I’ve been given DAS in the past. When I applied this year I was denied. When I asked if I have a problem what should my party do, I was told, and I kid you not, the cast member said, “you will be surprised how much the other guests will jump in and help!” Wait WHAT…I actually had a medical problem and when my daughter-in-law asked a cast member for help she had no idea what to do. It was scary for me and my family. This was in August.
They told me I can leave the line if I’m having a problem. I asked how I will exit the line if I’m lying on the floor unresponsive. They said a cast member will call Disney!s EMTs. I have multiple medical conditions such as low blood pressure that can cause me to faint or collapse. None are life threatening. Trying to help me is thé worst option possible. The area has to be cleared of people and I have to be allowed to recover.
Idk man, how often are you visiting Universal resort? The cast has been more friendly at Universal than Disney our last 2 vacations. And it was historically the opposite.
So, I attend all monthly. I would say it is relatively even. Some Disney Cast Members are above exceptional. Over 35 years, I’ve only experienced one bad day at Universal due to management complete debacle of passholder appreciation night 2023; never experienced guests behaving badly. Over the same time at Disney, I’ve experienced so many bad days I can’t count. To include management issues and SO MANY GUESTS behaving badly!!! I can always count on a good day at Universal, period. Disney, I always expect issues and go prepared with Disney stickers to hand out in efforts to snap people out of their BS.
Ignore Tom. We all knew how bad of a 🐚 he would become once they gave him access back to WDW Media List. He likes to dish 💩 out, but can’t take a dose of his own medication.
We have used both Universal's IBCES system and Disney's latest version of DAS, and found Universal's system to be superior. We had no problem providing proof of my son's disability, autism, and once we secured the pass at the park we were simply allowed to enter the express lane at each ride, without having to book times in advance. Furthermore, Universal is NOT completely dropping IBCES altogether, they are simply not making it mandatory anymore. Lastly, the reason they are easing up on the use of IBCES is that another theme park that uses IBCES is being sued by the ADA, and Universal simply wanted to distance themselves from IBCES before being sued as well. Their rationale is not as nefarious as Tom would suggest.
My problems with them using IBCCES is that they are an autism resource center and have no business getting people's medical information. We don't know how secure their system is and they are not covered under HIPAA. Literally anyone can form a website and say that they can "verify" medical documentation. Second, having disabled people go through these hoops, and often expense, to be able to go to a theme park is disgusting. No one else has to go through these hoops to be able to take their family on vacation. Third, even after you go through all of this, Universal can and DOES still deny people. Both US and Disney are handling this wrong.
The DAS situation is awful. My friend has a condition that makes regulating her body temperature impossible and can pass out due to heat exhaustion which is pretty easy in a park like DCA where there is little shade. When we tried getting DAS last year they told her to 'Come only at night' which was ????? She paid for a full park day why would she only come for 4 hours of the park being open?
EXACTLY!! My friend shrinks to HALF her size if she doesnt drink from the Toon Town fountain every 30 minutes, and Im SOO TIREDD of Disney discriminating against us incredible shrinking people!!
@@karinadelgado6495 I have to poop in the bathroom next to the chase atm and sometimes the stalls are being used. Disney wouldn't kick out one of the other people out of the stalls mid-poo so that I could do my poo instead. Disney just loves to discriminate against me and my bowel.
I have used the 'DAS' system at Paris and Tokyo. If this wasnt available to me, my time in the parks would be miserable managing my health. I am not looking forward to applying for DAS when I return to Disneyland next year. My husband refuses to do 'return to line' if I'm offered that option as he doesnt want to leave me alone in the heat for the best part of an hour.
As a autistic man myself I agree it should not be limited to people like me. I love the parks I have my challenges every time I go. But yes there are people who need it that are not autistic. Since the change, being a pass holder, I haven’t gone back. The fact that I could be denied because some person is having a bad day would devastate me. Having both a physical disability and autism I need help. Do I want DAS? No I don’t. I want to be a normal person. But I am not. I just wish Disney would find a way to help people who need it and stop denying them.
Being denied because somebody is having a bad day has always been a possibility - inconsistency was one of the biggest problems the DAS program has had since the beginning.
@@ashersarchives sorry, but autism is way too common now for everyone to be treated like some person in a wheelchair. If you can't stand in line for a ride then maybe amusement parks just aren't the place you should be.
I know… As an autistic female, my parents no longer go because they let people with no disability in, my mom and me and my little brother are disabled so I am disappointed.
Great perspective on DAS, excellent analysis (as usual)! The bad PR that it’s bringing Disney is simply not worth whatever small monetary gain that they are receiving. From what I’ve seen/heard, the current DAS implementation is borderline discriminatory and needs to change!
Yes, it is. You have to wait to ride, but you DO NOT wait in line. Therefore, by definition and connotation, it is in fact a line-skipping system. You are 'skipping the line'.
@@tmcneil516 You are not skipping the line, you are simply waiting outside of the line. When you request a DAS return time, you are given a return time in the future that is equal to the posted standby wait at that moment in time. You will then have to wait in the lightning lane queue, however long that is, so it is feasible that a DAS guest could end up waiting longer to ride than someone who just waited in standby. They just aren't waiting in the queue.
Someone who complained about DAS here. My wife was denied it when Disney was the ones who told her to get it in the first place after watching her have a breakdown in Rock n Rollercoaster. We didn’t stop buying Lightning Lane with DAS either, we used them both to keep her out of the standby lines. We have been going to Disney together for a long time, and we have always made our own arrangements without bothering anyone else. We never asked Disney for help with that, we never asked Disney to make extra accommodations for us. When they themselves recommended DAS, and walked her through the process, it was a life saver for our trips. I let them know on our last trip how extremely disappointed I was in them. We even brought notes from her doctor and explanation of the condition to the DAS people in an attempt to appeal and explain how this service helps us. Their only solution was “don’t ride the rides.” Both in person and during the video interview
I was also denied. I was offered the following accommodation this past Saturday when in a party of two with me being in my personal wheelchair that needs to be pushed - use the standby line. My need for accommodation is not related to the wheelchair. I do not have a mobility problem but do have a stamina problem so I accommodate that by using a wheelchair. I explained everything the DAS people told me. Didn’t matter. We walked away from the attraction as the entire situation left me close to experiencing an episode without even getting in line. Nothing I have is life threatening.
Tom, as a hurricane forecaster for the past 44 years, I handled the Helene advisories today (not with the NHC). I think that Disney World will not open at all tomorrow. We are forecasting Helene to be much larger and more powerful than Idalia or Debby. I think Orlando will get sustained wind of around 40 mph with gusts up to 60-70 mph tomorrow. There may also be tornadoes in the outer bands of squalls tomorrow morning. Not a day to be outside. Expect widespread power outages all across the peninsula. Power outages could last for a week or more, particularly west of Orlando into the Tampa area. Tropical storm force winds will extend across the peninsula and into the Atlantic. We have max sustained wind of 140 mph with gusts 170 mph at landfall in northern Apalachee Bay around 8pm tomorrow. The west coast will be hit a lot harder than it was with previous hurricanes.
My elderly uncle has pancreatic cancer, and, I believe, on hospice care. He currently resides in Destin FL. Is that far enough west that you’d believe he’d be fine? All of us relatives live in Texas, which is why we can’t exactly drop what we’re doing.
@@UmmYeahOkI live about 8 min from Destin and we are not expecting too much excitement at this point if it helps. Unless the storm makes a significant shift west, it’s likely we will just see rain and wind-much like thunderstorm. Hope everyone in FL stays safe!
I understand that Tom is fully biased towards Disney against Universal, but his comment that the customer service at Universal is less than Disney is just outright ridiculous. The fact that Disney is upheld to a higher standard is because we expect them to be a higher standard and what they're doing right now is not the high standard. What they're doing right now is a system that favors profitability over accessibility. Disney could very easily go the third party route, but it won't make them and additional $15 a person per park per day. Tom then says it's illegal to ask about a person's disability - but then the new system requires that the person who needs accommodation has to tell each cast member at the entrance of a ride what accommodations are needed in order to get accommodations. So then instead of you just telling one person about your accommodations you're telling 10 or 20 people. That's extremely invasive. This system was the dumbest thing they could have ever done. When my friends and I go to the parks, and several of them, including myself need accommodations, we were still considered disabled at Universal, but we are now magically not disabled at Disney. The universal system goes through a third party who then checks your paperwork to confirm it for you and then you can go ahead and use the system. It doesn't cost any money, it just takes a few days for verification and you're good to go. Meanwhile, it seems the only way you can get accommodated at Disney is if you're a child with autism, I travel sometimes with an adult with autism and he's not eligible because he's not a child with autism, so magically he's no longer disabled because he's an adult? Makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. My friend with lupus, who needs to sit down every hour or so, and walks with a cane, is no longer considered disabled. And then the last time I tried to get accommodations, I was told that my friends would go in line without me, wait in line without me, and then I had to snake my way through the entire line, and then meet them at the front when it was time to get on the ride. I did that at flight of passage and the amount of people complaining at me while I was trying to get and meet my party at the front made me feel extremely bad and terrible, just because I was trying to reach my friend group who had made it to the front of the line. It was one of the worst experiences I've ever had in the Parks, and this is happening to a lot of people right now, and somehow, Tom says they're doing a better job than Universal? Are you kidding me? This is entirely a profit grab and in no way a system clean out those who are ineligible, this is just a way to make more people who need accommodations pay more money. That's it
That is horrendous. Honestly I quite liked the universal system. It’s a bit annoying going to the old paper method after das used to be so efficient, but it’s better than nothing. If Universal made a mobile app for requesting call back times similair to how Das used to work that would be incredible.
