experimental entry system @ Epcot

[Monty]

While not mentioned, I'd love to see a move towards hard ticket though to save time. I've been though 27 tickets in the last 18 months on my APs. The strips wear out way too easy.

With the bar codes and scanners you shouldn't have the same problems. The mag strip has the same info as the bar code.

I demagnetized my AP last August and they replaced it with an AP that had a bar code. The CM told me if it demags again its no problem, just scan the bar code at the turnstiles and it'll be fine.

 

[RSoxNo1]

With the bar codes and scanners you shouldn't have the same problems. The mag strip has the same info as the bar code.

I demagnetized my AP last August and they replaced it with an AP that had a bar code. The CM told me if it demags again its no problem, just scan the bar code at the turnstiles and it'll be fine.

My mother had this issue on our last strip as well, but they didn't ask her to use a barcode. It seems that with all the AP discounts now, these are going to get demagnetized all the time. She put her pass on a counter with a credit card and it was immediately demagnetized. The bar codes used in Disneyland seem to work much better.

 

[Neverland]

This just looks like a nightmare to me. What happens when the park closes? Guests wander into the park until security finds them? And to everyone saying that people will get used to this new system... Think on it for a moment. As it stands, most guests can't even figure out to put their ticket into the slot and push the turnstile forward. And how many decades has that basic system been around?

And how many of those CMs are transplants from Toontown?

All Toontown CMs were cross-trained in other Fantasyland complexes, because Barnstormer was a Fantasyland complex. There are no Toonie refugees at the Mansion.

 

[devoy1701]

the baggage check at EPCOT is the biggest bottleneck IMO. You have all of the guests unloaded from the buses and the monorail into what is usually a checkpoint of only 2 (sometimes 3) guards on a narrow and very crowded walkway...

But this configuration does look like they could have a problem with people trying to sneak past the scanners in a large crowd.

 

[Silver Figment]

I know that the lines for getting into the parks can sometimes be long and obnoxious but i'm unsure if this method would be any more affective. If this is done properly, meaning precautions for crowd control are taken into account then i think this could work well. As many people have also said though, sometimes your average tourist isn't very smart with these kinds of things.

 

[tizzo]

With the bar codes and scanners you shouldn't have the same problems. The mag strip has the same info as the bar code.

I demagnetized my AP last August and they replaced it with an AP that had a bar code. The CM told me if it demags again its no problem, just scan the bar code at the turnstiles and it'll be fine.

My recollection is that my APs have always had both barcodes and mag strips on them. When the mag strip won't read at the turnstile, the CM always just scans the barcode and lets me in. The only reason I've ever bothered to replace a demagnized AP is that they won't work in the FP machines.

And evidently those magnetic strips are extremely fragile. The first time I demagnetized one, they told me not to put the pass and my phone in the same pocket, which really isn't too unreasonable.

Well, our cards got demagnetized again despite my diligence about keeping them away from the phone. When I went to get them replaced, the CM upon seeing me take them out of the single passholder booklet we used to keep them in, told me that I shouldn't even do that, because the strips on the two tickets can demagnetize each other.

 

[Master Yoda]

My recollection is that my APs have always had both barcodes and mag strips on them. When the mag strip won't read at the turnstile, the CM always just scans the barcode and lets me in. The only reason I've ever bothered to replace a demagnized AP is that they won't work in the FP machines.

And evidently those magnetic strips are extremely fragile. The first time I demagnetized one, they told me not to put the pass and my phone in the same pocket, which really isn't too unreasonable.

Well, our cards got demagnetized again despite my diligence about keeping them away from the phone. When I went to get them replaced, the CM upon seeing me take them out of the single passholder booklet we used to keep them in, told me that I shouldn't even do that, because the strips on the two tickets can demagnetize each other.

