I’ve found so much great info on how DAS works from these boards, that I wanted to share how our DAS day went at Hollywood Studios on 2/22/22 (a day when park reservations were sold out). TLDR: we had a great day, even with our plans having to shift multiple times during the day! No park hopper, no G+, no $ILL. DAS rider was not interested in the roller coasters or ToT.
First I concur with other DAS reporters and say while having the pass made things easier, I’d trade it in a heartbeat to not have the need for it in the first place. I’d much prefer the full health of our DAS rider.
We did advanced video DAS registration. I’ll skip the part about the frustrations of doing that (which, while not a breeze, wasn’t as bad as some reports I’ve read, and was completely worth it). We walked in with advanced returns for MFSR and TSM
The app worked great! The DAS tile showed up just as we tapped in at 7:40, well before the official start to Early Theme Park Entry at 8:30. We could only have booked shows at that point. Ride returns became available as soon as ETPE standby waits appeared in the app, about 30 seconds after 8:30, which seems to be typical, rather than G+ beginning at 7 on the dot.
You DON’T have to go to the tile exclusively to get DAS return times. You can got to the map to see wait times, tap a ride to have its name pop up, then tap it again for more info and you can request a DAS return from there.You can also get DAS returns from the Tip Board, also tapping the ride for more info.
Cancelling DAS returns is a breeze (we did this often as the winds change for the day). The only annoying part was that sometimes the DAS return wasn’t showing up in My Day, and you actually have to tap into the details of the return to find the icon to cancel. This was more of a nuisance than an actual problem as I always was able to poke around and eventually find it. I wish I could say how, but I don’t remember if there was any rhyme or reason to it.
Make sure ALL members of the riding party clear the DAS reservation at the tap points. On one ride, one of my kids didn’t clear properly and I couldn’t book him for the next ride. Luckily we were still at the tap point and I had him tap in again. Then I could book the next return for our whole riding party.
Not only will DAS returns stay active when you leave the park, you can make DAS returns while OUTSIDE of the park. We had come back to the hotel for a break. Changed plans for our timing and preferences for going back, and I was able to cancel the current DAS return we had and book a new one from our room.
I don’t think I was on WIFI at all while at the park and had no problems anywhere outside with cellular when trying to book something. However, my nightmare scenario totally occurred this morning with dropped service. I was hoping to get a DAS return for RotR as soon as possible, before standby spiked, so it would coincide with our MFSR Advanced DAS. We rope dropped Toy Story Mania, and had about 20 people ahead of us. At 8:28 they started letting us in, so I’m already worried about fiddling with my phone on the ride. THEN I discover there’s barely any signal in the queue! NO!!! I got back online briefly, enough to see RotR was down anyway, and booked MMRR instead. Best thing that ever happened to us! Not being tied down to a lengthy DAS return gave us a lot of flexibility for the first half of the day, and our DAS rider who initially wanted to go on RotR changed their mind about it eventually anyway.
If you’re going to see Indy’s Stunt Show, don’t bother getting a return. Book something else with a long wait and get to the theatre early for standby instead. We got an Indy DAS return for the 1:15 show, got there about 1:05, and it was already standing room only, even with the pass. That was a non starter for us. Cancelled the DAS return, did some other stuff, and got a new return for the 3:15. We were nearby and saw they were opening standby about 40 min before showtime, so we went over to tap in. We could have easily just done standby to get good seats and enjoy 40 minutes of sitting in shade with giant ceiling fans to keep us cool.
Similarly with Muppets 3D, we got a DAS return time because it was on our way to something, but just as easily could have done standby.
If you have back problems, think twice about MFSR. That ride changed the course of our day. Much more jarring than we expected. Lots of fun, as well as lots of sudden shaking and bouncing in hard plastic seats.
Lastly a philosophical thought: Remember that this provides a level of flexibility to take care of your loved ones. Don’t fall into the trap of always thinking ahead to what’s next. It’s convenient to book the next DAS right after tapping in, but most rides are only a few minutes and you don’t lose anything by breathing and checking in on your group to see how things are going before figuring out the next move.