As a former cast member, I can only speak to the culture of Disney’s guest service commitment to guests having “magical experiences” there is specific extensive training on how to bring the magic” to each guest you interact with. Universal is not known for such dedication to this. It is not a bias, it is a fact.
@@carmenarenas7691 that used to be true, but nowadays, just because there's a commitment, doesn't mean it's happening. It is not happening today, definitively.
The comments about Universal are unnecessary, and in my recent experience untrue. You can prefer one over the other, but both places have their strengths and weaknesses and are a good time. Universal, in the last few years, has become, for me, the more fun trip. Less planning, and I don't have to be on my phone all day, managing my entire park day on an app.
@thehobbsguy Universal is just plain easier and more enjoyable for travellers. it's chill & thrill with less work. I like DW but it takes skill & work to enjoy. and unless your DVC the customer experience in Universal resorts is better
i just got DAS like a month ago and the application process was the most stress inducing and horrific process ive ever gone through, overstimulating nightmare. and now i dont get the extension because i did it too early? and i gotta go through all of that again? yeah i dont think so. im done with them for now unless they change something, as someone with autism. i want justice for those with physical disabilities that disney isn't recognizing either. total BS
I hate how people are like “daddy Josh daddy Josh” Josh would step on a cancer patients neck if it means better numbers and he keeps his job. He doesn’t care about park goers or the park. He’s not the savior people say he is. He’s a Iger puppet (who’s not much better than Chapek at this point) he only cares about numbers and his job not the guest or guest experience. We need to stop idolizing him as a savior because he does the Parks D23 presentation with silly park references 🙄 and oooo he wears Jeans sometimes he’s one of us. No he’s a corporate puppet. No more no less. Josh and iger and whoever’s making the decision will never see it as we lost money but someone who’s dying is happy. They will say oh crap we lost money take more away to make up for it.
In my opinion the reason universal is changing their process from IBCCES is because they helped people with disabilities be approved for accommodations. They waited for Disney to tell everyone no, then decided they can follow suit. I was approved through universals process no problem. Through Disneys I had to explain personal details like I would to my therapist and it took a combo of my issues along with my partners disability to be approved and even then only under very specific criteria, even though according to Disneys DAS guidelines I qualify. That process through Disney was violating, intrusive and it felt all together discriminatory. Just ask me for my paperwork. I agree with you though Tom, this cannot be the final process. Our trip would have been impossible without accommodations. It was rough with DAS. I don’t know what the future looks like but it can’t be this.
And if you are denied and try to use the “accommodations” the DAS folks tell you to request at each attraction you get to go through that entire discussion at EACH attraction, within earshot of other guests while holding up the line. The other guests might possibly be recording your interaction and might possibly post it on the internet as NONE of them are bound by HIPAA. Whether or not you get accommodations is then up to the cast member’s discretion. That cast member probably has no medical knowledge. I have been in the parks 3 days and have been able to go on a total of 2 rides. One of those is the train at magic kingdom where I automatically got a certain amount of accommodations because they have a special waiting area for people in wheelchairs. We opted to wait to go up to the platform until the train was arriving in the station so I wouldn’t have to wait in a crowd. I have spent more time crying in the parks than I have spent doing any sort of attractions.
Disney has done such a disservice to the disabled community. Thank you for being one of the few that will speak out about this problem. My family loves Disney, but are now letting their passes expire and are going to Universal. Their first trip was in September and their next trip is in November. I agree with you… Disney is my choice, but I don’t need a DAS pass. I still have my annual pass and I go to the parks, but I will NOT spend a penny on Disney property now. My wallet slammed shut the day I had to hear my grown daughter cry because she was denied DAS. It broke my heart! I will continue to advocate for her and the disabled community. Keep up the great work Tom! ❤❤❤
You're wrong. It's the people that abused the system that did a disservice to the actual people with disabilities. I'm not a Disney defender but this is not their fault. This is the fault of all the idiots that claim they had anxiety so they could skip the line. If you have anxiety that doesn't make you better than anyone else so you don't have to wait in the long lines like the rest of us. Don't go to an amusement park then. If you're truly disabled or you have stage 4 cancer yes you should get it. Otherwise, suck it up and stand in line or stay home.
@@jaesea323 While yes those scammers had issues, but Disney also had a hand in things by overbooking those Lightning Lane reservations, when 5 out of every 6 people getting on a ride coming through Lightning Lane (those are real numbers too, not made up) then 83% of the ride capacity is reserved for all the line skippers whether DAS or LL, and that's just straight up bullsh*t.
Finally an official Tom rant against the Das changes. I pray they change it to what Universal did requiring a doctors note. It’d be a bit of work but better than nothing and I’m trying to be realistic. As long as we all keep raising our voices and voting with our wallets against this change then maybe Disney will take the hint and change
Re: DAS and terminal people cutting line. True story, Sept 2019 I took a friend to Hollywood Studios. He was a Club 33 member and had a terminal issue. He was using a mobility scooter. He and I both knew this was his last trip to Disney so I was trying to take him to every park, one more time. As we approached Tower of Terror and got in line, he turned yellow and went into shock. I rushed him to the local dialysis center that he had pre-contracted with for services, if needed. Later that night, he joked ( barely ) that he almost got to die on Tower of Terror. I remember him saying that would be a life's goal and he'd haunt the hell out of that thing for eternity. I'm glad we had the DAS for this, but looking back if you're near-terminal then maybe going to Disney isn't a great idea, unless you intend to traumatize the CMs and guests with a truly memorable story about your demise.
@@DisabledJourney It did for him. I later found out that before the trip he'd been bleeding internally and it wasn't stopping. He hid it from me very well. They'd given him one month to live at that point. I found that out later.
Ah right. Blame the terminally ill person for wanting to go to Disney before they die, instead of advocating for better treatment of disabled guests and providing better training. Bravo.
I think the cast members see Tom and treat him differently. That's why he thinks that. I have had nothing but good experiences with Universal staff. Disney, a whole different story. Huge disappointments
@@WDWNT there isn't a single cast member that doesn't know Tom. If it's a bad interaction, they know they'd be put on blast on this show. How would he ever get a less than excellent interaction?
There has definitely been a big switch in quality the last few years. Especially since the pandemic. Disney was customer service first and foremost and now it nearly non-existent.😢
The stories I’ve seen and more importantly heard from individuals and families that have always qualified for DAS and now don’t is just disgusting. Disney should be ashamed of themselves
I’m local with APs to both. Everyone has their perspective and experiences with the parks but I’ve found Universal staff to be better trained and capable than Disney in the last few years. It wasn’t always this way but unless Disney has a wake-up the tide is turning towards Universal for a better overall park experience. Asthma, cluster migraines and cptsd can sometimes make my park days difficult. Universal staff have always been above and beyond when I have had an episode. Disney staff were rude and anxious to have me on my way.
The DAS thing is beyond horrible. It is a discrimination to the disabled guests to exclude them from this. They do not have a system for disabled people that works and it is actually illegal for them to ask you to pay for a disabled service. I have no issue with them asking for a doctors note. The current system doesnt even work for who they say it works for if you are an annual pass holder who comes with other people. You literally have to call for every visit. It would be ok if you had a limit of say 8 people and you can only use 4 of them at once. That would be fair. But to expect you to spend 1+ hours on the phone to change their party is ridiculous. If you send them a message on this subject they just give you some stupid blanket email that the DAS system was created for autism which was BS because before it was created, they used to give a shorter line to anyone in a wheelchair but people would rent them just for a shorter line so they created DAS. This was before all the electronic thing. You used to have to go to each ride and wait in the exit. Then they created DAS as a way to reduce traffic in those areas. It was always for disabled people so for them to just pull that system with nothing to take its place is an insult. The answer you get if you call them about a disability to get into the system if you have a reason other than Autism is that if you need to leave the line you can do so and have someone hold you place. Well that only works if you have someone that can hold your place. I frequently travel with my grandkids. All 3 are under 10. I cannot leave them in line alone while I go to the restroom for my IBS issues. I also cant get out of said line with the speed necessary since I use an ECV and would have to backtrack a line or wait until I see an exit. Let me just put that bathroom visit on hold in your pretty line while I backtrack thru a line in an ecv. I know the lines are wheelchair friendly (kind of) on the way in the line, but not exactly on the way out when there are hundreds of people there. I can name 10 issues with the new system. This is the tip of the iceberg. The bottom line is they need to fix this.
We went to the third night of Jollywood last year and had a really poor time. We left mega disappointed as it just felt like Epcot food and wine festival but three times the price. We were chatting to a lady in animal kingdom who asked if we’d been to Jollywood, told her how disappointing it was. She asked our names and where we were staying, we said goodbye. Next thing I get a notification on my phone, refunded for both tickets. I was astonished! I can’t say I’d dash back as I can’t really see what they’re doing that’s so different from last year.
