DisLove E165: We Put Three Theme Park Access Systems To The Test

A disability accommodation can make the difference between a day that feels doable and a day that melts down before lunch, so we put three major Florida parks side by side and talk about what happened when the plans met reality. We just visited EPCOT, Universal Epic Universe, and SeaWorld on the same trip, and we’re sharing an honest, on-the-ground comparison of each park’s accessibility approach for our daughter on the spectrum, including what felt supportive and what created extra stress.

At Disney, we walk through how the DAS Pass works inside the My Disney Experience app, what to expect once you enter the park, and how we coordinated DAS return times with Lightning Lane so our whole group could stay together. We also cover a real “rain day” problem: what happens when rides shut down and your DAS selection doesn’t clear, plus the simple guest services fix that got us moving again.

Universal brought a totally different experience. We break down the practical realities of queue re-entry, including the awkward timing, the “send a photo to prove where you are” moments, and why tight queues and lots of stairs can be tough even when waits are short. SeaWorld surprised us with a fast, paper-based process and a sensory guide that clearly explains what to expect on each attraction, which can be a game changer for families managing sensory overload.

If you’re planning accessible theme park travel, listen for the details, share this with a friend who needs it, and subscribe so you don’t miss our next trip debrief. After you listen, what park handled accommodations best for your family?

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Transcript

Welcome And Helpful Resources

SPEAKER_02 0:25

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

SPEAKER_00 0:29

And I'm Chris Johns.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

We would love to welcome you to show number 165. And for any listeners joining us for the first time, our show features things we love at Disney and helps you plan your Disney vacations. From vacation planners to product producers, our guests can bring Disney magic into your life. And sometimes we have special episodes like we are having today with just the two of us, sharing some of our knowledge and experience with things related to our Disney trips. And of course, as you listen, we appreciate if you can take time to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or anywhere you listen that helps listeners find the show and of course helps the show grow. And before we get started, Chris, we have a couple messages.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Our friends, Kevin and Amanda with Where in the Park, they have seek and find games. What they do, it's awesome. You're gonna get a if you love ripping packs of baseball cards, it's wonderful. You're gonna get a pack of cards. You're gonna see the park like you've never seen it before. And what it does is they're gonna give you clues on a card, and then you are tasked with roaming the park, finding the clues, answering the questions, and having an awesome time. Like, for example, we spent one day in Epcot. We could have used these cards because we've been to Epcot a lot. And in this case, it rained and we didn't have the full experience. We could have used these cards and truly gotten even more. We did this with them when we were in California, and it's one of those things where if you've been there, maybe not the first time you go to Disney, but if you've already been there five, 10, 15 times like Vanessa and I have been, it will open your eyes to things you've walked past sometimes a thousand times and never seen. It is awesome. So use the code DisLove10 in the show notes. Wear in the park, DisLove10, save 10%. See the parks if you've never seen them before.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

Yes, and they also have one. I was kind of disappointed on our last trip, they have one for Disney Springs that's all electronic. And Chris and I unfortunately we went and saw the Detroit Tigers play baseball and we didn't make it to Disney Springs.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

We did not.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

So check out their if you are short on time, check out their electronic game for Disney Springs. And we also have a message from our friends Eric and Alexa.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Yes, Eric and Alexa were baby quip, and they came through for us again. What they do is they allow parents to rent premium top-of-the-line brand new or near new equipment for their trip to Disney in Orlando. And what's wonderful about them is where Keris is still, while she is uh getting up there at age, she's not as fast as the other kids, or not definitely not as fast as Finess and I. And so sometimes she just needs a little help to get around the park. And to make it easy, we put her in the stroller, we push her around, and it also makes it easier because it gives us additional space to hold our items. But what's awesome is there's a couple of things. Number one, the prices are awesome, two, the customer service is even better, and three, the equipment is near new or new. And what's wonderful is that they're gonna drop it off to your resort, they're gonna pick it up from you. Wonderful service. They we what was the what's the campground name? We were at Fort Wilderness in the cabins. They came right to us and picked it up, made it easy. And again, oh, I'm gonna save a dollar by taking our stroller with us on the plane. It's not gonna happen. Make your life easy. Rent from Baby Quip, Eric and Alexa.

SPEAKER_02 3:41

Yes, so definitely check out their link in the show notes as well.

