DisLove Podcast with Vanessa and Kris

How Disney, Universal, And SeaWorld Handle Disability Access

Vanessa Ferguson and Kris Johns Season 7 Episode 164

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We compare disability accommodations at Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld and share what actually reduces stress for our autistic daughter. Clear steps, honest pros and cons, and practical tips help you plan smarter and advocate with confidence.

• why we pivot to focus on accessibility
• sponsors: BabyQuip gear and Where in the Park game
• when older kids outgrow “make do” strategies
• Disney DAS pre-arrival video chat and app setup
• linking family, photo capture, return-time basics
• coordinating DAS with Lightning Lane for larger groups
• Universal’s IBCCES paperwork and phone interview
• difference between AAP and queue re-entry
• realistic expectations for staff awareness and rejoining lines
• SeaWorld’s Certified Autism Center training and tools
• day-of registration, sensory guides, quiet spaces
• how to choose based on your child’s queue tolerance
• reminders to advocate and adjust as needs change

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SPEAKER_02

Welcome to the Diz Love Podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa Ferguson.

SPEAKER_00

And I'm Chris Johns.

Why Share Our Accessibility Journey

SPEAKER_02

We would like to welcome you to show number 164. And for anyone joining us for the first time, our show features things we love at Disney. And in each episode, we typically have a guest who creates Disney magic for our listeners at home or on their Disney vacations. From vacation planners to product producers, our guests can bring Disney magic into your life. And today we're going to do something a little bit different. For any of you who've been following the news lately, there have been a lot of changes with services that are able to be offered at Disney Parks. And we are going to be working with some of our past guests to bring back some of them who are still allowed to provide services on your trips, as well as featuring our vendors who provide shirts and all kinds of fun things that you can enjoy on your trips and beyond. But today, while we're in the midst of working on some of those things, Chris thought that it would be a good idea. We've shared a lot about our life and things that we do on vacation. We talk about lots of things we like, like food and the different tours and attractions and all those different things that we like to go on, which is true.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, we do.

Sponsors: Baby Gear And Park Scavenger Hunt

SPEAKER_02

But one thing that we haven't shared a lot about is things about disability accommodations and how that works for our family. So our daughter is on the spectrum. She has autism. And one of the things that we have been navigating the last few years is how to get those accommodations when we go on our Disney vacations. Now, why this is different now is because for this particular trip, we are going to all of the three, I would say the three big parks, wouldn't you say?

SPEAKER_00

Oh yes.

SPEAKER_02

So we're going to one of the Disney parks. We're going to Epcot. We have an upcoming trip. And then a couple days later, we're going to a Universal Park. We're going to Epic Universe. And then the day after that, we are going to SeaWorld in Orlando. So we have navigated this process at all of these three parks. And one of the things that we found doing our research is that there's not a lot of good information out there.

SPEAKER_00

There is not.

SPEAKER_02

And I will say we are good paperwork people. Would you say that's true?

SPEAKER_00

Vanessa's much better than me, but I would say if Vanessa's the varsity, I'm a junior varsity paperwork person.

SPEAKER_02

Yes. So we've gone through this process. And now what we wanted to do is share that experience with all of you. Because when we've done our research, I found a lot of people that showed how to use the Das Pass at Disney and different things like that, which we have used before, but this time it was a good comparison to see how it works across the board for all three parks. So if you don't have a family member with a disability, and maybe you can tag or share this with someone you know who has that in their family to help them navigate a little better. And anybody that we might be able to help, we hope that this is useful for you and can make your vacation planning a little bit easier. So a little bit about now before we get started, we have some things that we like to always talk about. Now we appreciate for anybody listening to go and leave us a review that helps more listeners find us and of course helps the show grow. And when we're talking about families and some of the different things that we're gonna be looking at, one of the things that is important no matter what little ones you may have coming with you is looking at all of the different equipment and things that you might need on your trip. And Chris has a message from our friends Eric and Alexa at BabyQuip.

SPEAKER_00

When you take your little ones to Disney World or Central Florida, leave your equipment at home.

