The Disability Access Service (DAS) changed at Disneyland and Disney World, and that's big news for people with disabilities and special circumstances. If someone in your party has a disability or health concern, you may be surprised to learn that there are a variety of other ways that Disney may offer accommodations to help meet your needs in the parks beyond DAS. Most of them do not require you to set it up in advance via chat or to wait in line to talk to someone at a window. Let's hop to it and discuss all the alternative accessibility options at Disneyland — as well as separate services and tools any guest can use to avoid the standby line — that can help you prepare for a great visit.
Alternative Accessibility Options at Disneyland
Before we get started, you may want to peruse the Accessibility Planning Guide & Recommendations from Disneyland. It covers even more details about companion restrooms and manual flush toilets (which we cover in our post on the best bathrooms at Disneyland) as well as details about service animals, braille maps, sign language interpreters, adult changing tables and more. But today we are focusing on accessing rides, especially when you do not qualify for DAS.
Disability Access Service (DAS)
First of all, there is still DAS. This service is for guests who have a developmental disability such as autism or similar who are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time.
We have two hopful posts on the Disneyland Disability Access Service, which recently underwent changes in terms of who qualifies:
- Overview of Disneyland Disability Access Service (DAS)
- FAQs about Disneyland Disability Access Service (DAS)
Hop there to read up on this service. You can sign up for DAS in advance of your trip via an online chat or on the day of your visit at the Disability Services kiosk outside the parks.
Some guests who used to qualify for DAS for different disabilities or health reasons no longer fall under the DAS umbrella. Instead, they are being offered different accommodations to access attractions based on their needs. Let's go over the alternative accessibility options at Disneyland, as well as separate paid tools that can help you. People who use DAS can also use these services as needed, in addition to DAS.
Disneyland Location Return Times
This accommodation is offered only in Disneyland Park. In that park, some of the older queues are not wheelchair accessible or contain steps or narrow passages, making them difficult for people with physical restrictions or devices. Disney California Adventure is newer and has ADA-friendly queues. The location return time accommodation may be suggested for guests who:
- Use a mobility device such as a wheelchair or ECV
- Are unable to navigate stairs, steep ramps, turnstiles or low lighting
- Require assistance navigating narrow walkways with a sighted guide or a service animal
To acquire a location return time, speak to a cast member at the attraction. The cast member will scan the tickets of the party members, assign a return time that is comparable to the current standby wait time and direct you where to return. When it's time to ride, a cast member will scan your tickets or codes and allow you into an alternative queue.
The following Disneyland attractions offer location return times:
- Alice in Wonderland
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Casey Jr. Circus Train
- Chip ‘n’ Dales GADGETcoaster
- Indiana Jones Adventure
- Jungle Cruise
- King Arthur Carrousel
- Mad Tea Party
- Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
- Peter Pan’s Flight
- Pinocchio’s Daring Journey
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Snow White’s Enchanted Wish
- Space Mountain
- Storybook Land Canal Boats
Navigating Queues with Service Animals
If you cannot navigate a narrow walkway with your service animal, ask for a location return time. Service animals can ride some rides but not all. Thrill rides have crates to hold service animals while you ride. If you have others in your party, you can also use Rider Switch to have someone watch the animal while others ride and then the animal sitter can take a turn riding.
Disneyland Attraction Queue Re-Entry
If you are in a queue and need to leave, you can step out and rejoin your party. Here's how to use it:
- Speak to a cast member at the attraction for directions on how to re-enter the queue.
- The cast member can provide details about how to exit the queue and how to navigate back to your party.
- While you are briefly away, the rest of your party remains in the queue.
- You can reunite with your party to experience the attraction.
We would suggest trying all other accommodations before resorting to attraction queue re-entry. But it's good to know it's available in case of emergency. We share the following information not to be negative about this service but so you are prepared for the real-life challenges of using it.
It's hard to navigate back through a crowded queue, especially if you are using a wheelchair, have mobility issues/devices or are anxious about dealing with strangers. There may not be a cast member right where you need them when you need them (especially if you are having a medical or bathroom emergency and need to leave quickly). This plan does not work if you are the only adult with children or are traveling alone. (You should not separate from children under 14 or leave them unattended.) It also does not work if you are a party of two and you need the other party member to accompany/assist you. The system varies for each attraction, so it's hard to determine how to best do this for each ride.
It can be challenging to meet up with your party, especially if you are not a regular visitor who knows the attraction queue well and where to go. Cell phones may not always have a signal deep in a queue. That means it may be hard to communicate with your party to find them.
Other Separate Tools to Help You Navigate the Disneyland Parks
These are not considered ADA accommodations, but the following services are tools and services any park guest can use to help manage their day. Some of them might work for your party. Some may not. But we list them here to bring awareness of other ways you can avoid the regular queue and make the most of your day in the parks.
Single Rider
A few rides offer Single Rider and Buddy Pass. There are age limits and restrictions, which means these options are not for everyone, especially for people who need assistance. But if your party is willing and physically able to split up — and does not have seat preferences — you can avoid the standard queue and access the attraction with a shorter wait. Riders must be at least 7 years old and comfortable riding without their party. Cast members will assign single riders to empty seats on the ride. The availability of this service may vary. Our Single Rider post has all the deets.
In addition, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh sometimes offers a Roo Pass, which operates similarly to the Buddy Pass at Monsters, Inc. It's only offered when the wait is about longer than 20 minutes.
Rider Switch
Rider Switch is available to all guests. We've used the service to allow one parent to stay with our toddler, Lily, (when she does not meet the height requirements) while the rest of the party rides. Then the babysitting parent can take a turn (with a companion) with a shorter wait once the party returns. Rider Switch can be used as one of the alternative accessibility services at Disneyland theme parks.
This service is available at all attractions at both theme parks for people who meet one of the following:
- Do not meet the boarding requirements
- Have a service animal that cannot board the attraction or does not want to use a provided kennel
- Meets the boarding requirement and does not want to ride, but cannot wait outside of the queue on their own
Rider Switch has been suggested to us by a cast member for a person in our family who wants to ride but cannot wait in the queue. For example, one of the frogs in our family cannot handle the long tunnel queue for Rise of the Resistance. He could use Rider Switch to wait outside the queue while the rest of the party waits in line. Then after the party returns, he could take a turn using the shorter Lightning Lane queue. (And he can bring a party member with him, so he doesn't have to wait or ride alone.) He could also purchase Lightning Lane access for a fee, but Rider Switch is a more budget-friendly way to meet his needs. If it were a child who needed to use Rider Switch for a disability, an adult could wait with them.
How to Use Rider Switch
Talk to the greeting cast member at an attraction with your entire group. Inform them you are interested in the Rider Switch option. Members are divided into two parties:
- Party 1 boards the attraction first.
- Party 2 — a maximum of two people from the rest of the party — waits.
- A cast member scans the admission media or tickets of guests in Party 2 before Party 1 enters the queue.
- After Party 1 completes the experience, Party 2 returns to the appropriate attraction entrance (as directed by the issuing cast member) to have their tickets re-scanned by a cast member for the Rider Switch entitlement. Party 2 may enter the return line and board without waiting in the regular queue. Meanwhile, Party 1 waits with any nonriding guests.
You can view your Rider Switch return times in the Disneyland app under "My Day." The last time we used this service, the return times did not have to be used right away, and we could hold more than one return time at a time. Specifics can be subject to change.
Optional Lightning Lane Paid Services
These paid services are not considered ADA accommodations, but we do mention them as an optional tool to manage lines.
Lightning Lanes are not just for guests with disabilities. In fact, any park guest may purchase these services to skip the conventional queue for select attractions (about 12 rides in Disneyland and nine rides in Disney California Adventure). These services can also help guests who have trouble waiting in conventional queues but do not qualify for DAS, as long as the rides they can or want to ride are included in the service. All guests can choose to pay to use the Lightning Lane for select rides in both parks.
Lighting Lane Multi Pass does not cover all the rides, but it does cover a lot of the more popular attractions. Things that make it more convenient than DAS include being able to immediately make a new ride selection as soon as you redeem one and being able to make a selection for a ride in the other park. When booking with DAS, you have to wait 10 minutes after redeeming a selection before you can choose the next one. You also cannot book for rides in the other park before hopping. You must wait to scan into the other park to book through the app. The downsides of Lighting Lane Multi Pass (besides price) are that the ride selection times may be several hours away and you can only use a Lightning Lane Multi Pass for each ride one time per day.