Trip Setup And Park Comparison

SPEAKER_02 3:45

And in our last episode, we talked about our upcoming trip, which Chris just alluded to that just happened. And we talked about the three parks, the three main the big three, I guess. I we live in Michigan, so when I think of big three, I think of the three big automakers. But um, in this case, we're talking about Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld, and we talked about the process of getting accommodations for anyone in your family that might need those. And today we're gonna talk about how they actually worked when we were at the parks. So I think Chris would agree with me. One was a close second, but hands down, Disney was the best when it came to this.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

By far. And here's the thing, here's how I judge that. In our office, which is our living room, Vanessa sits on the couch, I sit in my chair, and Vanessa by far made the fewest comments about Disney and the most comments about other parks.

SPEAKER_02 4:44

Yes. So when we got to Florida, though, and we were at the parks, we only had one day in each of the parks. So we had one day at uh Disney Park, we were at Epcot, we had one day at Universal at Epic Universe, and then we had one day at SeaWorld at their main park.

Disney DAS Pass In Real Use

SPEAKER_02 5:02

So with the we did do the pre-approval for the DAS Pass, the disability pass for Disney. It's a fairly smooth process. I will say most people have talked about how the process has changed in the last three year few years. Our daughter is on the spectrum. So when it comes to the interviews and that, they do tend to provide accommodations more to individuals who have some neurodivergent behaviors versus somebody who might have a physical disability. So please keep that in mind. The DAS Pass is all housed within the My Disney Experience app. And for someone who's using it for the first time, if you get approval for a child, a friend, a sibling, whoever it may be, it's important to note that it's really doesn't quite show up and it's not as evident until you enter the park. And we talked about in our last episode how you have to connect individuals who are going to be at the park with you that day. We were able to do that for myself in advance, but in the case of this actual visit to the parks, Chris and my parents who were also going with us, they all had ticket vouchers from way back when we had our vow renewal back. Long time. Yeah, a long time. So they didn't have a ticket that could be attached with the DASPASS prior to us entering the park. So it was a very seamless process. If you have someone that joins you unexpectedly, or if you are like buying your tickets that day, it was very easy at Epcot Guest Services. Not only did they handle our tickets, but they also added them all into the app and connected them with the DAS Pass as well. Now, I talked about in our last episode too, that you are only able to, with the Das Pass, you could get return times for three additional guests. And there are five of us that were in our party. It was very easy though. I had bought Lightning Lane for myself because I did have my ticket in advance. So we were very, it was very easy to coordinate Lightning Lane with Das Pass reservations because I think a lot of people might have a larger party than just three, plus the individual who has the pass. So it does take a little bit of coordination. You have to go back and forth in between sections. Like I would have to make a lightning lane for myself for a ride, and then I'd have to go out of the lightning lane section and go to the disability pass. And it brings up it's very similar. If you've done lightning lane, it will look very similar to you in the app when you pull it up. You do wait, however, the wait time is for that. So, for instance, one of the first rides we did is we entered in the International Gateway and we were made our way through the countries because we had a lunch reservation in Norway. And one of the first things that we did was I had a lightning lane for Frozen. Now, obviously, we couldn't get their disability pass return times until we entered the park. So as soon as we entered the park, I was able to get on the app. And I already had our read, I already had my lightning lane. I think it was for 12 to 1. As soon as we entered into the park, I was able to pull it up. And because there was, I think, only a 45-minute wait, I was able to book for the other three people plus our daughter the return time using the Das Pass. So we used Lightning Lane and Das Pass together. And one of the nice things is that anything that you can book for a Lightning Lane, you can book the Das Pass for. And here's one thing that can be a little stressful, and it was a learning curve for

Rain Closures And App Workarounds

SPEAKER_02 8:46

us. This was only our second time using it, but that day it rained. And what happened on that day because of the rain?

unknown 8:55

It closed.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

Oh, it closed.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

Like a lot of stuff closed. A lot of stuff closed, yes. Yeah. So we had a dash pass return time and a lightning lane set up for actually, it was just a dash pass because my mom wasn't gonna ride it for test track, and we made it over there and then the heavens opened and SAS started raiding. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

