This of course wouldn’t fix all of the issues, but what if they were more upfront about the “grace period” for LL return times? Or maybe extend it beyond 119 minutes for DAS?
And being a little more cynical, DAS abuse is costing Disney money. The penny pushers see guests using a paid service without paying. And the more who use it via DAS, the less G+ inventory they have available to sell. There’s probably a dollar number on a Power Point somewhere that would shock us all.
This thought has come to my mind over and over here. Ultimately, I don’t believe any of this is to address customer satisfaction. I think it is, ultimately, to ensure they can sell more G+. Yes, cynical…but does that mean it isn’t true?
Yes. Disney is a business that wants to sell their product. G+ is a limited supply product. It also is sold using dynamic pricing and the daily price is most likely set daily via an algorithm. If demand is greater than supply the algorithm increases the price. When the available supply is greater than the daily demand the algorithm reduces prices to increase demand. When cheating DAS guests limit the availability for G+ it artificially raises the price automatically calculated by the algorithm. Disney might be selling less but at a higher price. They are getting the same overall revenue regardless Less cheating means more supply that the algorithm will price lower
If they’re actually hiring psychiatrists, it would be interesting to see what happens in the park. After all, it’s possible that now Disney will have real insight into the needs of DAS users.
Disney’s past communication about DAS indicates they have absolutely zero idea what their users actually need. (One of their suggestions was to use and bring an iPad).
One thing that comes to mind is Autism and the loud sound effects on some of the attractions.
First, let me be clear: if you want to blame anyone, it’s the people who abused the system, not Disney.
I am absolutely certain that Disney’s CMs include thousands with disabilties and thousands more in family members. This probably went through 25 rounds of internal review, including with those CMs, before it the annoucement went out. For you to say things like “poorly planned” and “disrespectful” shows a complete lack of understanding of how these kinds of processes work at a company the size of Disney, and one as dedicated to the guest experience.
Your use of the phrase “truly vunerable” is so comically dramatic and play-to-the-audience that it beggars belief. Not for one second have I ever thought, in all of their money-focused ways, that Disney would deny someone actually in need.
For a policy that affects this many people, I am also sure that there will be a small number of edge cases that get missed, possibly including you. That is inevitable, given the numbers we’re talking about.
But again, given the size of the population, there’s no policy change possible that will be absolutely correct for exactly the people that need it.
You and I have had past discussions about your use of hyperbole on the forums. I invited you to find another online outlet for which you might be better suited. I once again extend that invitation to you.
Nope nope nope. If that’s how this is going to work, I’m going to have a poor untrained kid try to deal with my mental meltdown right in front of him.
I already forced a small change in Space Mountain because I went catatonic in there. 
I can’t help but think that there are “gray areas” where people going to push things…and not really be a “need”.
My wife was reading some reporting on this, and some folks were commenting/complaining about how it might impact that. But one stood out to me. Someone with Type 1 diabetes claimed that because of their disease, they couldn’t stand in long lines or the heat.
I call foul on that. I’ve lived with Type 1 diabetes since i was 9 (so, like 42 years) and never once felt any “need” for special accommodations. I love amusement parks and theme parks. And, truth is, my blood sugar gets out of whack at times. That’s life with diabetes. But it can get out of whack when I’m at home watching TV, when I’m out running errands, when I’m sleeping, or when I’m in an amusement park. Dems the breaks.
I bring this up only to suggest that I can see why Disney feels the need to reign this in. Apparently, there are folks out there who legit feel they should have DAS because they have Type 1 diabetes. They may not feel like they are gaming the system. But…they are.
I think where she is coming from is that Disney announced all these changes, but left a lot of stuff into the unknown. There are so many new details that we don’t have yet, and she’s panicking over it. I understand her, It’s affecting me, as well.
I think one of the biggest changes is doing all of the decisions over video chat, only. That reduces the number of people making the decisions, and it leaves most of the in-park guest services CMs to handle other things. A smaller pool of CMs can make the decisions more consistent.
What we still don’t know is what are their parameters for offering DAS, and what the other accommodations would be for people they believe don’t qualify for DAS?
Now…I am not looking for DAS…but if I were, this would be a problem. As someone with Auditory Processing Disorder, I really struggle with phone calls in general (I go to great lengths to avoid them), and video calls are worse. When we have teams meeting at work, and they have their video feeds going, I actually tend to look away from the screen and just listen because if there is the slightest synchronization problem between video and audio, I can’t follow the conversation.
I would hope there is another way for folks like myself who struggle with auditory processing.
I’m thinking the video chat allows a CM with proper training and knowledge to be at the forefront of the process and to bring in a medical professional quickly if needed.
Do you by any chance enable the transcript? Sorry I can’t help myself, but problem solve. And you don’t have to answer. I can see how this would be extremely challenging.
That would make it harder, because the text would not come up as they are speaking, so it is yet another thing out of sync! Anyhow, I manage best I can…but I could see why it could be an issue if that is the only option is a video call!
Am I the only one who finds it timely that one of the other major topics of conversation on chat is the Warrior Games the last week of June (because of the June 27 early park closure)? Talk about trial by fire…
*Yes, I’m aware the actual games are more related to physical disabilities not covered by DAS, but that’s going to bring in a LARGE population with PTSD too.
Yes because our trip starts on May 26th. The verbiage states “Please know we will not determine any Guest’s future eligibility until our processes are updated on May 20.” which is confusing because if I apply for a DAS on April 26th, I won’t know until 6 days before the trip whether or not the DAS will be granted? Not forgetting that this would give me only 1 -2 days at best to cancel IF I can even connect to the CMs on the video chat.
I would venture to assume that if you did find you needed to cancel because you were not granted DAS and that was unsatisfactory to you that you would be able to despite being inside the window.
That could apply to anyone at any time. So that would mean a permanent change to the cancellation policy.
Which reminds me. Any DVC member going forward will be in a sticky situation. since you can only apply 30 days ahead, your points would go into holding if you decided to cancel.
I’m referring to this specific timeframe where the person cannot apply for the new DAS before a certain date because it isn’t live yet but may not find out until 6 days before travel whether they have been granted it or not.
To my knowledge that is not how it will work going forward; only those traveling soon after the change would be impacted in this way. I understand this potential delayed response time as being related to the new program
If I am completely misunderstanding these details, please forgive me!
Only two of my guests ever have needed to use the DAS program and none are traveling soon (and won’t be impacted because they are in the group specifically called out - on the spectrum - in the new program).
On the flip side, this could cause many of the liars to rethink their strategy. As in, in practice the change may end up being miniscule, but if people think they’re going to be questioned more closely then those who don’t actually need it won’t bother.
You have it correct as per my post. If my trip was later, it would not be a problem. It’s the fact that our trip starts 6 days after the implementation that has me concerned.
But going forward you can’t apply until 30 days before. So even if you get through right on that day, that’s still too late for a full refund isn’t it? 30 days for a package? I don’t know, we get charged for cancelling at any time.
[quote=“OBNurseNH, post:198, topic:99208”]
Only two of my guests ever have needed to use the DAS program and none are traveling soon (and won’t be impacted because they are in the group specifically called out - on the spectrum - in the new program).
[/quote]They still have to apply through the new system and could be refused. So they will still be affected.
Plus of course no one is guaranteed to get DAS anyway, not now or in the future. So in that sense everyone is in the same boat.