To DAS or not to DAS

So one thing I’m debating with myself is whether or not we should apply for DAS for this trip. DS4 has some sensory challenges - he receives OT weekly to help him - and I am concerned with how he will do in long lines. Obviously being a liner and having G+, we will avoid a number of long lines but not all. Having something like DAS in our toolkit might be helpful if lines are problematic for DS4 (and there are some hints that they might be in daily life).

I also don’t want to abuse the system - I would only want to use this if he really needed it. So part of me thinks we should just get it on our first day and skip the two pre reservations, but then I wonder if I am being too scrupulous, as I want to ensure that DS4 has a good time and doesn’t stress too much?

And a question for those who have used it… What is the interview process like? What kinds of questions do they ask? What interactions do they have with your child on the video call or in person?

Thanks for any assistance, this is a topic I’m very unsure about as it is very much out of my comfort zone.

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I would say that if you think you need it and it will help make your trip more enjoyable, get it. You know your kid and your family. You aren’t taking away anything from other people!

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Thank you for that. Any idea on how the interview process works?

It sounds like your family is exactly who DAS is made for. You are not “abusing” anything, you are still waiting in line, but doing so in a place that is easier for DS to handle. The interview online (you’ll have to rope-drop the CM line at 7 am!) is really about one thing: what concerns do you have about waiting in traditional lines, related to DS’s disability? The video chat is for them to take a picture of DS. They will then transfer you to another regular chat for advanced selections. It is up to you if you choose to make them!

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@JustKeepSmiling did it for her recent trip and the report has really useful information about using it too.

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Does it have to be at 7:00 a.m.? If we did it on our arrival day in the afternoon would that work?

Thank you, this is good information.

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In person at Guest Services inside a park, yes. If you mean online when you arrive, I wouldn’t want to do that as reports of people waiting many, MANY hours to get through on the online chat are common.

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Out of my family of 3, I have 2 members of my party with moderate sensory issues and 2 members with mild to moderate anxiety. (I will not delete this post. I will not delete this post)

I was brought to tears, overwhelmed with the fact that I was the only one who would/could leave the damn hotel room most days and certainly the only one who would wait in line for anything over 15 minutes. I was lucky if I could get them into any park for more than 2 hours straight.

I walked right up to guest services and after waiting about an hour, I was able to tell the very nice lady my problems. She took my picture and even booked my first selection right there on the spot. I didn’t want special treatment. I only wanted to be able to get time with my family, and this did just that.

I will personally say that this is much like the old fast passes in that you can’t book “on demand” like a tour. You can only book in the windows available. The wait in between was too much for DS and he only came with me a few times. He used single rider the rest of it and actually preferred that to DAS 99% of the time.

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My 18 year old son has ADHD, anxiety, sensory issues and is most likely on the spectrum. He’s been going to Disney since he was three years old. With the old FPP system we never used DAS because we could manage on our own. If we couldn’t get FPP, he didn’t ride. We got DAS for the first time last August under the old system because I knew that he would not be able to wait in lines. I felt uneasy about it because he had been going to Disney for 15 years without it but without FPP, I wasn’t sure how we would manage. He nervously paced the room waiting for our turn with the CM. It was obvious that he needed it.

We just got back from our trip this week. I’ve used LL on trips without him. I know this won’t work for us with him for assorted reasons. This was our first time with the new online system. I was nervous because I knew his disability wouldn’t be as obvious on a video call. It was not an issue.

I requested my online chat around 10:30 am. It took about an hour to be connected. The CM was very nice and asked what the issue was. I mentioned his anxiety and sensory issues and was quickly approved. I even said we used to manage just fine with the old FPP. It really wasn’t an issue at all. All my son had to do was have his picture taken. He didn’t even have to answer questions which surprised me because he’s technically an adult. Five additional people can be associated with the person with the DAS, so a party of 6 is allowed to make the ride reservations.

I was then transferred to the next CM who would help with preselections. It took about 10 minutes of waiting. A few things to note :

1). You can only preselect for the park you have the reservation for even if you plan to hop

2). Rides with ILLs are not an option for pre selection

3). Choices were much more limited than I thought having started the process at the 30 day mark. You don’t get much choice, at least I didn’t for when we were going. MK was the most difficult which surprised me.

4). Once they are made, they cannot be changed. You will see them in your plans.

5). They have the same 1 hour window as the old FPP system and have to be used according to those rules.

6). They are completely separate from the reservations you make in the park so you can make a preselected reservation and still choose an in park reservation for the same ride.

We actually didn’t use many of our preselected ones. The times ended up not working out.

