Disney World fans with serious health conditions have slammed the theme park’s new Disability Access Service (DAS) program after they were denied for the service – branding the application process as ‘invasive,’ humiliating,’ and degrading,’ and claiming the changes forced them into ‘potentially deadly’ situations.
Back in May, Disney rolled out a series of updates to the program, announcing that only people with ‘a developmental disability like autism or a similar disorder’ would be accepted, meaning most guests with mobility impairments were no longer included.
In addition, the process now also includes a new, lengthy interview procedure.
Disney’s DAS pass allows guests who ‘are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time’ to receive a return time to then stand on a separate, shorter line for attractions in the park.
Now, a series of disabled park-goers have spoken exclusively to DailyMail.com about how the ‘dangerous’ new policy has negatively impacted on them, with one disability rights advocate saying it could have a ‘negative ripple effect’ on the entire community.
A Disney World fan with a multiple health conditions (seen in the park with her family) has slammed the company for denying her request for a Disability Access Service (DAS) pass
One Disney fan, Shannon Bonadurer, who has several debilitating conditions, told DailyMail.com that she was left ‘heartbroken’ after she was forced to share intimate details about her medical history with a cast member, only to be denied the pass.
The 52-year-old, from Millington, Michigan, told DailyMail.com that her rejection came, despite the fact that her waiting in line could pose as a ‘biohazard’ risk to other guests.
And as an alternative, she said was told she could exit the queue if she started to feel sick and return when the rest of her party got to the front – but that would mean leaving her ‘blind, autistic, and nonverbal’ son alone.
While chatting with DailyMail.com, Shannon explained that she ‘only has a small intestine,’ which means she uses an an ostomy bag to go to the bathroom.
‘The ostomy fills on its own 24/7 and I have zero control [over] when,’ she shared.
‘It can fill up in five minutes, which would cause me to have to empty it immediately or experience a possible leak or break.
‘Also, the ostomy bag can leak or break its seal without notice so accidents happen without any heads up.’
She also said she has a ‘PICC (peripherally inserted central catheter) line on her chest that goes directly to her heart, and a portion of her small intestine is on the outside of her body.’
Back in May, Disney announced that only people with ‘a developmental disability like autism or a similar disorder’ would be accepted for its Disability Access Service (DAS) program
Now, one avid Disney park-goer Shannon Bonadurer spoke to DailyMail.com about how its new rules had negatively impacted her family and the disability community
In addition, she suffers from a neurological movement disorder called dystonia that ’causes her muscles to freeze up,’ sometimes leaving her ‘unable to move’ or even ‘flailing’ uncontrollably.
She also said she has Cushing syndrome and Hashimoto’s disease, which can ’cause her heart rate to accelerate’ and make her ‘physically ill’ if she gets dehydrated, something that happens easily for her because she ‘cannot control her body temperature.’
She explained that she sometimes needed to ‘excuse herself’ to get ‘IV fluids’ at the first-aid station in the park, and having the DAS pass in the past allowed her to ‘wait in a cool location near a restroom’ between rides.
Shannon said for the last 13 years, she had been approved for the pass with no problems, but after the change, she was denied.
While reflecting on the experience, Shannon said she spoke to a cast member on a live video chat, and was asked to describe why she could not wait in lines in great detail.
But after explaining her multiple ailments, she was denied – and she claimed that she was told the reason was because she ‘understood what it meant to stand in line.’
‘The biohazard [my ostomy bag could cause] didn’t matter, or how I could injure myself or others in the process,’ she scathed.
She added, however, that it was clear the cast member felt terrible that they had to deny her, so she didn’t blame them.
She was given an alternate option for people with disabilities who don’t have a DAS pass: the Return to Queue system.
This policy says that disabled guests should attempt to wait on the regular line, and if they felt like they needed to leave for any reason, they could do so and return when the rest of their party got to the front.
She said she was forced to share immensely personal details about her debilitating conditions, only to get denied – and called the interview process ‘humiliating’ and ‘degrading’
She was told she could exit the queue if she started to feel sick and return when her party got to the front – but that would mean leaving her ‘blind, autistic, and nonverbal’ son (seen) alone
‘There may be times when a guest must briefly step out of the standby queue and then rejoin their party,’ Disney’s website reads.