Guests who do qualify for DAS can also purchase and use Lighting Lane Multi Pass. We have used these paid services in conjunction with various accommodations for family members with disabilities, and it helped manage their day. We really were able to maximize time and alternate using DAS or other accommodations with Lighting Lanes.
Some large parties of people (over groups of 4) ask us about using Lighting Lane Multi Pass for additional people who do not fit the DAS party limit of 4 (the DAS user and up to 3 guests). Unfortunately, if you have more than four people and want to coordinate disability return times with Lighting Lane selections for the additional guests, those time windows are unlikely to line up. It's easier to have everyone use Lighting Lane Multi Pass together to get the same times.
If Lightning Lanes are not in your budget, then this may not be an option for you. But we provide the information in this post to bring awareness to all the planning options that help people in the parks.
We have entire posts dedicated to this service if you want to learn more:
- A Guide to Disney Lightning Lanes at Disneyland
- Answering Your Disneyland Lightning Lane Frequently Asked Questions
The names recently changed from Genie+ to Lightning Lane Multi Pass (and individual Lightning Lane to Lightning Lane Single Pass) on July 24, 2024, but the services and how they work remain the same at Disneyland.
There are two options:
Lightning Lane Multi Pass
You can buy a Disneyland ticket with this service included (and even get a discount on it through Undercover Tourist — ribbit, ribbit!) or purchase the service for the day in the Disneyland app after entering a theme park. It allows the user to select times to use the Lightning Lane for select rides in either park (both parks when park hopping).
Lightning Lane Single Pass
You can purchase a Single Pass to skip the line on a per-ride basis for the park's most popular rides. It's currently available for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Radiator Springs Racers. Sometimes new rides are added for a limited time. You can only purchase a total of two attractions per day, and you cannot purchase the same ride twice in a day. If you do have DAS, then you can book these rides without paying extra. If you do not have DAS, try Rider Switch first for free if that service works for your party. Radiator Springs Racers has a free Single Rider line if that works for your party.
Tips for Managing Queues and the Day
Here are a few tips to help you manage your day and time in line:
- Before you arrive, make sure to link all the tickets for each member of the party to one account. Whether you use DAS, a location return time or Rider Switch, it will streamline the process to have everyone linked to the user's account.
- Rent a wheelchair. For people who have a hard time walking or standing for long periods of time, renting a wheelchair — even for someone who does not use one on a daily basis — can really help in a theme park. Grandpa Frog does not use a wheelchair in normal life, but because of rheumatoid arthritis, other health issues and being less steady on his feet than he used to be, we find that a wheelchair keeps him safe from others jostling him and gives him the strength and stamina to stay in the park longer.
- Bring additional support tools such as a mobility device — wheelchair, ECV, a walker with a seat or a cane chair.
- Bring a sensory toy or a calming item. That may include a stress ball, favorite device or activity such as a tablet, video game, phone or another item that may be calming or distracting while waiting in a queue.
- Snacks! Grab a snack or drink before hopping in a queue or while you wait for a return time.
- Find entertainment, parades and other activities — such as playing in Toontown — to break up the day.
- Find areas to take a sensory break.
- If you are at risk for overheating, bring spray bottles, fans, umbrellas and hats to protect you from the sun.
- For people who are willing and able to separate from their party and are at least 7 years old, Single Rider is a great option for select rides.
- View return times for DAS, location return times, Rider Switch and Lightning Lanes in the Disneyland app under "My Day" or on the home screen.
- For children who use a stroller as a wheelchair, talk to Accessibility Services or guest relations about a "Stroller as a Wheelchair" tag. It allows you to bring the stroller in accessible queues, restaurants and other places normal strollers can't go.
Hopfully, you can use some of these alternative accessibility services at Disneyland to make your day easier and enjoy the theme parks. Do you have any questions about the services? Ask in the comments section below.
Related: Guide to Using a Wheelchair or ECV at Disneyland
Related: 40 Tips to Maximize Your Time at Disneyland
Hoppy planning!
