Your Best SGTs

[joanna71985]

Nothing comes to mind, other than SGs who use their wheelchairs/strollers as lethal weapons, but I think the best is yet to come when Both Coasts change the rules and regulations around the new DAS passes (formerly known as GACs) next month. This will be a HUGE culture shock for the legit and non-legit "Special accomodation" pass holders.....basically the DAS pass will function much as a FastPass with a designated return time AND the applicant of such pass will be photographed AND required to be with the group who boards the attraction-no more using your 108-year-old Granny's pass to go on Space Mountain without her.
I can definitely sympathize with the legit holders who are shocked at the changes and will be restricted in new ways, but may be things will shift back to the way Special Accomodations should be.

I didn't start a new thread because we should have one for this from a First Person Perpective

I will say this- even though the change is due, I am very happy to no longer be in attractions

[WEDFan]

I can definitely sympathize with the legit holders who are shocked at the changes and will be restricted in new ways, but may be things will shift back to the way Special Accomodations should be.

So, since I have no familiarity with the workings of GACS at all, I was curious what kind of changes this will mean for legitimate users. What are the new restrictions they will see? Is it more a matter of getting used to a different way of doing things, or will it really have a negative impact for them?

It seems like cutting down on the fraudulent or abusive use would be worth some inconvenience overall, but I realize it's not impacting me so it's probably a lot easier for me to make statements like that. About all I can equate it to is my experience with handicapped parking tags for parents. I refuse to use the tag if the person it was issued to is not with us, or is staying in the car. I've always felt it was worse for someone connected to a person with real needs to abuse these things.

[Zazu]

So, since I have no familiarity with the workings of GACS at all, I was curious what kind of changes this will mean for legitimate users. What are the new restrictions they will see? Is it more a matter of getting used to a different way of doing things, or will it really have a negative impact for them?

It will have an impact, and many will see it as negative. But it looks like the new system will be more fair, and the negative is that GAC holders will not longer be given preference in attraction boarding.

For example, many attractions at the Magic Kingdom were built long before accommodations for wheelchairs were common, much less federally mandated. As a result, these attractions can't "mainstream" a guest in a wheelchair, and there may be very little space for them to wait using an alternate entrance. As a result, wheelchair parties would often be boarded more quickly than other guests simply because there was no good place for them to wait.

Other attractions have seats reserved for guests in wheelchairs, and there the wheelchair queue is entirely independent of the regular queue, and no good reason why it shouldn't be. Often this puts wheelchair parties at an advantage, at other times (like one day when 23 guests in wheelchairs all arrived to ride the WDWRR at once) when they will be at a distinct disadvantage. The new system can prevent letting them on "early", but the wheelchair capacity of the attraction will still rule in other cases.

Overall, I think it's probably going to be a good thing, if only because it will piss off all the cheaters. The honest GAC guests who have been taking advantage of shorter waits will now join the rest of us.

Of course, with Fastpass+ looking to take over almost all attractions, the real losers will be those who can't or don't book their Fastpasses in advance, or who can't keep up with the schedule. SWMBO has decided that in future she'll show up at opening, ride just one attraction, then go home -- figuring the rest will all be fully booked by then. I hope she's wrong.

[avengador1]

Here is the latest on the policy change.
http://whnt.com/2013/09/23/disney-chang ... ion-lines/

Under the new DAS guests with special needs be allowed to return to rides at a certain time, similar to the parks’ Fastpass system.

“Return times will be set to the current stand-by wait time for the ride or show, so that there’s no time advantage to using DAS over waiting in line. Also, visitors with disabilities must be present and ride in order for others in their party to be admitted through the DAS return line,” according to Themeparkinsider.com.

Unlike the Fastpass, however, the DAS would be issued only at Guest Relations offices and would only allow guests to reserve one ride during any particular time slot.

Another reported new feature will require a disabled guest using the program to have their photo taken and printed on the front of the DAS card to prevent abuse.

[GaTechGal]

The folks I feel sorry for are the families with autistic kids that just can't wait or that have to be coaxed onto rides that they really enjoy once they get on. For these families to have to wait until a DAC fastpass time comes up just may not work

[WEDFan]

Informative as usuual, Zazu. Thanks.

Overall, I think it's probably going to be a good thing, if only because it will piss off all the cheaters. The honest GAC guests who have been taking advantage of shorter waits will now join the rest of us.

That was pretty much what I thought the upshot would be. Essentially, it is enacting the policy that has always been there, if I'm understanding correctly, since the GAC never actually guaranteed a shorter wait time.

Of course, with Fastpass+ looking to take over almost all attractions, the real losers will be those who can't or don't book their Fastpasses in advance, or who can't keep up with the schedule. SWMBO has decided that in future she'll show up at opening, ride just one attraction, then go home -- figuring the rest will all be fully booked by then. I hope she's wrong.

Here's hoping she's wrong, although dining seems to have gotten that way. I am fearful that many people will reserve as many Fastpass slots as they can, and then not show up, much as they did with dining. Of course, we're not huge users of Fastpass anyway. We get in the big attractions early before it gets busy and only use Fastpass for a handful such as the Safari and Soarin'.

Here is the latest on the policy change.
http://whnt.com/2013/09/23/disney-chang ... ion-lines/

If that's correct, it does sound like it will be a little awkward if you have to return to Guest Relations for each attraction, or if you have to plan out your entire day at the start of it. I would have hoped that once you got the assistance card with photo, you could swing by an attraction and get something with a return time based on the current stand-by wait. Then when you return, show both the photo assistance card and the return time voucher/slip/whatever.

[Zazu]

If that's correct, it does sound like it will be a little awkward if you have to return to Guest Relations for each attraction, or if you have to plan out your entire day at the start of it. I would have hoped that once you got the assistance card with photo, you could swing by an attraction and get something with a return time based on the current stand-by wait. Then when you return, show both the photo assistance card and the return time voucher/slip/whatever.

As I understand it, other than Fastpass+, which disabled guests will be able to use like anyone else, the new system will issue Fastpasses at each attraction -- guests will not be oblige to return to Guest Relations to get them.

Of course, this is good news for attractions cast, as it means every attraction will now require a greeter trained in the program. It will return staffing levels back to where they were during the age of ticket books, or more.

Frankly, I'd rather see the Parks return to the ticket books. It seemed to work well to limit the queues at the more popular attractions. Sell them only at the Park entrance, and every extra ticket takes an extra trip, soaking up even more time. And yes, this could be implemented with MagicBands; I don't fancy wasting all that paper. Plus, unused tickets could expire at the end of the day, providing additional revenue.

The number of tickets would be easy to calculate based on the capacity of all of the rides in each category, and might be adjusted when one is down. It could also exact a tax for park hopping, if the remaining tickets in each category were smaller at the second Park.

Hmm. Need to get together with accounting about this....

[ktulu]

There will be kiosks, staffed by GR, around the parks so users of the new system can get their return times.

[Zazu]

There will be kiosks, staffed by GR, around the parks so users of the new system can get their return times.

As usual, I get better and more complete information here and at fan websites than I do from the Company.

[ktulu]

As usual, I get better and more complete information here and at fan websites than I do from the Company.

I just spew what I reads on the intertubes!