You know, sometimes these questions of NSAS are trick questions, and I don't know exactly what the right answer is. We got we hustled, we waddled over to test track, got there, and then the heavens just unleashed.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Yes. So what happens in the system until you use one of the DAS Pass reservations, it doesn't clear out of the system. So I ended up, we went to go ride Spaceship Earth because that had a fairly low wait time. We walked in the rain over there, and then it shut down. And I don't know what happened with Spaceship Earth. There was just something that day, a lot of rides were shutting down.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

It was just one of those days.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Yeah, it was one of those days. So we made it to Spaceship Earth, and lo and behold, it shut down, and we couldn't book something else. So I had to go to guest services to have them clear out the DAS Pass. So that's something important to note. If you don't use one or a ride shuts down or something, I think if you don't use it after a certain amount of time, it might clear out. But because the ride wasn't operating, I ended up I had to go to guest services to have them clear it out. Once they did that, it wasn't a big deal, but that's something to keep in mind. If you're thankfully, we weren't far from guest services in Epcot being near spaceship birth. But if you were in the back of the park or something, that might have been a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Speaking of back of the park, yes, we are DVC members. Yes, we got to go to the DVC lounge. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 10:41

So actually, actually, as soon as I got that cleared out, I was able to make a DAS Pass reservation for soaring. And I already had a lightning lane for me for soaring. And thankfully, we were able to get those to coincide. And while we were waiting, Chris is right, we went over to the DVC lounge. And because we have the membership extras, we were able to go in the evening when they have the special character meet and greet. So that was really wonderful. And that again is separate from anything related to Das Pass, but we had a great time up there. We got to get out of the rain.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

We did not need a dash pass to get up to the lounge.

SPEAKER_02 11:21

We just had to have the membership extras. We did have, I guess that's it. That one cost us something. Now the rest of the day was fairly seamless. I'm trying to think. We did frozen, we tried to do test track, we tried to do spaceship earth. We did end up doing soaring with it. We rode the land because there was no raw line. Um, Chris had to run back to do a quick work thing, and then we went to the lounge. We rode Figment, no line, and then we were able to secure towards the end of the night, we were able to get a DAS Pass return time for Ratatouille, which was very nice. And it I will say, I think something that at Disney that I find it's not a Disney perk, it's just I think a personal thing. I do enjoy when what happens is that with the Das Pass, you go through the Lightning Lane entrance and you run into a lot of families that have in like kids or whoever that has the Das Pass, and you just all kind of have a camaraderie because you've had the same experiences.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

Well, I think when you combine the Dash Pass and then the folks in scooter, mobility scooters, which is their right. I mean, uh, there's just the there's a lot of people who are needing additional help. Yeah. And so why not have a system that accommodates those folks with needs? Because I think the one upside is between the lightning lane, the single riders, you know, yes, you're you're gonna have times where you're gonna be waiting in line, but if you have a legitimate need and you work that you use the system appropriately, it can really benefit your family.

SPEAKER_02 12:53

And I think going to the point that he's talking about is you need to understand the system, like knowing that Das Pass was not gonna cover everyone in our party. So we utilize the resource of purchasing Lightning Lane for the additional person, which in this case was me, and then using Lightning Lane in conjunction with Das Pass, we were able to get the best experience possible at the park. And I think too often people don't want to do Lightning Lane or they don't want to do something else, and then it becomes frustrating the day of. Like if we didn't buy the additional Lightning Lane, we could have managed, but what would happen is one person would have always had to sit out, or we would have to maybe do like our daughter would have to ride some things twice if she wanted to, and it just you need to use all of the systems that are in place, and everyone was very accommodating. It was a great experience for our daughter, and again, we know you don't always get it. It's uh we are very grateful that Disney makes these accommodations available for our daughter. It's difficult for the standing in line and the attention, she gets very off track, and it's very important for her to have this resource. But we understand that it is something that Disney looks at periodically and can change the process. But as it stands now, um the interview process with the video interview. I think you were even home when we did the video interview. Yes, it's it's very simple, and whether you end up with a yes or a no, just make sure you utilize all those resources, whether it be the app, like Chris mentioned, like combining it with Lightning Lane, those are all things that will make your day much uh run smoothly.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

I think the other key thing here, like everything Disney, there's no rush, there's no fast forward button. Do this now. If you're gonna be going, Vanessa, how long roughly do the dash passes last?

SPEAKER_02 14:43

What do you mean?

