3 Day park hoppers now have to show ID

[bcla]

State ID was exactly what I was thinking. If you kids don't get school IDs they should have State issued ones.

Not all states issue non-DL photo ID for minors of any age. California does for any age. Someone mentioned that Massachusetts doesn't and I looked it up. They require a minimum age of 14 to issue their photo ID.

The only gov't IDs that US citizen children will have in any state are passports and the newer passport card. Birth certificates are de facto accepted for proof of age but using them routinely comes with risks of identity theft. I suppose a permanent resident minor would have a greencard.

 

[larina]

No, you are wrong. If the whole point is that someone can't rent out the ticket for the last days, then you couldn't suddenly have some little blonde girl using the same ticket as the dark haired boy who used it the first 2 days because if I am the first family to use the ticket I am not going to hand the ID to the renters to manipulate, and the renters wouldn't have a picture ID with my kids' name on it. It is the same as the adults CDL- picture matches person in front of you, name matches what is in computer.

Obviously if you made it yourself you can write any name you want on it- but the idea is that that is the name and face that should use the ticket all week.

But we aren't talking about reasonable people. We are talking about people who are already abusing the system in illegal ways. I don't think making IDs would be a big stretch for such folks. You don't get the same person at the gate each day, and even if you do, they won't remember your name and face.

...If you want to live in a country where all adults are "required" to have ID, then you don't want to live in the United States. (But I see that you are from Texas, so that may actually be true.)...

I thought you were required to carry ID over the age of 18 in the US. Sounds like it might be state to state. I got a state ID at 14 to cash my paychecks.

Not all states issue non-DL photo ID for minors of any age. California does for any age. Someone mentioned that Massachusetts doesn't and I looked it up. They require a minimum age of 14 to issue their photo ID.

The only gov't IDs that US citizen children will have in any state are passports and the newer passport card. Birth certificates are de facto accepted for proof of age but using them routinely comes with risks of identity theft. I suppose a permanent resident minor would have a greencard.

I didn't take state rules into account. I'm in CA. My oldest daughter got state ID at 10 for flying.

 

[bcla]

I thought you were required to carry ID over the age of 18 in the US. Sounds like it might be state to state. I got a state ID at 14 to cash my paychecks.

The only legal requirement for anyone who isn't specifically traveling (train, plane, etc) to carry ID is for US permanent residents above the age of 18. An adult permanent resident is required to carry a green card at all times, although the punishment is rather minor and the Feds almost never prosecute.

There is no legal requirement for a US citizen adult to carry ID while on the street, at the beach (where would it go?), etc. I've heard of people cited/arrested while out on a walk without ID. Law enforcement can detain such a person or take them to a police station to ascertain positive identification. They should be able to access DMV photo databases and/or fingerprint databases.

 

[Dramamama]

One of the issues I have with this is that when I spoke to WDT just a week ago I asked abouth being asked for ID. I was assured it was NOt happening, and at that time my personal concern was our family happens to have differant PH. Some have 3 day, some have 4, depending on how long their schedule could handle. I wanted to know if we should even attempt entry at the same line. Thank goodness for the boards, because I have NEVER taken ID for my teen boys, even when we have flown into SNA. I would of shown up unprepared, and I know they are going to want to go play with out us a little bit. Bottom line if they are going to ID, I would think they would let me know before I travel to the parks so we can prepare for it, ESPECIALLY if I ask!!!

This was my biggest issue. I wish I would have been informed. I look at the website all the time and nothing was listed. I check these boards, I know not everyone does, and the only info was about 4 and 5 day tickets. I had 12 students with me, many did not bring their school ID's. it was a problem.

After they were checking I called the ticket lines and they assured me it was not for 2 and 3 day tickets even though I knew they were checking at the gates. I just hate the lack of communication. Even the CMs don't know what is going on.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[bcla]

But we aren't talking about reasonable people. We are talking about people who are already abusing the system in illegal ways. I don't think making IDs would be a big stretch for such folks. You don't get the same person at the gate each day, and even if you do, they won't remember your name and face.

First thing is that making a convincing fake ID is not cheap. The margins that the ticket brokers operate off of aren't enough to justify making fake IDs. Second, it would very much be illegal as well as fraudulent.

As it stands now, the ticket brokers are in a gray area. It isn't illegal to resell unused days (as it is in Florida) although it does violate Disney policy and Disney reserves the right to confiscate tickets if they suspect any malfeasance. For the most part they are not breaking the law in California. They may be instructing people to lie at the gate and doing unethical things, but they aren't doing anything that could be prosecuted. The moment they start securing fake IDs for their patrons and use them to fool Disney, both the seller and the customer have committed a crime. Everything they've done to this date (preparing dates, using dry erase markers, etc) isn't technically illegal according to California and Federal laws. I really don't think they want to go there.

 

[MateasMom]

Does anyone else think this is pointless? A school ID is pretty easy to fake. If they accept IDs that could be fake what's the point of asking for ID? Or the poster who said they were going to make their own IDs for their kids?

