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Thread: GAC Changes

  1. #1
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    Default GAC Changes

    Be aware that the Guest Assistance Card is scheduled to be discontinued... A new system called Disabled Assistance System (DAS) will start on October 9th...

    In a nutshell: guests will go to Guest Services and be issued a DAS card... The DAS card will be a photo ID of the disabled guest... This will allow the attraction CMs the ability to make sure the disabled guest is actually getting on the ride... Then the DAS card holding guest will visit kiosks in the park to make ride reservations... Similar to FP, guests will not wait in line, and you cannot get more than 1 at a time... You will be allowed to get other FPs though...
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  3. #2
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    Interesting. Sounds similar to how Legoland here in Florida does it. They schedule a time and you return. I like the photo pass. Will it be a hard card thing? Will local residents be able to get one for an extended period? I know they do that for us now since we go 1-3x a month.

    Too bad they couldn't work it into the new card or bands. It would be easier for me since both my ASD son uses one and myself for my medical issues.
    Terra - Wife, mother, special needs teacher. Disney addict! °o°

    Advocate for my 2 sons. David: Auto-immune disorder. Praying for remission!ASD/SPD & Aaron: ADHD/Anxiety/ASD. Life makes us stronger!

  4. #3
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    Thanks for the update I will let a friend of mine know. He gets the pass every time he goes. Do they require you to bring any medical paper work? Also is this a pass you can keep and use again? Or every time you go you have to ask for it?
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  5. #4
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    The photo ID is a good thing I think, like the OP said will they have to have dr.s note?


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  6. #5
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    I do not believe, and someone can correct me if I am wrong, that Disney can legally ask for a medical note from your doctor...
    Son of Jor-El.. Kneel before Zod...

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  7. #6
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    .....I wonder if they will limit the size of the "entourage" that gets to accompany the subject DAS cardholder?
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  8. #7
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    I thought they could not ask legally per HIPPA, but per the new changes, that may have changed too. I think if it were a permanent GAC pass, maybe? Like the handicap stickers for cars. But for temporary, I don't know. Either way, I got that covered.

    Yeah, the good thing is we usually only ever have 2-3. My boys and myself. I think beyond 5 might be a little excessive.
    Terra - Wife, mother, special needs teacher. Disney addict! °o°

    Advocate for my 2 sons. David: Auto-immune disorder. Praying for remission!ASD/SPD & Aaron: ADHD/Anxiety/ASD. Life makes us stronger!

  9. #8
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    I have 2 kids with autism and I tell everyone about how Disney really makes it a great vacation for our family. Something we couldn't get anywhere else. I like the photo idea and we always present a doctor's note. Sometimes they read it sometimes they don't. What confuses me is this: you go to a ride, your wait is 30 minutes so you get a FP to come back in 30 minutes. That's great. but what are you supposed to do with them for 30 minutes? you most likely can't get on another ride in that time frame and you can't get another "DAS FP". You might as well wait in line, and for those of us with kids on the spectrum, that is a nightmare. Am I reading the guidelines correctly? Kind of makes me not want to go back. I must be missing something. Please tell me I'm missing something.

  10. #9
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    Cool

    My DW has MS and is in a wheelchair that I always push. We wait in line like everyone else and pull off to the line that accepts wheelchair riders and their caregiver. We have never gotten one of the GAC cards. We will be at DISNEY the first half under the existing system and the last half with new system in place. Would it benefit my Wife to check into the GAC card as well as the new DAS system when it goes live? It does help to keep her out of direct heat, but it is Florida.
    So do we arrange the pass before each time we choose to ride a ride? Any more info please! Thanks to All!
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  11. #10
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    I know it sounds confusing, so maybe a better outline is needed:

    1. When you go to Guest Relations, a CM will take a digital photo of the disabled person, and the photo will be printed on the front of the DAS card... This will help the attraction CMs know that the disabled person is getting on the ride, not just using this access for family/friends who can skip the line without the disabled person riding...

    2. The disabled person and their party will approach a DAS kiosk located in the park and tell the CM which attraction they want to ride... They will present the card to the CM... The CM will check the current wait times of the attraction and give the DAS card holder and their party a return time to that attraction, minus 10 - 15 minutes... Example: You want to ride Small World, and the wait is 90 minutes, you will be given a return time of 75 minutes later... You are technically waiting the current 90 minute wait time, again, minus 10-15 minutes...

    3. Only 1 ride can be booked at a time with DAS... You cannot get another ride time until after your current ride time has expired... You can do anything else you want to while waiting...

    4. The current GAC basically acts like a Fastpass... This new DAS will not... Again, one ride at one time and cannot reserve another ride until your current time expires...