SPEAKER_00 14:44

So you gotta prove for Keris. How long does that dash pass? How long is it affected?

SPEAKER_02 14:48

You give them the dates that you're gonna be.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Okay, yep. But it's one of those things where, you know, again, how many times do you hear people go, we went to Disney and it was horrible. We didn't get any dining reservations, and the lines were long because they didn't get passes, they didn't make reservations. How many months out do you have to do it?

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Um, the dining is the dining passes or the dash pass? Both, just like So the Das Pass, I believe it's within 30 days of your and then the dining is and with the dining it's 60 days out. So Chris is right, like you can't just show up.

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Correct, and I think that's just the point. And there's really very few things at Disney that you can just impromptu show up and have a great time and have that full experience. And again, I will admit I did zero of the Dash play other than the one interview. Vanessa did all the work, but of all the things that Vanessa commented on in the planning, this effort was not one thing that was brought up many times.

Universal Queue Re Entry Challenges

SPEAKER_02 15:40

So let's move on to the one that I felt was the most difficult and was the least accommodating, and that was Universal. It was very different. So they have a couple of different accommodations. They have an attraction assistance pass, which is an AAP. So if you see that, that gives you it's very similar to the DAS Pass at Disney. You get a return time. They just made this digital at the I believe it was at the beginning of 2026. Um, but that is very similar to the DAS Pass from what I understand. It's very limited on how who gets it. I mean, the DAS Pass is too, but I've heard that the AAP is even more limited. The one that they typically give to individuals, and what our daughter received was a Q re-entry. And what this means is that you go to a ride and you talk to the people that are at the front of the line, and you say, I'm sorry, I guess at the entrance of the line, and you tell them that you want to do the Q re-entry, and one or more people of your party can stand in line, and then the rest of you like I stayed out of line with my daughter, so we went to Universal, really just for the Nintendo area. Like our daughter loves Mario. We did explore other parts of the park, but we went for um the Nintendo world, and when it came to Mario Kart, there was how long did you wait in line for Mario Kart?

SPEAKER_00 17:04

Oh heavens, it was less than 45 minutes. It it was not long. I mean, the the amount of time, and I believe I might have timed it, but the time that was on the the clock outside, it was not, it moved very quickly.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

So what happened is Chris got on the line, and this is another thing that I think is important to note with Universal. Every ride that we rode that we went through any part of the line, it is just not accessible. There were so many stairs in all of the city.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Oh my gosh, yes. Just a tremendous amount of stairs, and you also have to like backtrack. It's just one of those pieces where, like, with Karis, you know, with in it's it's flights of stairs, and it's one of those things where oftentimes I would just pick her up because number one, there's other people that want to get where they're going. Keris, you know, stairs are not something where you really want to balance. I found the park just because of space limitations, it was very restrictive in terms of having, if in this case, a small person that just needs help with getting places.

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Yeah, so if you have a scooter or any other mobility device, they did have some elevators in the queue, but I just felt like the queues were not very I I don't want to use the word user-friendly, but they just were not ADA friendly, I guess would be the word to say. Because I'm sure they were ADA compliant because they did have elevators and stuff. But even if the queue had been short, the queue would have been difficult for our daughter to make her way through. So here's where so Chris's process, I think, was fairly easy. He got in line, he waited in line. This is where I thought the process was strange and not well thought out for those of us that were waiting. So our daughter and I waited outside. We found a shaded area because it is very hard to get any shade in the Nintendo area. We found a shaded area. We stayed covered for a while and we were able to walk around and kind of keep her busy. But then the person waiting in line is expected to let the people outside of line know when they're almost to the front of the line. And if you've never ridden the ride before, there's no way to really know where you're at in the line.

SPEAKER_00 19:22

Correct. And how they solve it is they go, Well, take a photo. Because again, I I played Mario 40 years ago. And but I know Mario, I know Luigi, I know King Koopa. After that, I don't know the names of all these things, and and that's when you're walking through the ride, there's you're in Mario Kart world, and so what they did is their solution to that because you're asking again an old man to like you're next to the magic mushroom. I don't even know what it is. But they did is they took photos. Because if you're gonna try to describe it, it's not the best.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

I will say this the staff they were all very they were wonderful. Everyone at Universal is very nice. I will say that.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

Like in most parks, ages trend, especially on the frontline rides, trend very young or compared to us, very nice. There was no issues there, but it's just the case where it would be like, hey, I'm at, and again, I don't expect to have a big sign to say you're here at this spot, but that said, I'm trying to communicate in line where I'm at to somebody who hasn't played Mario in a long time.

