Guide to Disability Access Service at Disney World
This post offers info & tips for using the Disability Access Service (DAS) at Walt Disney World for those with special needs to experience attractions, plus new details for the Genie system. This is based on our experience with my dad, who has a service dog. (Updated October 13, 2021.)
This guide to using DAS at Walt Disney World comes in response to reader comments and questions, but I want to make it abundantly clear that this is anecdotal. We have a grand total of four days experience with DAS at Walt Disney World, and are far from experts on it.
Rather than relying solely on this post for DAS and other accessibility tips, I’d recommend reading the resources on DisneyWorld.com, as well as other sites specifically focused on disabilities at Disney. This post is only accurate to the extent of our experience. With that said, here’s a look at our experience with using DAS at Walt Disney World…
October 13, 2021 Update: Let’s start with the process for obtaining the Disability Access Service, and how it works. If a guest needs DAS, there are now 2 ways to obtain the pass (it’s really more a status in My Disney Experience than a pass like the old Guest Assistance Card). As before, registration can be done at Guest Relations locations near each park entrance.
In addition to that, there’s now a new way to register for the DAS program: pre-arrival via live video chat. Before you register, make sure to:
- Add your travel party to your Family & Friends list in My Disney Experience, so they can be included in DAS plans
- Link valid theme park admission for each member of your party
- Ensure that the guest who is requesting to use DAS is present at the time of registration
Eligible guests now have the option to pre-register virtually with a Cast Member via live video chat between 2 to 30 days in advance of a park visit. Video chat is available from 7 am until 11 pm Eastern, and requires logging into your Disney account.
When you’re ready to chat with a Cast Member to register for DAS, you can engage in a live video chat using the “Request Live Video Chat” button on DisneyWorld.com’s DAS page. Make sure the device has a working camera and a microphone. You must review and accept the Terms & Conditions before requesting a live video chat (you literally won’t have the option until accepting the T&Cs).
Once you’ve pre-registered via live video chat, you’re eligible to pre-select up to 2 one-hour return windows for select experiences (subject to availability) using Walt Disney World’s new DAS Advance planning option as early as 30 days prior to a park visit. These selections are in addition to the return times you can request throughout the day of your actual park visit.
More changes and additional features are on the horizon with the rollout of Disney Genie, Genie+ and Lightning Lanes. At this point, we don’t yet know how all of that will work in tandem with DAS. Keep an eye on our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World and Lightning Lane FAQs for more info.
As before, eligibility for Disability Access Service is based upon a guest’s need, not diagnosis. Cast Members will not, and by law cannot, ask for proof of a disability. Rather, they will ask fairly open-ended and vague questions about the type of accommodations a guest needs based on the disability or condition.
These Guest Relations Cast Members who issue the DAS are well-trained on this probably in equal parts because they are the creme-de-la-creme of Walt Disney World Cast Members, and because Disney wants to steer clear of ADA violations.
When the inquiry is complete, the guest with the disability has their picture taken and the Disability Access Service is added to their My Disney Experience account, and it’s accessible via MagicBand or theme park tickets at kiosks outside attractions. All family members who will be experiencing attractions with the guest obtaining the DAS need to be present at Guest Relations to have their MagicBands scanned, too.
After this is done, the DAS status is valid for 60 days across all Walt Disney World parks. Waiting in line was the longest part of this, with the whole process from start to finish taking us less than 5 minutes after that. It was painless.
Once a guest has DAS status, they or one of the other party members who had their MagicBand scanned can head to a Cast Member outside the attraction to obtain a return time. (In our experience, this Cast Member was usually holding an iPad-like device and standing under an umbrella outside the queue.) Since my dad has somewhat-limited mobility, we sometimes sent a “runner” to the attraction to obtain a return time, while he sat elsewhere.
The return time is determined by adding the current wait time for the attraction to the current time and subtracting 10 minutes (to account for transit to/from the attraction). For example, if it’s noon and Frozen Ever After has a 90 minute wait, the DAS return time would be 1:20 p.m. DAS is not a front of line pass or some sort of “Golden Ticket.”
While any party member can obtain the return time, the guest with the disability must be present for the other party members to board the attraction at that return time.
Note that you can use DAS in tandem with FastPass+ (or Genie+ and Lightning Lanes going forward), but we did not. Part of that is because it felt a bit like double-dipping (my dad’s a military man with a love of rules and order), and part was because that would’ve been too much for us to do in terms of walking with my dad and his service dog.
Usually, the DAS return line was simply the FastPass+ return line. On some older attractions (particularly those in Magic Kingdom) the DAS line was different, or branched off from the FastPass+ line. In all newer attractions, the DAS process went smoothly; it was easy to use and felt genuinely accommodating.