SPEAKER_02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Let Baby Quip take care of all of your needs. And I know we use them for strollers. We use them in the past, we're gonna use them again. And they also have ones for younger kids. You know, Vanessa knows more about all the inventory, but the main thing is make life easy. Forget about having to like everything in the car, put it on the plane. Just work with Eric and Alexa. They'll take care of you. Baby Quip is awesome, awesome, wonderful customer service. They're gonna bring those items right to your hotel. And then what's great is when you're done with your trip, they will come and pick it up. The people the gentlemen who bring it to your room are wonderful. You're spending a lot of money. Spend a couple more dollars with Baby Quip. Make your life easier.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, and I will put the link in the show notes to be able to book with Eric and Alexa. And Chris is right for our next upcoming trip. Our daughter is a little older, but they still have strollers that we're able to get for her, which is great because no matter how big your older one little ones get, they tend to not want to walk as far as you have to do at Disney. So I will make sure to put the link in the show notes for you to be able to connect with them. And one more person that we or one more um great vendor that we love to highlight because we're gonna be talking about families and things that families can enjoy. And I will say, I think knowing just some of our families that we've known in the special needs community, I think these products would be amazing for them too, because so many little ones are super into details and learning more about things. And our friends Kevin and Amanda from Where in the Park can help you do just that.

SPEAKER_00

What's awesome about what they have is Where in the Park is it's a scavenger hunt. You're gonna see things you've never seen before because you're gonna be challenged to find items across the park. You're gonna have cards that have clues, and if you have a keen eye, an eagle eye, you're gonna find these things. And if not, they're gonna give you clues to help. We've done it multiple times. We did it with them when we were out in California. We had a wonderful time. And what's awesome is that you might be going to Disney again. Like, for example, we'll be going to Epcot. Their game, We're in the Park, will challenge you to see things that you walk past a thousand times, ten thousand times, but you've never really noticed. And that's the great thing is that you're gonna get more value out of your trip. And what it does is it also makes it fun. And if you're a person like myself who at this point now is probably a professional line stander, you know, I do have the things I enjoy, but my main thing is making sure that Karis has a great time. Um, and it's a seek in fun, find fun at the theme parts. It's a it's a great game. And so again, please go to wearinthepark.com, use that promo code and have even more fun your next trip.

Growing Needs And When To Seek Accommodations

Disney DAS: How The Process Works

SPEAKER_02

Yes, and I will put the link in the show notes with the promo code that DizLove10, so you can save 10% off your next order. And I have a pack of from FCOT that I'm gonna be taking back with that we haven't finished up that we will be doing using on our next trip. So moving on to our actual content for the show. So again, we hope that this will be able to help a lot of you. We know this deviates from our standard show. So some of you, we hope that if this isn't of use for you, that you can share it with someone who can be able to use this for their family moving forward. So, one of the things that we have found is when our daughter was younger, it was easier to manage the parks because if she had any challenges, one of us could scoop her up and it was easy to navigate her in and out, and there's the baby care centers and all of that. But as little ones get older and they have these different needs, if they are on the spectrum or whatever special need they may have, you'll find that you will need to probably look into these different accommodations. We did not start looking into this until last year when our daughter was a little older and she couldn't just be in the stroller all the time. Chris couldn't just scoop her up in the line. We needed to look for some different options. So we started to explore what was out there. One of the things that you will hear in the any of the Disney communities or that is people talking about most of these accommodations are designed for individuals who are on the spectrum or have other um needs that relate to those sorts of things. And when you look at this, this is not typically these accommodations are not typically given for any physical or mobile mobility issues. So keep that in mind if you are exploring options for your family. Um, so when we look at this, we're gonna break it down by each park. So Disney is one that we have actually already used, and the process is meant to be able to look to help and provide some support for people who might have sensory overload, anxiety, difficulty remaining in one place for an extended period of time. So Disney has the DAS Pass, which is the Disability Access Service, and this requires you to have a video chat with someone from Disney. One of the things that I was a little nervous about because people talk about it in a lot of different forums. What do I need? Information do I need? What am I going to have to share with them? What types of questions are they going to ask? And I've now done this twice with our daughter. And one of the things is that they're they will ask you different questions. So if you've done it in the past, know that the next time you talk to somebody, it might be different questions that they ask. But the types of things, so what happens is you go to the link on the Disney website and I will post the link in the show notes. And essentially you start with a chat mechanism where it asks you, when are you going to be traveling? Is your child with you? All of these different things. And then after a few short questions, they will ask if they can send you a video link to do a chat. Now, here's some things that I didn't realize the first time that we did it. You need to make sure that you are linked to everyone in your My Disney Experience app that will be at the parks with you during that trip. So my parents were with us, and we had a relative who lives in the Central Florida area that would be joining us some of the times. So anyone who may be with the child in the park during that time, make sure that their tickets have already been purchased and they are linked to you on your My Disney Experience account. Because when you do the call with a person, you do the video chat, they are going to link the DAS Pass on your My Disney Experience based on those dates that you say and the members of your travel party. So when you they send you the video link, it pops up, and you're going to have a five to 10 minute conversation with the person on the other end. Both people that we have talked with at both times have been very friendly and nice. And they just have asked questions like what are our daughter's needs? What sorts of things does she get? Accommodations does she get in school. What are now here's the thing that people always get a little nervous about. They are not going to ask you specific diagnoses, they're not going to ask for your medical records. They just want to see what is your child's typical day like, and what is would your child's day be like if they were in a very crowded sensory overload environment like a Disney park. And this it was it's just been me and our daughter for both of those calls. At the end, they will take a photo of them. So they'll ask them to look at the camera if they do approve those accommodations for your child. And so that our daughter is hard to get her to look and pose for a picture, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00