SPEAKER_02 20:23

Well, and the same thing, like I've not been through the queue before. So essentially, we watched, we knew what the queue wait time was, and Karis and I returned back to the line and to the front of the queue, and we said, you know, we're doing this queue re-entry process. And then again, that starts the part that Chris was talking about. They say, Well, where is your person in line? Have him send you a picture. So he sends a picture, and then, oh, that's not far enough yet. So then we had to like stand there awkwardly at the entrance waiting, and then they go, I'll have him send another picture. And then the one was blurry, and then we ended up probably, I would say, close to 10 minutes at the front of the queue re-entry or at the queue entrance. Then they finally said, Okay, we're gonna take you back. So they took us back through like this hallway, which I think is really where the exit is normally for the ride. And then they because with Mario Kart, you have the visors, like the hats, and then you have the visors you get on the ride. We then they gave us our hats, and then they said, Have him send you another picture, have him tell you when he gets to this part. I feel like we probably spent 20 minutes back and forth about where are you at? Where are we gonna meet? What are like it was just to me, there needs to be a smoother process. Like, even it sounds silly, but even if they had laminated photos that the people at the front of the queue said, Okay, when you get to this part in the queue, notify the people who are waiting outside. I think like if you had a photo and you knew like this when you see this, this. Is when you're club.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

They all have walkie-talkies.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

They all have a way to communicate. It wasn't again. I'm we got on the ride. There was no issues. We got the full experience, but just it's a case where you're asking people who are not super fans of Mario and the Ouija, like where you're at, what are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 22:16

It's just a confusing process, and I think it adds extra work for the employees. We're having to like back and forth, back and forth, and then for the people that are waiting, because you end up it's just a lot of awkward use of time, I feel like. And I think they need to work on improving and streamlining that process better. And I'm sure there can be some things that could be better worked out. It just didn't run very smoothly. Now, there were other rides that was very short wait where that wasn't as big of a deal, but I felt Mario wasn't even an hour, and there were some rides at the park that we just chose not to do, like the one Harry Potter ride. There was also like the Donkey Kong ride. We didn't do that because they had three and four hour waits for a couple of rides. Oh, Donkey Kong was out the park. I mean, the rides I can't imagine if you were in line and we were having to communicate back and forth where you were at if you were in a three-hour in line. So I just think they could streamline that process for the queue re-entry much more. So if you have that, keep that in mind. Those are some things, or maybe even ask the person at the front of the queue when's a good time for me to notify members of my party? That might have even been helpful. If they were like, Chris, when you see this Mario or Yoshi or whatever it might be, this is when you do it. So that's something that I will say. Um, it but they were very nice and helpful, very accommodating when we did some character meet and greets. Our there was a lot of lines that we went in that were shorter, that were easy for our daughter, whether like 10 minutes or less, like when we were in the area with Dark Universe with the classic monsters. I will say their characters there, the Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein were stellar, they were really great. And our daughter liked them a lot. And when we went around another side and we were just walking past something, they could see her through, and they stopped when they were meeting with somebody else just to wave at her and stuff. I I thought in Dark Universe the characters were really great that we saw.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Oh, they were awesome. And again, I I have to give credit. The staff at Universal were extremely nice. And at one point we were in the monsters section, and I said, Where do the monsters come out at? Because again, I know first time the park, I don't really know. They're like, Oh, do you want to see them? I'm like, Yeah, she goes, Well, you can get in line. And we were the first in line. Did she open the queue for for a bride of Frankenstein and Frankenstein? And it was just really nice. And I thought the park was very well done. I'm not into Harry Potter. I walked, I thought, because I was told Vanessa, I'm like, this looks like France. She goes, It is.

SPEAKER_02 25:00

It's the Ministry of Magic in her hand.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Yeah, I had no idea. I I everything I learned from about Harry Potter's been against my will, and it's just you have to think, well, they're in England. No, no, they're in France, and it it looked visually appealing. I will say, if you your kid is into Mario, if you were to go from April to October, prepare to be roasted alive.

