MK observation of R.F.I.D. entrance

[wdisney9000]

Took the bus from YC to MK last monday and while walking up to the entrance my wife and I could see a ton of people at the bag check and turnstiles to enter. We looked at each other and both thought OMG, the park is super crowded. It seemed odd because its the second week in January and its never that busy. As we approached the front we noticed a CM with a big sign that looked like a Keys to the Kingdom Card and they were ushering people with KTTK cards to the RFID scanner entrance. Heres where it got a little funky. The RFID entrance had at least 5 security guards to check bags and all scanners were up and running and there was virtually no wait to get in. We have AP's so we had to use the regular entrance. There were only two security guards on each side to check bags and only four turnstiles were open. This was creating quite a bottleneck effect and the front entrance was JAMMED with people. What was funny is that there were several CM's standing there to explain to all the people complaining that, "if you book your vaction and stay on property you can use the KTTK card and all your info. is on that card giving you access to use the RFID entrance which is much faster". I asked why they didnt have more turnstiles open to let people in and the CM replied, "it's not a very busy day so we have less staff at the entrance than normal". What a joke. It was obvious they just wanted the NextGen entrance to look great and they were intentionally jamming up the normal entrance. As i stood in line waiting I couldnt help but feel slighted as I watched the propaganda unfolding before me. I understand the need to "sell" the whole NextGen garbage, but to force people to be elbow to elbow and wait longer when it is totally unnecessary really opened my eyes to how desperate they must be to make this work. We laughed when we got in the park and it was not crowded at all. We were glad we stayed and waited it out because there were very low wait times and we had a great day, sans the the whole mess at the entrance.

 

[luv]

If this is true, they are so ridiculously off base that I don't know where to begin.

Its almost like the people in charge are plants from Uni, sent to make Disney worse.

 

[donaldtoo]

Could TWDC's new corporate motto be...
"If ya' can't dazzle 'em with your brilliance, baffle 'em with your bull****."...?

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

I do question what they are planning to do for tickets during MNSSHP & MVMCP?

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Sometimes, the old ways are the best. Something as relatively simple as the original Fastpass caused headaches and confusion. I'm not sure why they think this NextGen stuff can improve operations or guest experiences, or why they're putting so much money into it while things fall apart. I could be wrong.

Disneyland has been just fine without any of this. It's a more utopian park compared to Magic Kingdom these days.

 

[RonAnnArbor]

This is all just testing. Disney has been VERY UP FRONT about saying that eventually all passholders will ALSO have RIFD wristbands. Hang in there.
They've been doing this testing at Epcot as well for months. Its not really related to the number of guards. Its that the RIFD scanners are THAT much more faster in processing and eliminating lines and bottlenecks. The older turnstiles pale in comparison.
But what you see now is not what things will look like three months from now when everyone has RIFD cards.

 

[luv]

This is all just testing. Disney has been VERY UP FRONT about saying that eventually all passholders will ALSO have RIFD wristbands. Hang in there.
They've been doing this testing at Epcot as well for months. Its not really related to the number of guards. Its that the RIFD scanners are THAT much more faster in processing and eliminating lines and bottlenecks. The older turnstiles pale in comparison.
But what you see now is not what things will look like three months from now when everyone has RIFD cards.

RFID.

 

[wdisney9000]

This is all just testing. Disney has been VERY UP FRONT about saying that eventually all passholders will ALSO have RIFD wristbands. Hang in there.
They've been doing this testing at Epcot as well for months. Its not really related to the number of guards. Its that the RIFD scanners are THAT much more faster in processing and eliminating lines and bottlenecks. The older turnstiles pale in comparison.
But what you see now is not what things will look like three months from now when everyone has RIFD cards.

I agree the new technology may be faster for entrance. My problem was the blatent disregard for paying customers to be forced to wait longer (be it only a few minutes), so they can PURPOSELY make the NextGen entrance seem more appealing. I also felt bad for the uninformed masses who were helplessly being led astray by a sheep herder with only their money in mind, and not their best interests.

 

[BigRedDad]

I do question what they are planning to do for tickets during MNSSHP & MVMCP?

For the most part, in my experience, you don't need the ticket to even get in the party. After the first few minutes, they never check. I sent WDW pictures and video of how many people did not have bands getting everything I paid for free. I will no longer go to the parties anyway.