It sure is.

SPEAKER_02

I will say that was probably the hardest part of the call. So they ask you a few questions, and then if you do get approved, they will take that photo. And then it will simply what will happen is it gets attached to your account. And when you enter a Disney park during your planned trip and you open up the My Disney Experience app, the DAS pass will pop up. And we're not going to spend a lot of time talking about all of the accommodations in the parks in this episode. We just want to talk about the process of getting it done. But when you get there, it's very easy to use. It does allow up to three people in your party to join that child. So how it works is that you get you select a ride just like you would for a lightning lane or old school fast passes. You select a ride, and let's say it's for frozen ever after, because we're going to Epcot and the wait time is 70 minutes on the Das Pass. When you look on the app, it's going to give you some times that are at least 70 minutes from now. So you're going to wait the same amount of time that anybody who is in line waits, but you are going to be waiting outside of the queue. So you can be in Norway. You could take them, let's say, like our daughter has a very difficult time being still in one space. Even at school, they take her out. She goes for walks in the hallway and she has like a rocker chair for sitting. So we can take her to the bakery. She can get a snack. We can walk around and look at at some of the shops and different things like that. But we will still be waiting the same amount of time before we get on the ride. Now at Disney with the DAS Pass, that covers the person that has a pass along with three others. So what does that mean? Like for instance, when we go this next time, my parents are going with us. So that gives us four people. So what that means is you would purchase the lightning lane for anyone above the number covered by the disability pass. So when we were there in December, we had some more family with us. So two people in our party purchased the lightning lane. And so it does take a little bit of coordination. You have to have, like I would have my app open, and my dad would have his app open, and they would book a lightning lane as close to the disability return time as possible. So you're not, you're still having to, it's not like a free ride. You're still having to cover those costs of Lightning Lane for any other members of your party. I just booked Lightning Lane for our trip next week because we were, we do need a lightning lane for one person. So that pass allows you to do everything mobile on your phone and you get that return time. So that's how the disability pass and how the process of getting that works at Disney. I like that it's digital. I like that it did not involve a lot of paperwork. I know not everybody gets approved for it. And I know you don't get approved, you might not get approved every time. It depends on the circumstances in your family at that point in time. So don't assume that you're going to get it when you get on the call. Just be honest about what's going on in your family at that point and how your child handles things at this particular time in their life. And then if they do get approved, it it's very, I felt like it's a very supportive environment. I did not feel like it was very intrusive at all. So Disney, pretty straightforward. Um, we'll report, we're going to Tokyo Disney this summer. We'll have to talk about they have some different disability accommodations over there. So this is a Disney podcast. We talk about Disney all the time. We're going to Universal for the I don't even know how long ago we went to Long Town. Yeah. Our daughter loves Mario, so we want to go to Epic Universe and go to Super Nintendo World. Universal's process is completely different. I will say that they have two different accommodations where Disney you either get the Das Pass or you don't get anything. So there's no in-between. At Universal, they have what they call two different levels of accommodation. I found their process very onerous, and there was a lot of time that went into it. Disney, I think maybe in total, I spent about 30 minutes time. I spent close to three hours of the time for Universal. And if I had known what it was what it was in the end, I probably might not have even bothered with it. I felt like and I I feel hesitant because we are, I would say we're Disney people.