I honestly do not get why so many people have problems with demagnetized AP's. I have kept as many as 5 AP's in my wallet, next to each other as well as other CC for the last 10+ years and have only had to replace one.:shrug:

 

[Tom]

I honestly do not get why so many people have problems with demagnetized AP's. I have kept as many as 5 AP's in my wallet, next to each other as well as other CC for the last 10+ years and have only had to replace one.:shrug:

I'm with you. I've never had a card or ticket demagnetized in my life. These people must hang around some hefty electromagnets all day.

 

[tizzo]

I honestly do not get why so many people have problems with demagnetized AP's. I have kept as many as 5 AP's in my wallet, next to each other as well as other CC for the last 10+ years and have only had to replace one.:shrug:

Same here. I hadn't had a problem for close to 10 years. The first time was no more than a year ago, and the second time was no more than a couple of months after that, and I hadn't done anything differently. Just relaying what I was told by CMs.

 

[devoy1701]

Same here. I hadn't had a problem for close to 10 years. The first time was no more than a year ago, and the second time was no more than a couple of months after that, and I hadn't done anything differently. Just relaying what I was told by CMs.

I replaced demagnatized APs probably a dozen times over the past 2 years. Before that we never had a problem. Sometimes the newly issues pass would have a barcode, but most of the time they did not.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I honestly do not get why so many people have problems with demagnetized AP's. I have kept as many as 5 AP's in my wallet, next to each other as well as other CC for the last 10+ years and have only had to replace one.:shrug:

It might be the type of credit card. I typically keep our park passes in a plastic case in my front pocket, with my credit cards and such in my back pocket. However, I know I've had my AP and Credit cards touch in the past without incident.

I don't know enough about credit card technology but is it possible that some of them have chips embedded in them that could be responsible for the demagnitizing?

 

[Master Yoda]

It might be the type of credit card. I typically keep our park passes in a plastic case in my front pocket, with my credit cards and such in my back pocket. However, I know I've had my AP and Credit cards touch in the past without incident.

I don't know enough about credit card technology but is it possible that some of them have chips embedded in them that could be responsible for the demagnitizing?

I am going with the hypothesis that I emit a protective magnetic strip aura.

 

[tizzo]

You know - with all the "demagnitized card" noise running around? I have a question:

How many of you have ever had a CREDIT CARD stripe demagnitized by anything from Halley's Comet to a large fishing weight? I'm not buying this - either WDW has stipes on the back of their cards that are FAR inferior to a County Library Card, or their readers just burp on a regular basis.

Yes, yes... I know.... WDW LOVES to say "demagnitized". They've done it to us. I STILL don't buy it.

I tend to believe them about the cards being demagnetized, only because the two times I had to get my cards replaced, it wasn't just at the turnstiles, and it wasn't intermittent. Once they stopped working, they did so completely, both at the turnstiles (no big deal because of the bar code), and at all FP machines.

And in my case, it wasn't a credit card in my wallet that they claimed was the culprit, because I didn't have the cards in my wallet, or even in the same pocket as my wallet. They claimed that the cards demagnetized each other, because I had them together (IE touching) in the same passholder booklet.

If anything, I'm inclined to believe the turnstiles or FP machines may be demagnetizing the cards, rather than the cards being just fine and the machines just misreading them now and then. Lord knows they've told me plenty of other things that turned out not to be true. For example, the first time this happened, they told me to be careful because they wouldn't replace it if it happened again - but that didn't stop them from replacing it when it did happen again. And any passholder has heard and read all the dire warnings you get about your pass not being replaceable if you lose or destroy it. But I know at least one person who has gotten her AP replaced several times at guest services just outside the park gates. All they've ever made her do is show her driver's license.

Anyway, I'm sure they have their reasons - but you can't believe everything they tell you, even if "they" is Disney.

 

[Tom]

You know - with all the "demagnitized card" noise running around? I have a question:

How many of you have ever had a CREDIT CARD stripe demagnitized by anything from Halley's Comet to a large fishing weight? I'm not buying this - either WDW has stipes on the back of their cards that are FAR inferior to a County Library Card, or their readers just burp on a regular basis.