On the day you are at the park, you can make a selection as soon as you tap into a park. I put screenshots in my trip report if you want to see what the process looks like. Here is a summary of some things I learned:

1). You have to be in the park to make a reservation

2). You can make a selection during early morning hours for any ride that is open during that extra half hour

3). You cannot ride until the start time for the reservation but there is no end time

4). You can hold an in park selection and a preselected reservation at the same time

5). You cannot make another in park selection until you use the one you already have so no “stacking” like you’d use with LLs.

6). If a ride is down, you cannot make a reservation

7). The person with the DAS should tap into the ride first. It will turn blue which alarmed me at first. No worries. The CM checks the picture and then it’s approved. Everyone taps in and it’ll be green. If there is a second tap, order doesn’t matter and they’ll all be green.

8). If there is a second tap, you cannot book a new time until you’ve gone through the second tap.

This worked very well with my son and I. The entire family will be going in June. I will once again request a DAS. I believe the approval we have now only lasts two months. There is a lot my son won’t ride. BTMR is too loud going up the hill. He despises getting wet so Splash is out. He doesn’t like the looks of Pandora so FOP is out. You get the idea. We will have to plan carefully around what he won’t ride when making plans for the rest of the group so be mindful of the rest of your plans for things your son can’t or won’t ride. Obviously the person with DAS must ride to use it.

Finally, just know that sometimes, even using the LL, you can spend some time in line and if he has issues, you may still need to leave a line. We barely made it through 7DMT because as soon as we entered the building, it was so loud. That line actually wasn’t more than 5 minutes but it was loud in there. I convinced him to stay because I knew we were almost there. The good thing for me was that it definitely confirmed his need for DAS but the reality also is that sometimes it’s still not enough to manage someone’s difficulties. Be prepared for that too.

Hope my essay here helps :joy: I’m happy to help if you have any other questions.

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Would having earplugs handy for the loud areas help at all? My husband (and me to a much lesser extent) has sensory issues due to fibromyalgia. He has found that keeping a set of good in-ear earplugs can make all the difference to him in loud spaces. Particularly if it’s for something he really does want to do. Of course, if your son can’t tolerate earplugs this won’t help. I just mention it because it took way too long for two reasonably intelligent adults to come up with this as a solution/tool :woman_facepalming:
@Bubblez as well.

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We’ve never tried earplugs. He probably wouldn’t like how they feel :frowning_face: but thank you for the suggestion. We used noise cancelling ear muffs on the plane. They helped but he still complained that he could hear and made it difficult for him to sleep which is what he wanted to do. I thought about bringing them to the parks but he used his ear pods a lot which did help.

It took us a long time to have the idea of the noise cancelling ear muffs! He actually just got them for Christmas and uses them most often in the car to drown out his brother who makes a sport of irritating him :grimacing: That kid is a whole other adventure in parenting :joy:

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Thank you so much for this, this is extremely helpful.

One question - can you cancel a day of DAS reservation, i.e. if our son decides he doesn’t want to ride that particular attraction?

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You might try the earmuffs next time :woman_shrugging:. Since he’s not planning on sleeping in line maybe the reduction in sound would at least help make the experience less annoying so he can get to the fun stuff. I wouldn’t recommend wearing them on a ride though, they could suffer the same fate as Ears and that wouldn’t be good.

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I think if it’s a preselected one you just don’t use it. No need to cancel.

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You can cancel the ones you make in the park although I never looked at canceling for just one of us. When you make the reservation, you can choose who you are including so if you know someone will not want to ride, just don’t select them when setting up the DAS.

ETA – I think I misunderstood and thought you meant a different child. Simple answer – yes, you can cancel the whole DAS reservation if he won’t ride or if you change your mind and want a different one.

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Do you have a recommendation for the earmuffs you used? We are looking for some for my 18-year old as an alternative to her air pods. I’m worried about how stiff (and uncomfortable) some of them might be.

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I’m sorry. I don’t. I just ordered random ear protective ones off of Amazon. They aren’t super comfortable but work if we can’t leave a situation.

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I can’t make any personal recommendations, but I’ve heard that Howard Leight and 3M ear defenders are good options to explore. (And for kids, I’ve heard that Banz ear defenders are worth considering. I have heard of adults using them, but I’m pretty sure they’re designed for kids and personally would be a bit nervous about sizing.)

I’ve heard that you can sometimes go to a local hunting / shooting shop or possibly even a hardware store to try some on before buying.

I need to further consider whether ear defenders would benefit my DS. I have this site bookmarked in case we land on the “yes” side of that question. The 5 Best Noise Reduction Earmuffs Review - NoisyWorld I can’t recommend the site based on personal experience, but I thought it looked like an interesting place to start.

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