Annual Pass Discount Card

[AngiTN]

True story...
My 7 year old (at the time) was buying something at Mouse Gear. She wanted to be a "big girl" and do it all on her own.
I gave her AP card to her and some cash and she went up to register as I stood off to the side. She handed over everything all at once. The CM (one of those snow-bird retirees who probably works at the park a couple days per week in the winter) picks up the AP card, looks at it, and says to her, "I'm going to need to see your ID".
My daughter looked very confused and didn't know what he was talking about. I thought the CM was joking with her at first, but then he asked her again even more serious than the first time. She, of course, still didn't know what to say to him.
The CM yells over for help from one of the other cashiers. He goes, "What do I do? I need to see her ID to give her a discount". He was dead serious.
The other CM said, "I think she may have left her driver's license at home today. It's OK. I think we can give her the discount anyway."

I have encountered this type of CM myself. I know darn well they have more common sense than that. I swear sometimes people forget how to think.

 

[HopperFan]

True story...
My 7 year old (at the time) was buying something at Mouse Gear. She wanted to be a "big girl" and do it all on her own.
I gave her AP card to her and some cash and she went up to register as I stood off to the side. She handed over everything all at once. The CM (one of those snow-bird retirees who probably works at the park a couple days per week in the winter) picks up the AP card, looks at it, and says to her, "I'm going to need to see your ID".
My daughter looked very confused and didn't know what he was talking about. I thought the CM was joking with her at first, but then he asked her again even more serious than the first time. She, of course, still didn't know what to say to him.
The CM yells over for help from one of the other cashiers. He goes, "What do I do? I need to see her ID to give her a discount". He was dead serious.
The other CM said, "I think she may have left her driver's license at home today. It's OK. I think we can give her the discount anyway."

They honestly can take care of this and your MB use. You scan your MB or scan your AP ...

(1) DAS holders have their photo taken and attached to their MDE. When they try to use the FP+ their photo comes up. No reason that when you get an AP you can't take a picture just like a driver's license (their basic tickets used to have your photo on them back in the day). They scan your MB or pass, up pops your photo and they look you over. Done.

(2) Or connect the finger scan to all registers so that you can verify that is your AP pass. Done.

Of course this is all spending money to give up money so I expect them to continue to make it difficult.

 

[labdogs42]

I swear when we were there in February all they asked for was my Magic Band. I did have that little orange passholder thingy on it, but that's not very official. I'll have to see if I even still have the yellow cards (or if they gave me those) for when we go back in November. I really don't remember being asked for the card and ID all the time, but maybe they did and i just forgot!

 

[wilkeliza]

I have encountered this type of CM myself. I know darn well they have more common sense than that. I swear sometimes people forget how to think.

While it is common sense I think the thing is that a lot of CMs are just trying ot keep their jobs. They are told in training that anyone and everyone presenting a discount card needs ID to use it. So doesn't matter if common sense says little Suzy who is 7 doesn't have a drivers license she could very well have a school ID or state ID card so could show either to meet the ID requirement. I won't fault a CM who may already have a few knocks for not checking ID and have been reminded it is a requirement to then ask everyone no matter age.

 

[AngiTN]

While it is common sense I think the thing is that a lot of CMs are just trying ot keep their jobs. They are told in training that anyone and everyone presenting a discount card needs ID to use it. So doesn't matter if common sense says little Suzy who is 7 doesn't have a drivers license she could very well have a school ID or state ID card so could show either to meet the ID requirement. I won't fault a CM who may already have a few knocks for not checking ID and have been reminded it is a requirement to then ask everyone no matter age.

Fair enough but when they are clearly little kids and don't have one it's not that hard to guess what the next step is. No idea how common school IDs are in Elementary school. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess not very and even if they are, of those who have them they may not think to take them to Disney. School IDs are not done here.

 

[wilkeliza]

Fair enough but when they are clearly little kids and don't have one it's not that hard to guess what the next step is. No idea how common school IDs are in Elementary school. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess not very and even if they are, of those who have them they may not think to take them to Disney. School IDs are not done here.

IDK I had school IDs from the day I entered school so they are pretty common to me. Like I said though state IDs are a thing as well so if someone has kids that want to use something that requires an ID check then that's an option. I'm just not going to vilify a CM for asking another what to do in the situation sine the written rule is they have to check ID. Heck even during my time at Disney Store we had to turn away thousands of dollars of purchase on occasion when people didn't have IDs and only had other credit cards. Policy was I needed to see a state or school issued ID didn't matter what else you had in your name and managers backed that up even out the sale walked out the door.

 

[loves to dive]

Also I totally just noticed the never scanned APs and mine doesn't have an expiration date written on it but the app shows the expiration so maybe checking the app is actually a better way to do this!

I got curious so I just pulled mine out (yes I have it with me at work, sad isn't it?) and my expiration date is handwritten on the back. I know it used to be on the front of the card but at least there is one there.

As far as having to show and ID, I kind of get it, anyone could have found one and be using it. I always carry an ID with me since I don't charge to my MB, I use my cc and hope anyone accepting it asks for an ID.

 

[Grammy4Lizzy]

School ID's are not common for elementary and middle school here. State ID's are issued to 14 and over. My DGD has a passport but we don't always bring them to WDW.
I hope we don't run into someone like that Disney Store manager.

 

[wilkeliza]

School ID's are not common for elementary and middle school here. State ID's are issued to 14 and over. My DGD has a passport but we don't always bring them to WDW.
I hope we don't run into someone like that Disney Store manager.

The manager I was sharing was for a credit card transaction so a little different but just saying that yes sometimes when the rules are written a certain way. So if your DGD is going to use a credit card it might be good to carry a copy of her passport as she'll be asked for it if she uses a physical credit card. With Annual Pass cards it really depends on the CM.