Yeah, I certainly don't consider my kids school ID a valid form of identification. A cute card (that I could make at home on my computer), sure. Valid ID, ha!

FWIW, we are frequent travelers and my kids (12 and 14) have not ONCE been asked for ID for domestic travel. They are asked their name(s) and occasionally their DOB. They've also never been asked for ID at Disneyland.

 

[bcla]

Yeah, I certainly don't consider my kids school ID a valid form of identification. A cute card (that I could make at home on my computer), sure. Valid ID, ha!

FWIW, we are frequent travelers and my kids (12 and 14) have not ONCE been asked for ID for domestic travel. They are asked their name(s) and occasionally their DOB. They've also never been asked for ID at Disneyland.

An ID of some sorts is required to take the SAT. They prefer a government or school ID although they do have a special ID that can be obtained from the College Board through a HS counselor's office.

http://sat.collegeboard.org/register/id-requirements

They do have a legitimate reason for this. Test taking fraud is a serious issue. Some parents are desperate enough for a good score that they will pay young looking professional test takers to take tests on behalf of their children.

 

[MateasMom]

Yup. I'm an SAT proctor . Most school issued IDs are perfectly suitable for this purpose. My kids middle school ID's, which don't even bear their legal names and look like something that came from a Chuck E Cheese vending machine, yeah, not valid ID, lol. Nevertheless, my frequently flying teens have never been asked to produce an ID while flying domestically, or entering Disneyland. I wasn't suggested that they would never, in all of their teen years, be ID'd, lol. Rather, I was mentioning that we have pretty extensive domestic flying and Disneyland entering experience and have not experienced a need for ID in either instance.

 

[bcla]

Yup. I'm an SAT proctor . Most school issued IDs are perfectly suitable for this purpose. My kids middle school ID's, which don't even bear their legal names and look like something that came from a Chuck E Cheese vending machine, yeah, not valid ID, lol. Nevertheless, my frequently flying teens have never been asked to produce an ID while flying domestically, or entering Disneyland. I wasn't suggested that they would never, in all of their teen years, be ID'd, lol. Rather, I was mentioning that we have pretty extensive domestic flying and Disneyland entering experience and have not experienced a need for ID in either instance.

I'm actually surprised that the College Board didn't mention green cards, since in my experience there are a lot of immigrant kids taking and and doing well on the SAT. I'm pretty sure that would be acceptable even though it wasn't specifically mentioned.

You should have seen my various school IDs. I only used my school IDs to take the SAT, although I did have other government issued ID that I won't elaborate on. My HS just took a photo, typed my name to a card, and sandwiched that between two clear sheets of plastic. I though it would have been pretty easy to fake. My college IDs are equally unimpressive. My undergraduate ID was made with my name hand-printed (+ signature) onto a clear sheet of plastic. That was inserted into a special camera, which took my picture along with the information on the plastic sheet photographed for a composite image. The whole thing was laminated. Got me through four years. My grad school college ID was equally unimpressive. That one even used my SSN as my school ID. I don't think they do that any more. I've seen the more recent versions, and they look more like modern credit cards.

Heck - I remember when a real California driver license was a cheap looking piece of junk. They took a piece of paper printed with all the info and signed by the licensed driver - and inserted that into a special camera. The photo of the driver was taken along with the information on the paper. The film was sent to Sacramento for processing, where the end result was printed on a piece of photo paper. I remember it said "THIS PAPER MANUFACTURED BY KODAK" on the back. I also had to show up every single time I wanted to renew just to take the photo. Since they started using digital photos, I've had the same picture on my license for years.

 

[lizabu]

Yeah, I certainly don't consider my kids school ID a valid form of identification. A cute card (that I could make at home on my computer), sure. Valid ID, ha!

FWIW, we are frequent travelers and my kids (12 and 14) have not ONCE been asked for ID for domestic travel. They are asked their name(s) and occasionally their DOB. They've also never been asked for ID at Disneyland.

Maybe it depends on the school. My sons' high school ID is a piece of cardboard with his picture, name, name of the school and grade printed on it and laminated. If I wanted to fake an ID like that it would be pretty easy. If they are going to stop every person and ask for ID it makes more sense for it to be an ID that is hard to fake such as a passport or drivers license. But then you have a lot of people who's kids don't have a passport. They can be expensive too. I think they should just drop the whole thing.

 

[bcla]

Maybe it depends on the school. My sons' high school ID is a piece of cardboard with his picture, name, name of the school and grade printed on it and laminated. If I wanted to fake an ID like that it would be pretty easy. If they are going to stop every person and ask for ID it makes more sense for it to be an ID that is hard to fake such as a passport or drivers license. But then you have a lot of people who's kids don't have a passport. They can be expensive too. I think they should just drop the whole thing.

Like I've said, I don't suspect that the rental brokers are going to start faking IDs. Even if it's cheap IDs that are easy to fake, it's an expense they aren't going to want to bear. They really don't want to get to the point where they're actually breaking the law rather than operating in a gray area where they're simply violating Disney's ticket policies. A customer doing this would also be breaking the law. They could also get enhancements by bringing in the police, where presenting a fake ID to a peace officer carries additional penalties. At that point I would think many would cave in rather than try to fool a cop.