    5. DAS will not be used at every attraction... Any attraction which is wheel chair accessible will not be authorized for DAS... So guests in a wheel chair or ECV will have to experience the queue like everyone else, ie waiting in Stand By or getting Fast Pass...There are 38 attractions in WDW in which the queue is wheel chair accessible.. I would suspect those attractions will not utilize DAS... Any attraction which does not have wheel chair access in their queue will use either the exit or the FP line for wheel chair entry...

    According to posts online, the ONLY exception to this will be Make A Wish... They will receive special lanyard and pass... This pass will act as an unlimited Fast Pass for these children... Disney will not distribute these passes, the Make A Wish headquarters will be in charge...

    WDW may wind up tying the DAS card to MDE and your MDE account... We will need to wait for the WDW/NextGen/Magic Bands/MDE information regarding DAS...

    Hopefully this helps clear up some confusion..
    Son of Jor-El.. Kneel before Zod...

    TRICIA JONES: I heard that you were going to propose to Brandi Svenning at some theme park. When are men going to learn that women want ROMANCE, not Mr. Toad's Wild Ride...

    BRODIE: Hey, now, be fair. EVERYONE wants Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

  12. #11
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    I read about this last night. I think it is a much more fair way to do things.

    First of all, it should be noted that people in wheelchairs or ECVs will basically not need a DAP. From what I read, they will be told to simply ask the lead CM at the attraction where to enter with their mobility device, and will do so. It will either be the regular line or the FP line, or the ride exit. BUT, they will not be issued a DAP if they have a mobility device.

    My sons have Autism as well, and we usually get a GAC for my older son. He can wait in lines, but certain ones cause him anxiety, so we use it to avoid those. In our case, this new system will work just fine. We sort of had a "preview" of it at DCA in how they handled Radiator Springs Racers with the GAC. They gave us a hand written FP for one hour later when we approached the ride. We then went over the A Bug's Land and rode a few things over there while we waited to do RSR. The Bug's Land rides never have lines that are that long and they aren't sensory overload type lines, so my son can wait in them no problem. So, we hung out over there and went back to RSR in an hour and used the FP entrance. It worked well.

    I would say that most kids with Autism will be able to find SOMETHING to do while they wait to ride the attractions. Mine would be happy to just sit at a table and play games on his ipod with headphones on. Or have a snack, or go into a gift shop and look around. Or, ride something nearby that has a short line.

    What it will do is not allow us to do a bunch of rides in a short period of time and then leave the park like we used to. It will change the way we tour the parks, but honestly, I am okay with that. I am finding that as my boys get older, they are more able to tolerate waiting for things and are learning how to work around their sensory issues.

    The bottom line is that this new system is fair. And, it will be impossible to abuse it, so I say kudos to Disney for actually finding a workable solution to the abuse problem. A lot of people are going to get angry about this, and I suspect those people who get angry are the very people who are abusing the system in some way or another.

    I am just glad we won't be there during this transition phase. Poor CM's.
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  13. #12
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    Like the idea of a photo, stops people "borrowing" granny's card or whatever. Bit confused on how it works. So, as I understand from the posts, we get a ride time for, say, Splash Mountain which says 60 mins from now. Can we not join a normal stand-by line, for example, Small World if that's got a 30 min wait as that has a separate wheelchair line also?

  14. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by BrerGnat View Post
    What it will do is not allow us to do a bunch of rides in a short period of time and then leave the park like we used to.
    See this might be a problem for my friend. I talked to him last night and explained this new system to him. And seeing what you’re writing this will be a problem, because that's exactly what he does. He likes to get in the park ride a few rides and then leave. He has MS and can't stand very long and needs to be out of the heat as well (makes him weak), so I guess this is going to make his day too long. If he has to wait an hour between rides. They usually go when crowds are lower, but those days are pretty hard to come by. Seems there is always something going on that draws some type of crowd. I guess he will have try it out and see what happens. I think he wanted to go by Christmas time.
    Been there, done that and going back!!! See ya real soon !!!

  15. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by merciantinkerbell View Post
    Like the idea of a photo, stops people "borrowing" granny's card or whatever. Bit confused on how it works. So, as I understand from the posts, we get a ride time for, say, Splash Mountain which says 60 mins from now. Can we not join a normal stand-by line, for example, Small World if that's got a 30 min wait as that has a separate wheelchair line also?
    It appears that yes you would be able to get in line for Small World while holding your DAS pass for Splash. You just wouldn't be able to hold two DAS passes at the same time.