 

[Grammy4Lizzy]

We make her pay cash so she can practice her math.

 

[bryanb]

Do the registers currently have a way to display the name of the person on the MagicBand? That might be one reason why MagicBands can't be used to verify AP status. You could give your MagicBand to anyone and they could get the discount. There would be no way to match it up with an I.D..

Not saying this shouldn't be a future function, but might be an explanation for why the solution isn't that simple yet.

 

[ucfknight]

The manager I was sharing was for a credit card transaction so a little different but just saying that yes sometimes when the rules are written a certain way. So if your DGD is going to use a credit card it might be good to carry a copy of her passport as she'll be asked for it if she uses a physical credit card. With Annual Pass cards it really depends on the CM.

If you worked for a store that required a customer to show ID when they presented a valid, signed credit card and the signatures matched, you were in violation of your company's merchant agreement with Visa, MasterCard, and Amex. Discover is the only major credit card that allows stores to require ID with purchase. Stores are not allowed by Visa, MasterCard, or Amex to require ID to be presented .

On the other hand, if a customer presents an unsigned credit card it would be the merchant's responsibility to ask for identification and request that the customer sign the card right there.

Sounds like you were poorly trained.

 

[wilkeliza]

If you worked for a store that required a customer to show ID when they presented a valid, signed credit card and the signatures matched, you were in violation of your company's merchant agreement with Visa, MasterCard, and Amex. Discover is the only major credit card that allows stores to require ID with purchase. Stores by are not allowed by Visa, MasterCard, or Amex to require ID to be presented .

On the other hand, if a customer presents an unsigned credit card it would be the merchant's responsibility to ask for identification and request that the customer sign the card right there.

Sounds like you were poorly trained.

It was unsigned don't think I ever said it was signed.

 

[ucfknight]

It was unsigned don't think I ever said it was signed.

"I'm just not going to vilify a CM for asking another what to do in the situation sine the written rule is they have to check ID. Heck even during my time at Disney Store we had to turn away thousands of dollars of purchase on occasion when people didn't have IDs and only had other credit cards."

"The manager I was sharing was for a credit card transaction so a little different but just saying that yes sometimes when the rules are written a certain way. So if your DGD is going to use a credit card it might be good to carry a copy of her passport as she'll be asked for it if she uses a physical credit card."

Not once in any of that do you even vaguely intimate that you are referring to unsigned cards.

 

[wilkeliza]

"I'm just not going to vilify a CM for asking another what to do in the situation sine the written rule is they have to check ID. Heck even during my time at Disney Store we had to turn away thousands of dollars of purchase on occasion when people didn't have IDs and only had other credit cards."

"The manager I was sharing was for a credit card transaction so a little different but just saying that yes sometimes when the rules are written a certain way. So if your DGD is going to use a credit card it might be good to carry a copy of her passport as she'll be asked for it if she uses a physical credit card."

Not once did you even intimate that you were referring to unsigned cards.

Ok but you also assumed I was trained poorly because I didn't say it was unsigned. You can see how assuming is bad. You could have just ask to clarify if it was signed or unsigned if it really bothered you that much. So sure if your CC is signed you probably won't have an issue but a lot of people don't sign their cards or write see ID for this very reason. It protects the person and the merchant.

 

[loves to dive]

Do the registers currently have a way to display the name of the person on the MagicBand? That might be one reason why MagicBands can't be used to verify AP status. You could give your MagicBand to anyone and they could get the discount. There would be no way to match it up with an I.D..

Not saying this shouldn't be a future function, but might be an explanation for why the solution isn't that simple yet.

If you pay with your MB you have to enter a PIN for just that reason.

 

[ChristineOH]

When we upgraded tickets to APs this month, the CM also forgot to give us the physical cards. I asked about it, and he said, "Oh, yeah, I forgot to do that!"
We had to show the passholder card and ID every single time to get the AP discount. The discount really did add up. I haven't gone back to add up the receipts, but I bet we saved enough to cover the cost of one of the upgrades.

 

[bryanb]

If you pay with your MB you have to enter a PIN for just that reason.

True, but that that only works to authorize room charges for on-site guests. It's not a solution to prove your identity. If you're not staying on-site, you won't have a valid PIN.
Even if Disney were to require annual passholders to enter a PIN, it doesn't prevent cheating. AP holders could let anyone borrow their band and PIN.

Maybe the next generation of MB terminals will have a fingerscan reader, just like at the theme park main entrances. That would be an expensive solution but effective way to end the whole business of cards/phones and ID checking.

 

[ShellieMimi]

IDK I had school IDs from the day I entered school so they are pretty common to me. Like I said though state IDs are a thing as well so if someone has kids that want to use something that requires an ID check then that's an option. I'm just not going to vilify a CM for asking another what to do in the situation sine the written rule is they have to check ID. Heck even during my time at Disney Store we had to turn away thousands of dollars of purchase on occasion when people didn't have IDs and only had other credit cards. Policy was I needed to see a state or school issued ID didn't matter what else you had in your name and managers backed that up even out the sale walked out the door.

School IDs are not common for elementary school - at all - and even if they were, the rules say "government-issued photo ID" so even if a child DOES have a school ID, if we want to play Rules Stickler, it doesn't count. No, most people are not going to have a state ID issued for a 7yo, even if it's possible.

Not being a stickler for the rules when the rules are clearly absurd, I will go ahead and fault the CM for "carding" a 7yo. That is ridiculous.

 

[megveg]

I am at a loss that Disney doesn't have MBs carry your AP information for discounts. it seems like it could be the easiest software fix ever, to just flag certain accounts as AP but they cant manage that, i dont understand it at all lol