I think some have misinterpreted my comments, so let me clarify that this ^ is exactly what I’m saying I hope will be the case. That each person applying for whatever is the new program will be able to explain what they’ve tried on their own - whether at WDW or elsewhere - what has and has not worked for them and why, and that the CMs fielding calls are empowered and trained to take that into consideration vs. applying a rigid flow chart of accommodations to each applicant and telling them they have to try things that have already been tried and failed before. I’m purposely being vague about what those things could be to avoid writing any kind of script, but my experience so far has been that providing those real-life examples to the CMs has been very helpful for them and has made the whole process more efficient for us both.
I’m not necessarily advocating for DAS specifically to remain or not: I have no idea what alternatives Disney may be cooking up and maybe the new options will be even better at meeting individual needs.
That is exactly the situation I had at Canada's Wonderland with their new "rewording" of their equivalent program for the 2024 season, it excluded my issue in the update, but I went confident, explained why return to queues doesn't work for me with real experiences at their theme park and other parks that backed that up, I had to give more specific details than ever before and they took the issue to a supervisor who ultimately gave me the regular equivalent accommodation as the current (May 20 and on) version of DAS. So to reiterate, if you have been a regular DAS user and you don't know if your disability will be accommodated the same way, the best thing you can do is tell your story. Don't feel guilty about what others think (you have lived with a problem that others have not, so THEY DONT KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE, only you do), I stopped caring of the optics because I've been dealing with an invisible disability for 10 years now and I keep getting told "you're looking good though", physical appearances last time I checked doesn't improve disabilities. Be confident, you've been living your life in an altered fashion, stick up for yourself, because the disabled community is an easy target to manipulate because they feed on the culpability we carry like it's some how our fault. Fight, everyone deserves to be treated fairly, so fight for it because we shouldn't expect to be given anything (DAS was heading in that direction), if you think you need DAS, you should have to at least explain in depth why you need it, shouldn't be an issue since you live daily with it. Lastly, don't be embarrassed, there is nothing to be embarrassed about living with a disability, it is not your fault, it is out of your control, and we're at a point in society where it is accepted and treated with respect, so you shouldn't need to hide your voice; if anything, speak up, we need more voices to strengthen the community and to educate others more, it does no good to feel bad and not share your experience.
Sorry for the speech, felt it, and went with it today. I'm having a "better" day with my condition today, so extra positive for now lol. Hope it helps anyone that has been extra nervous, scared, guilty, angry, shy about the unknowns we'll be facing with the new DAS. It's under 3 weeks away, and I have some bad thoughts about it, but I am trying to go in with a positive mindset, and that comes from a lot of the messages on this thread and supporting the cause, and giving information as best as possible. So I want to say thank you as well.