Ticketing/Entry System Crash

[Obobru]

On Monday part of the ticketing system failed which resulted in only those with Magic Bands being able to gain entry to the parks and everyone else being trapped outside the gates! In around 2002 I was at the parks and the system wasn't working one day but they allowed us in the park with no fuss, is this yet another sign of poor customer service? As most people are using tickets that are going to expire anyway would it really cost Disney anything to have let these people into the park? Would they have spent more in the parks feeling Disney had treated them right and after all if they are stuck outside they are not spending and are not going to be in such a great mood when/if they did get in the park. In my view this was a total failure of Disney to have a backup plan or for on-site management to be empowered to make a decision to just let people in.
https://www.theticketingbusiness.com/2019/07/30/walt-disney-world-apologises-ticketing-debacle/

 

[bUU]

With respect, a lot of the questions you ask are quite naive.

Software system issues are commonplace in our society, and the idea that Disney should somehow be immune to the effects of our entire society's increased reliance on technology makes no sense. Many companies have had software system issues in recent years, and in some cases such failures have resulted in hundreds of deaths, and in other cases exposed millions of Americans to identity theft and other forms of fraud. A few hours delay getting into a theme park pales by comparison. If anything, the fact that the problems Disney has had with technology have been comparatively infrequent and inconsequential is what is notable, but of course that rarity and lack of severity of issues is perhaps why so many people are so quick to go off the rails and blow every little problem way out of proportion whenever there is an issue.

Incidentally, just because it doesn't include the provisions you want it to include doesn't mean that Disney doesn't have backup plans. It is one thing to expect triple-redundancy when people's lives are at stake (Read: Boeing 737 MAX) or when you're responsible for safeguarding someone else's sensitive private information (Read: Equifax Data Breach), but to expect that kind of redundancy to keep a bar code reader operating is irrational. SMH

 

[marni1971]

At least the back up plan worked.

Right?

 

[larryz]

At least the back up plan worked.

Right?

Yeah. Once it was back up, it worked just fine...

 

[MrNonacho]

In around 2002 I was at the parks and the system wasn't working one day but they allowed us in the park with no fuss, is this yet another sign of poor customer service?

In 2002 they could get away with it as they wouldn’t have half the guests immediately spilling the beans about the “free day at Disney” on social media.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

With respect, a lot of the questions you ask are quite naive.

Software system issues are commonplace in our society, and the idea that Disney should somehow be immune to the effects of our entire society's increased reliance on technology makes no sense. Many companies have had software system issues in recent years, and in some cases such failures have resulted in hundreds of deaths, and in other cases exposed millions of Americans to identity theft and other forms of fraud. A few hours delay getting into a theme park pales by comparison. If anything, the fact that the problems Disney has had with technology have been comparatively infrequent and inconsequential is what is notable, but of course that rarity and lack of severity of issues is perhaps why so many people are so quick to go off the rails and blow every little problem way out of proportion whenever there is an issue.

Incidentally, just because it doesn't include the provisions you want it to include doesn't mean that Disney doesn't have backup plans. It is one thing to expect triple-redundancy when people's lives are at stake (Read: Boeing 737 MAX) or when you're responsible for safeguarding someone else's sensitive private information (Read: Equifax Data Breach), but to expect that kind of redundancy to keep a bar code reader operating is irrational. SMH

Disney actually DOES have a lot of personal information about A LOT of people. They spent a fortune on the Magic Band and GO systems so they can track our every move, spending habits, etc. And yes, they should be better and have more redundancies - I lost track of the number of complaints I've seen about credit cards being compromised during/just after a trip to WDW, and know at least a half dozen people personally who refuse to attach a card to their magic bands because they've been burned in the past. Most people just don't hear about those stories because it doesn't make the news.