The only thing Disney has that Universal doesn't have, is nostalgia. For some people, this is enough. For the rest of us, better value in resorts, in restaurants, in merch shops and most importantly better attractions puts Universal over the top. Majority of the families I know that fly in say Disney is not worth the money anymore.
I actually think Universal has the nostalgia, too. Suess Landing and ET always warm my heart. Jurassic Park makes it soar. And you cannot beat their Monsters!
This! Disney has the nostalgia factor, which means parents bring their kids because they have fond memories of going as kids. But now we have a generation of families being turned off by the sharply falling value of a Disney vacation, paying more for less etc. They will not grow up with the same nostalgia to bring their own kids in 30 years. Disney will lose out in the long run.
They also have atmosphere and theme, but they started phasing that out a while ago and recently announced they're pretty much getting rid of it altogether. The staff used to be the real "Disney Difference," but I don't know how much longer that will be the case if they don't make some major changes and start spending more on the things that really count, like people.
The new cold callous calculating Disney that only cares about revenue per guest has decided that they don't care if a terminal cancer patient doesn't get DAS as they won't be a paying customer pretty soon. Disney is looking strictly at revenue and is completely ignoring the PR mess they are creating by doing this. Disney parks used to be known as the most accommodating places for the disabled community, but its been heard loud and clear now that they only care about selling Lightning Lanes. Hopefully people will realize this and stop giving Disney money - thats the only way they will realize their mistake is to impact the only thing they seem to care about now, revenue and profits.
I agree that Disney is prioritizing revenue streams, in particular FastPass, over customer service in this DAS controversy. I'm about to write a big comment filling it out, but it boils down to customers (paying FastPass users) get priority over beneficiaries (DAS users, line waiters). It was inevitable once people could pay extra to prioritize their queue experiences.
I’m an Autistic Adult that is able to handle lines! 🤷♀️ For me, having a non park day between park days would work better. We all have different needs! Please allow people who have physical or stamina related disabilities use DAS when they clearly need it!
Depending upon our upcoming application for DAS, this may be our last visit to Disney parks until they straighten their s**t out. We come from out of state, and have visited as many as five times a year. DAS literally made those trips possible. Disney can say goodbye to both my money and my goodwill over this.
We use DAS and other park’s variations, but people still abusing it badly. Universal does ask for the proof from doctor or school and this is how it should be. But guests with real physical or mental needs cannot be denied. Let guests to prove it, but don’t let your team members of friends to abuse it too ( I see this a lot in both parks)
REMINDER: A hurricane “makes landfall” when the eye makes landfall. That means half of the damaging storm has already passed over land. Always be prepared 24 hours before predicted landfall.
We, as a company, have sent several families to WDW, we're a Daycare/Preschool, and we've stopped doing it. We've stopped because some of our families are special needs, being kids and / or parents, siblings. Yes, I've complained to Disney.
As a former DAS user, we used the time gap that we would be in line to shop and send things back to our resort. Now? No DAS, no ship to resort services…. If I’m standing in a line, I’m not shopping 🤷🏼♀️ Gee, I’m saving $ because I’m not paying for their add ons.
Why not just get a 3rd party that works with Disney and The Disney costumers that show that they have really bad medical conditions/ health problems and let them get a card that they can get scanned to show that they’re apart of and should be apart of the DAS System. They have something like this for public Bus Service/ private bus services . 🤷🏽
You literally in one sentence say the park can not confirm someone's illness and the next suggest they allow someone with an illness to skip the line. Not everyone is a good person and many would happily lie about having some need to skip the line. And, there's a percentage of people that would be on the fence about it, that would jump over the fence because they would believe that since some people are faking they might as well too.
I have no experience with it, but Disney's DAS seems like it could work if they widened the net on what they consider valid health issues. From the stories, it sounds like they only focus on developmental disabilities like autism and not physical ones such as cancer or narcolepsy. Seems silly they appear to think autism means you cannot wait in a line, but not terminal cancer
The net WAS "widened" to everyone and their tax collector. That's why they had to change. because "not liking being around people" used to get passed as a disability.
Tom, thank you for being an influential voice on this issue. I am the mom of an 8 year old autistic child, and the level of interrogation to receive the DAS was quite intense for both me and my son. They insisted on chatting with him, which caused him a fair amount of distress. While we qualified under their stringent bar, there has to be a better way than excluding those others with genuine disabilities and having strangers question our young neurodivergent children.
Great job bring up the unfairness of DAS. Disney should help everyone that has a hardship to enjoy the magic . That made Disney magical too. Hopefully it will change
Disney just needs to get rid of Lightning Lane / Fast pass. Also get rid of the virtual queues. And just make the lines regular, and DAS. And if they want to keep fast pass, make it like Cedar Fair / Six Flags, and price it to the point most people won’t want to pay for it, keeps the lines moving, and priority is still the regular line, not fast pass.
Thanks for speaking out about DAS. Our C-PTSD/autism/anxiety diagnosed family members generally can't spend time in a covered, dark queue. They feel that they are being buried alive. The effects are cumulative. If we try to do a park day without DAS, we have to leave the parks by 5 pm and then we are no good the next day. DAS makes it possible to do a full park day. We will not be paying for Genie Plus.
I’m an Autistic Adult that is able to handle lines! 🤷♀️ For me, having a non park day between park days would work better. We all have different needs! Please allow people who have physical or stamina related disabilities use DAS when they clearly need it!
They truly are not understanding the cumulative aspect of some conditions. Having to ask for accommodations at each attraction is exhausting. And if the result is bring told to use the standby line anyway it’s plain awful. Yes, that’s my experience so far over the past few days. I’m choosing to walk away from the attractions out of consideration for everyone else. Don’t bother suggesting buying lightning lane as an option. There are no return times available for the attractions that have long lines. They don’t offer individual lightning lane purchases for all the attractions with lightning lanes. If that were the case I would consider buying it for a couple of rides. The attractions that do offer it usually are sold out. Go into the park app and look at the wait times to see what I’m talking about.
I agree fully with you Tom. It’s sad that those who’d rather not wait in line have ruined it for everyone who truly needs DAS. Let’s vow to call out friends and family who think they are above waiting in line. The solution starts with us, not with a corporation.
Hey Tom, with your contacts at Disney and in the parks do you know someone my wife could reach out to? She would love to provide them a testimonial of how DAS used to aid our Disney visits with her disability? The changes to DAS have made it where it would make trips to the parks very difficult on her and leave us with little point to visit.
As someone who works directly with queues because I work high volume attractions, I feel like people didn't understand how many DAS parties were actually going through LL. Our LL queues were so long at certain points & people in them with disabilities were asking for priority in them not realizing the people in front of them were also disabled parties. There were so many tiktok videos of guests with DAS complaining about when the lines got long. So I just see this as a "be careful what you wish for". And you can think it was being abused, but it probably really wasn't. ¼ of adults in the US are disabled. Me, my mother, my father, my brother, my sister, my sister's boyfriend & my grandmother all qualified for the old DAS. It wasn't hard to qualify for the old DAS. So that was also part of the problem. I don't think the new DAS as it is currently is a good solution. It's also still being abused. Not in a way where people are faking a disability, but people are demanding to be let in early (which is essentially cutting in line) or saying because they're a veteran with DAS they don't need to create return times and they can just enter whenever they show up at an attraction. People still try to use a baby's DAS for thrill rides a baby can't ride. So the abuse wasn't stopped either. But at least the LL isn't crazy anymore.
Just went to all 4 parks and the DAS for my son was horrible! We were treated so bad at animal kingdom and ended up having to purchase lighting lanes for the remainder of the parks.
Looks at all these people here unhappy with Disney. They are creating a lot of negative feelings about their parks with this ridiculous new DAS guidelines. It’ll hit their bottom line eventually
If someone with terminal cancer can’t skip lines, I’d like to know the criteria for who gets to skip lines and who doesn’t, and how many people would be eligible.
Also just wanted to add, thank you for always covering the things Disney gets wrong, like DAS right now. It means a lot to us out there dealing with the crap that comes with this.
Becky here - people may be angry with me, but I have used DAS…for myself and for my elderly mother. Without it, going to the parks would have been difficult. I never used it to excess, played by the rules, now Disney is telling me my disabilities aren’t bad enough. Gee Disney, since you deem my disability nonworthy, should I turn in my state parking placard, too?
The comments against Universal are biased. If Disney is so great, why did Dollywood win #1 theme park by TripAdvisor & it's in the Top 10 globally in 2023. Epic Universe is soon to open in 2025 & Steven Spielberg is a part of it. Get ready!!
We've stopped going to Disney since they changed DAS, sadly we won't be going back unless they change it to how it worked originally. Disney needs to understand that there are people out there with disabilities that make those lines impossible. They need to make DAS more inclusive again and not just for people with autism.
Well our family fell victim to that DAS money grab to LL. We had more meltdowns from our daughter and the cast members could have cared less. So the portion of our party that was not allowed on the DAS.. eventually just bought MLL. What a headache! Trying to book those and coordinate with the DAS return times was such a stress, and got confusing at times! I feel like the magic is gone. I've never had so many blunt and uncaring cast members. I tried to remember the difficult position they were put in. Yet this vacation felt like a job more than a vacation.
