What To Know About Changes To Disney Parks’ Disability Policies

Changes that Disney made to a popular program that lets qualifying disabled people skip long lines at its California and Florida theme parks are too restrictive, disabled fans contend in a federal lawsuit and shareholder proposal that seek to expand eligibility.

Guests arrive at Disney’s Magic Kingdom theme park in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., June 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, File)

The battle over who can skip long lines on popular rides because of their disabilities marks the latest struggle by Disney to accommodate disabled visitors while cracking down on past abuses. But some Disney fans say the company has gone too far and has no right to determine who is disabled.

“This isn’t right. This isn’t what Walt and Roy would have wanted,” said Shannon Bonadurer, referring to the Disney brothers who founded the entertainment empire. Despite being unable to wait for long periods of time in the heat because she uses an ileostomy bag, Bonadurer was denied a pass for the disability program.

In a statement, Disney said it was committed to providing a great experience to all visitors, particularly those with disabilities who may require special accommodations.

Here’s a look at changes to Disney parks’ policies for disabled visitors.

The Disability Access Service, or DAS, program allows pass-holders and their immediate family members to make an online reservation for a ride while in the park and then get into an expedited line that typically takes about 10 minutes when it’s their time to go on the ride. DAS guests never have to wait in normal standby lines, which on the most popular attractions can be two hours or more.

The DAS program started in 2013 in response to past abuses by disabled “tour guides” who charged money, sometimes hundreds of dollars, to accompany able-bodied guests, enabling such guests to go to the front of lines. Disney says the DAS program needed changing because it had grown fourfold. Before last year’s changes, the percentage of guests having DAS passes jumped from around 5% to 20% over the past dozen years “and showed no signs of slowing,” the company said in court papers.

Disney parks make other accommodations for disabled visitors, including maps in Braille, a device that helps transfer visitors from wheelchairs to ride seats, quiet break locations and American Sign Language interpreters for some live shows. The parks permit some service animals on rides and allow some disabled guests to leave a line and rejoin their party before boarding a ride.

Disney narrowed the scope from people with a wider range of disabilities to mostly guests who “due to a developmental disability such as autism or similar” have difficulties waiting in a long line. Under the changes, guests seeking a DAS pass must be interviewed via video chat by a Disney worker and a contracted medical professional who determine if the person is eligible. Visitors found to have lied can be barred from the parks.

Some people with disabilities who have been denied say the new policy is too restrictive. Not only was Bonadurer denied a pass, but so was her 25-year-old son, who is blind and has cerebral palsy and autism.

“They are making a determination about whether you’re disabled enough,” said Bonadurer, a professional travel adviser from Michigan. “I would love to wait in line with everyone else, and so would my son, since that would mean he has a normal life. But we don’t, and unfortunately for us, we need adaptations to how we wait.”

Disney says the Americans with Disabilities Act doesn’t require equal treatment of people with varying disabilities. The company accommodates those visitors who don’t meet the new DAS criteria with alternatives, Disney said in court filings responding to a federal lawsuit in California.

“For example, in a crowded movie theater, a person using a wheelchair may be entitled to priority seating even if they arrive shortly before the movie starts, while a deaf person may only be entitled to a seat with closed captioning,” the company said.

At Disney’s main theme park rival, Universal, disabled visitors can get shorter lines if they have a card issued by an international board that certifies venues for their accessibility.

A shareholder proposal submitted on behalf of DAS Defenders, an advocacy group of Disney fans opposed to the DAS changes, calls on the company next year to commission an independent review of its disability policies and publicly release the findings. The shareholder proposal claims the change to the DAS program has contributed to lower park attendance.

Disney’s attorneys told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a November letter that it intends to block the proposal ahead of the company’s 2026 shareholder meeting, saying it was false and misleading about the reasons for an attendance decline, which the company attributed to hurricanes. The company also argued the shareholder proposal amounts to micromanaging day-to-day operations.

https://apnews.com/author/mike-schneider

Delta’s New Seat Concept Lets Passengers Fly In Their Own Wheelchair

Travelling isn’t easy for passengers with reduced mobility. Getting on and off the plane requires care and additional time. Purpose-designed equipment can also be required to safely lift the passenger from a wheelchair into their airline seat. But a new concept by Delta Flight Products aims to change all that.

Designed in collaboration with AirForAll, the new ‘PRM Suite’ concept would allow wheelchair users to remain in their own chairs. The thinking is simple: travellers with disabilities can already do this on buses and trains, so why not on planes as well?

Until now, the design of aircraft cabins has made that impossible. But the PRM Suite concept would accommodate this on US domestic flights. Work is already underway to achieve this for passengers in both First and Economy Class.

Many in our community require highly supportive and specialised wheelchair seating designed to their specific needs. An airline seat, and even the harnesses available to use in an airline seat, do not provide enough support to allow these people living with a disability to travel. It’s not a matter of choosing not to travel; they simply can’t.

It has been encouraging to see Delta Air Lines trialling various ways to make this possible. Aircraft design needs to take into account the incredible variation in wheelchair size and functionality, like tilt-in-space chairs. It is a massive challenge, and my concern is that those with the highest needs will still not be accommodated with the designs I’ve seen to date.