SPEAKER_00

We sure are.

SPEAKER_02

Um we're excited and we're looking forward to our time at Universal, but the Universal um experience so far has not met the same standard of what the Disney one has. So they have two different options. So first, what you have to do with Universal is they have kind of outsourced part of their process. You have to register for it's called the IBCCES. And this is a outside company that works with a lot of different theme parks around the world. And you submit, I downloaded the app, but they're uh kind of a global accessibility. I had to look it up, but it's a long name. International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards. Uh, it's very long and when what it is is essentially they will you have to upload medical records. I had to upload evaluations from some of our daughter's therapists to verify a disability. So they say that you don't have to provide your diagnoses, but I don't know how you can not provide that because you have to have a doctor's letter or you have to provide notes from a recent evaluation. If your child has an IEP, you can upload that. So they're getting a lot of personal information.

SPEAKER_00

A lot because Vanessa was telling me what she had to provide.

SPEAKER_02

So they are uh though they do focus on accessibility for autism and neurodiversity. So they they're experts in this area. Um, and you upload the documentation, you have to upload a photo of your child. So they have a lot of personal information, and then they do a review process. Their review process was pretty fast. I think I got an email back in less than 24 hours showing that we had been approved for the IBCCES pass, and within it you had to pick which theme park you were going to. So there's Knottsbury Farm and all the different Universal parks and some other ones. Then they list that they are going to forward that onto Universal. So there's an office in Universal that then reviews what they have approved you for, then they send you kind of a pre-approval. So I got an email from Universal. Then from there, you have to wait. You will receive a phone call with up to 48 hours before your first date at a Universal Park. So I received our phone call seven days prior to our visit to uh Universal Theme Park. And here's the thing about the call that I found kind of annoying. They don't give you any windows of time, they don't give you a date, they just say answer your phone when you get your call.

SPEAKER_00

I remember you talking about that.

SPEAKER_02

So last yesterday we were driving to dance class, my daughter's dance class, and uh when we're about five minutes away, I get a 407 call. So I thought, oh no, I need to answer this. I answer it. Then a nice person got on, told me a little bit about what they were calling for, and then guess what they did? They said, Oh, we're gonna connect you to the person who's gonna do your interview. They put me on hold for 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_00

Really?

SPEAKER_02

Why didn't they just call me 20 minutes later when the second person was getting on the line? That's what I don't understand. So we arrived at my daughter's dance class. We ended up being 15 minutes late to her class because we were sitting in the parking lot waiting for this person to get back on the call. So they got back on the call, they answered asked us a few questions, and then um they said that our daughter would be eligible for what they call the attraction assistance pass. I said, okay, is it is it something that will be in the app? Will I have something to show? And they said, no, you have to at every ride tell the the person who's working there that you would like this AAP, which what this means is that um we all enter the queue. And if when our daughter needs to walk around or if she needs to use the restroom, or if she just is just being a little overwhelmed in the line, one or two of us in our party can leave, and then we have to cut through everyone, and then the person at the exit, when we're ready to rejoin our party, will either have us cut back through the line, or on some of the attractions, there is a back way that we might be able to get back to like the actual loading queue. But they said that varies by ride, they don't give us the information of what rides that is, and they said a lot of the employees are not familiar with it. So the person on the phone said, just make sure you're very insistent about ADA accessibility. And I think in the three or four minutes I actually spoke to the universal representative, they kept saying, make sure that you say they need to provide ADA accessibility. So Americans with Disability Act, for anyone that might not be familiar with that terminology. So this accommodation essentially is that we get in line and then as soon as we get need to get out of line, we have to push through the line and then we have to push back through. The line again, which I feel like I'm hoping it works better than it sounds, but it doesn't sound like a good accommodation.