As a person with several disabilities I'm happy to see that many people in the disability community are discussing this as a possible Civil rights issue
As a person that has used DAS before for a few years now..I am dreading the new process and may not qualify. I have tarsal tunnel syndrome..which is the same as carpal tunnel except with the feet.. standing in place causes pain and extreme discomfort..I just can't do it. I have contacted Disneyland about the fact I must buy a ticket to get DAS ..but if I can't get it I can't go..and no refunds...so since I usually go for 3 days thats $400 down the drain..I made that point in my Email but all I got back was boiler plate and references back to the DL site.. I guess I'm going somewhere else...kinda sucks ...I grew up in Socal with the park in the 50's+60's...worked there in the 70's and now...I don't seem to be welcome.. Its just wrong
I think I'm one of the few who is happy that not everyone can get a DAS pass anymore because it *felt* like the ratio of legit to illegitimate was 1 to 10
thank you tom for bring up about the DAS system craziness its caused all of us within the disabled community to be confused, frustrated and so on! i’ve been to disney world since i was a child in the ‘80’s; of course disney parks cast members back then were ridiculously on top of making sure the disabled guest and their loved one(s) were taken care of first and foremost at each attraction were they had a disabled guest and their loved one(s) go to one side at shows for example and the abled bodied guests go to the other side. at rides like spaceship earth in epcot they had disabled guest and their loved one(s) go to the special disabled enterance opposite of the regular enterance in which they still do to this day but nowadays will experience in which myself and my loved ones experienced the fact we don’t use DAS despite the fact since being wheelchair bond dealt with a rude and condescending cast member still at the same time but still let us in. in my personal opinion despite the fact whether or not the disabled guest in a wheelchair for example and their loved one(s) use the DAS pass system; there’ll be rude and condescending cm’s at the same time the more pleasant cm’s; my loved ones and i were utterally appalled how poorly in a since i was treated but luckily not that bad in front of them in fact it happened during our visit to the disney world resort in november last year; ridiculously embarrassing! we had a very unpleasant cm especially never apologized for it; so it can happen to a disabled guest in a wheelchair along with their loved one(s) dealing with an either pleasant cm or unpleasant cm!
Just because they are not giving you a pass to skip the line does not mean they will not try to accommodate your disability in a way that works for you. I am a paraplegic and have never experienced Disney not trying to make a reasonable attempt to accommodate my needs. Not being able to just get a blanket pass to skip lines will make it more difficult but not impossible.
That’s the problem though, they aren’t providing other reasonable accommodations and saying some truly cruel things to people. Also, DAS was never skipping the line - you wait the full amount of time, just outside of the line, and then enter through lightning lane.
I have Autism and I don’t need DAS, because I’m really good at waiting in line. I’ve been getting to Disneyland since 1998 and Walt Disney World since 2007, and I still love them.
I know this is old news but I am very upset with the Confectionery on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. What happened to all the fudge!!! I was looking to purchase my choc fudge, choc walnut fudge, and maple walnut as I always have....NONE available. What happened????
I don't believe Universal has entirely disconnected from IBCCES YET! & those who feel comfortable using a 3rd party that with the pre visit interview from Universal is the preferred option. This is because you find out BEFORE making any purchase if you'll be approved & also get to explain sensitive information in private. If you go to Guest Services you are still spilling out everything in front of other complete strangers at Guest Services & have no guarantee when at the very least you've already bought parking. Will things change at both parks? Yes. But will it be too late for Disney to recover with a lot of guests including myself? Also YES! We are being treated like trash DAILY on these calls & although Universal isn't perfect at least for most issues they are willing to help.
The DAS changes are why we can no longer go and we're not renewing our annual passes. Disney has made it clear that they no longer want our business. So sad.
14:50 speaking about WDW vs USO, "way less people go to universal parks"? In 2022 just over 11M went to IOA and under under 11M went to USF. Do you even look at AECOM or go off your 'vibes'? Islands had a better attendance than Epcot, DHS and DAK. I'm sure there will be a bump down before Epic, but then the universal parks around here will jump back over Disney (excluding magic). But i get it, you're here to provide entertainment not education.
I have muscular dystrophy and I’m in Disney this week i can still walk but not too far or stand for a long time and use a scooter or wheelchair chair in the park so I didn’t even bother for the DAS pass this week and I honestly haven’t waited longer than 40 min this week and when i went up to space mountain they gave me a lightning lane return pass for 20 min later. Also the staff has been even more helpful than ever and I’ve been coming to Disney for 30 years. I’ve also noticed disabled places of refuge in queues. Tom I agree 100% they still need a better plan
As always, thanks Tom for the reminder to make reservations for Jazzywood Nights. I'm going on 11/18 and, like you, EVERY SINGLE time reservation was available. Not a good sign considering we went on Night 2 last year and we had to get on a waiting list (and eventually got in.)
So glad to hear you say this about DAS pass. My husband has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. We can provide proof. But that is not a reason to have Das pass in Disneys eyes. I don't understand how being Autistic is the only reason you can get Das pass. I also have a handicapped daughter who is wheelchair bound but again in Disneys eyes she does not have a reason for Dass. I agree people are taking advantage of it, but all they did was hurt the people who actually need the Das.
Woah Tom what a fantastic watch. You’re soooo right about the DAZ options. It’s ridiculous. You went all out on this episode and was a great watch!! Well done to you and the team behind the scenes
We didn’t get DAS on our trip this year. We were offered a “solution” for us (those who can queue need to queue and those who couldn’t ADHD and Diabetes complications) can meet them at the LL where the queues merge. The problem was the rules were different at every ride and you had to explain the story to the cast member every time. I didn’t mind queuing but a marker on our MDE to say that was what we were doing would have been less embarrassing for us. We had to tell the same story 100 times on our 10 day trip - does that make sense?
I don't know what the DAS policy should be. I work in primary care and under the "old" system, I'd guess that 2/3 of my patients would have qualified for one reason or another. That's not feasible. I have narcolepsy myself and have never attempted to request DAS. I just know that I cannot stay at a park all day. If my travel party wants to stay in the park while I rest, they can. It's my life now. Nothing I can do about it.
Thank you for your rant on DAS. As a senior citizen with health issues I am also disappointed with new system. My family and I hardly go to the parks and we now are passholders at Universal. I loved Disney but hate what they have done to it.☹️
A few misses on your rant Tom, but nonetheless I know your heart is in the right place and I thank you and WDWNT has been covering our continued fight with Disney. Your overall message can only help our cause and amplify our voices.
People with PTSD being told to separate from their family to sit alone on a bench while the rest of their family has to line up just to get a rider swap is asinine. Happened to our family, so we're not going.
I’ve been given DAS in the past. When I applied this year I was denied. When I asked if I have a problem what should my party do, I was told, and I kid you not, the cast member said, “you will be surprised how much the other guests will jump in and help!” Wait WHAT…I actually had a medical problem and when my daughter-in-law asked a cast member for help she had no idea what to do. It was scary for me and my family. This was in August.
They told me I can leave the line if I’m having a problem. I asked how I will exit the line if I’m lying on the floor unresponsive. They said a cast member will call Disney!s EMTs.
I have multiple medical conditions such as low blood pressure that can cause me to faint or collapse. None are life threatening. Trying to help me is thé worst option possible. The area has to be cleared of people and I have to be allowed to recover.
@@Hippoopi sounds like maybe amusement parks aren't for you.
@@jaesea323No worse than regular life.
Idk man, how often are you visiting Universal resort? The cast has been more friendly at Universal than Disney our last 2 vacations. And it was historically the opposite.
He was so off base with that. Universal is far more accommodating than Disney.
You can have your opinion and I can have mine.
So, I attend all monthly. I would say it is relatively even. Some Disney Cast Members are above exceptional. Over 35 years, I’ve only experienced one bad day at Universal due to management complete debacle of passholder appreciation night 2023; never experienced guests behaving badly. Over the same time at Disney, I’ve experienced so many bad days I can’t count. To include management issues and SO MANY GUESTS behaving badly!!! I can always count on a good day at Universal, period. Disney, I always expect issues and go prepared with Disney stickers to hand out in efforts to snap people out of their BS.
@@WDWNT100% facts
Ignore Tom. We all knew how bad of a 🐚 he would become once they gave him access back to WDW Media List. He likes to dish 💩 out, but can’t take a dose of his own medication.
We have used both Universal's IBCES system and Disney's latest version of DAS, and found Universal's system to be superior. We had no problem providing proof of my son's disability, autism, and once we secured the pass at the park we were simply allowed to enter the express lane at each ride, without having to book times in advance. Furthermore, Universal is NOT completely dropping IBCES altogether, they are simply not making it mandatory anymore. Lastly, the reason they are easing up on the use of IBCES is that another theme park that uses IBCES is being sued by the ADA, and Universal simply wanted to distance themselves from IBCES before being sued as well. Their rationale is not as nefarious as Tom would suggest.
My problems with them using IBCCES is that they are an autism resource center and have no business getting people's medical information. We don't know how secure their system is and they are not covered under HIPAA.
Literally anyone can form a website and say that they can "verify" medical documentation.
Second, having disabled people go through these hoops, and often expense, to be able to go to a theme park is disgusting. No one else has to go through these hoops to be able to take their family on vacation.
