This post is the third in a multi-part series on Walt Disney World’s Disability Access Service (DAS).
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Signing Up
In this article, I will talk about making Advanced Planning Reservations after you have pre-registered for the DAS.
What Are Advanced Planning Reservations?
After you pre-register for the DAS, Disney allows you to reserve up to two one-hour windows to select attractions anywhere from 2 to 30 days in advance of your park day.
This is a neat perk that gives you better control over your park day. You can think of it like the old Fastpass+ system. You reserve your return window ahead of time. Then once your park day comes, you show up during your window at the Lightning Lane entrance, scan in, and you are good to ride.
The other great thing is that these DAS reservations are in addition to your normal DAS reservation. As a reminder, the way that DAS normally works is, on the day of your park visit, you join a virtual queue. This gives you a return time that equals the current wait time minus 10 minutes. Then once your wait time arrives, you can enter the ride through the Lightning Lane. With this system, you can only have one DAS reservation at a time. However, your advanced planning reservations do not count towards this “one at a time” restriction. You can have up to two advanced planning reservations AND one regular same day DAS reservation.
One important and key difference between the same day DAS reservation and the advanced planning DAS reservations is that the advanced planning DAS reservation only gives you a one hour window to return to the ride. With the same day reservation, you can enter the ride any time from your return time until park closing. Therefore, you really need to keep an eye on the clock so you don’t miss your advanced planning reservation!
How Do I Make an Advanced Planning Reservation?
First, you need to sign up for the Disability Access Service.
Next, you need to go to Disney’s DAS web page and enter into a chat with a Disney cast member. Chat is available between 7am and 10pm Eastern Time.
Once you enter the chat with the cast member, they will guide you through the process. They will prompt you to fill out a short questionnaire. This asks you for the date of your visit, the park, whether you want your reservations for the morning, afternoon, or evening, and your top three ride selections. Based upon the information that you enter, the cast member will suggest rides and return times. You can then “negotiate” with the cast member to refine the selections. For instance, if the cast member suggests a ride that the person with the DAS cannot ride, you can suggest another ride.
However, keep in mind that the cast member is at the mercy of what rides and times are available. Availability for advanced planning return times is very limited, so be prepared to not get everything you want, especially as your park day gets closer. You get what you get, and you don’t get upset!
You repeat the above process for up to seven park days per chat session. If you are going to be in the parks more than seven days, you will have to initiate a new and separate chat. Honestly, this is not a big deal as the chat wait time is very short. When we did this on a weekend afternoon, we only had to wait about five minutes.
Other Things To Know
As with everything at Disney, there are some restrictions to be aware of. As mentioned above, availability is very limited, so don’t be surprised if you don’t get any of your top choices. You will have a better chance of getting a popular ride if you attempt to make a reservation 30 days out from your park day.
Here are some other things to be aware of:
- Not all rides are eligible for DAS advanced planning reservations. Many of the most popular rides are excluded. You can see the full list of eligible rides here.
- You can only have up to two advanced planning reservations per day
- Make sure everyone in your party is linked to the person with DAS in My Disney Experience. That way, those people can accompany the person with the disability when they ride.
- The person with the DAS needs to ride the ride. Disney Cast Members will not let you board without the person with the DAS.
- It might seem obvious, but you cannot create advanced planning reservations if you sign up for DAS at Guest Relations on the day of your park visit.
Final Thoughts
Yes, it is a pain to go through the chat to make reservations. Yes, reservations are limited, so you might not get everything you want. Despite that, I have nothing bad to say about this perk. It is an extra bonus that Disney didn’t have to offer. They could have just kept the previous system where the DAS could only be used for same day reservations. But they didn’t. They added a new perk at no cost, so how can anyone complain?
Even if it gives us one or two extra ride reservations for trip, it is worth the “price”, since that is one or two more reservations that we wouldn’t have gotten previously.
I hope you found this article useful. Feel free to leave a comment about your experience with making DAS advanced planning reservations. We’d love to hear what you think!
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