The group, formed in response to Disney’s controversial changes to their Disability Access Service (DAS), will travel around the Anaheim area during Disney’s D23 convention spreading their message.
What’s Happening:
- DAS Defenders has announced that they will hit the road with their mobile billboard at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.
- Thanks to rapid crowdfunding, the mobile billboard will travel around Anaheim Convention Center, Honda Center and the Disneyland Resort area this Friday and Saturday.
- The billboard will highlight the impacts Disney’s DAS changes have had on disabled people going to the parks.
- Disability Access Service or DAS is a service provided by Disney to allow people and families to access attractions with virtual wait times they schedule through the Disneyland App. The service allows groups with the service to enter the Lightning Lane queue when their time is ready.
- After concerns of guests abusing the system, Disney made major changes to the service earlier this summer at their US theme parks. The service now caters to guests with developmental disabilities, leaving out many people who rely on the service. This includes cancer patients, many people with autism, veterans with PTSD, and individuals with conditions such as Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Guillain Barre, seizure conditions, and other rare diseases.
- The billboard campaign, designed by Ad Michaeli, features a “Wish we were here” postcard theme with messages from the disabled commuting expressing their feelings on the DAS changes. Some messages include:
- "I almost died for my country; I can’t risk dying for a theme park. Have fun for both of us. Stacy, Proud Vet"
- "I felt unwelcome in the parks with my walker. I left in tears and haven’t been back. Love, Becca"
- "Why do theme parks think I’m a burden? Love, Riley"
- "Hi Grandma! Wish I could make memories with you, but I’m not safe in long lines. Love, Your Grandson"
- Guests who are denied DAS have been offered limited solutions, such as leaving and returning to queues when possible. Other solutions include a program similar to ride switch that separates groups, forcing the majority of the party to wait in line while those that can’t wait outside. The lesser accommodations have provided disabled guests with headaches that make it harder, if not impossible, to enjoy the parks.
- Another concern from the group is Disney’s policy that guests applying for DAS must have a non-refundable ticket or annual pass purchased. The process sometimes requires guests to wait in hours-long lines to even apply for the service. Guests who would otherwise not be able to go to the park without the service are then stuck with the ticket.
- “I was actually on the video call for over three hours, in the park. I was passed from cast member to ‘medical professional’ to coordinator and back around again, just to be denied. What a colossal waste of time and extremely draining. And I was a loyal Disney fan,” said Angie Porter, a group member and annual pass holder with multiple physical and neurodivergent disabilities.
- The DAS Defenders billboard campaign aims to tell Disney that disabled fans will not be overlooked.
- Check out a preview of the billboard and the routes it will travel below:
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