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

[Tinkwings]

Well this year I first noticed it on the elevator and room key thing...just swipe my card. Did not think too much on it but did notice little computer screens at attractions asking if you wanted to add one more? and a few peeps being escorted in through a non fast pass lane to front of queue....but last day? Jan 8th when we entered MK...entire half of turnstiles covered in scrims....and a handful of shiny gold balls to the right when approached they stated ONLY use if ticket on room key...my paper ticket had to walk way around to left traffic backup....now DH gets 15% off tickets because his company is a sponser...so thinking if I wanted to use the new Magic your way thingy I would have to pay more to get package vs my ala carte savings. Unsure how I feel about that, but fondly loving my paper fast passes and the way things have been.....unsure if I want to wear a bulky band on my wrist all day? Looks like I will be researching and reading how things work before my next trip!!! New learning curve and a bit resistant to fixing something that worked just fine for me!

 

[matt9112]

Well this year I first noticed it on the elevator and room key thing...just swipe my card. Did not think too much on it but did notice little computer screens at attractions asking if you wanted to add one more? and a few peeps being escorted in through a non fast pass lane to front of queue....but last day? Jan 8th when we entered MK...entire half of turnstiles covered in scrims....and a handful of shiny gold balls to the right when approached they stated ONLY use if ticket on room key...my paper ticket had to walk way around to left traffic backup....now DH gets 15% off tickets because his company is a sponser...so thinking if I wanted to use the new Magic your way thingy I would have to pay more to get package vs my ala carte savings. Unsure how I feel about that, but fondly loving my paper fast passes and the way things have been.....unsure if I want to wear a bulky band on my wrist all day? Looks like I will be researching and reading how things work before my next trip!!! New learning curve and a bit resistant to fixing something that worked just fine for me!

bulky? a watch is more bulky....just saying people are acting like there tied to a ball and chain.

 

[dreamfinder]

They didn't. The Touch Point entrances are still in limited supply, they only have like three of them at MK.

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.

We saw construction at Epcot, MK, and DHS just before we left on the 11th-13th. In all 3 cases it looked like there were going to be converting enough turnstiles so that more than 1/2 at each park were RFID enabled. I don't recall seeing similar construction at AK, but I didn't run through that entry area to know for sure.

 

[jayhawkmickey]

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.

We had the reverse. We went to the studios and found the KTTW card line backed up because something was slowing down the scanners and we asked if we could go over to the normal line which was almost non existant. The cast member just laughed and said sure and said we were the first ones who asked to go to the shorter line. Yea, common sence!

 

[Tinkwings]

bulky? a watch is more bulky....just saying people are acting like there tied to a ball and chain.

Nope to me that band is waaaaaaaaaaaaay bulky compared to my watch...as a female with itty bitty wrists I wear a very slender childrens watch that is a mickey mouse watch to boot....it appears to be a 1/5th width of that band....the widest part of my watchband is 5mm and the face is a little oval about 7 mm by 5mm....so yes to ME that band is bulky...just sayin'....imho I would much prefer all my magic being on my room key!!!

 

[satchamo]

Well this year I first noticed it on the elevator and room key thing...just swipe my card. Did not think too much on it but did notice little computer screens at attractions asking if you wanted to add one more? and a few peeps being escorted in through a non fast pass lane to front of queue....but last day? Jan 8th when we entered MK...entire half of turnstiles covered in scrims....and a handful of shiny gold balls to the right when approached they stated ONLY use if ticket on room key...my paper ticket had to walk way around to left traffic backup....now DH gets 15% off tickets because his company is a sponser...so thinking if I wanted to use the new Magic your way thingy I would have to pay more to get package vs my ala carte savings. Unsure how I feel about that, but fondly loving my paper fast passes and the way things have been.....unsure if I want to wear a bulky band on my wrist all day? Looks like I will be researching and reading how things work before my next trip!!! New learning curve and a bit resistant to fixing something that worked just fine for me!

Have heard several people complain about the wristband. Some suggestions was to keep it in your pocket as you did the resorts cards, put the bracelet on a necklace. I suggest attach it to a retractable belt clip (such as for security cards for office entrances).

 

[Tinkwings]

I suppose I could thread one through my strap of travel purse I carry at all times........but still hope the option of rfid room card will be available.

 

[MarkTwain]

On the cruise line, it seems like most of the ship just wears their RFID room key on a lanyard around their neck, provided for free in each stateroom. This is neat because if I just lean down a little bit in front of the door to my room, the card will dangle in front of the lock and open the door, all hands-free. And you usually forget you're wearing them. I'm surprised Disney doesn't promote lanyards with cards instead... and then offer personalized lanyards, or use them to push pin trading harder.

 

[Tip Top Club]

We saw construction at Epcot, MK, and DHS just before we left on the 11th-13th. In all 3 cases it looked like there were going to be converting enough turnstiles so that more than 1/2 at each park were RFID enabled. I don't recall seeing similar construction at AK, but I didn't run through that entry area to know for sure.

About half of the entrances at each park should be online by the next big test in February. (From some very loose rumors I've heard)

 

[jonesenon4]

My family and i used the RFID lines in dec. and we really enjoyed them.They were much much faster and alot less hassle the entry lines were pretty close to nonstop.All you had to do was swipe your card and keep moving we loved them.

 

[Prince-1]

Damn you Disney!!!!

 

[Mot]

My family was there in Dec. just before Christmas and we had the RFID cards. All the park entrances had approx 5 to 7 RFID readers at the entrance and by using them we were able to bypass the lines waiting at the turnstiles. The cards read faster and the finger scans seemed to work faster. We were all fans of the new readers.

 

[dreamfinder]

About half of the entrances at each park should be online by the next big test in February. (From some very loose rumors I've heard)

That would jive with the amount of walls we saw up in the entrance areas.

 

[Mad Stitch]

I experienced the same thing at MK over marathon weekend, although I was able to use the RFID entrance. Even at those entrances I noticed a lot of confusion. There were lots of people with the paper tickets that had to be redirected to the other turnstiles. Others were at a complete loss on what to do when standing at the gold orb. Then once the family in front of me figured out how to use it, mom and dad started towards Main Street and didn’t notice that their kids were still at the entrance playing with the scanners, swiping their cards and fingers 4 or 5 times to watch the light show.

 

[xdan0920]

Brand defenders out in full force here.

 

[mickey2008.1]

The face of technology. Bad at first, but it gets better with time, like wine. Who thought iphones would be so great.

 

[nickymwc@yahoo.cpom]

So how does this KTTW work again? We asked the guard and he said that's for guests stayed at the resort which we did. He asked to see the "tickets" and so we showed him the annual pass and he sent us away to where the crowd/lines are. We later thought that we probably should have showed him the resort room key. Tried to ask another cast member at the entrance but she couldn't explain it very well either. We always look back and say this is one of our "good trips" or "bad trips" to DW, and this last MLK weekend had been one of the bad one.

 

[Tip Top Club]

So how does this KTTW work again? We asked the guard and he said that's for guests stayed at the resort which we did. He asked to see the "tickets" and so we showed him the annual pass and he sent us away to where the crowd/lines are. We later thought that we probably should have showed him the resort room key. Tried to ask another cast member at the entrance but she couldn't explain it very well either. We always look back and say this is one of our "good trips" or "bad trips" to DW, and this last MLK weekend had been one of the bad one.

Right now the Touch Point entrances are only set up for a Key to the World card (Disney Resort Room Key) WITH a ticket entitlement on it. So you were turned away because your cards didn't have your tickets on them because you have your annual passes. Eventually Annual passes will also be upgraded to work at the touch points but we don't know the details yet.