Happy touring everyone!
First I concur with other DAS reporters and say while having the pass made things easier, I’d trade it in a heartbeat to not have the need for it in the first place. I’d much prefer the full health of our DAS rider.
We did advanced video DAS registration. I’ll skip the part about the frustrations of doing that (which, while not a breeze, wasn’t as bad as some reports I’ve read, and was completely worth it). We walked in with advanced returns for MFSR and TSM
The app worked great! The DAS tile showed up just as we tapped in at 7:40, well before the official start to Early Theme Park Entry at 8:30. We could only have booked shows at that point. Ride returns became available as soon as ETPE standby waits appeared in the app, about 30 seconds after 8:30, which seems to be typical, rather than G+ beginning at 7 on the dot.
You DON’T have to go to the tile exclusively to get DAS return times. You can got to the map to see wait times, tap a ride to have its name pop up, then tap it again for more info and you can request a DAS return from there.You can also get DAS returns from the Tip Board, also tapping the ride for more info.
Cancelling DAS returns is a breeze (we did this often as the winds change for the day). The only annoying part was that sometimes the DAS return wasn’t showing up in My Day, and you actually have to tap into the details of the return to find the icon to cancel. This was more of a nuisance than an actual problem as I always was able to poke around and eventually find it. I wish I could say how, but I don’t remember if there was any rhyme or reason to it.
Make sure ALL members of the riding party clear the DAS reservation at the tap points. On one ride, one of my kids didn’t clear properly and I couldn’t book him for the next ride. Luckily we were still at the tap point and I had him tap in again. Then I could book the next return for our whole riding party.
Not only will DAS returns stay active when you leave the park, you can make DAS returns while OUTSIDE of the park. We had come back to the hotel for a break. Changed plans for our timing and preferences for going back, and I was able to cancel the current DAS return we had and book a new one from our room.
I don’t think I was on WIFI at all while at the park and had no problems anywhere outside with cellular when trying to book something. However, my nightmare scenario totally occurred this morning with dropped service. I was hoping to get a DAS return for RotR as soon as possible, before standby spiked, so it would coincide with our MFSR Advanced DAS. We rope dropped Toy Story Mania, and had about 20 people ahead of us. At 8:28 they started letting us in, so I’m already worried about fiddling with my phone on the ride. THEN I discover there’s barely any signal in the queue! NO!!! I got back online briefly, enough to see RotR was down anyway, and booked MMRR instead. Best thing that ever happened to us! Not being tied down to a lengthy DAS return gave us a lot of flexibility for the first half of the day, and our DAS rider who initially wanted to go on RotR changed their mind about it eventually anyway.
If you’re going to see Indy’s Stunt Show, don’t bother getting a return. Book something else with a long wait and get to the theatre early for standby instead. We got an Indy DAS return for the 1:15 show, got there about 1:05, and it was already standing room only, even with the pass. That was a non starter for us. Cancelled the DAS return, did some other stuff, and got a new return for the 3:15. We were nearby and saw they were opening standby about 40 min before showtime, so we went over to tap in. We could have easily just done standby to get good seats and enjoy 40 minutes of sitting in shade with giant ceiling fans to keep us cool.
Similarly with Muppets 3D, we got a DAS return time because it was on our way to something, but just as easily could have done standby.
If you have back problems, think twice about MFSR. That ride changed the course of our day. Much more jarring than we expected. Lots of fun, as well as lots of sudden shaking and bouncing in hard plastic seats.
Lastly a philosophical thought: Remember that this provides a level of flexibility to take care of your loved ones. Don’t fall into the trap of always thinking ahead to what’s next. It’s convenient to book the next DAS right after tapping in, but most rides are only a few minutes and you don’t lose anything by breathing and checking in on your group to see how things are going before figuring out the next move.
Happy touring everyone!
