service program. Remember, mobility disabilities
only do not qualify for the DAS program. You can register for DAS online in advance or in person
with Guest Relations. Essentially, using a DAS pass is getting a return time at an attraction;
you're waiting in that queue virtually, then once your return time hits you can go ahead and ride
that ride. Typically your queue wait will be much shorter going through the Lightning Lane entrance,
hopefully making that queue experience much more tolerable for a wide variety of guests.
For same day return times, you can only hold one at a time. And with that new DAS Advance system,
you can hold an additional two per day--though those do have a one-hour return window.
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments down below and I’ll do my best to get
you a useful answer. And remember please don't abuse the system, and always be kind to Cast
Members. May the rest of your day be magical, and we'll see you real soon at Pixie Dust PhD!