Written by Sue Green
As a young teenager who goes to Disneyland, with her parents who have a service dog, I know first hand the accommodations The Walt Disney Company has put in place for those who are handicapped in some shape or form. Whether they have a mental disability, have a service dog, or use a wheelchair, Disney has made many accommodations for them.
One of these accommodations is the Disability Access Service or better known as DAS.
What is DAS?
DAS allows disabled Disney’s guests to make reservations, for attractions, for certain times of the day also known as DAS Return Time. The DAS pass is eligible to be used for 120 days after the approval is given.
Anyone who is on the DAS program can reserve a time for their party of four, including themselves. The guest who is registered in the DAS program must be present at the time of the reserved attraction, and the return times are valid until the park and or attraction closes.
How to use DAS?
There is an app you can download on your mobile device called Disneyland. On that app you can find the link to the online chat, which must be done on a computer, and see if you qualify for DAS or not. This must be done 2-30 days in advance.
If that's not an option then there’s a booth in the esplanade where you can get approved or denied in person.
How to navigate Disneyland with a service dog
A service dog team is composed of a specially trained dog and its handler.
Although The Walt Disney Company has made many accommodations to make service dog teams feel welcome. Having a service dog at Disneyland still isn’t easy, there are always people trying to distract the service dog by talking to, petting or feeding the service dog,or people just not noticing the service dog and running it over or stepping on it.
There are multiple spots through-out the parks,fenced and gated off from everyone else, where the handler can take their service dog to go to the bathroom. You must clean up after the service dog by using doggie bags.
Disneyland has put kennels at the exit of all the rides that service dogs are not eligible to ride. Those rides are the ones that have height requirements (Indana Jones, Radiator Springs, Matterhorn, ect…) Your service dog stays with you in the line up until you load onto the ride, where a cast member brings you to the kennel.
“The provided kennels make it easier for service dog handlers to go on rides that the service dog can’t,” Said Amanda Dyslin, a real life service dog handler who regularly goes to Disneyland.
An alternative to putting your service dog in a kennel is to do a rider switch. Riders switch is when one of the service dogs handlers family or friend stays with the service dog while the handler rides the ride. Then once the handler has finished their ride the two people switch while the friend or family member rides the ride.
Using a wheelchair in Disneyland
Using a wheelchair in Disneyland can be challenging. The walkways are small and some of the rides still don’t have big enough ques for wheelchairs to fit in.
Despite these struggles Disneyland is fairly wheelchair compatible. The few rides that don’t have big enough ques for wheelchairs to go through have an alternate entrance usually located in the exit of the attraction for wheelchairs to go through.
Many attractions have special vehicles that a wheelchair can fit in so you can remain in the chair while on the ride. For example The Little Mermaid-Ariel's Undersea Adventure has one, as well as Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure.
Overall, The Walt Disney Company has tried extremely hard to make their disabled guests feel welcome and accommodated. All of these accommodations mentioned above are fairly similar in all the Disney operated, owned parks and establishments. The only thing that differs is the names of the accommodations.
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