That’s the process in a nutshell, but I’m sure that leaves plenty of questions unanswered. Disney has an official Disability Access Service FAQ that addresses additional questions (and I’m happy to answer other questions–within the scope of my knowledge–in the comments to this post).
On older attractions where retrofits were made to make reasonable accommodations under the ADA (enacted in 1990–Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, Epcot in 1982, the Studios in 1989, and Animal Kingdom in 1998), it was far less smooth and pleasant. This was particularly true in Magic Kingdom where there are several attractions built in the 1970s.
The retrofit would not have been a problem in and of itself. It was exacerbated by Cast Members who were (typically) performing double-duty managing FastPass+ lines and also trying to accommodate DAS guests. While I cannot say we had any negative or rude encounters directly, we did witness some attitudes that seemed less than “accommodating.”
I’m not sure whether there’s some causation or if it’s just correlation (again, we only did this for 4 days, so this is totally anecdotal), but these unpleasant encounters were almost exclusively on older attractions with more convoluted DAS procedures. These procedures no doubt stress out Cast Members, too.
This is not to give Cast Members a pass for being anything less than accommodating. It is what it is. I was a bit surprised that Disney does not have dedicated DAS Cast Members at each attraction, trained in the same manner as Guest Relations Cast Members.
Not only would this be a more guest-friendly approach, but it would behoove Disney to do so from a legal liability perspective. Again, there’s a narrow set of questions Cast Members can ask without running afoul of the ADA. (I’ll just leave it at that…)
With that said, our experience was resoundingly positive, particularly outside of Magic Kingdom. Cast Members were largely very friendly and eager to help, and this was particularly true at Epcot and at Toy Story Mania in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The Cast Members at Toy Story Mania were, far and away, the best we encountered over the course of the trip. (And this was multiple Cast Members, so it was not a one-off.)
What follows is more specific to our experience with my dad using a service dog at Walt Disney World, and not necessarily representative of what anyone else using DAS will encounter. I figure it’s nonetheless (potentially) helpful to read others’ anecdotes…
In terms of using the pass, there were some limitations we would have faced by virtue of the service dog. For example, Big Thunder Mountain, Expedition Everest, and other intense attractions would’ve been off the table because of the service dog. My dad can’t do those anyway, so it was a moot point.
The service dog was allowed on boat rides, such as Gran Fiesta Tour and Frozen Ever After, but we should not have done the latter. When describing the attraction to my parents, I forgot to mention the backwards drop, which freaked his service dog out. Oops. (In my defense, they had been on Maelstrom countless times.)
Outside of DAS, our experience using a service dog at Walt Disney World was pretty positive. I know my dad would’ve preferred to stay at Shades of Green, but the Fort Wilderness Cabins were an excellent (and far better) option with the service dog. I’d highly recommend Fort Wilderness to anyone with a service dog.
The one caveat here is that you definitely want to specify that you have a service dog when completing online check-in and also additionally request being close to a bus stop. We were placed in one of the accessible cabins, but a bit farther from the bus stop than ideal. Fort Wilderness is a huge resort that can mean a good deal of walking and changing buses. However, it’s far more inviting to a service dog than a hotel.
Table service restaurants were a bit hit or miss. There were a couple of times when we were seated in the middle of a crowded restaurant when tables along the perimeter, away from other guests were available. Usually, requesting to be moved worked fine, but I was surprised we wouldn’t have been seated in these spots to begin with.
I want to give Disney the benefit of the doubt on this one. Perhaps staff at these restaurants do not want guests with service animals to feel ostracized? My parents’ take is that they’d prefer to have a bit of space away from others in the restaurant, and they also understand that a restaurant is a restaurant, and other patrons may not want to be around an animal. It’s quite possible others with service animals have different perspectives, though.
Beyond that, it felt like Cast Members went above and beyond more often. Even those who were not assisting with the DAS process were particularly helpful and friendly. In large part this was probably because my dad has a visible disability and a service dog wearing a vest, so I’m not sure it’s something every guest with disabilities will experience. It was nice, though.
There are a lot of misconceptions about the Disability Access Service at Walt Disney World. The biggest is that it’s a front of line pass. Again, it’s not. There is the potential for abuse, but the system is imperfect out of legal necessity. (I’ll reiterate for the third time that this is by virtue of the ADA.)
However, since the controversy a few years ago about the Guest Assistance Card, there’s a lot more scrutiny concerning guests using DAS and this lingering belief among some other guests that they are being ‘disadvantaged’ by the system. This manifests itself in the form of disdain towards other guests using DAS. We did not experience these attitudes firsthand (my dad’s disability is plainly visible), but I’ve witnessed it both over the course of our visits and in reading online discussions.
