“You don’t have time to be timid. You must be bold and daring!” -Lumiere, Beauty and the Beast
How To Virtually Eliminate Line Times At Disney
A Blog Series on Traveling With My Son With Special Needs
By:BethAnn Hefner
My son is like any other kid; he doesn’t want to wait in lines when he knows there is something fun to do on the other end! To cut the amount of time spent waiting in lines, I became a master at using the FastPass+ and Disability Access Service (DAS). Combined together, we were able to experience a lot of the parks each day and have minimal wait times.
Since we stay on property, we book our FastPasses 60 days prior to our trip. These can be booked 3 at a time in one park at a time each day. We always look to book our FastPasses for the rides that always have the longest wait times. My kids love Seven Dwarves Mine Train and Soarin but these lines can reach a wait times longer than an hour! If we can’t get a FastPass for one of those high priority rides, then we look to use our Disability Access Service.
The Disability Access Service (DAS) is a program that Walt Disney World offers for guests with varying special needs and/or medical disabilities. Essentially, this allows guests to “skip the line” for one additional ride at a time on top of their three FastPass reservations!
To gain access to this pass, guests need to visit a Guest Services Desk within one of the theme parks. These are usually right at the beginning of the park and convenient to access when you first arrive. You simply tell the Cast Member working there that you need to use the DAS for your trip. The Cast Member will scan the Magic Band of the person with a disability, take their photo, and then link the DAS to their Magic Band. In addition, they can link up to 6 additional guests to the pass.
When you want to use the DAS, one of the guests linked to the account can visit with Cast Members at the FastPass desk for the ride. They will scan your Magic Band and tell you a time to return to the ride. This allows you to go and use one of your booked FastPasses and then return to use the DAS. You can keep doing this, one ride at a time, all day long. And don’t forget, once you use your three FastPasses, you can use the MyDisneyExperience App or visit a kiosk to book additional FastPasses, one at a time.
Here is an example of how we used both programs during our last visit to the Magic Kingdom:
-We entered the park and headed toward our first FastPass but stopped at Peter Pan’s Flight to book a return time with DAS.
9:15- FP Seven Dwarves Mine Train
9:45- DAS at Peter Pan’s Flight
-We went back to Seven Dwarves Mine Train to book a return time
10:30- DAS Seven Dwarves Mine Train
-We went to Pirates of the Caribbean to book a return time
10:25- FP Big Thunder Mountain
11:00-DAS Pirates of the Caribbean
11:35- FP Splash Mountain
-As soon as we scanned our bands for this ride, I got onto the MyDisney Experience App and booked a new FastPass.
12:00- FP Magic Carpets of Aladdin
That’s seven rides in 3 hours! For the rest of the afternoon, we continued to book return times with the DAS and FastPasses using the app. It took coordination but it was totally worth it! And I would love to help you coordinate your trip! Please feel free to email me at BethAnn@101dreamvacations.com or connect with me on my FaceBook page, 101 Dream Vacations by BethAnn