 

[luv]

For the most part, in my experience, you don't need the ticket to even get in the party. After the first few minutes, they never check. I sent WDW pictures and video of how many people did not have bands getting everything I paid for free. I will no longer go to the parties anyway.

The last few years have been much harder to crash than previous ones. They ask a LOT, all over the place. They have wristband checkpoints where you can't proceed through the park until you show them your band.

I was sitting down, having a meal with my sister and the wristband police actually interrupted us and demanded to see our bands.

I think they've gone maybe a little too far.

They should go back to closing and re-opening the park.

 

[Tip Top Club]

It's the middle of January.

The parks are dead.

You probably got caught in a bad rush of a Ferry and Monorail arriving at the same time. It happens. Sorry for the long wait, but that's all it was. No one was trying to force you to wait longer while they are running a new system on a limited basis.

EDIT: Also it's "Key to the World" (KTTW), not "Key to the Kingdom" (KTTK).

 

[BigRedDad]

RFID is here whether you like it or not. I think you just happened to run into an off situation. AP will be moved to RFID in time as well. So instead of getting into the park in 2 minutes, it took 4 minutes.

Seriously, how much did this MINOR inconvenience cost you? I think you are just upset that they got in a little faster than you with an AP.

 

[wdisney9000]

RFID is here whether you like it or not. I think you just happened to run into an off situation. AP will be moved to RFID in time as well. So instead of getting into the park in 2 minutes, it took 4 minutes.

Seriously, how much did this MINOR inconvenience cost you? I think you are just upset that they got in a little faster than you with an AP.

I could care less about waiting an extra few minutes. My point was that it seemed very intentional that they jammed up the main entrance to make the rfid look better. Yes, RFID is here whether I like it or not, but i dont see the need to purposely make it look better. I'm glad my post gave you the chance to get a snarky comment out of your system that would have otherwise been directed at someone in your household. Im kidding.

 

[BigRedDad]

I am 100% sure that they jammed the entrance JUST to inconvenience you to show off the RFID technology. I think it is absolutely ridiculous to think you were discriminated in such a way. If it were me and I was discriminated in this way, I would file a civil suit against WDW, especially as close as we are to MLK Day. We should plan protests and civil rights movements against WDW.

 

[wdwfan22]

I could care less about waiting an extra few minutes. My point was that it seemed very intentional that they jammed up the main entrance to make the rfid look better. Yes, RFID is here whether I like it or not, but i dont see the need to purposely make it look better. I'm glad my post gave you the chance to get a snarky comment out of your system that would have otherwise been directed at someone in your household. Im kidding.

I think it's all in your head.

 

[CaptainShortty]

From a statistics standpoint. In the test phase it was observed that the old turnstiles had an average 24 second interaction time while the new turnstiles have an average of 4 second interaction time.

 

[Clamman73]

KTTW = Key to the Wristband

 

[wdisney9000]

Do you think I felt discriminated against because i wasnt able to use the RFID entrance? If so, that wasnt what I meant. I just thought they may have under staffed the turnstile entries while the RFID had an excessive number of employees to ensure there was no back up on that side. This was the day after Disney made the big announcement regarding My Magic +. It could very well been my conspiracy minded side over reacting. I think the RFID entries are much more efficient and it will work out just fine. Which is why i felt "slighted" (not discriminated against) because it seemed they were overstaffing the RFID side and covering themselves. ive been called crazy before, and i could very easily be wrong, so please don't take my original post as whining or complaining. Im sure we both share a love for Disney World thought out weighs any disagreements we may have.

 

[Tip Top Club]

They didn't. The Touch Point entrances are still in limited supply, they only have like three of them at MK. Disney is not in the business of inconveniencing people just for the sake of it. You can accuse them of many things (and I do!) But they don't do that.

The parks are dead, that's why they weren't staffed well, it's also College program transition. Sorry you had a bad experience.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I am 100% sure that they jammed the entrance JUST to inconvenience you to show off the RFID technology. I think it is absolutely ridiculous to think you were discriminated in such a way. If it were me and I was discriminated in this way, I would file a civil suit against WDW, especially as close as we are to MLK Day. We should plan protests and civil rights movements against WDW.

Actually, the entrance was diverted because there is major construction happening at the MK turnstyles now. On the right side. All the ones that weren't RFID appear to be in the middle of being replaced.