Paper Annual Passes? What?

[cinderminnie]

When we recently got our annual passes with the DVC discount, I was surprised that the passes are paper tickets. You would think that they would be plastic cards like when you buy a regular ticket at the Disney Store. I even had a problem with mine going thru the gate at MK. They had to check it and reapply another pass to me. Then it did not work. What is up with that? Dh even complained to the supervisor on duty there since I could not even get into the gate. Does anyone else think they should change this process of paper tickets?

[CarolA]

I have used the AP for years. It has always been this way and I have never had any problems.

[mikesmom]

It has been this way for years. My DH, who is an economist, brings this up at the purchase booth EVERY SINGLE YEAR when we get the passes. He says it is an economic issue - doesn't make sense that something meant to be re-used is paper, when the more temporary cards are plastic. (I think it's because he tends to forget and send them thru the laundry, but who am I to argue with a PhD?)

[Patpat15]

It is insane that the APs are paper!

[DebbieB]

I've had AP's since 1998, use them about 20-25 days each and have never worn one out or had it damaged. It's tougher than you think. I forget what it's called, it's not paper. If it is damaged, they will replace it for free. I don't see the big deal.

[CarolA]

LOL I think if you run the plastic tickets thru the washer they turn out to have problems with those magenetic strips!

[DisneyHumbug]

I always have trouble with mine. Now I make sure I carry my photo ID with me just in case.

[FLYNZ4]

I have used the AP for years. It has always been this way and I have never had any problems.
CarolA,

Back when we first started getting annual passes in 1989, they were like a drivers license, with your picture laminated into it. You had to get them at the guest relations offices at either MK, Epcot, or MGM.

/Jim

[offtheice]

What is the discount we get for a ressie for a value resort. I have the AP and was planning on adding another room for a family memeber. I called disney tonight and was on hold for 30 min and still no one answered. I gave up. :cool1:

[DebbieB]

What is the discount we get for a ressie for a value resort. I have the AP and was planning on adding another room for a family memeber. I called disney tonight and was on hold for 30 min and still no one answered. I gave up. :cool1:

http://www.mousesavers.com/disneyresorts.html#ap

$74 through 4/16/05 (subject to availability).

[JimMIA]

Need some help here.

What, pray tell, am I to think of my brand-new (2/2/05) plastic annual pass?

Just for the record, it doesn't work. Well, I guess the pass works, but the stupid fake finger scanner hoax thing doesn't work - not on one AP holder out of ten! We were there four days, went in and out of parks, and my wife never did get a good scan.

On the other hand, if that's the worst problem I have to ponder this week...

[Deb & Bill]

I think the paper ones are actually a material like Tyvek. Have you ever tried to tear one? Next to impossible. Plus if you lose it, misplace it, wash it, just head over to Guest Relations, give them your information and they will print you up a new one.

[dianeschlicht]

We have had them for years and never had a problem. As to the biometric reader.... A lot of that depends on the user. You have to be sure you push your fingers in EXACTLY the same way each time. I always make sure I push them all the way in hard the first time, and then I make sure I do it the same way every time. Never have a problem. DH always forgets from trip to trip, but now that he has it figured out, he does fine too.

[jennz]

I agree! The paper or whatever passes stink. I've had several problems with mine. Maybe it's user error but it doesn't go in right and spits it back out - sort of like a dollar bill at a coke machine! Then the people behind me in line get annoyed and I get nervous and on it goes, not a magical beginning for me!

[goofy4tink]

We had more problems with our plastic hopper passes than with our 'paper' APs. So far, only my dh has had any issue at the bio-scans. Seems he can never put his fingers in the same way twice!!! Dd had no trouble at all and she's 11! I do take back all the passes as soon as we are thru the gates tho. Then they go back into their little holders and into my fanny pack.Otherwise I worry constantly that they are lost!!

[tjkraz]

Just for the record, it doesn't work. Well, I guess the pass works, but the stupid fake finger scanner hoax thing doesn't work - not on one AP holder out of ten! We were there four days, went in and out of parks, and my wife never did get a good scan.


