RFID - Getting Annoying

[MickeysBestPal]

I think I'm in the slow group as well ... my question is this. We are staying on property, but recently purchased our park tix through the official ticket center so they are completely unrelated to our resort room cards. How do they get merged, or am I missing something completely. Can they do this at the resort when we check in??

You can get your tickets "put onto" your resort key-cards at the resort concierge desk.
(If the CM will do it for you. Some don't know how.)

-OR-

Just take your tickets to any Guest Relations outside any of the theme parks, TTC or DTD and they will reissue your discounted tickets on new plastic RFID tickets.

[VWL Mom]

Sorry the RFID isn't going well but good to see you're back. Some of us were a little worried when you disappeared after Sandy especially that you were out on LI.

Try to make the best of a bad situation and enjoy the rest of your trip.

[Maleficent's Dad]

Sorry the RFID isn't going well but good to see you're back. Some of us were a little worried when you disappeared after Sandy especially that you were out on LI.

Try to make the best of a bad situation and enjoy the rest of your trip.

Hi Lynn,
Thanks for the kind words - I'm surprised anyone would notice an absence from these boards! Sandy is a topic for another discussion, but i personally fared fine, all things considered.

We're not having a bad trip; in fact other than the cold temps today, it's been downright pleasant. Park entry, however, has been extremely frustrating each day. I'm a very good consumer for Disney, and I usually preach their greatness, but this transition to RFID has been, from all I can ascertain, a real disappointment.
Intercot has been relatively calm & quiet about My Magic +. Some other sites/boards, people haven't been so kind (sort of like a PR nightmare for Disney, given their billion dollar investment). I've taken the "wait & see" approach. So far I've seen only a little, and I certainly don't like it.

[DisneyGuy1979]

I guess I too am slow here is my question . My wife & I both have 9 park visits & 9 fun visits left on are No expiration tickets . Will my tickets be grandfathered in .

[MickeysBestPal]

I guess I too am slow here is my question . My wife & I both have 9 park visits & 9 fun visits left on are No expiration tickets . Will my tickets be grandfathered in .

Yes.

EIther continue to use them, as-is...

-OR-

Take them to any Guest Relations outside any WDW theme park, TTC or DTD and they will, at no charge, re-issue you new plastic RFID tickets with the same assets as your current tickets.
If you do that, you can take advantage of any of the things that Disney is
upgrading to be RFID compatible.

[DisneyGuy1979]

Thank You for the prompt response . 72 hours then it's off to see Mickey

[FLKatie912]

I am not so sure how I completely feel about the new Disney Experience + stuff. However, these are all just baby-steps in the process. Touch-To-Pay is almost everywhere now. I've seen tests for FastPass+ and the Magic Bands occur, and of course, the turnstyle-less gates. It would be even more mass chaos if all of a sudden ONE DAY everything switched over. It will take time to change this entire process over, but unfortunately for now, everything will be half and half. The turn-style less entry has been testing for weeks and I haven't seen a line like was see at Hollywood Studios this AM, but I suppose it's because it is a VERY busy weekend with President's Day on Monday. Eventually, it seems like the goal is to have them all like this, but it seems as if they haven't completed the process even for resort guests since they are just "testing" Magic Band this weekend.

[bouncer]

What is in place to prevent "illegal" entry? If there is no turnstile to stop someone whose ticket is inop what will happen if a RFID pass doesn't work? People always find a way to manipulate the system - is this one foolproof?

[Strmchsr]

What is in place to prevent "illegal" entry? If there is no turnstile to stop someone whose ticket is inop what will happen if a RFID pass doesn't work? People always find a way to manipulate the system - is this one foolproof?

There are still cast members at each turnstile verifying the guests as they go through.

[FLKatie912]

There are still cast members at each turnstile verifying the guests as they go through.

I found this concept puzzling as well. However, there's Cast Members at turnstyles now and that doesn't prevent people from trying to sneak in, so I suppose it really makes no diffence on the sneaking in factor and will eventually make the lines more efficient once the change over is complete.

[11290]

There are still cast members at each turnstile verifying the guests as they go through.

There are CM's at the touch pads have an iPod touch that tracks the status of the ticket/biometric results. If no anomoly, guest goes on through. If problem, there are CM's from Guest Relations that are advised of the problem and they handle it on the "backside" of the entry.

As far as the physical barrier, that is something I brought up to "management" after the testing at Epcot in the Fall of 2011. Right now (unless it has changed in the last 3 weeks or so) there is no physical barrier. It has been discussed but not at our "drone" level (above my pay grade).

I suspect that later this year there will be changes made, possibly when the new ones open soon that will address this issue. Might see more when I get back down later this week.

Will this be a positive change, only time will tell. Personally, I see some aspects (that guest's wouldn't have knowledge of) that will make certain elements of the operations more efficient and that could relate to a more positive guest experience but as a stockholder, I'm having a real hard time in seeing where the return on investment is.

In my prior work life I was a sales mgr. for awhile for a co. that designed and built security entries, both mag strip and RFID, for worldwide clients, so I see things a bit differently than some Disney managers that are just responsible for the implementation do.

Just my $.02

[MNDisney Dad]

Haven't been to the World coming up on three years and the way things seem to be going, it may be quite a bit longer before we go again. DL has become our park of choice the last few years.