Third, even after you go through all of this, Universal can and DOES still deny people.
Both US and Disney are handling this wrong.
Thanks for the extra info! I was wondering what Tom was talking about
The DAS situation is awful. My friend has a condition that makes regulating her body temperature impossible and can pass out due to heat exhaustion which is pretty easy in a park like DCA where there is little shade. When we tried getting DAS last year they told her to 'Come only at night' which was ????? She paid for a full park day why would she only come for 4 hours of the park being open?
EXACTLY!! My friend shrinks to HALF her size if she doesnt drink from the Toon Town fountain every 30 minutes, and Im SOO TIREDD of Disney discriminating against us incredible shrinking people!!
@@karinadelgado6495 I have to poop in the bathroom next to the chase atm and sometimes the stalls are being used. Disney wouldn't kick out one of the other people out of the stalls mid-poo so that I could do my poo instead. Disney just loves to discriminate against me and my bowel.
I have used the 'DAS' system at Paris and Tokyo. If this wasnt available to me, my time in the parks would be miserable managing my health. I am not looking forward to applying for DAS when I return to Disneyland next year. My husband refuses to do 'return to line' if I'm offered that option as he doesnt want to leave me alone in the heat for the best part of an hour.
As a autistic man myself I agree it should not be limited to people like me. I love the parks I have my challenges every time I go. But yes there are people who need it that are not autistic. Since the change, being a pass holder, I haven’t gone back. The fact that I could be denied because some person is having a bad day would devastate me. Having both a physical disability and autism I need help. Do I want DAS? No I don’t. I want to be a normal person. But I am not. I just wish Disney would find a way to help people who need it and stop denying them.
Being denied because somebody is having a bad day has always been a possibility - inconsistency was one of the biggest problems the DAS program has had since the beginning.
The problem would be completely solved if, like in Europe, people with disabilities could prove their disability via an official medical document
@@mfb9482 It's not difficult to get a doctor's note. They love writing them.
@@ashersarchives sorry, but autism is way too common now for everyone to be treated like some person in a wheelchair. If you can't stand in line for a ride then maybe amusement parks just aren't the place you should be.
I know…
As an autistic female, my parents no longer go because they let people with no disability in, my mom and me and my little brother are disabled so I am disappointed.
Great perspective on DAS, excellent analysis (as usual)! The bad PR that it’s bringing Disney is simply not worth whatever small monetary gain that they are receiving. From what I’ve seen/heard, the current DAS implementation is borderline discriminatory and needs to change!
Tom - It is NOT line skipping. It is a virtual queue system for those that are disabled. You still must wait to ride.
Yes, it is. You have to wait to ride, but you DO NOT wait in line. Therefore, by definition and connotation, it is in fact a line-skipping system. You are 'skipping the line'.
@@tmcneil516 You are not skipping the line, you are simply waiting outside of the line. When you request a DAS return time, you are given a return time in the future that is equal to the posted standby wait at that moment in time. You will then have to wait in the lightning lane queue, however long that is, so it is feasible that a DAS guest could end up waiting longer to ride than someone who just waited in standby. They just aren't waiting in the queue.
Someone who complained about DAS here. My wife was denied it when Disney was the ones who told her to get it in the first place after watching her have a breakdown in Rock n Rollercoaster. We didn’t stop buying Lightning Lane with DAS either, we used them both to keep her out of the standby lines. We have been going to Disney together for a long time, and we have always made our own arrangements without bothering anyone else. We never asked Disney for help with that, we never asked Disney to make extra accommodations for us. When they themselves recommended DAS, and walked her through the process, it was a life saver for our trips. I let them know on our last trip how extremely disappointed I was in them. We even brought notes from her doctor and explanation of the condition to the DAS people in an attempt to appeal and explain how this service helps us. Their only solution was “don’t ride the rides.” Both in person and during the video interview
I was also denied. I was offered the following accommodation this past Saturday when in a party of two with me being in my personal wheelchair that needs to be pushed - use the standby line. My need for accommodation is not related to the wheelchair. I do not have a mobility problem but do have a stamina problem so I accommodate that by using a wheelchair. I explained everything the DAS people told me. Didn’t matter. We walked away from the attraction as the entire situation left me close to experiencing an episode without even getting in line.
Nothing I have is life threatening.
Tom, as a hurricane forecaster for the past 44 years, I handled the Helene advisories today (not with the NHC). I think that Disney World will not open at all tomorrow. We are forecasting Helene to be much larger and more powerful than Idalia or Debby. I think Orlando will get sustained wind of around 40 mph with gusts up to 60-70 mph tomorrow. There may also be tornadoes in the outer bands of squalls tomorrow morning. Not a day to be outside. Expect widespread power outages all across the peninsula. Power outages could last for a week or more, particularly west of Orlando into the Tampa area. Tropical storm force winds will extend across the peninsula and into the Atlantic. We have max sustained wind of 140 mph with gusts 170 mph at landfall in northern Apalachee Bay around 8pm tomorrow. The west coast will be hit a lot harder than it was with previous hurricanes.
My elderly uncle has pancreatic cancer, and, I believe, on hospice care. He currently resides in Destin FL. Is that far enough west that you’d believe he’d be fine? All of us relatives live in Texas, which is why we can’t exactly drop what we’re doing.
I'm in Panama City which is about 1 hour east of Destin. We're already under a state of emergency but IDK about Destin. @@UmmYeahOk
@@UmmYeahOkI live about 8 min from Destin and we are not expecting too much excitement at this point if it helps. Unless the storm makes a significant shift west, it’s likely we will just see rain and wind-much like thunderstorm. Hope everyone in FL stays safe!
@@OhKaeThenThanks for the update.
Universal has always been great for us.
I understand that Tom is fully biased towards Disney against Universal, but his comment that the customer service at Universal is less than Disney is just outright ridiculous. The fact that Disney is upheld to a higher standard is because we expect them to be a higher standard and what they're doing right now is not the high standard. What they're doing right now is a system that favors profitability over accessibility. Disney could very easily go the third party route, but it won't make them and additional $15 a person per park per day. Tom then says it's illegal to ask about a person's disability - but then the new system requires that the person who needs accommodation has to tell each cast member at the entrance of a ride what accommodations are needed in order to get accommodations. So then instead of you just telling one person about your accommodations you're telling 10 or 20 people. That's extremely invasive. This system was the dumbest thing they could have ever done. When my friends and I go to the parks, and several of them, including myself need accommodations, we were still considered disabled at Universal, but we are now magically not disabled at Disney. The universal system goes through a third party who then checks your paperwork to confirm it for you and then you can go ahead and use the system. It doesn't cost any money, it just takes a few days for verification and you're good to go. Meanwhile, it seems the only way you can get accommodated at Disney is if you're a child with autism, I travel sometimes with an adult with autism and he's not eligible because he's not a child with autism, so magically he's no longer disabled because he's an adult? Makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. My friend with lupus, who needs to sit down every hour or so, and walks with a cane, is no longer considered disabled. And then the last time I tried to get accommodations, I was told that my friends would go in line without me, wait in line without me, and then I had to snake my way through the entire line, and then meet them at the front when it was time to get on the ride. I did that at flight of passage and the amount of people complaining at me while I was trying to get and meet my party at the front made me feel extremely bad and terrible, just because I was trying to reach my friend group who had made it to the front of the line. It was one of the worst experiences I've ever had in the Parks, and this is happening to a lot of people right now, and somehow, Tom says they're doing a better job than Universal? Are you kidding me? This is entirely a profit grab and in no way a system clean out those who are ineligible, this is just a way to make more people who need accommodations pay more money. That's it
That is horrendous. Honestly I quite liked the universal system. It’s a bit annoying going to the old paper method after das used to be so efficient, but it’s better than nothing. If Universal made a mobile app for requesting call back times similair to how Das used to work that would be incredible.
That's it?
As a former cast member, I can only speak to the culture of Disney’s guest service commitment to guests having “magical experiences” there is specific extensive training on how to bring the magic” to each guest you interact with. Universal is not known for such dedication to this. It is not a bias, it is a fact.
@@carmenarenas7691 that used to be true, but nowadays, just because there's a commitment, doesn't mean it's happening. It is not happening today, definitively.
The comments about Universal are unnecessary, and in my recent experience untrue. You can prefer one over the other, but both places have their strengths and weaknesses and are a good time. Universal, in the last few years, has become, for me, the more fun trip. Less planning, and I don't have to be on my phone all day, managing my entire park day on an app.
@@thehobbsguy Tom is a Disney shill, what do you expect?
@thehobbsguy Universal is just plain easier and more enjoyable for travellers. it's chill & thrill with less work. I like DW but it takes skill & work to enjoy. and unless your DVC the customer experience in Universal resorts is better
Universal is garbage, just a nice version of Six Flags.
i just got DAS like a month ago and the application process was the most stress inducing and horrific process ive ever gone through, overstimulating nightmare. and now i dont get the extension because i did it too early? and i gotta go through all of that again? yeah i dont think so. im done with them for now unless they change something, as someone with autism. i want justice for those with physical disabilities that disney isn't recognizing either. total BS
I hate how people are like “daddy Josh daddy Josh” Josh would step on a cancer patients neck if it means better numbers and he keeps his job. He doesn’t care about park goers or the park. He’s not the savior people say he is. He’s a Iger puppet (who’s not much better than Chapek at this point) he only cares about numbers and his job not the guest or guest experience. We need to stop idolizing him as a savior because he does the Parks D23 presentation with silly park references 🙄 and oooo he wears Jeans sometimes he’s one of us. No he’s a corporate puppet. No more no less. Josh and iger and whoever’s making the decision will never see it as we lost money but someone who’s dying is happy. They will say oh crap we lost money take more away to make up for it.