I wonder if the baseline scan was incorrect.

My understanding is the first time you use an AP, the biometric reader takes a baseline scan and imprints the user's data on the card. Subsequent scans are then compared to the baseline. If the baseline was incorrect, you'd never get in on subsequent tries.

DW and I are AP virgins, but we've used our passes at least 20 times to enter the parks and I think only once had to re-scan.

For what it's worth, I think it's kinda cheap that the cards aren't plastic. Yes, the paper tickets get the job done and hold up well, but all other ticket media seems to be plastic--room keys, MVMCP, MVMHP, etc. Just bite the bullet, Disney! :)

[liznboys]

When we got our AP's activated at the DTD Guest Relations place, I commented to the CM how I thought it was odd that the AP's were just paper and not plastic. His reply was that it would be a lot more expensive to keep replacing plastic ones! Made sense. We didn't have any trouble with ours during our 12 night stay. :)

[OKW Lover]

<snip> Does anyone else think they should change this process of paper tickets?

No. I've never had a problem with the "paper" tickets being durable. In actuality, they are moe like a tyveck plastic, and nearly indestructible. The problem some people have with them is the mag strip, but that's a problem with the plastic ones also.

[dvcmomdeh]

When my son was 5 (12 years) ago. His PAP was a hard plastic with a photo ID. Be careful what you wish for they'll raise the prices again.

[dianeschlicht]

Just wanted to add that we have never had any problems with the durability of the paper APs. The pass holders they give you take a beating, but the pass is always pristine, and we usually use ours up to 30 days a year.

[TCPluto]

We got annual passes last summer. Had a problem scanning at almost half of the biometric scanners the first trip. OUr Christmas trip, not a single problem. So I think the readers can have issues, unrelated to the card or the initial scan.

Going back in three weeks, we'll see how they do then. The cards themselves appear to be holding up fine.

[Epcotkids]

It does seem strange; temory-plastic; year long - paper?? However, we have had PAPs for 3 years - never a problem .....yet. They are much thiner and when you carry yours and all the kids (4) it makes them nicer. I also like the charcter pictures. My DH ALWAYS gets Minnie!

I do recomend making a copy of the back of your AP and leave it in the room. If your AP should ever get damaged or lost it could make replacement much easier.

SHORT STOR: We went to Boma's (FWL) for dinner one night, then over to MK for fireworks, then jumped on the monorail to go back to Epcot to walk through back to BV. When we got off the monorail, we realized we didn't have our passes. We went to the ticket booth, where a very nice young lady looked up our APs, she was able to confirm that we had APs and then she, herself walked us through the gate! We were very grateful she was able to do that.

[NMW]

Need some help here.

What, pray tell, am I to think of my brand-new (2/2/05) plastic annual pass?

Just for the record, it doesn't work. Well, I guess the pass works, but the stupid fake finger scanner hoax thing doesn't work - not on one AP holder out of ten! We were there four days, went in and out of parks, and my wife never did get a good scan.

On the other hand, if that's the worst problem I have to ponder this week...


At least you have a positive attitude about it! :teeth:

[Caskbill]

In the FWIW department, Sea World's AP's were plastic, and last year they changed to paper.

Our Disney passes have worked very well. The first year we ever got them, DW took a few tries before learning how to put her fingers in the biometrics scan consistently. After that, no problems.

[SueM in MN]

As other mentioned, the "paper" passes are not really paper at all. I've been told they are a Tyvek cardstock product (Those mailer envelopes you sometimes get from UPS, etc are a thinner version of Tyvek. Impossible to tear).
I've heard that they end up replacing a lot of the hard plastic cards because they get cracked (people have in a pocket and sit on them, etc.) The Tyvek ones are more durable for that type of "abuse" than the plastic ones are.

I've noticed that even though all the biometric readers look pretty much the same on the outside, sometimes it feels different when you slide you hand in - some of the readers are set at a little different height or angle or something. Those machines that don't "feel" quite right are the ones I have a problem with. Your fingers have to go in the same way as they did for you first reading. So, if the way the machine is set up is different, the fingers may not go into the reader exactly the same way.