Disney has announced updates to Disability Access Service (DAS), which the parks offer to people with different mobility needs. Updates were also made to the guides that people can access to navigate the parks. These new guides now include more information on specific rest areas designed to cater to people with disabilities. The guides also include information about access to places like restrooms so that the Disney experience can be more fluid for everyone.
While this seems like a great step forward in making Disney Parks more accessible to everyone, new rules set to be implemented at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland may negatively alter some people’s experiences. First, it’s important to point out that people headed to Disney parks who want to enroll in the DAS program should ideally do so at least two days before their visit.
Alternatively, those who want to apply for the program and arrive on that day at the park can have an interview with a cast member on site. This is how the process is going to work at Disneyland. At Walt Disney World, those who want to enroll in the DAS program on a one-day visit to the park will have a virtual interview with a cast member. These interviews are meant to ensure that the park goers are assigned to the right part of the program according to their needs. This is essentially the process that’s being implemented to keep able-bodied guests from taking advantage of the program. Once a person has gone through the interview process, their status within DAS will be valid for the next 120 days.
Members of the DAS program will still be allowed to skip lines in some rides. However, the number of people who can enjoy the privilege with them has been reduced to four or just their immediate family members. These new rules were put in place because there was a strong suspicion that people were misusing the program for the privilege of cutting in line. This issue has seemingly been taking place at Disney parks for decades.
The company has pledged to increase the number of cast members that will be on hand to help people who are part of the DAS program moving forward. This is where one of the main challenges of these new rules could come into play. It’s going to be up to the cast members sometimes to decide what type of “privilege” the members of the program are going to be entitled to.
Cast members, for example, could decide to grant members of the DAS program passes to come back to the ride at a specific time. This would be done instead of just allowing them fast access when they arrive, which was the way things have generally worked over the years. Essentially, members of the DAS program will have the privilege of using a version of the Disney Genie service. All of these updates are meant to ensure the right people are getting help while the people who don’t really need help won’t be able to take advantage of the privileges the program provides.
