A guest with terminal cancer was denied the Disney Disability Access Pass (DAS) at Disneyland Resort, according to a post shared by their daughter on TikTok.
Guest with Terminal Cancer Denied Disability Access Pass at Disneyland
The video, posted by Jazzy as user lovelyjay.17, shows her and her family walking away from the Accessibility Services Kiosk in the Disneyland Esplanade after failing to obtain the Disability Access Service pass for her father, who has terminal cancer.
A woman (presumably Jazzy) speaks in the video, though it is difficult to hear over the audio playing, but she does say, “They said ‘If you don’t have autism, you can’t get a disability pass,’” and “We have seasonal passes and they still treat [inaudible] like sh*t.” In her caption, Jazzy says that she and her family have passes to Disneyland Resort.
According to the caption, Jazzy’s father has terminal cancer and has difficulty sitting and standing for long periods without pain. The suggested accommodation instead of the Disability Access Service was for the group to utilize the “return-to-queue” option, in which the DAS-ineligible member of the party would wait outside of the attraction while the rest of their party wait in the traditional queue, before having the other guest join them later in line.
The caption goes into greater detail about their experience, citing that the Cast Member was “rude” and “proceeded to walk away within seconds” after telling the group they would not help if they were filming.
Read the full caption:
The worker was rude, told me should would not help me if i was recording, then proceeded to walk away within seconds without even seeing that i was recording. my dad cannot do many things since being diagnosed with cancer & one of our few outlets is disneyland. my dad cannot stand or sit for long periods of time without feeling discomfort or pain. He is the one paying for the passes (which are not cheap). Disneyland refused to give him disability access because they said it is only for autistic people. We come to spend family time away from home and the hosptial [sic]. the only accommodation they gave us was to have my dad wait outsude [sic] the ride while we all get in line together. It is ABSOLUTELY CRAZY to me that they will dismiss any sickness, condition, or illlness even if it is terminal. Just because you are not autistic does not mean you do not need accommodations. It does not make sense how much money you spend here just for them to treat you like you mean nothing.
Jazzy, user lovelyjay.17 on TikTok
You can watch the original TikTok below:
Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort both changed their Disability Access Service requirements earlier this year, only offering accommodations to guests with a “developmental disability like autism or similar disorder” who are “unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time.” Disney officials previously stated the updates were made due to overuse of the service. Guests who are caught lying to obtain DAS will be permanently banned from the parks.
Disabled guests and allies have spoken out against these changes, with the DAS Defenders group setting up a petition online, organizing visibility events on both coasts, and paying for a mobile billboard during D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event.
This isn’t the first time that guests have taken their stories of negative experiences in trying to obtain DAS to the internet. A video of a guest pleading with Disney to offer a paid alternative to DAS went viral this summer, disabled guests were told to practice waiting in line, and most recently, a guest with narcolepsy shared her story of visiting Disneyland without DAS on TikTok.
Further details about the Disability Access Service at Disneyland Resort can be found on the official Disneyland website.
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