My advice here would be to, respectfully, mind your own business. There are myriad invisible disabilities from which other guests could suffer, and the judgmental gaze of guests ‘scanning’ a person using DAS to ‘make sure’ they really have a disability and are not gaming the system is…I don’t even know. I can only imagine how it’d make me feel if I were on the receiving end of those judgmental stares.
Unless you’ve recently been nominated to the post of World Police, don’t give it any thought. Even if people are still gaming the new system (if there’s a system to be gamed, it will be gamed), what does fixating on it accomplish? There is absolutely zero upside.
Not only is the weight of your eyes invariably falling on someone with an invisible disability (an unpleasantness they likely feel all too frequently) but you’re upsetting yourself with something that’s entirely outside of your control. Life is too short for that, and it’s far better to be happy at Walt Disney World.
Overall, I would say our experience with Disability Access Service at Walt Disney World was mostly positive. I’ve struck a few cautionary notes here, and that’s mostly so those first-timers with disabilities go in with realistic expectations. Walt Disney World has a deserved reputation as being incredibly accommodating, and going above and beyond. This does not mean your visit will be without hiccups, though.
Anything with humans is an imperfect system with the potential for inconsistency, and that’s true with DAS and Walt Disney World. There’s also the balancing act Disney has to perform between using DAS to reasonably accommodate guests in need, while also discouraging widespread abuse, and maintain normal attraction operations. It’s a very tough needle to thread, and to Walt Disney World’s credit, I think that by and large, the system is pretty good from that perspective. But again, we only had 4 days of experience, and my opinion of the system is entirely predicated upon that limited exposure.
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Your Thoughts
If you have experience with using the Disability Access Service at Walt Disney World, what do you think of the experience? Anything we didn’t cover here? Other things to know? Strengths of DAS? Weaknesses? Any other Disability Access Service tips of your own to add? If you have not yet used DAS but are considering it, do you have any questions that we did not answer here? Please feel free to share your personal anecdotes about DAS and other thoughts in the comments below!
Thanks for your post…I’m one with an invisible disability (PTSD that makes crowded lines anxiety inducing) and have felt the shame using the pass. I did Disney for many years without the pass, but since I found out I qualified Disney is so much more enjoyable for me AND my family who doesn’t have to deal with a combat vet pinging out in a theme park. So thanks for your understanding!
I thoroughly enjoyed this article and I’m glad things went fairly smoothly. From a slightly different point of view, I also want to praise Disney as the only park not to make me feel ostracized. I wear a prosthetic right arm and Disney is the only place I haven’t been questioned or in some cases harassed about it by staff. Other parks have held rides and even tried to remove me, when I have full and complete control over my prosthesis, simply bc they didn’t understand their own procedures. Never once has Disney even acknowledged that I’m visibly different.
Hi Steve,
I will be visiting Disney World this December with my niece and her family. She will be taking her brother who is mentally challenged, I have been apprehensive about this trip because this will be the first time I will have to use a scooter. I’m one of those with an “invisible” disability as my legs were damaged in an auto accident and I can only stand and walk short distances. I appreciated your comments especially about the cast members under the umbrella. I’ve been wondering how to find out where to go and where I can park the scooter. Thanks for your help!
Janine
I think there’s not just an issue with invisible disabilities, but that you also can’t know the cause of a visible disability.
I know from personal experience that obese people get the judging eyes too. Yeah, that person might be lazy. Or he might have a serious medical condition where his choices are weight gain and death.
This has particularly been on my mind recently due to rumors that Flight of Passage has tight restraints. Non-Disney parks are a continuous exercise in humiliation, so I hope Disney hasn’t decided to stop accommodating a disability that receives culturally-sanctioned scorn.
Thank you for this wonderful post! My son has autism, and I have contemplated using the DAS in the past. Especially on our first trip, when I wasn’t sure what to expect. Thankfully, I discovered that my son has no issues whatsoever with waiting in long lines! If anything, he is much more patient than my daughter! I will not use the DAS for this reason, as I feel that this would be cheating the system. However, there are some issues that come up in the parks. For example, my son loves the color blue, and will insist on riding a blue teacup. On our first trip, I explained the situation to the cast member at the end of the line, and she was super accommodating. On our third trip, the cast member made a comment something like, we can’t all pick our teacups now, can we. In her defense, I do not recall if I told her my son has autism or not. I might have just said that he would be upset if he didn’t get to ride a blue teacup. We were willing to wait at the front for the following ride. I’m wondering if anybody has tried using a DAS for a similar situation? Thank you for your excellent blog, Tom! I am currently planning our second trip this year, and your blogs have been invaluable!
