WDW Admission Policy Change

[hrmom26]

"Effective Monday, June 20th, Walt Disney World theme parks will no longer use handstamps for same day readmission and Park Hopper privileges.

If Guests plan to reenter or visit another theme park on the same day, they will be invited to present their valid ticket or Resort ID with ticket entitlements and utilize the Ticket Tag system.

Ticket Tag system properties will be added to all remaining pre-Magic Your Way tickets, including, but not limited to, Park Hopper and Park Hopper PLUS Tickets. .

i'm a little confused does that mean that if you want to leave a park and go back to the same park later you will need a park hopper ticket or will they take another day off your ticket when you return?
or is it just a different process when you return to the park?
sorry if this is a stupid question but i wasn't sure. i don't want to park hop but i did intend to leave the park i'm in and go back do i now have to buy a park hopper ticket?:veryconfu

 

[JPVonDrake]

i'm a little confused does that mean that if you want to leave a park and go back to the same park later you will need a park hopper ticket or will they take another day off your ticket when you return?
or is it just a different process when you return to the park?
sorry if this is a stupid question but i wasn't sure. i don't want to park hop but i did intend to leave the park i'm in and go back do i now have to buy a park hopper ticket?:veryconfu

What this simply means is when you enter any park regardless of your ticket type, you will have your fingers scanned by the turnstyles. You are always welcome to leave a park and return to the same park in the same calendar day using only 1 "day" of your ticket.

To prove your re-entry, you present the same ticket (system sees this ticket has been used today for this park) and then re-scan your fingers (system sees these are the same person's fingers for this ticket) and you re-enter the park without costing you another day's admission.

If you do not have the park-hopping option and you try to visit a different park on the same calendar day, the turnstyle will not unlock, preventing you from entering a different park in the same day. The nearby cast member will then inform you to either purchase the park hopping option or return to the park you previously entered that day.

Hope this clears it up for you! :sohappy:

 

[hrmom26]

yes thanks so much !!

 

[imagineer99]

What this simply means is when you enter any park regardless of your ticket type, you will have your fingers scanned by the turnstyles. You are always welcome to leave a park and return to the same park in the same calendar day using only 1 "day" of your ticket.

To prove your re-entry, you present the same ticket (system sees this ticket has been used today for this park) and then re-scan your fingers (system sees these are the same person's fingers for this ticket) and you re-enter the park without costing you another day's admission.

If you do not have the park-hopping option and you try to visit a different park on the same calendar day, the turnstyle will not unlock, preventing you from entering a different park in the same day. The nearby cast member will then inform you to either purchase the park hopping option or return to the park you previously entered that day.

Hope this clears it up for you! :sohappy:

Actually, that's the clearest it's been explained. Thanks.

I still think the system is more trouble than its worth. Plus, if you have an old park hopper, it's totally void anyway.

 

[peter11435]

Plus, if you have an old park hopper, it's totally void anyway.

Umm, an old park hopper is still good.

 

[imagineer99]

Umm, an old park hopper is still good.

You misinterpret me. The "finger-system" is void with an old park hopper.

 

[peter11435]

You misinterpret me. The "finger-system" is void with an old park hopper.

Actually the "finger-system" now apply's to all tickets including the old park hoppers. That was the reason for half of this thread.

 

[mwc1996]

What about kids? What about forigeners with illegable ID's? What about park visitors that don't have an ID (ID revoked because of legal probs like DWI)?

Even if you have had your "Drivers Lisence" revoked you are still allowed to have an ID. It is only for identification purposes. Blind people can have ID's without having a Drivers lisence. No matter what you have done you still must have an ID if you are an adult. You can't open a bank account (US Patriot Act) without some form of picture ID, or get a job as you must provide these at account opening/first day on the job. At least that is teh way it is in Texas.

 

[MKCP 1985]

I'm just curious to know how many people posting in this thread have actually experienced the new biometrics and how many are giving opinions on how well it works based on a similar system at their school or job or somewhere else?

I only ask because when I actually went to the parks for a couple of days back in February, the scan never worked well for me or anyone in my group. I wrote about it in my trip report and think I predicted that it could make things frustrating during the busy summer days.

If having such a scan is new to a person (and it is for most people) you don't naturally know "where" to put your fingers, how deep to insert them, how wide to spread them, whether to pinch them together or spread them farther or just what. If it doesn't work right away, it is not immediately clear what one needs to do different to make it work. It was confusing and frustrating. And no, we were not stupid people who wouldn't follow directions. We did everything we were supposed to do. The system had a problem reading our fingers and the cast members at the turnstiles after what was probably no more than a minute of trying to get it straight, let us through. Many people in front of us in the line and at adjacent turnstiles were having the same experience.