I disagree with you. Damaro has shown a lot of care for cast and guests over the last 10 years. he's not perfect, but I don't think he's a puppet
I also find it incredibly bizarre how everyone sexualizes this man by calling him that.
@@MemeinAndDreamin "Daddy" is not _primarily_ a sexual term. Just because your mind is in the gutter 24/7 doesn't mean everybody else's is.
Damauro is terrible. The downfall of parks and resorts is solely his responsibility.
In my opinion the reason universal is changing their process from IBCCES is because they helped people with disabilities be approved for accommodations. They waited for Disney to tell everyone no, then decided they can follow suit.
I was approved through universals process no problem. Through Disneys I had to explain personal details like I would to my therapist and it took a combo of my issues along with my partners disability to be approved and even then only under very specific criteria, even though according to Disneys DAS guidelines I qualify.
That process through Disney was violating, intrusive and it felt all together discriminatory. Just ask me for my paperwork. I agree with you though Tom, this cannot be the final process.
Our trip would have been impossible without accommodations. It was rough with DAS. I don’t know what the future looks like but it can’t be this.
And if you are denied and try to use the “accommodations” the DAS folks tell you to request at each attraction you get to go through that entire discussion at EACH attraction, within earshot of other guests while holding up the line. The other guests might possibly be recording your interaction and might possibly post it on the internet as NONE of them are bound by HIPAA. Whether or not you get accommodations is then up to the cast member’s discretion. That cast member probably has no medical knowledge.
I have been in the parks 3 days and have been able to go on a total of 2 rides. One of those is the train at magic kingdom where I automatically got a certain amount of accommodations because they have a special waiting area for people in wheelchairs. We opted to wait to go up to the platform until the train was arriving in the station so I wouldn’t have to wait in a crowd.
I have spent more time crying in the parks than I have spent doing any sort of attractions.
Disney has done such a disservice to the disabled community. Thank you for being one of the few that will speak out about this problem. My family loves Disney, but are now letting their passes expire and are going to Universal. Their first trip was in September and their next trip is in November. I agree with you… Disney is my choice, but I don’t need a DAS pass. I still have my annual pass and I go to the parks, but I will NOT spend a penny on Disney property now. My wallet slammed shut the day I had to hear my grown daughter cry because she was denied DAS. It broke my heart! I will continue to advocate for her and the disabled community. Keep up the great work Tom! ❤❤❤
You're wrong. It's the people that abused the system that did a disservice to the actual people with disabilities. I'm not a Disney defender but this is not their fault. This is the fault of all the idiots that claim they had anxiety so they could skip the line. If you have anxiety that doesn't make you better than anyone else so you don't have to wait in the long lines like the rest of us. Don't go to an amusement park then. If you're truly disabled or you have stage 4 cancer yes you should get it. Otherwise, suck it up and stand in line or stay home.
@@jaesea323I agree.
@@jaesea323I hope you never become so disabled to the point where you can't go to a Disney park and have a good time.
*Prospective*
@@jaesea323 I hope you’re never disabled.
@@jaesea323 While yes those scammers had issues, but Disney also had a hand in things by overbooking those Lightning Lane reservations, when 5 out of every 6 people getting on a ride coming through Lightning Lane (those are real numbers too, not made up) then 83% of the ride capacity is reserved for all the line skippers whether DAS or LL, and that's just straight up bullsh*t.
Finally an official Tom rant against the Das changes. I pray they change it to what Universal did requiring a doctors note. It’d be a bit of work but better than nothing and I’m trying to be realistic. As long as we all keep raising our voices and voting with our wallets against this change then maybe Disney will take the hint and change
Universal just dropped that requirement.
Or...you could just stop funding the same park your complaining about....
Re: DAS and terminal people cutting line. True story, Sept 2019 I took a friend to Hollywood Studios. He was a Club 33 member and had a terminal issue. He was using a mobility scooter. He and I both knew this was his last trip to Disney so I was trying to take him to every park, one more time. As we approached Tower of Terror and got in line, he turned yellow and went into shock. I rushed him to the local dialysis center that he had pre-contracted with for services, if needed. Later that night, he joked ( barely ) that he almost got to die on Tower of Terror. I remember him saying that would be a life's goal and he'd haunt the hell out of that thing for eternity. I'm glad we had the DAS for this, but looking back if you're near-terminal then maybe going to Disney isn't a great idea, unless you intend to traumatize the CMs and guests with a truly memorable story about your demise.
Terminal doesn’t mean you’re about to die any second
@@DisabledJourney It did for him. I later found out that before the trip he'd been bleeding internally and it wasn't stopping. He hid it from me very well. They'd given him one month to live at that point. I found that out later.
Ah right. Blame the terminally ill person for wanting to go to Disney before they die, instead of advocating for better treatment of disabled guests and providing better training.
Bravo.
I think the cast members see Tom and treat him differently. That's why he thinks that. I have had nothing but good experiences with Universal staff. Disney, a whole different story. Huge disappointments
I don’t think so
@@WDWNT there isn't a single cast member that doesn't know Tom. If it's a bad interaction, they know they'd be put on blast on this show. How would he ever get a less than excellent interaction?
@@WDWNT I think it might be the case Tom
@@MrMda5 I've been watching this channel for years and not once has Tom called out a CM.
There has definitely been a big switch in quality the last few years. Especially since the pandemic. Disney was customer service first and foremost and now it nearly non-existent.😢
The stories I’ve seen and more importantly heard from individuals and families that have always qualified for DAS and now don’t is just disgusting. Disney should be ashamed of themselves
I’m local with APs to both. Everyone has their perspective and experiences with the parks but I’ve found Universal staff to be better trained and capable than Disney in the last few years. It wasn’t always this way but unless Disney has a wake-up the tide is turning towards Universal for a better overall park experience. Asthma, cluster migraines and cptsd can sometimes make my park days difficult. Universal staff have always been above and beyond when I have had an episode. Disney staff were rude and anxious to have me on my way.
The DAS thing is beyond horrible. It is a discrimination to the disabled guests to exclude them from this. They do not have a system for disabled people that works and it is actually illegal for them to ask you to pay for a disabled service. I have no issue with them asking for a doctors note. The current system doesnt even work for who they say it works for if you are an annual pass holder who comes with other people. You literally have to call for every visit. It would be ok if you had a limit of say 8 people and you can only use 4 of them at once. That would be fair. But to expect you to spend 1+ hours on the phone to change their party is ridiculous.
If you send them a message on this subject they just give you some stupid blanket email that the DAS system was created for autism which was BS because before it was created, they used to give a shorter line to anyone in a wheelchair but people would rent them just for a shorter line so they created DAS. This was before all the electronic thing. You used to have to go to each ride and wait in the exit. Then they created DAS as a way to reduce traffic in those areas. It was always for disabled people so for them to just pull that system with nothing to take its place is an insult.
The answer you get if you call them about a disability to get into the system if you have a reason other than Autism is that if you need to leave the line you can do so and have someone hold you place. Well that only works if you have someone that can hold your place. I frequently travel with my grandkids. All 3 are under 10. I cannot leave them in line alone while I go to the restroom for my IBS issues. I also cant get out of said line with the speed necessary since I use an ECV and would have to backtrack a line or wait until I see an exit. Let me just put that bathroom visit on hold in your pretty line while I backtrack thru a line in an ecv. I know the lines are wheelchair friendly (kind of) on the way in the line, but not exactly on the way out when there are hundreds of people there.
I can name 10 issues with the new system. This is the tip of the iceberg. The bottom line is they need to fix this.
Thank you for standing up for those who need it.
We went to the third night of Jollywood last year and had a really poor time. We left mega disappointed as it just felt like Epcot food and wine festival but three times the price. We were chatting to a lady in animal kingdom who asked if we’d been to Jollywood, told her how disappointing it was. She asked our names and where we were staying, we said goodbye. Next thing I get a notification on my phone, refunded for both tickets. I was astonished! I can’t say I’d dash back as I can’t really see what they’re doing that’s so different from last year.
The only thing Disney has that Universal doesn't have, is nostalgia. For some people, this is enough. For the rest of us, better value in resorts, in restaurants, in merch shops and most importantly better attractions puts Universal over the top. Majority of the families I know that fly in say Disney is not worth the money anymore.
I actually think Universal has the nostalgia, too. Suess Landing and ET always warm my heart. Jurassic Park makes it soar. And you cannot beat their Monsters!
This! Disney has the nostalgia factor, which means parents bring their kids because they have fond memories of going as kids. But now we have a generation of families being turned off by the sharply falling value of a Disney vacation, paying more for less etc. They will not grow up with the same nostalgia to bring their own kids in 30 years. Disney will lose out in the long run.
