Universal/WDW handicap pass

My family and I just returned from spending Easter in Orlando, we have two boys 23 and 17. Our 17 year old has Asperger's Syndrome, part of the Autism Spectrum. This was our third trip with our boys and the first time that made use of WDW's Disability Assistance Service (DAS). We found that the DAS system worked very well, our son wasn't able to just jump lines but we didn't have to worry about melt downs due to the heat and long lines, we didn't use the service if the wait was 45 minutes or less he still needs to work on patience.

Our youngest is also autistic. So what exactly did the DAS do for you. Im not trying to game the system here. But this is it for vacations and if Im dropping 4-5k I want it to be enjoyable.

We are also considering NYC (none have ever been), or philadelphia

The main benefit was getting onto attractions like Seven Dwarves Mine Train without waiting forever. We were unable to secure a Fastpass+ for SDMT so when we arrived at the park we went and registered a DAS return time and then went over to Space Mountain, had FastPass+, after that my wife , oldest son and his girlfriend went off to do whatever they wanted and my youngest and I rode the People Mover and went to Carousel of Progress. We all then met and took in SDMT and then went on our way to the next FastPass.

The main function we found for the DAS was to get times on rides that we weren't able to get a FastPass for. Also it allowed us to do some attractions that we normally wouldn't have as in PM and CoP. The best thing with PM was as it doesn't seem to be overly busy we found that the cast members would let us go twice so my son could relax and calm down.

I believe (from reading staff stories) if you discuss your situation with Guest Services, they'll try to accommodate you. This doesn't mean you'll necessarily get a FastPass, but they may be able to arrange alternative queuing arrangements (eg waiting in a cool/shaded space until your turn comes up) or something else suitable for your needs.

I don't know about Universal but Disney has gone to an electronic system where they put the Fastpass on the disabled persons ticket, and if that person isn't riding they won't issue you a return time. So if you cannot go on the attraction your family is going to have to wait in line for it.

This may seem mean but Disney has a huge problem with these "passes." When Radiator Springs opened the lines were extremely long and moving slower than anticipated which prompted them to do a study and they realized "Oh sh*t, we have a big problem." Back when they were more accommodating huge amounts of people were getting them, then they changed the rules and made it a lot less accommodating so a lot less people were using it, but now the word seems to have gotten out (since you can basically use FP, DAS, and wait in regular lines) and now it seems like huge amounts of people are getting them again.

I am sorry to hear about your health.

Universal is using a pass (Received at Guest Services and called an Attraction Assistance Pass) that lets you virtually wait for attractions. You'd approach an attraction and the "greeter" would confirm the wait time and give you a time to return and go thru the Express entrance. So if the wait was 60 minutes and it was 11:00 they'd write down 11:45 as your return time (which also accounted for any wait in the Express queue). Ideally, this also gave the attraction attendant a chance to explain the ride restrictions and make parties aware if members would not be able to ride. This is a system you can manipulate (guilt free) by getting a return time for a popular ride (let's say Spiderman at Islands of Adventure) and wait in a regular queue with a shorter wait time (lets say Storm Force Accelatron). You man only wait in 1 virtual queue at a time (so no you cannot just grab times for all the major rides).

I would reconsider central Florida theme parks altogether if heat is a concern. In my opinion, when the parks are busy, they struggle to appropriately accommodate people that need to sit frequently, let alone need air conditioning. If you do decide you want to make the effort, I'll do my best to help.