 

[eliza61nyc]

On Monday part of the ticketing system failed which resulted in only those with Magic Bands being able to gain entry to the parks and everyone else being trapped outside the gates! In around 2002 I was at the parks and the system wasn't working one day but they allowed us in the park with no fuss, is this yet another sign of poor customer service? As most people are using tickets that are going to expire anyway would it really cost Disney anything to have let these people into the park? Would they have spent more in the parks feeling Disney had treated them right and after all if they are stuck outside they are not spending and are not going to be in such a great mood when/if they did get in the park. In my view this was a total failure of Disney to have a backup plan or for on-site management to be empowered to make a decision to just let people in.
https://www.theticketingbusiness.com/2019/07/30/walt-disney-world-apologises-ticketing-debacle/

so not sure about Disney at all, I'll just chime in on my companies experiences.

No, we are not just en masses allowing people to skip authentication.

One of the issues with computer issues is that usually the people on the front line have no idea what's the problem is. lol IT departments exist in a galaxy far, far away. You have no idea if the problem is just a glitch or a full grown melt down. if the problem will be fixed quickly or a situation where you have to restrict entrance.

Now let me ask, without the bar code scanner how would the cm's at the entry know whether the ticket was valid or not? I've never had a paper ticket so not sure, is there a date on it along with the ticket holder's name?

you're comparing a situation from 20 years ago? Do you really want everyone there immediately texting the entire south florida that it's a "free" day at Disney?? ok, talk about a free for all.

I'm going to file this under "crap" happens. Does each park have a manager who can unilaterally make that decision?

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Part of the reason to not let them in, is that since their ticket wasn't scanned at the gate, FP+ would not have worked for them, making those customers even more upset. Even if they had a FP on their account, it wouldn't work, plus they wouldn't be able to get any more.

Yes, the CMs at the entrance could've let them in anyway, but then you would've had tons of people claiming that they had a FP for an attraction, even when they didn't. Social media spreads news like wildfire nowadays, and we all know how entitled the idiots are now.

 

[eliza61nyc]

Disney actually DOES have a lot of personal information about A LOT of people. They spent a fortune on the Magic Band and GO systems so they can track our every move, spending habits, etc. And yes, they should be better and have more redundancies - I lost track of the number of complaints I've seen about credit cards being compromised during/just after a trip to WDW, and know at least a half dozen people personally who refuse to attach a card to their magic bands because they've been burned in the past. Most people just don't hear about those stories because it doesn't make the news.

Yep.

Capital one just announced they have had a massive data breach. someone hacked their system, tens of millions effected.
I have one american express card that I use for my travels. it's the card that I give anyone, as now many places require a cc for a hold.

 

[monothingie]

At least the back up plan worked.

Right?

Can someone tell me what happened?
I was there yesterday mid-late morning, the only noticeable things we saw was the TTC was mobbed (I don't know if they were holding back people there. We wound up just walking to the Poly and grabbing a resort monorail). When we got to the park, the admission touch points were empty and we went right in. The only noticeable thing was that until early afternoon we could not select additional FP+, the system said the allocation for the MK was exhausted.

 

[wdisney9000]

I saw the twitter/Instagram screenshots saying, "waited three hours in blistering heat", "kids in tears, giving up." Why wouldnt you just walk to Contemporary or hop on the monorail and go to one of the resorts to relax while they fix the problem instead of standing in the heat with crying kids? Or just go to another park. Im sure Guest Relations at the other parks were well aware of the problem and would have helped in some way.

And yeah, yeah, im sure it could have been a one day trip, or the last day of a trip, or the kids reall wanted to go to MK. Either way, from the looks of the reports, they didnt fix the problem until 1 or 2 pm, so most of the day was wasted and by the time they got in, they were hot, sweaty and uncomfortable.

 

[marni1971]

Can someone tell me what happened?
I was there yesterday mid-late morning, the only noticeable things we saw was the TTC was mobbed (I don't know if they were holding back people there. We wound up just walking to the Poly and grabbing a resort monorail). When we got to the park, the admission touch points were empty and we went right in. The only noticeable thing was that until early afternoon we could not select additional FP+, the system said the allocation for the MK was exhausted.

From what I gather the MK (only) gate stopped accepting park passes (not bands).

I know someone who was instructed to join the two hour queue for Town Hall.