SPEAKER_00

Correct. It does not sound good.

SPEAKER_02

So we will see how this works. We'll again we'll report. They do have um, so it's essentially it's called. I'm sorry, we did not get the attractions assistance pass. I I misspoke. We actually got the attraction queue re-entry process. So the attraction assistance pass, I said the wrong. See, there's so many acronyms. That is the one where you get a return time, like at Disney. It's essentially you see something in the app, you select that time and you wait whatever that time is. So that was the AAP. I'm sorry, I had the wrong terminology. We received the attraction queue re-entry process. So the attraction queue re-entry process is exactly what I said. Um, here's the summary that Universal N sent us. Enter the queue with your entire family. If you must exit the queue, your travel party will remain in line. When you're ready to return, inform the attraction greeter and they will assist you in rejoining your party. So there's no return time issued. And for me, I don't have a problem. I understand that that AAP, that attractions assistance pass isn't going to go to anyone. But I think what my concern is, is I spent a lot of time. There was up, I think it was close to three hours of time. At some point in the process, from what I've read now, that they tend to lean more towards the secondary, this attraction queue re-entry. If they tend to do that, I feel like earlier in the process they could let people know that. I feel like it is a way to, I think it's just going to cause more stress. And I'm actually a little nervous about it because I know coming in and out of the queue, people are not always the nicest when you're in line, even when we've had to just run to the bathroom or something. So we'll see how it goes. Um, but it's not really an accommodation if they're just saying that it's ADA compliance. So they should just publish that on their website and say you can request this. I don't think you need to go through the process for something like that.

SPEAKER_00

Agreed.

SPEAKER_02

So this is the universal one. We'll see. We'll report back on now how all of these go.

SPEAKER_00

Vanessa definitely knows how to share her opinion.

SPEAKER_02

Well, and I think, and now that we got this, I started researching. And if you look on a lot of these forums, a lot of families have uh said that they go through this long process and they get this. So if it's the default, they should kind of make that just more evident.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SeaWorld’s Certified Approach And Day-Of Setup

Two Minute Trivia and Wisdom From Walt Quote

SPEAKER_02

Now the last one, which I'm excited about because I feel like it should be hopefully the smoothest, and it's the least amount of stress. It's the least amount of, I think, extra work. And let's just be honest, for any families that have kids with special needs, you know you are always making phone calls, you're always waiting, you're always doing paperwork for everything. Look how much we've been doing a lot of paperwork even this week. Yes, we have. Um, so the last place that we are doing the disability registration is at SeaWorld. They don't require any advanced calls, they don't require you to go through that IBC CES read registration. SeaWorld Orlando is designated as a certified autism center, which means that all of their employees have autism-specific training. So their process is fairly simple. You go you go to register at guest services when you arrive, and they have a similar process, like Disney, where you get return times, and they also have um some sensory spaces where kids who have like sensory overload can go to decompress. So they have sensory guidelines that they'll give you that will outline which attractions in the different stimulation levels. So if you have little ones that really struggle in those areas. So I'm hoping, and everything I've read shows that SeaWorld is very accommodating in those areas. But in terms of the registration process and doing anything, it's just the day of when you arrive at the park, you go to guest services. Yes. Now, SeaWorld and Disney, they also give you that option if you have to go to guest services the day that you arrive because you aren't able to do some of these things. I know at Disney, the one time I had to add somebody to our pass at Universal, they say sometimes you have to wait a while. They might give you a couple hours where you have to come back and talk to someone. Um, but that rounds out the big three and all of the different things. So when you are looking at if you are going to apply for any of these different accommodations, one of the things that you want to think about and ask is can your child tolerate a traditional cue? And that, of course, is going to change over time. When our daughter was younger, it was easier for her to stand in those cues. As she's gotten older, there's different challenges that we face with that. So that's something that if you know that being in a traditional queue can be a challenge for your child, that's something to consider. And if you think that it's no big deal, they'll put their headphones on and they'll be fine. Um, then you might not need to take the time to explore these different options. As we know, it's important for you to advocate for whatever your child needs and whatever you think is best for them. It's important to not be shy away from asking for that accessibility and knowing what your family needs at that point in time. As I mentioned, when our daughter was younger, we didn't explore these options, but as she's gotten older, we have looked at these different options. So we'll report back on how all of these different experiences are at each of the parks and using the different systems. We just wanted to share our experience of the prep and what you had to do in advance, especially because we did it for all three of the parks for one trip because we are doing one day at Disney. We're going to Detroit Tiger Spring training, and then we're doing the day at Universal and the Day at SeaWorld. So just wanted to share those experiences with all of you and hopefully help each of you in your planning and helping others out there who might be facing those same sorts of things. So now we're done wrapping up a very serious topic, and we are going to go on to our two-minute trivia and our wisdom from Wald.