Your discussion on unseen disabilities is really appreciated. I’m an adult with two auto-immune disorders that make it excruciating to stand/walk sometimes. Despite taking necessary precautions, I ended up in a wheelchair the last few days of my last trip, and I will *never* forget the man who pointed me out to his children, telling them to not be lazy like me. 😐 CM’s were wonderful, and I oftentimes think if they weren’t, I’d have fixated on that man my entire trip.
My daughter would not use a scooter or get the DAS last trip due to her looking like a ” normal” 22 year old. I know it would have helped her greatly. I completely understood her refusal though. By Day three she had to have a wheelchair though. We had two instances where the CM talked to me as if she had no voice, no brain. It was insulting. I do not think they meant it to be rude. They just needed a little more training. It made her feel invisible and reinforced the reasons she did not want a scooter or DAS.
I have a son on the autism spectrum and have been to Disney quite a few times. We have used the old and the new system and although the new system still has a few “bugs” to work out we find it all very helpful. I do have to disagree with “making it aware” to other guests that my son has an invisible disability. It’s bad enough he has this disability that none of us can do a damn thing about but why do we have to make the world “aware” that he’s different? In my opinion people need to mind there own business and not worry about what another person is doing. We do not get on the rides any quicker than you do, we just had to wait it out in a different area of the park. I agree with everyone that said it. I would wait 2 hours in line to ride if it meant my child could experience a “normal” life.
I think it’s just that different people have different ways of coping with things and handling others. I can understand your perspective in not wanting to make others aware and also that people should mind their own business (as I say in the article), but realistically, some people are never going to change their rude and obnoxious behavior.
Having signifiers to make those rude guests cognizant of the actual situation is one way others avoid potential encounters. It’s not the right approach for everyone, but I can see why some people prefer going that route.
Our Son has Autism and we have used DAS and have nothing but praise for all cast members we have encountered, we class this system as a virtual queue. We have received a few stares or comments but we are British and by right shallow. LOL. We did get some rather nasty comments from a large gentleman who basically said he had difficulty standing in line but still had to queue like everyone else, before I could react our boy in a very nice voice pointed out that the gentleman could lose his excess weight, but he would always be Autistic. As much as I didn’t like the fact he had pointed out this mans size I was so proud that he eloquently stood up for himself . We are so grateful to Disney for providing us with a way of enjoying it to it’s fullest.
“We have received a few stares or comments but we are British and by right shallow.”
I literally laughed out loud at this. Personally, I love droll British “humour” and its deadpan style. One of the reasons John Oliver and his self-deprecating style cracks me up.
Your son’s reaction was perfect. That’s great.
We were recently at Disneyland. I have mobility problems and was offered a return time anytime we approached an attraction without DAS card. All cast members were extremely helpful and sensitive about my condition.
Sorry meant your awesome stupid autocorrect
Thanks again, my grandmother, God rest her soul, lost her left leg due to a medical emergency in the early 80s. This lady was like a second mother to me. So anytime Isee anyone trying to help aanyone in the same kind of situation it is very much appreciated. Thanks again and you don’t awesome
I am going to Disney later this year with my mom who will need to use a wheelchair(we’ll be bringing our own.) How inconvenient is it to use one around the parks? She is able to walk, just not for long distances. Is there usually a place to put the wheelchair while on an attraction? Any advice would be great!
The parks are super wheelchair friendly! The only real problems I had were smaller shops or QS restaurants. You can use the wheelchair through the queue, and a cast member will usually wheel it around to the exit for you. Some rides have a different accessible entrance (like Spaceship Earth). T
Walt Disney World is pretty wheelchair friendly, but you might want to read one of the blogs listed at the top of the post for more info. Hope that helps! 🙂
Excellent recap! My younger brother is autistic and we have used this program several times in different ways. He can typically handle a long line, but sometimes needs other kinds of minor assistance.
While we have experienced some unhappy park goers being less than positive, cast members have always made our experience a positive one. For example, my brother appreciates symmetry and on attractions that offered more than one ride option (for instance space mountain has two boarding areas) he did not want to leave the attraction until he’d experienced every option. I have found myself asking a cast member to make an exception so he could do this on many occasions and although I know this probably makes no sense to anyone but my family, they have ALWAYS let us do what we needed to do with little questioning.
My only minor complaint, you know in case anyone from Disney happens to tune in to this, is that on some visits it has been hard to locate a family restroom. Plenty of these exist, but we found that cast members often weren’t sure where the closest one was located. Maybe the app has addressed this problem?