SPEAKER_02 25:21

It was very hot. And so if you have kids that need accommodations and get really bothered by the temperature, do not go. I mean, just do at that time.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

Either you needed to be a rope dropper or you need to go after dark and at least to see how late it is. It is just it's enclosed, it's very hot, and it is something else.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

And our daughter is one of those. If we had taken her in June or July, she it would have we would have left probably very soon because she just wouldn't have gotten that experience because the heat bothers her a lot. So, and then we did enjoy, we went to other parts of the park. We also enjoyed the how to train a dragon, how to train your dragon. None of us have really we watched one of them right before we went, and that was a very well-done area too. We enjoyed hiccups, roller coaster was a lot of fun. This live show was great.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

Yeah, the roller coaster was very smooth, and I had never I mean I couldn't even wouldn't even know the name of the movie that was how to train your dragon. I couldn't couldn't tell you one character, it was so nice. The live show, we have to sit in the front row, that was awesome. Universal is expensive, but you see where the money went.

SPEAKER_02 26:33

Yes, you can definitely tell it's a brand new park. So, overall, the employees and everyone was nice, the process could be worked out better, and hopefully, it'd be interesting to hear from any of you that might have had the attraction assistance pass versus the queue re-entry. It'd be interesting to hear about that.

SeaWorld Paper Pass Done Right

SPEAKER_02 26:51

Now, rounding out our trip, our last park we visited was SeaWorld, and I was a little nervous about SeaWorld because you don't do anything in advance, you just go to the park and then they tell you to go to guest services, and it it was old school because it was on paper, but it worked so well, it was super easy. So compared to Universal, that I spent hours getting the approval, and then we had a lot of back and forth when we were at the park. Disney was about uh 30 minutes or so in advance, pretty easy once you got to the park. SeaWorld was super simple, it took less than five minutes to get the approval. I will say the odd thing is there, you fill out a form that goes over different things, and they have a very big focus on physical disabilities, so and in particular about missing limbs and about things related to mobility. I think because they have so many crazy roller coasters there.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

We don't use that word crazy.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

What what types of roller coasters would you say that? Insane. Yeah, so the roller coasters are intense. How about that? Intense. Great word. So they want to make sure that you don't have any challenge that could limit your ability to ride those rides. Now, I will say at our daughter's age, first off, she doesn't meet the height requirement for a lot of them, anyways, but she's also just not interested. She likes rides and she likes roller coasters, but the the ones at SeaWorld just aren't her pace yet. They're not. So we registered at guest services, and then what they do is they give you a paper and it lists all of the rides. And here's one thing that is super nice. They are a certified autism park, and they the guides with all of the rides listed, it's kind of a sensory guide, so it tells you exactly what to expect at each ride. Now, for our daughter, things like lights and sounds don't affect her, but for individuals who have loved ones that these are intense for them, it was very simple and handy to have it right there and not having to flip through your phone and go through everything. I will say I was paranoid about losing the paper, but what it is is it has every ride listed on it. It lists the sensory guide and what those limitations or restrictions might be. And essentially, you go up to the ride that you want to do, it's a re-entry or it's a return time, just like Das Pass or the OnePass at Universal. If the line was an hour, they give you a return time, they write it on the paper next to the name of the ride. When you come back, they sign it, and that is your one-time use for that ride.

SPEAKER_00 29:41

Very old school, opposite of Disney, but super easy, super easy. And I think the one time that we were gonna use it for the penguin ride, that ride was broken.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

Yeah, unfortunately, the penguin ride went down, but we used it for the new one that's kind of like soaring, and the name is slipping my mind right now, which was a really awesome ride. We used it for some of the things in sesame.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

Oh, it worked really well. Yeah, it was super easy. Truly, they just write down the return. You have it, you have a now, granted, you have a piece of paper. So if it's like I if everything, if you're 100% digital, this will be tough. But you have a piece of paper, they pull out a pencil, they write it down, they they initial it, you come back when your time's up and they go, okay, go through, and there's no problem.

