Following many months of controversy, a class action lawsuit has been filed against the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts and Inspire Health Alliance in the state of California over changes that were made to the Disability Access Service (DAS) at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort.

DAS Class Action Lawsuit

The class action suit Malone vs. Disney, filed in Orange County, California, alleges that Disney and Inspire are discriminating against those with disabilities by instituting these policies and in their interview processes to determine eligibility. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), those with disabilities are entitled to equal access, privacy, and dignity. Specifically, the screening criteria is being challenged for possibly violating the California Unruh Civil Rights Act, as well as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines, and privacy rights under the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA).

The full class action lawsuit can be read here:

The DAS changes went into effect at Walt Disney World in May 2024 and Disneyland Resort in June, in an effort to stop overuse of the service. The update restricts the service to guests who “due to a developmental disability like autism or similar disorder, are unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time.” The wording was recently slightly updated.

Guests with other disabilities have been told to purchase Genie + / Lightning Lane or practice waiting in line at home. Infamously, several incidents have been documented where guests with various types of cancer, including those terminally ill, have been denied the service.

Disney also stopped offering in-person DAS registration at Walt Disney World, and limited in-person registration at Disneyland Resort. Walt Disney World guests are required to sign up for DAS via a video chat online and Disneyland Resort guests are encouraged to sign up the same way. They also limited the party that could be attached to a DAS pass to four — the individual with a disability and three party members.

In addition to the wording update, Disney has also made other slight adjustments to DAS after the initial overhaul. They recently extended the registration window, which was another point of contention. The window was previously 30 days before a vacation, which was after guests could cancel vacation packages. It was extended to 60 days.

Disney also extended the DAS validity period. Guests could originally use DAS for 60 days. This was extended to 120 days with the early 2024 changes, then to 240 days (or the length of of the guest’s ticket, whichever is shorter) in the fall.

A group known as DAS Defenders has vocally protested the changes, including with an online petition and a mobile billboard at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event. The lawsuit is not related to DAS Defenders.

DAS allows individuals with a disability and up to three of their party members to enter the Lightning Lane of an attraction. Guests use the respective Disney app to register for a return time to the attraction. Guests can only hold one DAS return time at a time but there is no end to the return window. After using a return time, guests must wait 15 minutes to book another return time. Before last year’s changes, guests could immediately book another return time.

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Shannen Michaelsen