Extra Magic Hours... scam ? fair ?

[jellydisney]

actually we are in this situation where our friends will be offsite but i would never do that! in fact i hadn't even thought of it!

We are in the same situation too. My bf was asking me if we could do a scam similar to the one mentioned above, and I told him "That's not allowed" and he's like "Yeah, but could we get away with it?"

Sigh. I wish Disney would do something fast to prevent these kinds of scams. Because it seems like PLENTY of people, regardless of whether they are going to carry it out or not, have already thought of a way to get around it.

 

[Laugh O. Grams]

You know if this was a real problem, Disney would have done something about it already. I'm sure some people take advantage of every situation, but if it was costing WDW money or puting WDW resort guests out, they would start something immediately. I can't see the "all vacation, lose it and you're done" wristband working anyway. You're on vacation to have fun and enjoy your time off. It obviously wouldn't be very customer friendy to cut someone off from the rest of their vacation if they lost some little trinkette that WDW slapped on your wrist. WDW already replaces APs if you lose them. You just show your ID, passport or drivers' license, they activate a new pass and cancel the old one, kind of like a new credit card. This obviously isn't a big deal.

 

[justhat]

I haven't been there for the new EMH yet (well, we were there for the trial last May) but I do know mornings were often a problem. We went to the MK for EMH on Sunday during President's weekend in 2003 and they weren't checking resort IDs and the place was a madhouse. There were 20 minute lines for rides and we got there at 8:10! We went to guest services and told them that we pay to stay onsite for this perk and to see everyone getting let in is a disappointment and they said they thought someone was out there checking IDs and gave us a $5.00 meal coupon. It was nice of them, but I would have preferred to utilize EMH rahter than save $5 on lunch.

You're right though, Laugh O Grams, they do reissue APs with just an ID, so maybe if you lose your wristband they give you at checkin, they can deactivate your old one and reissue it. Of course, then they'd have to be some sort of barcode on it and you'd need to scan it at rides, which would be a huge pain and expense. Or just tell people don't take it off, like someone else said, it's not like they would fall off.

 

[Traveliz]

Ick ick ick to the armband wearing for the whole trip -=- I CAN'T stand to hardly wear it for the three hous I have to plus I don't see where it would alleviate the problem.

Currently Disney does different colors on different night (mixing it up) so they only have to see that a band is on....just think of the time it would take to look at the dates of each person at each ride.

I am sure there is some abuse of the system but I think its probably working well enough.

I also think if they gave everyone so many wristbands at check in there would be LOTS more people at the extra hours...sort of calling special attention to it. Of course I realize it is for everyone but judging from confused looks I have seen from resort guests before I know alot of people don't read their check in materials (the newsletter that gives the times) and giving the bands at check in would just increase awareness and take WAY too much time.

Liz

 

[axavilez]

I was at the Epcot evening EMH on 1/19/05 and they are now asking for people to show their photo ID and room key. I assume they are only doing this for adults. Also, each evening EMH has different color wristbands. It seems that Disney is working on the problem and trying to keep people from cheating the system.

 

[G00fyDad]

Good!

 

[risy]

I cannot imagine that a majority of park guests are visiting with "friends" staying offsite...Surely this cannot account for the large numbers of guests at EMH.

I typically do not carry my driver's license into the parks. Hope they inform us what we need before we depart for parks.

Please do not make me wear a wristband for 7 days as though I am in the hospital...

 

[robinb]

I don't think this is really a big deal. Although I'm sure it's happened, I don't think enough people would be passing off their keys to make it worth monitoring.

 

[DHSsenior007]

Given the number of hotel rooms that Disney has on site, I can see that the evening EMH park could be pretty crowded even if no one was scamming the system! I think the morning EMH crowds were pretty big - we always skipped the EMH park for that reason (and also because we'd have to get up way too early for a vacation!).

CarolynFH

 

[westcliffemom]

We were there last week and had to show a picture ID for the adults and the CM's seemed to check the ID to see that it matched the room key. Also, the ride CM's were checking for wrist bands.

 

[dreamgirl]

Think about how busy Epcot can get at night when it's the only park open late. I know when I am at WDW I get as many hours out of my ticket as possible. I can see the EMH being very busy with on-site guests.

 

[opal]

We were there the first week of Jan and DD made the same observation about how easy it would be to scam. Since Disney imprints cc info into the room key, I'm not letting anyone "borrow" mine. If they want the perks, they can pay to stay onsite, just like we did.

 

[the kabuki]

When we were there on the 5th -11th which I think was the first week night EMH started, we didn't have to show ID. Interesting that 3 weeks later they're now asking for it. It must've been starting to be a problem then.

 

[DMRick]

We weren't asked for ID..and it was so dark at some of the stations, I don't know how they would see it (it wasn't dark when we got ours). But that would be a good thing.

 

[eeyore0062]

Adults need to carry their picture Id's with them while at WDW. You may be asked for it when purchasing tickets, entering the parks, if you are staying for EMH, paying for something with travelers checks, credit card, room card, etc (some retail castmembers may ask) or if you order an alcoholic beverage. It is so much better to have it with you than to be stuck if you don't.

 

[mlobbia]

I am gald that they are at least checking IDs some of the time, but it still does not solve the issue. Not that I will cheat the system, nor do I want to give people the idea, but, the resort guest could go get the wrist band, give it to the offsite guest, and go back to a new station to get another wrist band.

To control this properly, they need to use an electronic measure connected to the room key.

 

[bytheblood]

I think if they handed out a pile of bracelets at check-in, you'd see people trying to sell them on ebay...

If they were dated....problem solved.

 

[Leota]

They don't check the dates on Fast Passes & that's been in place a couple years. I don't see them checking the dates on the wristbands....

I think if it were a big enough problem, Disney would do something about it. As stated, there are an awful lot of onsite rooms & crowds can be huge from just onsite guests. The few folks that scam the system won't make or break anyone's EMH experience unless they're looking to have it broken.......

 

[peacefulgirl]

They don't check the dates on Fast Passes & that's been in place a couple years. I don't see them checking the dates on the wristbands....

I think if it were a big enough problem, Disney would do something about it. As stated, there are an awful lot of onsite rooms & crowds can be huge from just onsite guests. The few folks that scam the system won't make or break anyone's EMH experience unless they're looking to have it broken.......

Since they are checking ID's now, and they didnt the first week, I would say they are starting to see a problem...

 

[Chadsgirl44]

At Epcot we were asked for our ID's and they did look at both the names on our room keys and our pictures before we were given our wristbands. This was on Thursday 1/13....