Disney is in the process of getting rid of that.
They also have atmosphere and theme, but they started phasing that out a while ago and recently announced they're pretty much getting rid of it altogether. The staff used to be the real "Disney Difference," but I don't know how much longer that will be the case if they don't make some major changes and start spending more on the things that really count, like people.
The removal of the original candy cauldron sign was a terrible choice. I barely notice it is still there. Renovation looks great though.
Thank you Tom for being our megaphone.
Very smart people in charge of the parks? Recent decisions would seem to disprove that!!
Totally agree!
The new cold callous calculating Disney that only cares about revenue per guest has decided that they don't care if a terminal cancer patient doesn't get DAS as they won't be a paying customer pretty soon. Disney is looking strictly at revenue and is completely ignoring the PR mess they are creating by doing this. Disney parks used to be known as the most accommodating places for the disabled community, but its been heard loud and clear now that they only care about selling Lightning Lanes. Hopefully people will realize this and stop giving Disney money - thats the only way they will realize their mistake is to impact the only thing they seem to care about now, revenue and profits.
I agree that Disney is prioritizing revenue streams, in particular FastPass, over customer service in this DAS controversy. I'm about to write a big comment filling it out, but it boils down to customers (paying FastPass users) get priority over beneficiaries (DAS users, line waiters). It was inevitable once people could pay extra to prioritize their queue experiences.
I’m an Autistic Adult that is able to handle lines! 🤷♀️ For me, having a non park day between park days would work better. We all have different needs! Please allow people who have physical or stamina related disabilities use DAS when they clearly need it!
I agree with you about Disney being held to standards over universal, but sadly, Universal is treating actors better than Disney lately.
Depending upon our upcoming application for DAS, this may be our last visit to Disney parks until they straighten their s**t out.
We come from out of state, and have visited as many as five times a year. DAS literally made those trips possible.
Disney can say goodbye to both my money and my goodwill over this.
We use DAS and other park’s variations, but people still abusing it badly. Universal does ask for the proof from doctor or school and this is how it should be.
But guests with real physical or mental needs cannot be denied. Let guests to prove it, but don’t let your team members of friends to abuse it too ( I see this a lot in both parks)
There will always be people who find a way to abuse any system. It's not difficult to obtain a doctor's note.
REMINDER:
A hurricane “makes landfall” when the eye makes landfall.
That means half of the damaging storm has already passed over land.
Always be prepared 24 hours before predicted landfall.
We, as a company, have sent several families to WDW, we're a Daycare/Preschool, and we've stopped doing it. We've stopped because some of our families are special needs, being kids and / or parents, siblings. Yes, I've complained to Disney.
Tom, batten down your hatches, and hold your breath! No joking. You know the drill! Stay safe!!
As a former DAS user, we used the time gap that we would be in line to shop and send things back to our resort.
Now? No DAS, no ship to resort services…. If I’m standing in a line, I’m not shopping 🤷🏼♀️
Gee, I’m saving $ because I’m not paying for their add ons.
Why not just get a 3rd party that works with Disney and The Disney costumers that show that they have really bad medical conditions/ health problems and let them get a card that they can get scanned to show that they’re apart of and should be apart of the DAS System. They have something like this for public Bus Service/ private bus services . 🤷🏽
Do you mean "a part of" or "apart from?"
They do have a 3rd party that medically screens people to see if they qualify for DAS, it's called Inspire Health Alliance.
Our local news station is saying hurricane may even reach category 4 before landfall
You literally in one sentence say the park can not confirm someone's illness and the next suggest they allow someone with an illness to skip the line. Not everyone is a good person and many would happily lie about having some need to skip the line. And, there's a percentage of people that would be on the fence about it, that would jump over the fence because they would believe that since some people are faking they might as well too.
I have no experience with it, but Disney's DAS seems like it could work if they widened the net on what they consider valid health issues.
From the stories, it sounds like they only focus on developmental disabilities like autism and not physical ones such as cancer or narcolepsy.
Seems silly they appear to think autism means you cannot wait in a line, but not terminal cancer
The net WAS "widened" to everyone and their tax collector. That's why they had to change. because "not liking being around people" used to get passed as a disability.
Tom, thank you for being an influential voice on this issue. I am the mom of an 8 year old autistic child, and the level of interrogation to receive the DAS was quite intense for both me and my son. They insisted on chatting with him, which caused him a fair amount of distress. While we qualified under their stringent bar, there has to be a better way than excluding those others with genuine disabilities and having strangers question our young neurodivergent children.
Great job bring up the unfairness of DAS. Disney should help everyone that has a hardship to enjoy the magic . That made Disney magical too. Hopefully it will change
Well the people that abused the system so they could skip lines took that magic away...
@@jaesea323 You have absolutely no way of knowing if that's true or not.
I get wet farts when i eat Taco Bell. Is that a hardship to enjoy the magic?? Dont I deserve a special pass too?!
Thank you for continuing to call out the BS and speak truth too many are afraid to criticize Disney ❤
Sorry I hold Universal way above Disney and I first went to Disney 50 years ago when I was 5. It is not a magical experience anymore, Universal is.
Disney just needs to get rid of Lightning Lane / Fast pass. Also get rid of the virtual queues. And just make the lines regular, and DAS. And if they want to keep fast pass, make it like Cedar Fair / Six Flags, and price it to the point most people won’t want to pay for it, keeps the lines moving, and priority is still the regular line, not fast pass.
Thanks for speaking out about DAS. Our C-PTSD/autism/anxiety diagnosed family members generally can't spend time in a covered, dark queue. They feel that they are being buried alive. The effects are cumulative. If we try to do a park day without DAS, we have to leave the parks by 5 pm and then we are no good the next day. DAS makes it possible to do a full park day. We will not be paying for Genie Plus.
Oh JEEEEZUZ EFFEN CHHHRIST!! 🙄🙄
I’m an Autistic Adult that is able to handle lines! 🤷♀️ For me, having a non park day between park days would work better. We all have different needs! Please allow people who have physical or stamina related disabilities use DAS when they clearly need it!
They truly are not understanding the cumulative aspect of some conditions. Having to ask for accommodations at each attraction is exhausting. And if the result is bring told to use the standby line anyway it’s plain awful. Yes, that’s my experience so far over the past few days. I’m choosing to walk away from the attractions out of consideration for everyone else.
Don’t bother suggesting buying lightning lane as an option. There are no return times available for the attractions that have long lines. They don’t offer individual lightning lane purchases for all the attractions with lightning lanes. If that were the case I would consider buying it for a couple of rides. The attractions that do offer it usually are sold out.
Go into the park app and look at the wait times to see what I’m talking about.
I flew to Orlando from New Orleans for a vacay. Now I’m running back home early!😢 stay safe Florida 🙏🏽
Sadly I'm in the path of Hurricane Helene and am under a tropical storm warning. Hope you guys stay safe!
I agree fully with you Tom. It’s sad that those who’d rather not wait in line have ruined it for everyone who truly needs DAS. Let’s vow to call out friends and family who think they are above waiting in line. The solution starts with us, not with a corporation.
Thank you WDWNT! Thanks also for the very entertaining review of the new menu at Jock Lindsay's Hang-Ger Bar with Tom, Eric and Nana! It was a HOOT!
Well said. Agree 100% Tom.
Odd timing started reducing DAS passes not long after having to pay for LL. Another L for DIS
Great episode. A lot of good information. Thanks!
Helene has been updated to become a Cat 4 by 2pm tomorrow. Could possibly become Cat 5 after that. Huge storm.
Hey Tom, with your contacts at Disney and in the parks do you know someone my wife could reach out to? She would love to provide them a testimonial of how DAS used to aid our Disney visits with her disability?
The changes to DAS have made it where it would make trips to the parks very difficult on her and leave us with little point to visit.
As someone who works directly with queues because I work high volume attractions, I feel like people didn't understand how many DAS parties were actually going through LL. Our LL queues were so long at certain points & people in them with disabilities were asking for priority in them not realizing the people in front of them were also disabled parties. There were so many tiktok videos of guests with DAS complaining about when the lines got long. So I just see this as a "be careful what you wish for".
And you can think it was being abused, but it probably really wasn't. ¼ of adults in the US are disabled. Me, my mother, my father, my brother, my sister, my sister's boyfriend & my grandmother all qualified for the old DAS. It wasn't hard to qualify for the old DAS. So that was also part of the problem.
I don't think the new DAS as it is currently is a good solution.
It's also still being abused. Not in a way where people are faking a disability, but people are demanding to be let in early (which is essentially cutting in line) or saying because they're a veteran with DAS they don't need to create return times and they can just enter whenever they show up at an attraction. People still try to use a baby's DAS for thrill rides a baby can't ride. So the abuse wasn't stopped either.
But at least the LL isn't crazy anymore.
Stay safe Tom & Eric! (And everyone else, im a Jayhawk Eric is on my radar!)
Just went to all 4 parks and the DAS for my son was horrible! We were treated so bad at animal kingdom and ended up having to purchase lighting lanes for the remainder of the parks.
There’s a Disney Store near me in Grapevine Texas, but yes, it’s always been an outlet.
