Hey Howdy Hey Mindy and welcome to planDisney!
My gosh Mindy, I am so happy to hear that you and your family will be visiting the Most Magical Place on Earth next year! That is super exciting to hear and so much fun awaits you not only planning your trip but experiencing your Magical vacation and an extraordinary time of the year! Thank you so much for your question about qualifying for
Disney Disability Access Service (DAS), I would be happy to help you navigate these waters.
As you already know, Disney is an all-inclusive place and not only has experiences for the whole family to enjoy, but also offers special programs such as DAS to help everyone navigate the parks and experience the Magic in ways that suit their needs. With DAS, this program was developed to help those that have difficulty waiting in general stand-by lines to still have the experience with immersive attractions at Disney World without having to wait in the traditional lines. While I can provide some general guidelines for the program, I, unfortunately, cannot tell you specifics if you would or would not qualify for the program. Considering you do have a specific condition that may impact your ability to wait in stand-by lines, I would encourage you to go through the application process and discuss your condition with a Cast Member to see if you would qualify for this program. Let's talk about how to do this.
As the dates get closer to your trip, you can
register online via video chat and have a virtual discussion with a Cast Member. They will then tell you if you qualify or not for DAS. If you do, since you did this step virtually, you get special access to
DAS Advanced Planning. After qualification, you will have a special text-only phone number to coordinate your return time selections for 2 attractions on your park days. You will also be given access to make a rolling 1 selection through your My Disney Experience app on your park days as well.
Now, in the case you may not qualify for DAS, you still have options to experience the Magic with reduced wait times. The first thing I would suggest is the classic, and free,
Genie service. You access this with your My Disney Experience app and can plug in your interests and non-interests and Genie will go to work planning your day for you. It will update in real-time which experience you might enjoy with lower wait times.
The next level would be with
Genie+. This is a paid option where you then would get access to Lightning Lanes which are quick access to attractions. You would book these on the day of your park visit and starting at 7:00 a.m. that morning when you can book your first Lightning Lane return window. You would then be able to schedule your next Lightning Lane window 2 hours after the park opens or after you tap into your first selection, whichever comes first.
I hope this information was helpful to give you a little more insight into the program as well as planning strategies so you can still experience the Magic of the parks with reduced wait times. Best of luck with planning your upcoming trip and please feel free to stop back if you have any further questions, we would be happy to help!
Happy Planning,
Nick