SPEAKER_02 30:21

Yes. So I will say if you want to talk about like stress and time added, SeaWorld was the easiest. And it was nice that I felt like their guide, even though it was paper, was the most inclusive, like in terms of giving you all the information you need. Because maybe I've overlooked it, but I don't feel like the DAS Pass on the Disney app tells you like it's not a sensory guide, like the the paper was at SeaWorld. You definitely don't get any of that information at Universal. So, despite its old school nature, I will say I would give SeaWorld an A because it was really great in terms of helping us plan everything, walk around the park. It was all in one piece. I just got very paranoid about losing the paper. But other than that, it was a very seamless process. Staff there were great as well. Our daughter hasn't been into Sesame Street in a few years, but she was excited to see the characters. It's kind of fun now because it reminds me, like all of us as adults, we might not watch shows with Mickey Mouse. Like, I don't watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but I get excited to see Mickey, and she was excited to see some of the characters at Sesame Place because she used to like that when she was younger. And the characters and the photographers and everyone, you can tell that they are a certified autism park because they were very great with her and just went that extra mile. I'm not saying that the characters and things aren't great other places, but you can see a difference with that. And so overall, I think SeaWorld was great. Disney was kind of the most seamless because, again, it's on an app, it didn't take too long in advance. Universal does require a lot more work on your part as a guest, and I feel like even as a guest, when you're there, it takes a lot of work. So I would say if you were someone that has a lot of challenges when it comes to things with sensory issues or with just being overwhelmed by crowds and things, I would think that the universal pass would not be that supportive for what your needs might be.

SPEAKER_00 32:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 32:37

Now, SeaWorld really stood out for the differences where they show those things that if you have someone that noises bother them or lights bother them, you would know exactly what to expect. So in that regard, I would say SeaWorld kind of comes out on top. If you have someone that maybe has a higher level of needs when it comes to those things, but overall, I mean, all of these things are just wonderful to have because again, these make things where the trips are more enjoyable for families, and it allows you to be able to experience things where maybe I don't even know. When I was younger, I don't remember there being these accommodations and these abilities to help families that might need additional support experience the parks. And it was really wonderful to be able to experience it across the board and see it at all of the different parks.

Advocacy Tips Trivia And Walt Quote

SPEAKER_02 33:28

And please let us know if you have any questions about anything. We'd be happy to share more of our experiences with you. And of course, we'd love to hear from all of you as well.

SPEAKER_00 33:37

We would love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_02 33:40

So that kind of wraps up our experiences. About if you're planning a trip, again, remember that if you have someone that has any physical challenges and need support, or if you have somebody who's on the spectrum or neurodivergent, there are things that are going to be different in how you experience the parks and how you go about. But just remember you can have as wonderful as a vacation as anybody else. And these are some systems in place to make that more magical and to make sure that you have the best experiences possible. And remember, I think all of you listening, if you do have children or family members that need these supports, you're already used to being an advocate. And in these situations, do that as well. We had a little bit of a situation with a line for when we were doing a character meet and greet with Mario and Luigi. And we just went up and talked to one of the employees there, and they were wonderful and accommodating. But if we wouldn't have spoken up and said something, we wouldn't have gotten that extra support that we needed. So remember to advocate and don't advocate but not be rude. So that's one of the things we want to make sure you remember. Now let's go ahead and move on to our wisdom from Walt Quote and our two-minute trivia. So, Chris, you're up with trivia.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

So we're talking a lot about the Das Pass, and the DAS Pass was invented, arguably, and this is according to the internet, to kind of really combat against folks who are cheating the system. What year did the Das Pass officially come on board? According to the internet.

SPEAKER_02 35:16

I feel like it's 22 or 23, but let's go with 2023.

SPEAKER_00 35:22

2013.

SPEAKER_02 35:23

Holy cow, I didn't realize. So I think it's just the reinvention with the videos and all that must be what's been the new one. 2013, according to the internet. Okay. Yes, so I guess that is true. So very interesting to know. Now let's go ahead and round out with our quote from Walt. And I thought this one is good because we're talking about everyone being able to experience the parks. The idea of Disneyland is a simple one. It will be a place for people to find happiness and knowledge. It will be a place for parents and children to share pleasant times in one another's company.

SPEAKER_00 35:58

Wonderful, beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 35:59

Yes. So thank you again for joining us on this episode of the Diz Love Podcast with Vanessa and Chris. I'm Vanessa. And I'm Chris.

SPEAKER_00 36:14

This podcast is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company or its holdings, and it is intended for entertainment purposes only.