What do the changes to Walt Disney world mean?

Especially to me as a PWD.

There have been many, many changes in Walt Disney World in the past few years. And changes continue to happen.

Things seem to change almost daily.

There are 6 major changes that will affect my upcoming trip to the Magic. They are:

Constantly changing COVID-19 regulations – Masks and when you need to wear them, distancing, capacity caps.
Crowd levels.
Genie plus and the disappearance of fastpass plus.
Changes to DAS, the Disability Access Service.
Park Pass Registration.
Mobile ordering and everything else controlled by My Disney Experience App.

The changes in detail and what they mean to me.

1. The constant changes to the COVID regulations in the last year have made my head spin.

As of today the rules are:

Face Coverings (Guests Ages 2 and Up)

	Fully Vaccinated Guests	Guests Not Fully Vaccinated
All indoor locations, including restaurants, except when actively eating or drinking while stationary	Optional	✓
Disney buses and monorails	✓	✓
Disney Skyliner	Optional	✓
All outdoor areas, including outdoor attractions, outdoor queues and outdoor theaters	Optional	Optional

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/experience-updates/#drawer-card-faceCoverings

Important Information about Walt Disney World Resort

Health and safety measures and operational guidelines are subject to change without notice. Learn more.
Certain parks, hotels, restaurants and other offerings may be modified or unavailable, limited in capacity and subject to limited availability or closure, and park admission and offerings are not guaranteed. View important details.
To enter a park, both a park reservation and valid admission for the same park on the same date are required for Guests ages 3 and up. Learn more.

COVID-19 Warning

An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. View important details.

I don’t expect te regulations to change before my trip next month.

But who knows?

Regardless of the Disney rules, I plan on following my own. I am at high risk because of my age and underlying health issues. Though I am fully vaccinated and boosted I intend to continue to wear a mask when I fear exposure to COVID or other viruses.

In all, Areas I will avooid:

where in areas not well ventalated,
In all crowded areas even if outside.
Indoors at all timeswhere there are other people .
On all forms of transportation.

This is to protect me. And I recommend similar precautions for all of you whomay be immuno-suppressed or at high risk from the infection.

2. Crowds. Looks like the crowds are back to stay.

When attendance caps were in place at 1/3 capacity and the crowds were less, I thought this was great. But at that time I wasn’t ready to venture back to the Magic.

Now the crowds seem to be at full capacity again. Which means longer lines, fuller buses, crowded stores and restaurants. Just more people everywhere.

This may mean places, events, or, and times that I will not attend. But “Oh well, what can you do?” It’s not going to keep me away.

3. Now on to some of the biggest changes. Genie+

The institution of Genie+ plus and the demise of fast pass plus. Like everyone, I don’t like having to pay for something that was free in the past.

Will I buy it anyway? I haven’t decided.

If I do, it will only be in Hollywood Studios and maybe in Magic Kingdom for one day.

Disney Genie is a complimentary trip-planning service, Disney Genie+ is a paid service that lets you use a Lightning Lane entrance to bypass the standby line on select attractions, and individual attraction selections allow you to pay to skip the line on up to two high-demand attractions per day.
The Complete Guide to Disney Genie and Genie+ (2022)

The cost isn’t my only complaint about Genie+. No it’s that it takes Over. It rules your day. Trying to get that must do ride. Refreshing and refreshing until it pops p sooner than 8 PM. With Fastpass plus you knew at least for the first three passes when and where you were going before you started your day.

Genie+ doesn’t do that for you. You schedule passes as you go, one at a time. Or rather Genie+ schedules them for you because you get the next available time and that may be hours from now.

Not good for those of us who are obsessive about knowing in advance what I’m going to do so that I can work my day around it. Crazy, I know

4. Changes to the DAS (Disability Access System).

DAS is intended for Guests who have difficulty tolerating extended waits in a conventional queue environment due to a disability.

This system has changed in the last year and all for the better I think.