There are specific laws that deal with birth certificates and DMV IDs and driver licenses. However, California also has specific laws that impersonating someone (and producing an ID to match the name on a ticket would probably suffice) carries a fine of up to $10,000 and one year in jail.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=pen&group=00001-01000&file=528-539

529. (a) Every person who falsely personates another in either his
or her private or official capacity, and in that assumed character
does any of the following, is punishable pursuant to subdivision (b):
(1) Becomes bail or surety for any party in any proceeding
whatever, before any court or officer authorized to take that bail or
surety.
(2) Verifies, publishes, acknowledges, or proves, in the name of
another person, any written instrument, with intent that the same may
be recorded, delivered, or used as true.
(3) Does any other act whereby, if done by the person falsely
personated, he might, in any event, become liable to any suit or
prosecution, or to pay any sum of money, or to incur any charge,
forfeiture, or penalty, or whereby any benefit might accrue to the
party personating, or to any other person.
(b) By a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or by
imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or imprisonment
pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by both that fine
and imprisonment.

 

[larina]

I just want to clarify that we weren't suggesting people would make fake state IDs. Someone mentioned homemade IDs for kids and I said that would be too easy to fake.

 

[bcla]

I just want to clarify that we weren't suggesting people would make fake state IDs. Someone mentioned homemade IDs for kids and I said that would be too easy to fake.

Your comment seemed to be about the brokers making some sort of ID in the name of the first person to use a ticket. It may not actually rise to the level of making a fake government ID, but California law is pretty clear that it would considered impersonation ("falsely personates") to use a "written instrument" that purports to be someone else. I think technically it could even be a fictional person who doesn't exist (i.e. the brokers picking a random name) as long as there is some intent to defraud. Even if it's some sort of homemade ID, trying to use one with a false name could theoretically mean prosecution and/or jail time for both the maker and the user. There are specific laws that deal with faking California DMV documents such as driver licenses or California IDs.

The brokers were relying on the tickets being left blank or being able to rewrite a name to match someone's ID. If that's not possible, then faking IDs (even crude homemade-looking ones) with the name on the ticket might be the only way around it. I don't think they want to go there. Even if it's easy to fake, they've been working on the knowledge that they couldn't be prosecuted for their actions even if Disney didn't like it and could confiscate tickets if they were rented. If they suggest to someone or make a fake ID, then they're opening themselves up to possible jail time.

 

[MateasMom]

Just wanted to say - we just finished up use of a 4 day hopper and one day w/the hopper-turned-pass and the kids were never ID'd. When we made the switch to passes the ticket guy did go on and on about how the kids might need ID, but no one at the turnstile asked. I even made a point of always sending the kids in before me (so there was no ID) to see if they would ask. We hopped a bunch, too. I think, at least for now, ID-less kids are perfectly acceptable.

 

[bcla]

Just wanted to say - we just finished up use of a 4 day hopper and one day w/the hopper-turned-pass and the kids were never ID'd. When we made the switch to passes the ticket guy did go on and on about how the kids might need ID, but no one at the turnstile asked. I even made a point of always sending the kids in before me (so there was no ID) to see if they would ask. We hopped a bunch, too. I think, at least for now, ID-less kids are perfectly acceptable.

I don't know if anyone is really suggesting that they're routinely going to be asking minors for ID at the gates. Still - it's not that bad an idea since there are some legitimate reasons for minors to have government issued ID beyond simply passports for traveling internationally. In addition to that, some children may be older looking than their actual ages, such that having some sort of "proof of age" could be useful if a CM at the turnstile is having a bad day.

This and another thread has morphed into basic discussions on ID and why a child would need one. My kid has had ID since the age of 1. I found it really useful, especially since we can use this in place of a birth certificate when we need to establish proof of age.

 

[MinnieMouseMom4]

My 11yr old n I just returned Wed, we had 3-day park hoppers (reg military disc tix). I had to write our names on our tix, with their pen, cm told me to write 'minor' above my sons name. They asked for My id at every entry.

 

[helenb]

I'm just wondering if this 'ID check' and writing the name on the pass with the 'special pen' could be done at hotel check-in if you stay onsite? Also, could a DL hotel room key be used as ID? I *think* they have names on them... or is that just at WDW? If IDs were checked when you checked in to the hotel, and then 'named' hotel room keys issued (and names written on park passes) then that would save a lot of time at the gate. And you need to have your hotel room keys with you anyways, particularly if you're taking advantage of early entry.

 

[Rhonna]

Also, could a DL hotel room key be used as ID? I *think* they have names on them... or is that just at WDW? .

That's a WDW thing. The room keys are not connected to tickets at DL.

 

[helenb]

That's a WDW thing. The room keys are not connected to tickets at DL.

I knew they weren't connected to tickets, but somehow I thought they had names on them so that you could show them for early entry at the parks... ?