DAS changes coming WDW May 20/ DL June 18, 2024

[10CJ]

They have VIP at Disney. And even that doesn’t promise FOTL. At that price it really should. ETA: Searched the group. They now have tiered vip. Land of Dreams up to 6 people $14000 is FOTL.

Do you have a link to this tiered vip info?

 

[lowlight]

Doubtful because it never took a Genie+ spot. They are separate programs.

I thought I read somewhere that Genie+ return times were being affected by DAS use. Maybe I misunderstood.

 

[lanejudy]

Not sure if anyone has run into this--If you have an active DAS from the end of March and have plans to return in the beginning of May--do you have to re-register? I'm assuming we should be ok as we still have access to the little window for in park selections through the app.

Your previously approved DAS from late March should still be good for 60 days. My understanding is that DAS approvals after the announcement last week are only good for 30 days, but no change to those issued prior.

 

[lanejudy]

I thought I read somewhere that Genie+ return times were being affected by DAS use. Maybe I misunderstood.

It's possible the number of G+ slots at any given time of day are impacted simply by the fact that so much LL usage goes to DAS (according to some numbers). I'm not validating those numbers, but no DAS does not directly take from G+ options but in the overall scheme of things it's all impacted.

 

[smartlabelprint]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/land-of-dreams-vip-tour.3937034/

 

[lowlight]

It's possible the number of G+ slots at any given time of day are impacted simply by the fact that so much LL usage goes to DAS (according to some numbers). I'm not validating those numbers, but no DAS does not directly take from G+ options but in the overall scheme of things it's all impacted.

I don’t mean they are intermingled in a front facing situation (on the app), I meant I wonder if Disney decides Jingle Cruise gets 50 LL slots an hour, and behind the scenes DAS and Genie share that allotment. I doubt we’ll ever know for sure since it’s embedded in behind the scenes code.

 

[lanejudy]

I don’t mean they are intermingled in a front facing situation (on the app), I meant I wonder if Disney decides Jingle Cruise gets 50 LL slots an hour, and behind the scenes DAS and Genie share that allotment. I doubt we’ll ever know for sure since it’s embedded in behind the scenes code.

Agree it is all behind the scenes, and I'm certain that is exactly the situation. Y # of G+ plus Z # for DAS = X number of total LL availability. But cancelling a DAS Return Time would not pop it into the G+ bucket to be redistributed as G+.

 

[smartlabelprint]

I guess what I fail to understand in all of this is why Fastpass seemed to be such a better system. Why does Genie seem to be so much worse with line backup?

Fastpass was free and limited. When some people didn’t want to pay they started faking disabilities. The fastpass system limited number of rides per day, they’d run out, DAS doesn’t run out.

 

[Disneychick75]

It’s not really fair to compare DAS with Genie+ since the latter is a paid upgrade. You really need to compare DAS with people simply using standby.


I will add that this flexibility may be another perceived advantage of DAS over standby, and even over the paid Genie+ upgrade. People who purchase Genie+ have a strict return window. Many people miss their Genie+ window when they’ve been held up elsewhere.

Someone upthread explained to me that with Genie you do not make ride reservations. I did not know that.

 

[Karin1984]

I don't remember exactly when the 2-3 attractions language was added, but I think it was well over 6 months ago. I do know it was to temper expectations - because of how it was marketed, many people expected to use it to get on any attraction all day without waiting. Many 'power users' who understand how it works are able to use it on WAY, WAY more than 2-3 attractions. But, many guests don't understand how to use it effectively are only getting 2-3.

I asked Google.
The first news articles about 2-3 attractions are from 2 years ago, 30th of March 2022.
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2022...youll-only-ride-2-3-rides-per-day-with-genie/

 

[lanejudy]

Someone upthread explained to me that with Genie you do not make ride reservations. I did not know that.

You don't get a choice of times with G+. You are given the next available G+ ride time. Like old paper FP and even FP+. Or you don't take it right then; you can wait and check later if you are hoping for a certain time of day.

 

[Nikkimouse44]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/land-of-dreams-vip-tour.3937034/

I just want to know what people do to afford to have a $14K tour…

… and if I can join their family kidding, kind of

 

[Disneychick75]

Do you have a link to this tiered vip info?

nvm

 

[CT Disney]

Someone upthread explained to me that with Genie you do not make ride reservations. I did not know that.

It’s all good It’s so easy to miss info when the process is overall pretty confusing.

 

[sprem96]

I asked Google.
The first news articles about 2-3 attractions are from 2 years ago, 30th of March 2022.
https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2022...youll-only-ride-2-3-rides-per-day-with-genie/

To be honest, that is a large part of the G+/ILL/DAS/stand-by issue in itself. How are people only getting through 2-3 G+ attractions, I usually go in mid August but I find I can get through 4-6 G+ pretty easily every time and I went at Christmas one year and got at least 3 for sure, firstly, they literally give you a return potentially every 2 hours OR less, it comes down to how people schedule their days. You can waste hours if you are jumping around to ride the few key rides you want or focus G+ times on the busiest rides, plus I would imagine a large portion of people who don't know how to maximize their days are newbies or just horrendous at planning.