Important Pre-Registration and DAS Advance Planning Update -/

Eligible Guests can now pre-register for DAS in advance, virtually with a Cast Member, using live video chat. Please note that you may pre-register as soon as 30 days in advance of a park visit, but no less than 2 days before arrival. During the registration chat, you will be able to work with a Cast Member to book up to 2 one-hour return windows for select experiences using our new DAS Advance planning option (you may also make additional DAS selections on the day of your visit). Please note that all park visits must be within 30 to 2 days of the live chat. https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/disability-access-service/

As you can see you can now register for DAS 30 days prior to your trip to Disney World. You do this via your phone or computer and you talk with a cast member directly.

You can request DAS passes for attractions on My Disney Experience now. You no longer have to traipse halfway across the park to get the, in person.
If you register for DAS before (at least two days before) your visit you will get 2 initial DAS passes. This is a real perk..

Will I get a DAS pass.? Of course I will. A month before I go, too.

Well I use it? Again the answer is yes, but in a limited way. I use it only for those rides with queues I cannot navigate Safely do to my vision issues., Where the queues are too dark or have areas of bright light and deep shadow. Or wher queues are narrow, twisting, or with repeated switchbacks that I impossible with an ECV.

The downside of this, of course, is that some of these queues are wonderful and actually part all the experience itself. Using the disability entrance you miss all of this.

Can you use DAS with Genie+?

You can use them in tantam I understand. But I don’t know how this will actually work in practice. I’ll have to wait and see.

In most parks and on most days I plan on using DAS only, and forgo the cost of Genie+.

5. Park Pass Reservations.

Since the parks reopened in July 2020 Disney instituted a new system. Park Pass Reservations in order to limit attendance in specific parks and decrease crowds.

Though the daily caps seem to be back to near normal, it looks like the park pass registration is still in place and likely to remain there. Why? So Disney can better control which parks visitors can visit on a particular day. They can spread out the overall Walt Disney World attendance among the four parts. And it’s also partially I’m marketing tool, I think.

But I don’t like it! It limits spontaneity And being able to tailor your visit the way you want.

Park passes don’t give you the same flexibility. They lock yo=u into which park you start your day in months in advance. You can still park hop but not until 2:00 PM. And you have to check in to whichever park you have a pass to before you can hop to another park.

What if the day you have a pass for Animal Kingdom turns out to be an all day torrential rain. Animal Kingdom is the worst park to be caught in a downpour with its open spaces and little in the way of cover.
Try to change your reservation at the last minute. It’s tricky. You have to cancel your park registration first. By the time you see if there is availability in and park And find there isn’t one, Thert may no longer be availability in your original park. Without a park pass of some kind you won’t be able to visit any other parks on that day.
!The system is the pits!

6. Mobile Ordering and My Disney Experience

For most quick service restaurants rg=h is now the vogue. This is overall A good thing. It decreases the waits in lines andnavigating tight restaurant interiors.

I’m all for it. But I do have two complaints related specifically to those with disabilities.

There are lmitations to how fexible the app is and what it can’t do with regard to customer service. Although you can customize your orders to a certain extent not all substitutions are available on the app. And special requests can’t be done here either.
Second complaint – you cannot ask the app that food be packed to go. When I’m on my own in an ECV orwith a walker I can’t carry my food on a tray. You can ask as you pick it up for the cast member to then package it and I always bring my own bags and ziplocks. But both of these take time and hold up the line for those behind me. Which may not make your fellow visitors happy. I’ve had more than one experience where the cast member handing me my meal was quite put out by the request, reducing me to tears. Not a good thing.

Lastly the My Disney eExperience app itself

This has changed in the last few years. It has improved in some ways. But the whole system hasevikved so that you can’t do anything in the parks without it anymore.

And those tiny screens are nearly impossible to read. It’s a bright sunny day the screens are invisible.

Oh I know having everything in one place, in the palm of your hand is wonderful. At least for those who read the silly thing.

But for those like me who are not at all tech savvy it can be a hassle.

In conclusion.

There have been many changes in Walt Disney World in the last two years. Some good. Some not so good. But I think they’re here to stay. We have to take them in stride and not let them ruin our enjoyment of the Magic.

I don’t plan on letting then rcamp my style.

Thanks for reading

Pat

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