One of my daughters has spina bifida. She is able to walk on her own (her disability is not noticeable to most) but due to low muscle tone, tires easily. At age ten, she still requires a stroller at Disney and is unable to stand in the long lines. Through DAS, we’ve been able to use her stroller as a wheelchair, which really made for a much more pleasant vacation. This was a few years ago, but the cast members were extremely nice and accommodating. Other guests – maybe not so much. We had the stroller in a character meet line where strollers were not allowed. When other guests tried to join the line with their strollers and were told by the cast member manning the line that they needed to park their stroller, they would angrily point to us and ask why we had ours.. (I agree with the comment above – I would stand in the longest line in the world if it meant that my daughter wouldn’t have been born with this.) I really liked how the cast member handled the controversy. He calmly told them that if they had a need for the stroller in line, they would have to visit Guest Services and explain their situation. No one argued with him. It appeared to me that cast members had been well trained on DAS.
I have a disability and have used the das system for many months now. I have also used the previous system as well. I agree that it works fairly well. I do wish Disney would make a few improvements to the das for people with physical limitations however. Sometimes it is difficult to get to an attraction to get a return time. I have contacted Disney, and encourage other disabled Disney patrons as well, to allow users to get a return time for one ride from any other ride. Also, if they could integrate the das system into their mobile app like the fast pass system. Right now, to use the das pass, you or a runner if you have one, have to physically go to the ride, get a return time, go somewhere else (usually across the entire park) and then come back at the allotted time. That is very difficult for people with physical limitations, the elderly or parents of children with disabilities. Many don’t have the ability to send a runner. If users could get a return time via the mobile app like getting a fast pass, or get a das from a ride that you’re going on already, it would be more accessible for everyone.
“Also, if they could integrate the das system into their mobile app like the fast pass system.”
I’m actually surprised this has not yet happened. Hopefully it’s another feature that will be added to My Disney Experience at some point. I agree with you, though; if my dad had to do all the back-and-forth walking with us to the attractions, he would’ve tired even quicker.
I absolutely agree! We visited Disney World last year with my husband and his Service Dog and then went to Disneyland this April and were surprised to find the the system different in California. In Disneyland you go to any park information booth (at least 5 on the Magic Kingdom side) and they can give you a return time for any attraction at either park. You also have the option of going to the ride itself (like in DW) but the info both option is far superior.
We have only had positive experiences using the DAS for my son. The cast members have been friendly and always treated us like it was not an inconvenience at all. Sometimes the scanners don’t work so well, but then they’ve been helpful about handing us a hard ticket instead. On our most recent trip, the DAS was linked through our magic bands and I don’t know that other guests were as aware that we were even using it. Most of the time we looked like we were just using a fastpass. Overall the system has made it possible for our son to enjoy rides and for us to be able to enjoy a family vacation.
the best response I ever heard regarding the disability pass was this – “A man yelled out a rude comment about my son (who ‘looked’ normal) cutting the line with the pass. After the shouted comment, I turned to the shouter and said, “I’ll make you a deal. Your child can be autistic and my child can be healthy, and then you can have this pass and I’ll stand in the longest line this park has to offer and like it.” He made no further comments.” – we planned a trip to Disney (too soon) after my chemo, and I looked fine (with a sassy new hairdo LOL), but the chemo had taken its toll on my lungs and strength so I was unable to stand for long periods – the looks were horrible, until I wore a shirt that said “cancer survivor” – then they all shut up (it was always other guests, not cast members who were rude)
On a recent flight, a family with two autistic children all wore visible “autism awareness/advocates” type shirts for the same reason. It’s sad it’s needed, but perhaps helping yourself by making an invisible disability a little more visible (when possible) could be a helpful tip to ward off rude fellow guests…
Excellent post. One additional point – if the accommodations that WDW initially offers do not meet the needs of the disabled park guest, please go back to guest relations and explain the situation. They can modify the accommodations based upon the less than desirable experience, and are usually quite happy to do so! The GR CMs are, overall, a brilliantly helpful group.
What a wonderful post. I have have made many films for MS awareness, and one big topic that came up was its quality of being a potential ‘unseen’ disability, and the problems and judgments that go along with this.
As the cancer survivor worn out by chemo mentioned above, wearing a shirt that signifies the invisible disability might be helpful. On a recent flight I took, a family with two autistic children all wore visible “autism awareness/advocates” type shirts for the same reason. It’s sad it’s needed, but perhaps by making an invisible disability a little more visible (when possible) could be a helpful tip to ward off rude fellow guests…? Just an idea, not at all something I feel people should have to do!