WDW’s Disability Access Service Part 4: Using DAS In the Parks

This post is the fourth in a multi-part series on Walt Disney World’s Disability Access Service (DAS).

Part 1:  Introduction

Part 2:  Signing Up

Part 3: Making Advanced Reservations

In this part, I will talk about how to use the My Disney Experience app to make same day reservations, and how to redeem them via the Lightning Lane.

What Are Same Day Reservations?

Same day reservations are the “bread and butter’ of the Disability Access Service. This is where you use the My Disney Experience app to reserve a return time for a particular ride. When you make your reservation, you will get a return time that equals the current wait time minus 10 minutes. So if it is 4pm and the wait time for a ride is currently 30 minutes, your return time will be 4:20pm. Once you hit your return time, you can enter the ride via the Lightning Lane instead of the standby line. Essentially the DAS is allowing you to wait in the standby line “virtually” by giving you a return time that approximates when you would have been able to board the ride if you had stood in the standby line.

Remember, the DAS is about EQUAL access… not PREFERRED access.

Why “minus 10 minutes”? Disney rightly is accounting for the time it takes to get through the Lightning Lane. You rarely are able to board the ride immediately after entering the Lightning Lane. You still have to navigate the queue before reaching the boarding area. Yes, it isn’t always an exact science, but it comes pretty close.

Some quick notes about same day reservations:

1. You cannot make any DAS same day reservations until you have entered the park
2. You can only have one DAS same day reservations at a time
3. You can enter the ride anytime after the return time. Unlike other types of reservations, you don’t have to worry about entering during a one hour window.

Making a Same Day Reservations

Making DAS reservations is very easy using the My Disney Experience mobile app on your phone. First you find the ride in the app. The easiest way to do this is to go to your “Tip Board”. This can be found multiple ways:

1. Click on “My Day” on the home screen, and then select the “Tip Board” tab.
2. Click on the hamburger menu (i.e. the three stacked horizontal lines that look like a hamburger bun + patty) in the bottom right corner of the app and select “Tip Board”.

Once you are in the “Tip Board”, you will see a list of all the rides and wait times for your selected park. Feel free to click on “Change Park” if your current park is not selected. Scroll to choose the ride you want to reserve. Once you do this, you will see an icon that shows the current DAS return time. This icon is only visible if you have successfully registered for DAS. If you don’t see it, that means you haven’t registered. Immediately see a cast member in Guest Services.

Now, click on the icon to request your DAS return time.

Next, you will see a screen to select the party members who will also be riding with the person registered. You can select everyone or just certain party members. Only party members who are linked to the person with the DAS will show up. You should have already done this before you registered (see Part 2). If not, this warrants another trip to Guest Services.

After you select the party members who will be riding, you will be presented with another screen asking you to confirm. Click “Confirm” and you are good to go!

At this point, you should see your DAS reservation show up under “My Day”.

Redeeming your DAS Return Time

Using the DAS is almost exactly like using a Genie+ reservation. You go to the Lightning Lane entrance and “scan in” with your MagicBand, smart device, or key card. The only difference is that the person with the DAS needs to scan in first.

When the DAS person scans in, a picture of the person pops up on the cast member’s screen. Once they confirm the picture matches the actual human being in front of them, the other members of the party can scan in. This is to prevent people abusing DAS by registering one person and then using it with another person. Smart!

If you decide you don’t want to use your DAS reservation, you can click on it under “My Day” and cancel it. Feel free to do this if you decide you want to reserve a different ride (remember, you can only have one DAS reservation at a time).

Conclusion

Once you get the hang of it, making a DAS reservation becomes second nature!

I am super happy that Disney offers this feature. It allows people who might have a disability that does not allow them to wait for long period of line to still experience all that Disney has to offer. Yes, there are some hoops you have to jump through, but they are there to prevent abuse of the system, so I am okay with that.

Feel free to leave a comment and tell us about your experience with DAS!

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