experimental entry system @ Epcot

[toolsnspools]

The Key to the World cards and APs from last year have bar codes already (along with the magnetic strips). Makes me wonder which is actually being scanned in the current machines. Could be either. Maybe the only reason the mag strips are there is so the CMs can blame card malfunctions on demagnetization. :lookaroun

 

[tecowdw]

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.

I'd be cool with a permanent bar-code tattoo on my hand as my unique admission ticket (with a cute Mickey head silhouette please)!
Scan my hand and bam, I'm in!
They could code it as the media I purchased dynamically - AP, MYW, etc. allowing switching type from year to year even - and know whether I had paid for it instantly. If not, then I just have a cool, useless tattoo until my dying day.


I've never understood this "renew your annual pass and get a whole new ticket" thing anyway. Use one card/number like credit cards and drivers licenses. Sure they expire eventually but not before getting a good 4-5 years of use usually.

 

[tecowdw]

The Key to the World cards and APs from last year have bar codes already (along with the magnetic strips). Makes me wonder which is actually being scanned in the current machines. Could be either. Maybe the only reason the mag strips are there is so the CMs can blame card malfunctions on demagnetization. :lookaroun

Could be. More often than not last week, the reader couldn't read my pass and the CM had to scan the bar code anyway. And it seems most of the time anymore they have the fingerprint thing turned off.

I had no problem using the new bar code entry method at Epcot but I did wonder how the CM's could keep track of people not slipping through if it was a really busy admission gate. Kids running in and out, wheelchairs needing assistance, strollers going all over - they could easily lose focus!!

 

[Tom]

I'd be cool with a permanent bar-code tattoo on my hand as my unique admission ticket (with a cute Mickey head silhouette please)!
Scan my hand and bam, I'm in!
They could code it as the media I purchased dynamically - AP, MYW, etc. allowing switching type from year to year even - and know whether I had paid for it instantly. If not, then I just have a cool, useless tattoo until my dying day.


I've never understood this "renew your annual pass and get a whole new ticket" thing anyway. Use one card/number like credit cards and drivers licenses. Sure they expire eventually but not before getting a good 4-5 years of use usually.

What I've never understood is why you get a durable plastic KttW card if you're visiting the parks for a week....but if you buy an Annual Pass (which has to survive a year), you get a piece of junk cardboard ticket. :shrug:

I'm with you on the perma-code. Heck, I already have my UniGov ID (SSN) - why not give it to Disney too and let them track me.

 

[bsiev1977]

First (and probably superficial) impressions from the photograph:

The machines seem clustered awfully close together, like maybe it will be hard to reach when you have a crowd (mob) standing around like inevitably happens, with several guests needed asssitance to get the thing to work.

It also looks like it could create the problem of someone trying to 'slip in' without scanning a ticket, unless an additional CM is monitoring, since there are no actual turnstiles or barriers.

Exactly what I thought when I saw the picture, just how easy it could be to just walk past, or to fake scanning a ticket.

 

[CRO-Magnum]

Disney used to have bar codes....

on annual passes back in the 1980's, then moved to magnetic stripes and they have regretted it ever since. As of 2yrs ago they had made the decision to move back to bar codes because they are cheaper all around.

As to the flimsy AP's while hotel guests get hard cards the explanation I received at Guest Relations (Disney Studios) was that since Disney will happily replace your damaged or missing AP they're really the same. I pointed out there was a huge cost, often 30min or more at Guest Relations and a fee for replacements of AP's, but at that point I was simply asked if I had any more questions. When I pushed the issue I was told "we cannot take unsolicited operations advice from guests". Having heard that once before I replied "Trust me, you should be soliciting my operational advice because somewhere there's a lunatic running this asylum.

Two days later I had to wait almost 60min for a replacement AP because my magnetic stripe stopped working after a visit to Typhoon Lagoon. When the manager, whom I demanded to speak with finally arrived, 20min before my new card was ready, he tried to explain the issue was my wallet. Having had enough I used by undergrad degree in engineering to explain to him that the problem was the machines at Typhoon Lagoon given that I wasn't carrying the pass in my wallet. Sure enough it turns out the TL machines were wiping cards clear left and right.

I can't wait for bar codes all around - and I love the arm tattoo idea!

 

[ChrisFL]

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.

Agreed, and as for the people who are paranoid, make it optional.

Then they'll see the guests going quickly through the other gates while they wait in a lengthy line wondering if their paranoia is paying off or not.