[Maleficent's Dad]

I am not so sure how I completely feel about the new Disney Experience + stuff. However, these are all just baby-steps in the process. Touch-To-Pay is almost everywhere now. I've seen tests for FastPass+ and the Magic Bands occur, and of course, the turnstyle-less gates. It would be even more mass chaos if all of a sudden ONE DAY everything switched over. It will take time to change this entire process over, but unfortunately for now, everything will be half and half. The turn-style less entry has been testing for weeks and I haven't seen a line like was see at Hollywood Studios this AM, but I suppose it's because it is a VERY busy weekend with President's Day on Monday.

The "touch to pay" is everywhere, but very temperamental!!! It's worked once for me (room key is RFID), failed 3 times. CM's chuckle, state that "it never works, we're lucky when it does!"

And yes, I know (and knew coming in) that this is one of the busiest weeks of the year. We come every president's week - won't take the kids out of school - and deal with it. Crowds don't bother us too much. What we don't get to today will still be here in a few months.

As far as the physical barrier, that is something I brought up to "management" after the testing at Epcot in the Fall of 2011. Right now (unless it has changed in the last 3 weeks or so) there is no physical barrier. It has been discussed but not at our "drone" level (above my pay grade).

This is a great point...
Very odd that the RFID "turnstiles" are wide open areas... You're spot on, there are no physical barriers! This struck me as odd - a security concern for sure.

[11290]

Very odd that the RFID "turnstiles" are wide open areas... You're spot on, there are no physical barriers! This struck me as odd - a security concern for sure.

Actually, I was told that they wanted them open, the idea being that gates were an impediment to strollers, wheelchairs and scooters (which we seem to have an abundance of). By having the non-gates, people don't have to seperate to go through the V Entry and no waiting or crossing over from side to side to go through. Traffic flow and not security was the over-riding issue evidently.

Really makes it a bit harder to see who belongs to who of families. Was hard enough with the old turnstiles as some families the male would not let each person have their own ticket and had to stand there and put each ticket in himself for his family, slowing down the process quite a bit. That part still hasn't changed a lot.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We just got back from a week in Disney and we had no issues knowing which line we could go through or how to use the new entry method after the first time going through. I did see CMs having to help guests scan their cards to get in, but even my children (ages 13 and 10) had no problems figuring it out by watching what was done with the guests ahead of us. I also didn't mind having to input our pin number. I just picked a pin that was easy for all of us to remember. I told my hubby and kids what our pin number was one time and there were no issues after that. It was all very easy and seamless in our experience.

[clausjo]

We're going in June and will be onsite for 3 nights. We've purchased 4 day tickets but will be in the Orlando area for longer than 4 days staying with family. I'm planning on adding more days onto our ticket that we'll use at some point during our trip. Will the fact that the extra days will be on our RFID room key, and we'll no longer be on-site guests be a problem?

[Maleficent's Dad]

We just got back from a week in Disney and we had no issues knowing which line we could go through or how to use the new entry method after the first time going through. I did see CMs having to help guests scan their cards to get in, but even my children (ages 13 and 10) had no problems figuring it out by watching what was done with the guests ahead of us. I also didn't mind having to input our pin number. I just picked a pin that was easy for all of us to remember. I told my hubby and kids what our pin number was one time and there were no issues after that. It was all very easy and seamless in our experience.

I agree - plenty of CM's telling people which line they belong in. The problem is, the paper line moves at a snail's pace, RFID flying through (smaller numbers of guests doesn't hurt).

I just got to my room in the BW. After checking in (less than one hour ago, 2/18), we attempted to make a purchase at the Screen Door. We were told that we were "over our limit!" 20 minutes later, we got the, "oh this new computer stuff, lots of glitches.". This just happened!

For me, RFID =

[CuteAsMinnie]

I will never understand why companies do a roll out before its pretty darn near perfect.....

[Janmac]

Definitely the RFID is tempermental. We were at WDW the first week of February - at BW - and everywhere at BW, Screen Door even, my RFID worked fine. Worked really well on the room door - no tapping, just get close.

We were seldom able to use the RF part at a park counter service. Most times, the CM had to take the card and scan it. Usually I'd try and the RFID scanner would say "not activated".

A BW concierge told me one of the reasons for the RFID and "tapping" was to allow guests to keep their hands on their KTTW. Apparently there has been trouble with guests not getting their cards returned after handing them to a CM for scanning. Or at least the perception of same.

We entered parks as soon as the turnstiles were activated. At AK we had two turnstiles for non-RFID which we used, because we had Armed Forces Salute tickets, which were old style. We were the only ones using the the non-RFID entry.

At MK all were non-RFID, with a large area under construction.

I don't remember what we did at DHS, except that it was maybe a few minutes before 8 when we went through the turnstiles all the way to the left, for early ADRs. I think we got to Hollywood & Vine right at 8.

At Epcot, we went in through the back door, which I think is still old style?

We chose a pin that is a word that we could all remember, changed to the phone key pad. (Like MCKY being 6259) It was possible to be too quick with the pin; helps to wait til the device is ready.

So far, when the RFID worked, I liked it. Paying for things at the BW was quick. And as the CM said, I always had it in my possession.

Jan

[Disney5+2]

Do you still have to do the finger scan? Trip planned for August. Hope all the kinks have been worked out!