Yes, yes... I know.... WDW LOVES to say "demagnitized". They've done it to us. I STILL don't buy it.

Excellent points!

I tend to believe them about the cards being demagnetized, only because the two times I had to get my cards replaced, it wasn't just at the turnstiles, and it wasn't intermittent. Once they stopped working, they did so completely, both at the turnstiles (no big deal because of the bar code), and at all FP machines.

And in my case, it wasn't a credit card in my wallet that they claimed was the culprit, because I didn't have the cards in my wallet, or even in the same pocket as my wallet. They claimed that the cards demagnetized each other, because I had them together (IE touching) in the same passholder booklet.

If anything, I'm inclined to believe the turnstiles or FP machines may be demagnetizing the cards, rather than the cards being just fine and the machines just misreading them now and then. Lord knows they've told me plenty of other things that turned out not to be true. For example, the first time this happened, they told me to be careful because they wouldn't replace it if it happened again - but that didn't stop them from replacing it when it did happen again. And any passholder has heard and read all the dire warnings you get about your pass not being replaceable if you lose or destroy it. But I know at least one person who has gotten her AP replaced several times at guest services just outside the park gates. All they've ever made her do is show her driver's license.

Anyway, I'm sure they have their reasons - but you can't believe everything they tell you, even if "they" is Disney.

The folks working the turnstiles at WDW aren't there because they're Electrical Engineers or Physicists....so their explanation of the cards being "demagnetized" is simply because they heard someone else say it, and it's a quick way to explain away user error or computer failure on Disney's part.

If a ticket doesn't work, the problem is more than likely a database error. The only information stored on the card itself is a long number, in magnetic format. When you swipe it, the machine reads the number, sends it to the main database, and learns its instructions.

There are so many links in the chain that can be broken (turnstile, cable from turnstile to network interface, network switch, cable to the servers, bad hard drive sector, database overload), it's more likely a hardware/software error than thousands of magically demagnetized cards.

 

[muteki]

While I have never had issues with WDW tickets getting demagged (though I usually have a KTTWC) I have had metro cards get demagged on me, which are very similar.

What did it for me was that many cell phone manufacturers use magnets as a means of flip sense rather than mechanical switches. It is not often that the cards in my wallet get close to my phone, but metro cards/other cards that I only hang on to for a day will likely be in a front pocket possibly the same as my phone. I just eventually made sure I was putting them in different pockets.

 

[unkadug]

It seems to me that the easiest way to get around the problem of demagnetized cards would be to abandon the technology altogether and either go with RFID or bar codes.

Bar codes would the easiest as Bar Code readers are a readily available commodity as is the technology and cannot be easily fooled or disfigured.

 

[Tom]

It seems to me that the easiest way to get around the problem of demagnetized cards would be to abandon the technology altogether and either go with RFID or bar codes.

Bar codes would the easiest as Bar Code readers are a readily available commodity as is the technology and cannot be easily fooled or disfigured.

Indeed. Hold it under the scanner and bam, you're in. Although, with RFID, you could have the ticket anywhere on your person and just walk through a "portal" at the main entrance and either be granted or denied access instantly. No fumbling with tickets or fingerprints. Just walk right through like an airport metal detector.

 

[unkadug]

Indeed. Hold it under the scanner and bam, you're in. Although, with RFID, you could have the ticket anywhere on your person and just walk through a "portal" at the main entrance and either be granted or denied access instantly. No fumbling with tickets or fingerprints. Just walk right through like an airport metal detector.

True. But with RFID there's always the fear from some people being scanned without their knowledge. You know... the paranoia group.

Also RFID is a lot more expensive than Bar Codes.

 

[wm49rs]

True. But with RFID there's always the fear from some people being scanned without their knowledge. You know... the paranoia group.

Hater.....

 

[Tom]

But with RFID there's always the fear from some people being scanned without their knowledge. You know... the paranoia group.

Oh yes. That. :lookaroun

Also RFID is a lot more expensive than Bar Codes.

True. But so much more awesomer.