Walt Disney World has recently made a very small change to its Disability Access Service (DAS) wording that could have a big impact on the program. Here’s a look at what changed and how it could change who is eligible to qualify for the DAS program.
Disney DAS Policy Wording Change
Only a single word has changed, but it relaxes a major restriction in the policy. Here’s a look at the before/after of a sentence describing who the program is intended to assist.
DAS is intended to accommodate only those Guests who, due to a developmental disability like autism or similar, are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time.
DAS is intended to accommodate those Guests who, due to a developmental disability like autism or similar, are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time.
As you can see, Disney removed the word “only” when describing who the policy is intended for. It’s clear that Walt Disney World will still use “developmental disabilities like autism or similar” to determine eligibility, but the change in wording allows Disney to potentially expand beyond just the narrow definition it initially provided.
Essentially, Walt Disney World has changed the letter of the policy while potentially still keeping the spirit of the policy in place.
As to why Walt Disney World has made the change, Disney has not made a public statement. We have reached out to Walt Disney World for clarification, but we did not immediately receive a response.
With any change to a program like this, we imagine that there was some pressure from legal to change the wording. The change in wording gives Disney more wiggle room in making judgment calls on who may qualify for the program while keeping the legal definition of the program broad enough to potentially avoid issues.
Walt Disney World made massive changes to the DAS program back in May 2024, significantly reducing the scope of who qualifies for the program. The changes were met with significant backlash from Disney fans, many of whom no longer qualified under the updated, narrow definition of who the service in intended for. With this change, it’s possible that more guests could qualify for the DAS program.
As a reminder, the DAS is not a skip-the-line program. Instead, guests who qualify for the DAS can obtain a return time for an attraction equal to the posted wait time at the attraction. This allows guests who are unable to wait in a traditional queue the opportunity to experience an attraction after waiting the same amount of time that a guest using the traditional queue would wait.
For more information about how Walt Disney World accommodates guests with disabilities, check out the Walt Disney World website: https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/guests-with-disabilities/
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
 policy that could have a big impact){kind=link}