‘Every attraction has a defined process to support this option based on a person’s disability while the rest of the party remains in the queue.
‘Speak to a Cast Member at the attraction for directions on how to re-enter the queue.’
But Shannon said this didn’t work for her as she often visited the parks with only her husband and her 24-year-old son, Bradley, who is also disabled.
She said she couldn’t be alone when she was having a medical emergency, but was also not comfortable leaving Bradley by himself.
Shannon (seen at the park with her family), 52, from Millington, Michigan, ‘only has a small intestine’ which means she uses an ‘an ostomy bag’ to go to the bathroom. She also said she has Cushing syndrome, Hashimoto’s disease, and a neurological movement disorder called dystonia
‘My son has cerebral palsy and periventricular leukomalacia. He is blind, autistic, non verbal, and has to be catheterized to use the bathroom,’ she explained.
‘While Bradley is 24 years old, he has the cognitive ability of a 14-month-old. He is sensitive to loud noises and heat or cold.
‘He can have a seizure at any moment. He does not understand a lot around him that he is not familiar with and that can cause great confusion and fear.
‘I was told my husband could wait with me [if I left the line] but our son would have to somehow wait in the line by himself in his wheelchair, blind and unable to wheel himself. How was that going to work?’
It also means that the guest has to explain their disability to the cast members manning the ride each time they want to use it.
Shannon called the new option an ‘absolute disaster’ and extremely ‘dangerous,’ adding, ‘It doesn’t work.
‘It’s not consistent and quite honestly the DAS guest shouldn’t have to plead their case in front of strangers every time they try to return to the queue. It’s not an accommodation, it’s a brush off.’
Shannon revealed that the denial for her DAS pass came months after she had to be rushed to the emergency room while staying on a Disney property because she had a terrifying health scare due to her conditions.
She explained that she was at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort in July 2023 when she got ‘severely dehydrated,’ which caused ‘a blockage and a shut down of her GI system and compromised other organs.’
She collapsed in the lobby after dinner and had to be rushed to the hospital via an ambulance.
She said she couldn’t be alone when she was having a medical emergency, but was also not comfortable leaving her son, Bradley (seen), by himself due to his own problems
‘My son has cerebral palsy and periventricular leukomalacia. He is blind, autistic, non verbal, and has to be catheterized to use the bathroom,’ she explained
She spent 10 days in the ICU due to the ‘life-threatening’ incident, but ultimately recovered.
While Shannon was denied, she was able to get the DAS pass approved for her son.
But the Michigan-based mom was horrified by the process, and claimed it could ’cause serious damage’ to the disability community as a whole.
Shannon (seen at Disney with her family) was horrified by the process, and claimed it could ’cause serious damage’ to the disability community as a whole
‘This is pure discrimination by Disney against the disabled community,’ she said. ‘You can’t pick and choose which disability you are going to accept.
‘This was a horrible experience and it has changed my view on this company. Having to scream out my disability and my son’s disability is humiliating.
‘I’m heartbroken. The one place my son feels safe and can enjoy in the entire world now comes at a great cost to him and his family.
‘Disney needs and can do better. They are simply refusing to.
‘Recently Mickey Mouse visited a Children’s Hospital to tell [sick kids] that they would be receiving free Halloween costumes…. yet none of those children would qualify for DAS if released from the hospital to go to Disney.’
She said she was so upset by the whole ordeal that she has now canceled three upcoming trips.
But she hoped sharing her story would stop Disney from ‘degrading and humiliating’ others in the future.
‘My disability is only for us our family and friends to know, but in order to make this corporation do the right thing, I am [willing] to be completely transparent and shout it from the rooftops,’ she added.
‘I hope it stops the degrading and humiliation Disney is causing for hundreds of thousands of disabled people.’
‘I’m heartbroken. The one place my son feels safe and can enjoy in the entire world now comes at a great cost to him and his family,’ she scathed
She said she was so upset by the whole ordeal that she has now canceled three upcoming trips. Her family is pictured at Disney
Disability rights advocate Aaron Baker, a former professional motocross athlete who became paralyzed from the chin down after suffering from a spinal cord injury in 1999, also spoke to DailyMail.com about the impact of Disney’s decision to exclude physical disabilities from the DAS pass.