Looks at all these people here unhappy with Disney. They are creating a lot of negative feelings about their parks with this ridiculous new DAS guidelines. It’ll hit their bottom line eventually
If someone with terminal cancer can’t skip lines, I’d like to know the criteria for who gets to skip lines and who doesn’t, and how many people would be eligible.
There should be something like Give Kids the World for adults.
Here now at BWV. 2 years ago we rode out Ian at the BWVs. Next 2 days should be interesting. WDW has a great hurricane plan for guests.
Tom, is there a difference in how the international Parks handle disability access?
Also just wanted to add, thank you for always covering the things Disney gets wrong, like DAS right now. It means a lot to us out there dealing with the crap that comes with this.
looks like they're finally getting it RIGHT.
Becky here - people may be angry with me, but I have used DAS…for myself and for my elderly mother. Without it, going to the parks would have been difficult. I never used it to excess, played by the rules, now Disney is telling me my disabilities aren’t bad enough. Gee Disney, since you deem my disability nonworthy, should I turn in my state parking placard, too?
Universal is doing a fantastic job apparently with disability assistance. DAS is now a humiliaing process.
The comments against Universal are biased. If Disney is so great, why did Dollywood win #1 theme park by TripAdvisor & it's in the Top 10 globally in 2023. Epic Universe is soon to open in 2025 & Steven Spielberg is a part of it. Get ready!!
We've stopped going to Disney since they changed DAS, sadly we won't be going back unless they change it to how it worked originally. Disney needs to understand that there are people out there with disabilities that make those lines impossible. They need to make DAS more inclusive again and not just for people with autism.
Well our family fell victim to that DAS money grab to LL. We had more meltdowns from our daughter and the cast members could have cared less. So the portion of our party that was not allowed on the DAS.. eventually just bought MLL. What a headache! Trying to book those and coordinate with the DAS return times was such a stress, and got confusing at times! I feel like the magic is gone. I've never had so many blunt and uncaring cast members. I tried to remember the difficult position they were put in. Yet this vacation felt like a job more than a vacation.
As a person with several disabilities I'm happy to see that many people in the disability community are discussing this as a possible Civil rights issue
As a person that has used DAS before for a few years now..I am dreading the new process and may not qualify. I have tarsal tunnel syndrome..which is the same as carpal tunnel except with the feet.. standing in place causes pain and extreme discomfort..I just can't do it. I have contacted Disneyland about the fact I must buy a ticket to get DAS ..but if I can't get it I can't go..and no refunds...so since I usually go for 3 days thats $400 down the drain..I made that point in my Email but all I got back was boiler plate and references back to the DL site..
I guess I'm going somewhere else...kinda sucks ...I grew up in Socal with the park in the 50's+60's...worked there in the 70's and now...I don't seem to be welcome..
Its just wrong
9,000 jobs at a Disney park, and they put that woman in with direct contact with cinnamon. They didn't care.
I think I'm one of the few who is happy that not everyone can get a DAS pass anymore because it *felt* like the ratio of legit to illegitimate was 1 to 10
thank you tom for bring up about the DAS system craziness its caused all of us within the disabled community to be confused, frustrated and so on! i’ve been to disney world since i was a child in the ‘80’s; of course disney parks cast members back then were ridiculously on top of making sure the disabled guest and their loved one(s) were taken care of first and foremost at each attraction were they had a disabled guest and their loved one(s) go to one side at shows for example and the abled bodied guests go to the other side.
at rides like spaceship earth in epcot they had disabled guest and their loved one(s) go to the special disabled enterance opposite of the regular enterance in which they still do to this day but nowadays will experience in which myself and my loved ones experienced the fact we don’t use DAS despite the fact since being wheelchair bond dealt with a rude and condescending cast member still at the same time but still let us in.
in my personal opinion despite the fact whether or not the disabled guest in a wheelchair for example and their loved one(s) use the DAS pass system; there’ll be rude and condescending cm’s at the same time the more pleasant cm’s; my loved ones and i were utterally appalled how poorly in a since i was treated but luckily not that bad in front of them in fact it happened during our visit to the disney world resort in november last year; ridiculously embarrassing! we had a very unpleasant cm especially never apologized for it; so it can happen to a disabled guest in a wheelchair along with their loved one(s) dealing with an either pleasant cm or unpleasant cm!
Thank you for talking about DAS. It is very disheartening what’s happening
Just because they are not giving you a pass to skip the line does not mean they will not try to accommodate your disability in a way that works for you. I am a paraplegic and have never experienced Disney not trying to make a reasonable attempt to accommodate my needs. Not being able to just get a blanket pass to skip lines will make it more difficult but not impossible.
That’s the problem though, they aren’t providing other reasonable accommodations and saying some truly cruel things to people. Also, DAS was never skipping the line - you wait the full amount of time, just outside of the line, and then enter through lightning lane.
I have Autism and I don’t need DAS, because I’m really good at waiting in line. I’ve been getting to Disneyland since 1998 and Walt Disney World since 2007, and I still love them.
OMG Those taco cookies look absolutely delicious!!
I enjoyed thoroughly both reviews of the cauldron and Jack Lindsey‘s hanger bar. 👍🏾🫶🏻 Thank you Tom. Stay safe.
Well ranted, Sir! 👏
I know this is old news but I am very upset with the Confectionery on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom. What happened to all the fudge!!! I was looking to purchase my choc fudge, choc walnut fudge, and maple walnut as I always have....NONE available. What happened????
I don't believe Universal has entirely disconnected from IBCCES YET! & those who feel comfortable using a 3rd party that with the pre visit interview from Universal is the preferred option. This is because you find out BEFORE making any purchase if you'll be approved & also get to explain sensitive information in private. If you go to Guest Services you are still spilling out everything in front of other complete strangers at Guest Services & have no guarantee when at the very least you've already bought parking. Will things change at both parks? Yes. But will it be too late for Disney to recover with a lot of guests including myself? Also YES! We are being treated like trash DAILY on these calls & although Universal isn't perfect at least for most issues they are willing to help.
Universal didn’t get rid of IBCCES program. You just don’t HAVE to use it.
The DAS changes are why we can no longer go and we're not renewing our annual passes. Disney has made it clear that they no longer want our business. So sad.
14:50 speaking about WDW vs USO, "way less people go to universal parks"? In 2022 just over 11M went to IOA and under under 11M went to USF. Do you even look at AECOM or go off your 'vibes'?
Islands had a better attendance than Epcot, DHS and DAK. I'm sure there will be a bump down before Epic, but then the universal parks around here will jump back over Disney (excluding magic).
But i get it, you're here to provide entertainment not education.
I have muscular dystrophy and I’m in Disney this week i can still walk but not too far or stand for a long time and use a scooter or wheelchair chair in the park so I didn’t even bother for the DAS pass this week and I honestly haven’t waited longer than 40 min this week and when i went up to space mountain they gave me a lightning lane return pass for 20 min later. Also the staff has been even more helpful than ever and I’ve been coming to Disney for 30 years. I’ve also noticed disabled places of refuge in queues. Tom I agree 100% they still need a better plan
As always, thanks Tom for the reminder to make reservations for Jazzywood Nights. I'm going on 11/18 and, like you, EVERY SINGLE time reservation was available. Not a good sign considering we went on Night 2 last year and we had to get on a waiting list (and eventually got in.)
So glad to hear you say this about DAS pass. My husband has been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. We can provide proof. But that is not a reason to have Das pass in Disneys eyes. I don't understand how being Autistic is the only reason you can get Das pass. I also have a handicapped daughter who is wheelchair bound but again in Disneys eyes she does not have a reason for Dass. I agree people are taking advantage of it, but all they did was hurt the people who actually need the Das.
17:30 Amen Tom. Amen.
Disney has very intelligent people running things
Woah Tom what a fantastic watch. You’re soooo right about the DAZ options. It’s ridiculous. You went all out on this episode and was a great watch!! Well done to you and the team behind the scenes
DAS*
We didn’t get DAS on our trip this year. We were offered a “solution” for us (those who can queue need to queue and those who couldn’t ADHD and Diabetes complications) can meet them at the LL where the queues merge. The problem was the rules were different at every ride and you had to explain the story to the cast member every time. I didn’t mind queuing but a marker on our
MDE to say that was what we were doing would have been less embarrassing for us. We had to tell the same story 100 times on our 10 day trip - does that make sense?
I don't know what the DAS policy should be. I work in primary care and under the "old" system, I'd guess that 2/3 of my patients would have qualified for one reason or another. That's not feasible. I have narcolepsy myself and have never attempted to request DAS. I just know that I cannot stay at a park all day. If my travel party wants to stay in the park while I rest, they can. It's my life now. Nothing I can do about it.
Thank you for your rant on DAS. As a senior citizen with health issues I am also disappointed with new system. My family and I hardly go to the parks and we now are passholders at Universal. I loved Disney but hate what they have done to it.☹️
If you get Das you should keep that you know how rare that is right now.
Those hangar bar items look amazing! Just needs a topo chico (with some tequila of course) :)
A few misses on your rant Tom, but nonetheless I know your heart is in the right place and I thank you and WDWNT has been covering our continued fight with Disney. Your overall message can only help our cause and amplify our voices.
People with PTSD being told to separate from their family to sit alone on a bench while the rest of their family has to line up just to get a rider swap is asinine. Happened to our family, so we're not going.