– Julie Jones, Editor, Travel Without Limits

While there’s still work to be done, Delta’s new seat concepts were getting quite some attention at the recent Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Germany. I stopped by to have a look for myself.

Up close with Delta’s new accessible-friendly seat concept

The idea behind the design is simple. Much like on buses and trains, designated aircraft seats could fold up to create space for a wheelchair. The passenger can then be positioned in the space normally occupied by a fixed seat. The wheelchair’s own seatbelt keeps the passenger safely in the chair, and the chair itself can then be secured in place.

For the airline, converting a seat to accommodate a wheelchair would take 90 seconds at most. Seat cushions are easily removed, the seat base folds up and locks into place, and voila. I’m told that the concept would be limited to the front row in each cabin, specifically at the bulkhead, to accommodate the extra forward space required by a wheelchair.

For safety reasons, wheelchairs are expected to meet certain requirements—to be outlined in full at a later date. For instance, I’m told that only powered chairs would be accepted, not manual wheelchairs. The images below show manual wheelchairs only for a demonstration of Delta’s concept.

It’s certainly an interesting concept by Delta. If adopted, ‘PRM mode’ would be something of a hidden feature. When that functionality isn’t needed, the seat reflects the airline’s standard configuration and appearance. The difference will be almost indistinguishable to travellers without a disability. I only notice that the PRM-capable seat is marginally wider than the seat next to it when I try both in quick succession.

Perhaps rather than airlines racing to be the first to send passengers into space we could set a goal of being the first to comfortably transport travellers with a disability across the globe.

My hope for the future is that everyone that wants to travel by plane, with or without disability, will have the ability to do so.

– Julie Jones, Editor, Travel Without Limits

The next steps

Right now, Delta’s new seating concepts don’t yet have certification from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Those approvals can take 2-3 years – so you won’t see this on a plane in 2024 or 2025.

Delta Flight Products is also a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, but that’s no guarantee the parent carrier will adopt the seat. It’s fair to say, though, that Delta wouldn’t be investing time and money into this if it weren’t at least considering adopting its own creation onto its fleet.

These concept seats are part of a broader collection of improvements currently on the table at Delta Flight Products. Delta is also working on a new aircraft restroom design that can better accommodate wheelchair users and travellers with hidden disabilities. This includes features to help passengers move out of and back into their wheelchairs inside the restroom.

Artificial intelligence also has a role to play on board. I’m told that automated closed captioning of any inflight announcements is also on the table, with those captions able to appear on the mirror of that accessible restroom. (Potentially, captions of announcements could also appear on inflight entertainment screens.) Delta is also working on a storage device that can more reliably transport manual wheelchairs in the hold, significantly reducing the chance of a chair being damaged in transit.

It’s still early days, and there’s a lot of work to do. But it’s great to see Delta taking the initiative to make travel more accessible. Delta Flight Products also routinely offers its services and licences its creations to other airlines, so it’s possible that the idea may one day become commonplace in aircraft cabins around the world.

https://www.pointhacks.com.au/

Paralyzed Veterans Of America Issues Statement Applauding Today's Regulations On Accessible Inflight Lavatories - An Over 30-Year PVA Fight

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Chief Policy Officer Heather Ansley released the following statement today in response to the Department of Transportation's final regulations on accessible lavatories on single-aisle aircraft. The news comes on the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is widely regarded as the nation's most comprehensive law affecting people with disabilities.

"Today's announcement by the Department of Transportation that larger single-aisle aircraft will be required to have a wheelchair accessible lavatory in the coming years is nothing short of groundbreaking. PVA has been fighting for this for over 30 years – submitting reports, filing lawsuits, and advocating before Congress. We are overjoyed that we finally have a rule that means future passengers with disabilities will be able to address basic bodily needs with dignity while on an aircraft. We appreciate the efforts of Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the Department to bring this critical rule over the finish line. We now call on airlines to proactively comply with the requirement as soon as possible; so that passengers with disabilities – particularly those who need assistance in the lavatory and those with mobility impairments – will be able to have access like other passengers sooner rather than later."

Ansley continued, "There is no better time to celebrate the new rule than Disability Pride Month and on the 33rd anniversary of the ADA. Making everyday accommodations, like air travel, hotels, websites, and polling places, accessible is a smart business case for everyone. It is good for local and national businesses as it opens their clientele, and their revenue stream. It is also good for the disability community as it acknowledges them."

Counter to popular belief, the ADA does not apply to some sectors, like commercial air, as seen by PVA's unrelenting fight for accessible air travel – frequently testifying before Congress and creating a groundswell of support for the inclusion of accessibility reforms in the upcoming Federal Aviation Administration renewal. Earlier this month, at the invitation of the White House, PVA joined Vice President Kamala Harris, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and advocates for a roundtable discussion on accessible travel. During that meeting and prior appearances, Buttigieg, himself, publicly relayed a flightmare by former PVA National President Charles Brown and pledged his agency's work on another new rule, allowing people with disabilities to fly in their personal wheelchairs.

PVA remains on the forefront of the disability civil rights movement – fighting for stronger ADA enforcement, expanding support for home-based care, and more. To join PVA's fight for greater enforcement of the ADA visit PVA.org/ADA or for air travel visit PVA.org/AirTravel.