He said the changes to the policy could have ‘negative psychosocial affects’ and leave people with disabilities feeling ‘not seen, heard, considered, or even respected.’
In addition, he described it as a ‘contradiction of Disney’s mission to entertain, inspire, and inform through storytelling.’
‘I fear that the general exclusion of physical mobility impairments will have a negative ripple effect and may not solve an intended inclusion effort,’ he said.
‘As a spinal cord injured husband, father, and philanthropist for disability, I relish the joy a Disney World experience brings my family, but I am also hyper-sensitive to the challenges and nuances of the special needs of those with mobility impairments while at the park.
‘A disability can often have an “iceberg affect” meaning most of what people “see” as a disability is just the surface of a person’s adversity.
‘There is a long list of secondary complications below the surface that are at the root of one’s suffering and that can be exacerbated by the park’s Disability Access Service (DAS) restrictions.’
Disney’s DAS program allows guests who ‘are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time’ to receive a return time and stand on a separate line for attractions
While Shannon was denied, she was able to get the DAS pass approved for her son, but she added, ‘You can’t pick and choose which disability you are going to accept’
He said there are many physical disabilities that could make waiting on line uncomfortable – or even dangerous.
For example, he said some people can’t ‘regulate their internal core temperatures’ which could subject them to ‘severe overheating or hypothermia.’
Others may suffer from hypertension or hypotension, which are ‘blood-pressure related conditions that were ‘unseen, yet terribly disruptive.’
Various pain syndromes can ‘be hard to compartmentalize and manage,’ according to Aaron, which may ‘amplify a person’s discomfort while they’re intending to enjoy the Happiest Place on Earth.’
‘Incontinence is the bane of my existence and is my biggest fear while confined within the rails and rules of the park’s general public,’ he added.
‘This alone will prohibit me from even buying a ticket to a venue that isn’t aware of empathetic to the basic human function and/or disfunction.
‘Regulations that do not consider these sensitive insecurities, in my opinion, do not place the customer experience first.’
Aaron, who co-founded Center Of Restorative Exercise and is a representative for the non-profit Wings For Life Foundation, is a fierce advocate for disability rights.
He, with his family in tow, is currently biking his way across the world to raise money and awareness to enhance rehabilitation, recreation and neurological research for the Diverse-Abled.
He is documenting the journey, called the Adversity Into Adventure World Tour, on his website, and has invited others to travel along with him.
Another disabled Disney fan, who asked to remain anonymous, told DailyMail.com that the ‘amount of disabled people that I have seen getting rejected for DAS is overwhelmingly high.’
‘The people that I’ve seen [getting denied] goes from those who are visibility disabled with wheelchairs, fragile medical equipment or/and assistive technology to even people with autism and Down syndrome, whom Disney claims the new DAS system are for,’ they said.
Aaron Baker, a former professional motocross athlete who became paralyzed from the chin down after suffering from a spinal cord injury in 1999, also spoke to DailyMail.com about it
He said the changes to the policy could have ‘negative psychosocial affects’ and leave people with disabilities feeling ‘not seen, heard, considered, or even respected’
The anonymous park-goer, like Shannon, slammed the ‘invasive and humiliating’ interview process, and called the whole program ‘absolutely ignorant.’
While they haven’t gone to the park since the new rules came into affect, they said they’ve heard about so many ‘potentially deadly incidents’ that happened to people who were forced to wait on line after being denied for the DAS pass.
‘We are hearing stories about how this negatively affected their park experience and in some cases, endangered their lives,’ they shared.
‘For [some], it stops them from going altogether. Why go to a place that won’t meet your basic needs?
‘It’s just a reminder of how the disability community, once again, is in the very bottom of the Diversity and Inclusion initiatives.’
On Disney’s website, the company states that ‘Disney Parks have an unwavering commitment to providing a welcoming, inclusive environment and accessible experiences for our guests.’
‘DAS is one of the programs offered at Walt Disney World Resort theme parks intended to accommodate those guests who, due to a developmental disability like autism are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time.’
DailyMail.com has reached out to Disney multiple times for comment, but did not hear back.