    I'd assume this is all in response to the media story about people abusing the GAC system? I think its a pretty good response and seems fair.
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    Thanks for the info!
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  17. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by minnie04 View Post
    See this might be a problem for my friend. I talked to him last night and explained this new system to him. And seeing what you’re writing this will be a problem, because that's exactly what he does. He likes to get in the park ride a few rides and then leave. He has MS and can't stand very long and needs to be out of the heat as well (makes him weak), so I guess this is going to make his day too long. If he has to wait an hour between rides. They usually go when crowds are lower, but those days are pretty hard to come by. Seems there is always something going on that draws some type of crowd. I guess he will have try it out and see what happens. I think he wanted to go by Christmas time.
    Yes, this aspect of it will be problematic for a lot of people, I assume. The thing is, Disney seems to only be focusing on headliner attractions with this new system, but for many people who use a GAC, they also use them for the rides that wouldn't ever have an hour wait. I think it would be annoying to have to keep coming back to get another time stamp if you are only riding rides with shorter wait times when the traditional queue isn't an option.
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    Thanks Dulcee. We got a GAC on our last ( and first) trip but didn't use it much except to take wheelchair through lines as hubby can't stand for too long or manage more than a few steps, especially on a bad day. We have no problem waiting our turn and this system does seem fairer and will look to see how it goes before our next trip next Oct.

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    Seem very fair to me. If the line for something (that you're not getting a FP for) is an hour, you should have to wait an hour. And presumably this doesn't stop that person from wandering around or over to something with a short wait in the meantime so I don't see where "what are we going to do for 30 minutes" is a problem.

    The GAC was supposed to help make things more equal, not to allow someone to show up and knock out Splash Mtn, BTMRR and Space Mtn in an hour and a half total when each individual ride has a 90 minute wait time by itself.

  20. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by dnickels View Post
    Seem very fair to me. If the line for something (that you're not getting a FP for) is an hour, you should have to wait an hour. And presumably this doesn't stop that person from wandering around or over to something with a short wait in the meantime so I don't see where "what are we going to do for 30 minutes" is a problem.

    The GAC was supposed to help make things more equal, not to allow someone to show up and knock out Splash Mtn, BTMRR and Space Mtn in an hour and a half total when each individual ride has a 90 minute wait time by itself.
    Yes and no. Actually, the GAC was intended to allow people with disabilities the opportunity to experience all the attractions in a way that takes the disability "out of the equation." Many people who use a GAC have stamina issues or sensory issues or anxiety issues that make it, frankly, impossible to tolerate hours on end in the parks. Just being in the parks is an exercise in tolerance for my son. The constant sensory overload reaches a breaking point with him MUCH sooner than the average guest. So, yes, it was helpful to be able to be "done" riding the things he wanted to ride in a short time so we could exit gracefully before meltdown occurred. On any given trip, we only spend a handful of hours actually in the the parks. This new system has the potential to change that, so we may have to go back to visiting during lower crowd times.
    Natalie
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  21. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by DizneyFreak2002 View Post

    5. DAS will not be used at every attraction... Any attraction which is wheel chair accessible will not be authorized for DAS... So guests in a wheel chair or ECV will have to experience the queue like everyone else, ie waiting in Stand By or getting Fast Pass...There are 38 attractions in WDW in which the queue is wheel chair accessible.. I would suspect those attractions will not utilize DAS... Any attraction which does not have wheel chair access in their queue will use either the exit or the FP line for wheel chair entry..
    The problem with this statement is that not all disabilities are mobilty disabilities. Not all guest utilizing the GAC has a wheelchair or ECV. So just because a queue is wheel chair accessible will not help those guests whose disability has nothing to do with mobility issues.

    My father-in-law, for example, suffers from PTSD from his time at war. He can't tolerate long lines, not because he can't stand for long periods, but because of the often confined spaces, large crowds, and loud noise. Even with the GAC some of the FP lines really gave him great anxiety, and we were very thankful he didn't have to use the regular line because he absolutely wouldn't have been able to tolerate those surroundings for that long. As it was, most days he and mother in law left the park just after lunch and didn't return till much later in the evening because he would get headaches and feel anxiety coming on, so he needed a break from it all. That was his first trip in Feb., and he has raved about the place ever since, in part because he felt that Disney made it possible for him to enjoy as much of the park as he could despite his disability.

    We are returning with FIL for Thanksgiving and I hope it's as easy for him to enjoy this trip. However, if what you suggest is true and any attraction that is wheel chair accessible doesn't offer the new assistance card, he may have to skip those attractions. While the new system seems fair for many reason, which I agree with most, it won't make it as easy on guests with disabilities like my FIL as it has been in the past.
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