 

[monothingie]

From what I gather the MK (only) gate stopped accepting park passes (not bands).

I know someone who was instructed to join the two hour queue for Town Hall.

Yeah all of the new Guest Experience kiosks throughout the park were slammed. The park itself was very very busy. All major E-tickets were minimum two hour waits for a good portion of the day. We gave up and went to Disney Springs before my flight out.

 

[larryz]

Funny, but most barcode readers are just a quick way to enter an alpha/numeric sequence. Was the system so borked that the CMs at the tapstiles couldn't even punch in the ticket media numbers?

 

[drew81]

Sounds like a magical day where guests come first.

 

[jt04]

Yeah all of the new Guest Experience kiosks throughout the park were slammed. The park itself was very very busy. All major E-tickets were minimum two hour waits for a good portion of the day. We gave up and went to Disney Springs before my flight out.

That's weird because we've been told the parks are empty recently. Guess that new coaster at Uni has turned things around.

 

[drizgirl]

Did they at least offer to sell $4 water to the people waiting in line for guest services?

 

[bUU]

Strangely, you seemed to have missed my point about Boeing and their software systems actually killing people.

Disney actually DOES have a lot of personal information about A LOT of people.

Equifax's failure wasn't that they had information; it was that they didn't safeguard it properly and responsibly, and let someone walk away the the personal information of millions. It is worth noting that if you qualify for free credit monitoring as a result of the Equifax data breach, you get that service from Experian, a company that has practically the same information about millions of people, same as Equifax, but Experian has a reputation for safeguarding that information.

And yes, they should be better and have more redundancies

Sorry, but just saying so doesn't prove that you'd be willing to pay so much extra such that investing that money in "more redundancies" would be the best way the company could invest that money. This goes back to something I touch on often here: It's a business, not a charity. Every thing they do has to make sense objectively.

I lost track of the number of complaints I've seen about credit cards being compromised during/just after a trip to WDW

By "lost track" you mean that you don't have the information, and therefore don't have a snowball's chance in Hell of providing any real insight into how Disney compares to others, much less providing any real insight into how much such reports are due to something related to Disney's systems versus carelessness on the part of travelers (or even just hot air fabrications of people misrepresenting what really occurred to them, for that matter).

and know at least a half dozen people personally who refuse to attach a card to their magic bands because they've been burned in the past.

People refuse to attach a credit card to their magic bands for a completely different reason ... due to how often dining plan meals get charged to the credit card because of human error by cast member, and because guests fail to communicate clearly what is their wish in that regard. Are there other scenarios? Sure. A few but since you "lost track" of any real information you might have had we can safely assume that there is no reason to believe it is anything out of the ordinary much less anything worth noting.

 

[monothingie]

That's weird because we've been told the parks are empty recently. Guess that new coaster at Uni has turned things around.

Discounts tend to motivate people. A $387/night AP rate at AKL club Level motivated me.

 

[KBLovedDisney]

With respect, a lot of the questions you ask are quite naive.

Software system issues are commonplace in our society, and the idea that Disney should somehow be immune to the effects of our entire society's increased reliance on technology makes no sense. Many companies have had software system issues in recent years, and in some cases such failures have resulted in hundreds of deaths, and in other cases exposed millions of Americans to identity theft and other forms of fraud. A few hours delay getting into a theme park pales by comparison. If anything, the fact that the problems Disney has had with technology have been comparatively infrequent and inconsequential is what is notable, but of course that rarity and lack of severity of issues is perhaps why so many people are so quick to go off the rails and blow every little problem way out of proportion whenever there is an issue.

Incidentally, just because it doesn't include the provisions you want it to include doesn't mean that Disney doesn't have backup plans. It is one thing to expect triple-redundancy when people's lives are at stake (Read: Boeing 737 MAX) or when you're responsible for safeguarding someone else's sensitive private information (Read: Equifax Data Breach), but to expect that kind of redundancy to keep a bar code reader operating is irrational. SMH

With respect, there is no such thing as a stupid question.