SPEAKER_00

All right, Vanessa. So the question is of, and this is according to the internet. Okay. Of all Disney visitors, and I'm going to use some of these terms loosely, will you let's just say Disney World. Okay. How many Disney World visitors have a DAS Pass? What percentage?

SPEAKER_02

Like a as of like 2025-ish?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, it's it's recent. I think it's 2024 is the last number, but what is available on the internet if you were to say there's a hundred percent of all visitors, how what percentage of those people have a dash pass?

SPEAKER_02

Eight percent.

SPEAKER_00

You are exactly right.

SPEAKER_02

For real? Yes. That was a total guess.

SPEAKER_00

And you're exactly right. And again, this is according to the internet.

SPEAKER_02

Sure.

SPEAKER_00

And here's the next question. What percentage of Lightning Lane guests are das pass holders?

SPEAKER_02

Well, technically, we would be that sort of person, right? Because we bought Lightning Lane and we have Das Pass.

SPEAKER_00

Again, I'm going with what the internet said.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, we're gonna say 3%.

SPEAKER_00

50%.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, so half of the 8%.

SPEAKER_00

No, no, half of all Lightning Lane users are DAS Pass holders.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, okay. I see what you're saying.

SPEAKER_00

But excellent guess in the first one.

A Small Moment Of Inclusion And Closing

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that was crazy that I got it right. Well, and the one thing we should mention is these are not accommodations just for children. If you have adults in your family that are on the spectrum, adult children or adult family members, like a brother or a sister or another relative or a friend that you're traveling with, they are also eligible to be considered for these different accommodations. So don't just think it's for children. We're just speaking from our experience with our daughter who's younger. Um, but very interesting information out there. Now, I thought that this Walt, this Walt quote was perfect because it kind of falls under the thing that we know all of our kids and loved ones who are on the spectrum or maybe face other challenges and other disabilities. I thought this fit well with it. Everyone falls down. Getting back up is how you learn how to walk. And so that I think is a great inspiration, just seeing all of the different things that our kids and loved ones can are able to accomplish and overcome. And it's nice to be able to have a chance to relax and enjoy time at the parks with them in a place that they can be who they are. And you'll get a chance to meet other families that have similar challenges. It's not always the same type of thing. Um, one I have to share this quick story before we wrap up the show. Um, when we were at Disney last December, we were in the bathroom at the land, and this mom, when my daughter and I come out of the stall, and this mom is waiting there, and she goes, I don't want to sound weird, but my daughter wanted to wait and meet your daughter because she saw she my our daughter wears orthotic shoes and she has inserts. She used to wear SMOs, which are like the little braces. And this little girl had a limb difference and had a ray shoe and had orthotic shoes, and she had never met anybody who had that. So the girls had a special moment, they got a picture. It was just nice to be in an environment that is accepting of everybody, no matter who they are and what challenges they may face. So we hope this episode, while a little bit different than our normal, is helpful to some of you out there. And remember, it's important to find the system that works best for your family. So thank you so much for joining us on this episode of the Diz Love Podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa. And I'm Chris.