Now that does not explain why LL lanes are supposedly over full (don't really see that in August), but it is worth noting that people shouldn't be to harsh against DAS users and rather look at their own ability to navigate a park properly or not first.

 

[Disturbia]

Personally, I don't mind the advanced selections going away... quite often, I end up skipping or missing them due to current circumstances at that time. Trying to reserve them early when I don't quite know how my day is going to play out feels like I'm holding on to a spot someone else may use when I find I can't. I know you can now cancel a DAS reservation you make DAY OF (and that's a wonderful addition!!!), but I can't remember if you can cancel the advanced ones.

You can’t. For us ability to modify day of would be great as well because sometimes we’re stuck at the other side of the park. We used maybe 4 of the 14 booked (ADRs conflicted; needed to leave park etc).

 

[SueM in MN]

You don't get a choice of times with G+. You are given the next available G+ ride time. Like old paper FP and even FP+. Or you don't take it right then; you can wait and check later if you are hoping for a certain time of day.

The other thing I've seen posted about is that people who know how to effectively work Genie+ keep updating and pushing their time out if the run into a conflict

 

[Disturbia]

That is a really nuanced way to look at it… and I don’t think anyone has an issue with the way you are describing it, that you might use that feature in the program and leave the park to rest or whatever you need to do..
But you are correct to realize that not only does it make the program attractive to those who don’t need it, but also for those who are just regular standby line guests, you can sort of see where they would feel as though they are paying the same price to be there and getting less “advantages” (for lack of a better word, because I certainly don’t look at a disability as an “advantage” ) but the ability to sort of “double” attractions could be looked at as one.
And again, I’m not saying that anyone doubling the attractions they experience with the DAS is wrong to do so because Disney allows it to be done… just acknowledging how some stuck in a 2 hour standby line might see the situation.
I wholeheartedly agree with you, and I can say the one thing I am sure of right now.. is I would not want to be in a position with Disney having to explain to people why their accommodations are different now and why certain things are changing. That would be an awful job to have .

I’m not sure how you can double when waits are 120 mins and posted wait is inflated by 15-30 mins (multiple vloggers incl allears did a side by side comparison Genie+ and standby and found that to be true). You have to wait that time outside by or say in another line if you were able to. Sure you can ride something with less of a wait but that ride you have to wait like anyone else. Given the LL has a wait as well 30+ mins when standby is this long, so the DAS guest rode 2 rides (and has mobility issues getting to another area) when the guest getting out early and standing in another queue rode 2 as well.

I don’t see a DAS guest riding 30 when a standby guest rode say 15. It doesn’t add up and that’s why Disney isn’t worried about it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

but it is worth noting that people shouldn't be to harsh against DAS users and rather look at their own ability to navigate a park properly or not first.

I would push back on because we're not privy to that information here nor are we at the parks 24/7 nor are we CMs dealing with DAS on a more intimate level than we do (including DAS users who are coming from mostly their own experience with it it's not the same as CMs). We don't know if Disney is allocating less overall to Genie+ to account for DAS or not.

People in the general public (so going beyond the DIS) aren't going "I only got on X number of rides and DAS users got on Y number of rides" because as has been pointed out each DAS user may or may not be going on Z number of rides. The general public is mostly unaware of DAS the same way we are in terms of knowing what to look for, the different colored lights and what they mean,etc.

But there is that component about a person without DAS not being able to use the LL the same way as a DAS user. We can't blame the average guest and say it's just poor planning on their part without having background knowledge of how Disney allots things. Also let's be real telling a first timer you just don't know how to navigate a park properly is as you put it harsh and rude. Let's also be honest that if you have to put out a lengthy video on how to use your product it may just be overly complicated, we shouldn't blame a guest for that either. Not everyone goes to the parks multiple times a year, every other year, every few years or even more than once in their lifetime.

 

[SueM in MN]

You can’t. For us ability to modify day of would be great as well because sometimes we’re stuck at the other side of the park. We used maybe 4 of the 14 booked (ADRs conflicted; needed to leave park etc).

Guests registering for DAS in advance presently have the option of setting up 2 DAS Advance Selections per park day. These come from a limited list of attractions, which doesn't include attractions with Individual Lightning Lane or Virtual Queue. There are also limited time slots and guests can't choose the time - it's basically morning afternoon or evening.
In the beginning, it was supposed to be limited to guests who did the advance video registration, but people started reporting they were also doing in a park (must be at least 2 days in advance, not day of visit).

Information about DAS Advance Selections is no longer listed on the websites and it appears they probably will no longer be offered.

Many guests have the same experience as the poster I quoted above reported - they were not able to use the DAS Advance Selections. We don't know how many went unused, but by discontinuing offering them, Disney will have already cut the capacity of Lightning Lane 'reservations' and have more to offer