It may someday be a great thing for park guests, but I have my doubts.

 

[swincha]

I'm just curious to know how many people posting in this thread have actually experienced the new biometrics and how many are giving opinions on how well it works based on a similar system at their school or job or somewhere else?


It may someday be a great thing for park guests, but I have my doubts.

we came home last week it was a pain. the workers had difficulties with it however you had to do the scan or you couldnt' get your fast passes

 

[peter11435]

we came home last week it was a pain. the workers had difficulties with it however you had to do the scan or you couldnt' get your fast passes

Thats not true. There are two ways the CM's can over ride the finger scan. One will allow you to get Fastpass's one will not.

 

[ZHoyt]

This is a bad move. While not a complicated system, it is certainly not "natural", and thus causes back-ups when guests struggle with it. Compound this with the fact that the system often doesn't work correctly in the first place (we've been ap holders for a while and my wife has had to completely re-input her biometric ID many, many times while I never had a problem). If there were problems when only AP holders had to use the system, imagine the jams when the general public must use it. We experienced this on our last trip and it wasn't pretty.

 

[maxime29]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know who makes their biometric machinery and a possible estimate of the price?

 

[bucklmd]

Someday instead of tickets we will be implanted with Disney computer chips that can be programmed by Disney for park admission. Once it expires, you can reload it by paying your account and then they just go in and reload you again. They just scan your whole body at the gate and it reads off your chip!! :hammer:

Then when that goes wrong and people start performing surgical procedures at home to trade chips, then they'll just inject us with some kind of glowing fluid that can be illuminated through an X-ray machine at the gate. Ha!

I can see it now.......

 

[Connor002]

when we where there, the system had problems, especially with my mom and young sister. i'm optomistic. they'll work things out.

 

[jiddng]

Thats not true. There are two ways the CM's can over ride the finger scan. One will allow you to get Fastpass's one will not.

I managed to follow this thread UNTIL I got to this post. Since I haven't been to the parks in a few months, are you saying that the Fastpass distribution machines are also requiring biometrics??

 

[jiddng]

Someday instead of tickets we will be implanted with Disney computer chips that can be programmed by Disney for park admission. Once it expires, you can reload it by paying your account and then they just go in and reload you again. They just scan your whole body at the gate and it reads off your chip!! :hammer:

Then when that goes wrong and people start performing surgical procedures at home to trade chips, then they'll just inject us with some kind of glowing fluid that can be illuminated through an X-ray machine at the gate. Ha!

I can see it now.......

:lol: Not sure if it's airing where you live, but in NJ Washington Mutual bank runs a TV commercial, where they show bank customers having their account #'s barcoded and stapled onto their foreheads "in an effort to speed up the process" Washington Mutual is trying to emphasize their people-friendliness at their banks, so they show an exasperated teller having problems with a finicky scanner saying "I hate when these things don't work right" while trying to slide the poor guy's head back and forth across the scanner.

Too funny!

 

[AEfx]

If you follow the instructions, the biometrics aren't a big deal for most people. Make a peace sign with your right hand, put your fingers ALL the way in, and lightly squeeze. I think many of the problems people have (not ALL, but many) is that they don't insert their fingers the same way each time. I've used the turnstyles well over 100 times with my current AP (this includes park hopping on the same day) and never once had a single issue. Even members of my party on MYW tickets that have a tough time using an ATM machine didn't seem to have an issue with it.

If they want to speed up entry time, they need to get rid of those silly "security checks". They aren't really checking for anything - it's just to make people feel a sense of (false) security. If someone wanted to brings something dangerous into WDW, I don't think they'd put it in the top of a bag and open it up to show a security guard. This is most annoying at Epcot, where you cannot skip the security check if you have no bags because they are attached to the turnstyles.

In any case, at least the handstamps are gone - no more avoiding getting stampped for AP holders.

AEfx

 

[imagineer99]

Actually the "finger-system" now apply's to all tickets including the old park hoppers. That was the reason for half of this thread.

Wait a minute...how would an old park hopper even have the technology to store the finger scan information?

This system wasn't in place five years ago. Not to mention, it would be outdated upon return.

 

[peter11435]

I managed to follow this thread UNTIL I got to this post. Since I haven't been to the parks in a few months, are you saying that the Fastpass distribution machines are also requiring biometrics??

No, let me clarify. What I meant was that if your biometric scan at the gate does not work, the cast member will check your ID and let you in. However there is two ways he can do this, one is to bypass the bio-scan only, the other bypasses the ticket. It is much easier for the CM to simply bypass the ticket however then you will not be able to get Fast Passes.