Ultimate Guide to Disneyland’s Disability Access Service
Disneyland wait times. Sometimes you get to walk right on to your favorite attraction, and it feels like a miracle! Other times, waits can be more than 120 minutes. Conquering the parks and long wait times can be challenging for a person with disabilities. Disneyland understands that, which is why they recently created Disneyland’s Disability Access Service, replacing and improving their previous system, the Guest Assistance Card. Have no fear – Disneyland’s exceptional guest service is here and willing to help you make the most out of your visit.
Disneyland Guest Relations
Whether it be cognitive disabilities, anxiety, mobility challenges, etc. Disneyland can solve your problem to help make your day easier. If you have trouble waiting in lines, Disney doesn’t want you to have a terrible day dealing with it. At the beginning of your day, all you have to do is make a trip to Guest Relations.
You can go to City Hall on Main Street USA, The Chamber of Commerce at Disney’s California Adventure, or any Information Kiosk throughout the park! At any of these locations, a Guest Relations cast member can help you out!
When you approach the cast member, tell them you’d like to learn more about what they can do for guests with disabilities, as you or someone in your party (who must be present) has a disability and is concerned about waiting in lines. The Guest Relations cast member may ask a few questions to figure out what service is best for you, but they do not require any proof of disability.
Disneyland’s Disability Access Service
Disneyland offers many services for disabilities: Disneyland’s Disability Access Service, wheelchairs and strollers, rider switch pass, companion restrooms, dietary accommodations, Assisted Listening devices, sign language interpreters, and more. The Disneyland Resort also allows service dogs to be brought in.
If you have trouble standing for long amounts of time, maybe a wheel chair is your best option. Do you have cognitive disabilities or anxiety that literally prevents you from standing in a physical line? If so, Disneyland’s Disability Access Service might be best for you. A Guest Relations cast member will go over all the options with you, helping you decide what might be best for your party.
Disneyland’s Disability Access Service (otherwise known as DAS) provides the option of not having to wait in lines. Your party of up to six people will all be registered into the service when you first visit Guest Relations at the beginning of the day. This service will remain on your ticket throughout the remainder of your trip, and if you are registered on an Annual Pass, you’ll have to renew the service (by repeating the same process at Guest Relations) every 90 days.
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How Does it Work?
Now you may be wondering how DAS can actually help you. To make it short, the service basically holds your place in line. After a Guest Relations cast member registers your groups tickets into the service, you have to visit an Information Kiosk each time you want to go on an attraction.
You might think it’d be annoying to go to a kiosk each time you want to go on an attraction, but when you think about the amount of time it’s saving you, going to a kiosk before each attraction really isn’t that bad. Thankfully, there are also many kiosks around the park.
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The cast members at these kiosks can also help with much more than just disability services if needed! When you visit the kiosk, tell the cast member that you are enrolled in DAS and would like a return time for whatever attraction, let’s say Soarin’ Around The World.
Here’s How the Service Works
First, the cast member will scan your ticket (just the person with the disability, everyone else’s tickets will also pop up if just one from the group is scanned). After scanning your ticket, the cast member will give you a return time for your requested attraction. You can only request one attraction at a time, and can’t get your next return time until you use your current one.
If it is 11:00am, and the wait time for Soarin’ Around The World is currently 40 minutes, then your return time will be 11:40am. So now, you have 40 minutes to do anything you want! You can grab a bite to eat, watch a parade, meet characters, or do some shopping. You can even go on a walk-on attraction with no wait – you won’t need to use a Disneyland’s Disability Access Service return time for that! Once it is 11:40am, you will return to Soarin’, scan your ticket at the Fast Pass entrance, and head into the attraction.
To sum it all up, you are still waiting for the complete wait time of each attraction, but you can do anything you want during that wait time – anything but waiting in the actual line. This makes it easy for guests who physically cannot be in a line. DAS is not guaranteed to completely get rid of the entire wait time, but once you return to the attraction and enter the Fast Pass queue it will definitely make the wait significantly less. Compare it to the same amount of time as you’d wait when you get in line with a Fast Pass.
Double Your Attractions?
A great part about this service is that although it can only hold your spot for one attraction at a time, you can indeed use the actual Fast Pass service along with DAS. This could mean double the attractions! You could have a Guest Relations cast member give you a return time for Soarin’, and while you are waiting to return to that attraction, you can head over and get a Fast Pass for Guardians. It’s possible that right after Soarin’ you go straight onto Guardians with your Fast Pass!
If you are a guest with mobility challenges and you cannot stand for long periods of time, Guest Relations may recommend that you rent a wheelchair. With your wheelchair, you are able to enter through the exit of many attractions, passing the line. Other attractions are completely wheelchair accessible and you would have to wait in the normal line while sitting in your wheelchair.
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Enter Through the Exit
The attractions where you would enter through the exit include Jungle Cruise, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Carribean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Pinnochio’s Daring Journey, Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Peter Pan’s Flight, Mad Tea Party, Alice in Wonderland, Storybook Land Canal Boats, Gadget’s Go Coaster, and Space Mountain. For all other attractions, the queue will be completely wheelchair accessible.
If you do not want to sit in a wheelchair all day, Guest Relations may recommend that you rent a stroller. You can use the stroller to carry your backpack, lifting the weight off your back, therefore making the walking easier. A red tag will be placed on the stroller, notifying attractions members that you’re still able to use the exit of certain attractions.
Grab a Map
If you or someone in your party has a disability, utilizing any of Disneyland Resort’s disability services will most definitely help you in order to make the most of your experience. For more information and to ensure you won’t forget any details, be sure to grab a Guide Map for Guest With Disabilities at City Hall before starting the day!