I mean, let's say you paid cash for your ticket, there's no tracking info they have on you anyway, just that you've got admission on whatever number of days, the only downfall is ability to hand the ticket to another guest, which is the supposed reason for the biometric scans...still seems like a waste of time/resources

 

[SorcererMickey]

Demag

If I recall correctly, magnetic readers are much like the heads on old tape players. They can easily pick up magnetic 'detritus' from all the different cards they scan on a given day, which can cause so many different issues. Maybe if Disney had the cast members regularly clean the readers, we wouldn't have so many problems.

Here's to hoping this new barcode scanner is more reliable and more efficient that the current process.

 

[PhilharMagician]

I have replaced 2 AP's over the last 10 years and that can either be a quick 5 minute ordeal or 1 hour wait in line at guest realtion because only on window is open.
My current AP works only abour 50% of the time. After 2 runs through the magnetic strip reader a CM typically scans it using the bar code and it is no problem. I probably should just get it replaced next time I am there since I am a very impatient man.

 

[tizzo]

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.

Understood. But these are Guest Services CMs I'm referring to.

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.

I don't know the internals of their system, but if there was a database error, the bar code would probably fail also. If the number is no longer properly associated with my record in the database, it wouldn't matter whether the number is read from the stripe or from the bar code. It also wouldn't likely be so easily fixable by a Guest Services CM, nor would it require replacement of media.

I'm sure that many problems that act like damaged media are actually due to temporary glitches like those you describe. But when the problem is isolated to an individual, it eliminates some of those possibilities (like any communication error or hardware failure at the turnstile). When it is persistent, it eliminates others (such as a damaged database record).

Anyway, like I said, Disney doesn't always tell you the whole truth, probably for good reason (the more opaque a system is the harder it is to defeat). And like you said, the information isn't coming from engineers.

 

[tizzo]

I've never understood this "renew your annual pass and get a whole new ticket" thing anyway. Use one card/number like credit cards and drivers licenses. Sure they expire eventually but not before getting a good 4-5 years of use usually.

I can't remember whether it was Universal Orlando, or Great Adventure in NJ, but I remember having an annual/season pass somewhere that, when you renewed, you kept using your existing pass. It was the size and shape of a credit card, and had your picture on it.

I would consider that a significant improvement over the existing AP. As a bonus, that would mitigate some of the cost of using RFID in place of bar-code or magnetic stripe. And RFID could in turn enable things like dedicated passholder entrances, both at the park gate and at the parking lot booths, without creating a lot of confusion for regular guests.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Agreed, and as for the people who are paranoid, make it optional.

Then they'll see the guests going quickly through the other gates while they wait in a lengthy line wondering if their paranoia is paying off or not.

I mean, let's say you paid cash for your ticket, there's no tracking info they have on you anyway, just that you've got admission on whatever number of days, the only downfall is ability to hand the ticket to another guest, which is the supposed reason for the biometric scans...still seems like a waste of time/resources

Sounds similar to the people who get worried about EZPass/Sun Pass type things at toll booths. I remember when those were starting people were freaking out that they were tracking your speed, location, etc and were just looking for ways to give you tickets. Almost 15 years later I still can't believe how many people sit in cash lines to pay tolls when I can zip through in 30 seconds and be done with it.

 

[WondersOfLife]

If I was one of the CMs I'd hate this. It's a big opening on both sides where 6+ people would be using...
The other way might be slow but it's effective for disney

You seem mad, how bout a good joke?

If a fire hydrant has H2O inside, what does it have on the outside?




....K9P.... HAHAHHAAHA :ROFLOL::ROFLOL::ROFLOL::lol::ROFLOL::ROFLOL: :ROFLOL: You're not laughin, how come you're not laughing?.....:lookaroun

 

[DaGoof00]

Sounds similar to the people who get worried about EZPass/Sun Pass type things at toll booths. I remember when those were starting people were freaking out that they were tracking your speed, location, etc and were just looking for ways to give you tickets. Almost 15 years later I still can't believe how many people sit in cash lines to pay tolls when I can zip through in 30 seconds and be done with it.

HAH, I am mystified by this as well... If everyone had an EZPass, my life on the highway would be so much better! Nothing is worse than when they don't have it and get in the wrong line...

Imagine all the guests, should RFID be implemented for AP holders, how many visiting guests would clog up their wrong line? Not to mentioned those panicked by identity theft. :hammer: