EMH Experiment

B

Brewer

Member
Original Poster
Right so we've just got back from 2 weeks of magic.

Whilst we were there we took advantage of the extra magic hours. The new system of showing your resort key didn't seem to be working. The cast members weren't looking at the date just whether you had a key.

Now, don't ask me why because I don't know but I still had a room key from our 2006 stay in my wallett. So I thought I would see if I could get onto the rides with it. I'm afraid to say 95% of the time I was.

If this room key thing is here to stay I think one solution would be to have different coloured keys for each month? Either that or bring those wriststraps back!
 
G

Gooch

New Member
yeah, i also keep my room keys from previous stays and if cm's are just going to take a quick glance and not even check the dates on the card then i might as well sell the old ones in a dark corner out of a trenchcoat to those staying off property.
 
sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
This is exactly what I thought would be the case. Thanks for doing the experiment. :) It makes sense especially for the night time EMH's. It's darker. The CMs can't stand there with a flashlight trying to read dates on every room key. Another case of "What were they thinkin??"
 
jasondiff

jasondiff

Member
At the end of September, I did EMH at the Studios. I rode TSM multiple times, and the CMs at that time were looking at dates closely. The CMs were stationed at the entrance to the queue, and this caused a huge traffic problem in the area because there was then a line of a hundred or more guests waiting in a makeshift line to get to these CMs. It really didn't impact the wait time at all since there was a wait time in the indoor queue, but it did make it confusing where the line really started. This being Disney, it makes sense that they would try to eliminate this issue as much as possible, but it seems the only way of doing that would be to spend less time looking at the dates on the KTTW cards.

I think there are technological advancements that could solve the issue, anything from having cardreaders at the entrance which would (theoretically) be faster at verifying dates than CMs with flashlights, to RFID-encoded KTTW cards and RFID readers at the entrance to the queue. But realistically wristbands seem to be the easiest solution at the moment. One thought would be, instead of having designated wristband distribution locations with the extra expense of staffing, why not just have the greeter CMs at the entrance to the attractions be the wristband distributors. That way there's no extra staffing requirement, and they're already (supposedly) looking at KTTW card dates anyway, so in this scenario every guest would get a wristband at their first EMH attraction, and then not need to show the KTTW card again for the remainder of the night. Sort of like how PI clubs would give you a 21+ wristband after your ID was checked at the first club you entered for the night, so that there was no need to check ID again when you hopped to another club.
 
noflashphoto

noflashphoto

New Member
They are doing this "experiment" because the same thing was happening with wrist bands. People would let others borrow their room key to get EMH wrist bands. Disney is trying to find a way that works better.

I was a cast member. I know most of the people I worked with didn't really cared who got on the ride. Either way we would still be at the park until 2am. It didn't make a difference to us. Kicking people out was way more of a hassle then letting them in...especially when they speak a language you don't know.
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I had a feeling that this would be the case. I give it a couple of months before the general population knows about this loop hole and late EMH's will be worse that ever.
 
P

Philo

Well-Known Member
It's no surprise really. I guess they are counting on people either not realizing, or being moral!

When I first heard of this I assumed they were going to have handheld scanners at the entrance of each ride - didn't seem to make sense though as this would just delay things further.

I say go back to the wrist band strategy - it wasn't exactly difficult to work out or time consuming.
 
noflashphoto

noflashphoto

New Member
Philo said:
I say go back to the wrist band strategy - it wasn't exactly difficult to work out or time consuming.
Click to expand...

SOME guests thought it was reeeeeeeaaaally difficult:lol:. They didn't want to walk 50 feet to the wrist band people and thought it would take an hour out of their night. I liked wrist bands better because it was less work for the CMs at the rides...we just had to identify a brightly colored band instead of reading cards...
 
hrcollectibles

hrcollectibles

Active Member
Here's an idea.. Upon Checking into your hotel they issue armbands for the length of your stay. Color coded each day with the Theme Park name that has the Evening Extra Magic Hours.
 
Silvermist

Silvermist

Member
They need to scan the room keys at the entrance to each attraction. No need to "read" anything in the dark and no need to be concerned with dates, colors, etc. to ensure it's a currently valid card.

Scanning works and not only does it serve as a verification process, it also captures data electronically. If a particular CM is bypassing the scan process, the numbers (actual riders vs. guests scanned onto the ride) will be off and it can be appropriately addressed.

It's really very simple. The technology is there and it works. But for it to work, it has to be purchased and utilized. :brick:
 
nolatron

nolatron

Well-Known Member
Silvermist said:
They need to scan the room keys at the entrance to each attraction. No need to "read" anything in the dark and no need to be concerned with dates, colors, etc. to ensure it's a currently valid card.

Scanning works and not only does it serve as a verification process, it also captures data electronically. If a particular CM is bypassing the scan process, the numbers (actual riders vs. guests scanned onto the ride) will be off and it can be appropriately addressed.

It's really very simple. The technology is there and it works. But for it to work, it has to be purchased and utilized. :brick:
Click to expand...

This was going to be my suggestion. At Disneyland, instead of passing your ticket through a machine to enter, a CM at the turnstile simply scanned the back of the pass with a handheld scanner and you were on your way. They even still used handstamps (and quickly checked with a handheld light) for park hopping/re-entry.

I found this to be way more efficient compared to WDW with the "insert ticket...reinsert ticket..scan fingers...try fingers.... maybe a 3rd time?... it worked!.... grab ticket and go" method I've experienced there.

Having a CM at a ride entrance with a handheld scanner shooting room keys would be a quick and easy way to determine if a card is valid or not, while keeping the traffic flow moving.
 
doop

doop

Well-Known Member
Silvermist said:
They need to scan the room keys at the entrance to each attraction. No need to "read" anything in the dark and no need to be concerned with dates, colors, etc. to ensure it's a currently valid card.

Scanning works and not only does it serve as a verification process, it also captures data electronically. If a particular CM is bypassing the scan process, the numbers (actual riders vs. guests scanned onto the ride) will be off and it can be appropriately addressed.

It's really very simple. The technology is there and it works. But for it to work, it has to be purchased and utilized. :brick:
Click to expand...
Agreed, this is going to be the only solution to people trying to pass off old cards other than reverting back to the wristbands.
 
JonnyK

JonnyK

Active Member
I like the sound of the ideas that one of you came up with.

But I thought of somthing.

They Should reissue the wristbands again, but they should also add a card reader (almost like a credit card reader you see at stores or somthing similar with some lighting) like for example.

Once the person gets a wristband, do the card first to confirm your a guest on property with a valid date of stay (one time use only) and get the wristband, so this way they can know your only doing it once, like the color coded light -- like green lit, mean go ahead and give them a wristband, and if others attempt to give the kttw card to other visitors, they have to go thru that process again and the color light is lit red, meaning the card has been checked/issued to one person and no wristband for them to proceed. just an idea i came up with.

Im sure they would approve this kind of idea, just an suggestion.

Or Get similiar one at each attractions where a cm is right there.
 
RiversideBunny

RiversideBunny

New Member
Would it work better, if they do decide to use scanning, that the scanning be done at 'road blocks' in each area of the Magic Kingdom instead of at every attraction? Like a rope 'road block' across the end of Main Street, and one in each of the park areas.

That would require less scan points and staffing and scanning devices.

Maybe too much of a bottle kneck, though?

:)
 
C

coasterphil

Well-Known Member
wdwfreak said:
I like the sound of the ideas that one of you came up with.

But I thought of somthing.

They Should reissue the wristbands again, but they should also add a card reader (almost like a credit card reader you see at stores or somthing similar with some lighting) like for example.

Once the person gets a wristband, do the card first to confirm your a guest on property with a valid date of stay (one time use only) and get the wristband, so this way they can know your only doing it once, like the color coded light -- like green lit, mean go ahead and give them a wristband, and if others attempt to give the kttw card to other visitors, they have to go thru that process again and the color light is lit red, meaning the card has been checked/issued to one person and no wristband for them to proceed. just an idea i came up with.

Im sure they would approve this kind of idea, just an suggestion.

Or Get similiar one at each attractions where a cm is right there.
Click to expand...

They already have this technology and used it on occasion in the past.
 

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