Downward angle icon Downward angle icon. Quotes from Walt Disney. Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images Disney is changing its theme parks’ policies for guests with disabilities. The updates address who can use disability access services, among other changes. Guests who try to abuse the program will be permanently banned.
Disney has updated its disability-accessible theme park policies to crack down on disabled visitors who abuse the program.
The new policy comes as Disney faces a rise in guests abusing the system, with a spokesperson confirming to Business Insider in November that they’re seeing more people using the disability system to skip lines and avoid crowds.
Disability services have become the most requested service at parks in Florida and California, according to The Washington Post, and the company reports that usage has more than tripled in five years.
Disneyland. MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
Changes to the company’s disability access services were posted on the official Walt Disney World and Disneyland websites this week.
The policy allows guests with disabilities to “request re-entry times for a particular experience that are equivalent to current standby wait times,” Disney wrote in a statement. The service is intended to help guests get through lines and wait times at busy attractions.
The new policy is more specific about who can use the program, and Disney says that guests who lie to take advantage of the program will be permanently banned.
Disney policy previously stated that disability access services are for “guests who, due to a disability, cannot tolerate long periods of waiting in a traditional queuing environment,” but that’s a broad definition, according to Fox Business.
Currently, the company says the service is “intended to accommodate the small number of guests who have developmental disabilities, such as autism, who are unable to wait in traditional lines for long periods of time.”
Walt Disney World and Disneyland change DAS policies. Joseph Prezioso/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The new policy will begin on May 20 at Walt Disney World and June 18 at Disneyland.
Representatives for Walt Disney World and Disneyland did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s requests for comment.
Disney fans have mixed feelings about the new policy, but Dennis Spiegel, founder of International Theme Park Services, told Orlando-area NBC affiliate WESH 2 that he thinks the new changes will be beneficial.
“I’ve had great success with this program and as it’s grown I’ve seen abuse happen at various theme parks and at Disney,” Spiegel said.
But some worry the new policy changes will make it harder to move around the park.
“There are a lot of other health issues that could be affected by this,” Stacey Crain, a Disney guest who previously qualified for the service because of stomach problems, told The Washington Post. “I’m just nervous about what’s going to happen.”
In November, Disney also cracked down on “third-party tour guides” who help guests with disabilities navigate the parks.