Disney Neglects Disabled Guests’: Guests Fight Back After DAS Cuts

For years, guests who desperately needed Disney World’s Disability Access Service have complained about the rampant fraud in that program. In response to those complaints, Disney has decided to change the DAS program, but those changes will exclude most people with disabilities who need the Service.

DAS was previously defined to assist guests who have difficulty tolerating long queues due to a disability. The updated system is intended to accommodate "only those guests who, due to a developmental disability like autism or similar," are unable to wait in long lines. pic.twitter.com/KGzijIFUvD

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) April 9, 2024

Related: Disney Denies Double Amputee DAS Pass, Then Shamed Into Relenting

This week, Walt Disney World announced that effective May 20, it will be switching to a new system for its Disability Access Service. Before this, the DAS program was open to guests who could not wait for extended periods in a conventional queue due to their disability.

However, these loosely defined qualifications led to rampant DAS abuse. In response to that, Disney World has changed the system to accommodate “only those guests who, due to a developmental disability like autism or similar,” are unable to wait in long lines.

Walt Disney World guests who are requesting Disability Access Service are required to meet with a cast member for verification of their disability. Disney will work with Inspire Health Alliance’s health professionals to help Cast Members determine if the guest meets the eligibility requirements for DAS usage.

However, this new system will leave thousands of Walt Disney World guests unable to use the DAS system and force them to wait in long lines despite their disability.

Guests who do not have visible disability but will now have to wait in the standby line at a Disney World attraction took to X (formerly Twitter) to complain about how the new system has left them out. These guests are no longer eligible for the DAS pass and must endure extended waits despite being eligible at every Disney park just yesterday.

Nicole Greensher, who used to be eligible for a DAS pass but no longer is, said on X:

I have decided it is easier to pay financially for my disability and this is what Disney wants me to do in reality. Of course this is wrong and goes against the ADA. But if I want to go to Disney I would rather pay for genie, than to get a DAS Pass, and have a cast member tell me that a girl that looks like me doesn’t look like there could be anything wrong with a disability… because that experience ruined my trip…. As they say cost and worth are two different things… it is easier for me to admit what Disney is doing is wrong, acknowledge to myself that I am going to pay them financially for the “DAS Pass” in the form of buying genie tickets…. in order to avoid the abuse that I have experienced in the past from cast members telling me “a girl that looks like me could not have something wrong.” It is just easier…. or I could take the money and go to Maui which would probably be cheaper.

And FWIW – the language on the website about people being banned from the parks if they lie to obtain DAS is not a new policy. It's been on the DAS website for over a year. pic.twitter.com/P0EkTM08GL

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) April 10, 2024

Her claim that Disney World is in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) could potentially cause legal headaches for the Walt Disney Company and, more importantly, prompt a Federal lawsuit.

With Disney World and the Disneyland Resort soon making these changes to their DAS pass system, it is only a matter of time before the first lawsuit is filed, and the Walt Disney Company will again find itself back in court.

What do you think of Disney World and the Disneyland Resort changing its DAS system? Let us know in the comments.

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