Disney 'Magic Band' RFID bracelet revealed!!

[Dixiemom]

Okay, I guess I missed this but what does RFID stand for?

 

[Ziggie]

 

[crazy4wdw]

I certainly hope there's a choice to opt out of using these. I have no desire to wear one ot these bands and I don't want Disney tracking me like a heard of cattle. If these bands are mandatory, I guess my days of staying on Disney property will come to an end.

 

[chartle]

Okay, I guess I missed this but what does RFID stand for?

Best just to Google it.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Okay, I guess I missed this but what does RFID stand for?

Radio Frequency Identification

 

[chartle]

I certainly hope there's a choice to opt out of using these. I have no desire to wear one ot these bands and I don't want Disney tracking me like a heard of cattle. If these bands are mandatory, I guess my days of staying on Disney property will come to an end.

Disney already tracks you with the current KTTW card. If you use for everything possible it knows.

• When you open your door
• When you get a FP
• When, where and what you ate for meals
• When, where and what you buy anytime you charge it back to your room

The bands will also be used as your PP card and something that deals with personal experiences.

Now one thing that I haven't seen addressed is why there is a battery and is there an active transmitter. Maybe someone with better electronics knowledge can look over the documents. Though the document asks Confidentiality so it may not be spelled out.

Also if you stay off site I would expect all ticket stock to have an RFID chip to be able to work with the new system for FP or FP+ and maybe PP. So if the RFID part is worrying you you may not want to go back to WDW.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Disney already tracks you with the current KTTW card. If you use for everything possible it knows.

• When you open your door
• When you get a FP
• When, where and what you ate for meals
• When, where and what you buy anytime you charge it back to your room

Disney may be able to track when I go into or out of the room but as far as fastpasses, I don't have my ticket attached to my key to the world card so they can't track that. Nor do I charge anything to the room, basically so they can't track it. The only dining reservations they can track are ones I'd made in advance.

I don't like this at all! It's like someone's whose sentenced to house arrest they have wear an ankle braclet so they can be tracked. I also don't like that I'm going to have to make reservations for fastpasses months before my trip. You may be correct, my Disney vacations may indeed be ending.

 

[chartle]

1. Disney may be able to track when I go into or out of the room but as far as fastpasses, I don't have my ticket attached to my key to the world card so they can't track that. Nor do I charge anything to the room, basically so they can't track it. I don't like this at all! It's like someone's whose sentenced to house arrest they have wear an ankle braclet so they can be tracked.

2. I also don't like that I'm going to have to make reservations for fastpasses months before my trip. You may be correct, my Disney vacations may indeed be ending.

1. Well then if you don't use all the options on your KTTW/Magic Wristband then yes they should only know when you enter a room (not sure they track leaving).

2. That's part of the Next Gen/FP+ whatever and really doesn't have anything to do with the wristbands. They could do it right now with the current tech they have in place (mag stripe readers), RFID just makes it easier to read your info. But as of right now no one knows exactly what it is and how it will effect visiting WDW.

 

[cara76]

Great Wolf Lodge uses these. Honestly after a few hours I forgot I had it on. It was nice not having to fumble for a room key while my hands where full. GWL's don't come off until you check out, they can get wet. I went swimming and took a shower with mine. They were color coded but I don't know what the colors meant. I only assumed the gold ones were for VIPs.

My issue would be the kids version. At GWL the kids wear a regular wrist band, my littlest one kept taking hers off and on, so I would be afraid she would lose it.

Some of the ladies at the conference I was attending put their bands in the pouch on their lanyard and that worked as well.

 

[MikeSF]

Disney already tracks you with the current KTTW card. If you use for everything possible it knows.

• When you open your door
• When you get a FP
• When, where and what you ate for meals
• When, where and what you buy anytime you charge it back to your room

The difference is these things require you the person to physically do something, which is use your card or have it swiped for you. With RFID they can track you even if you don't buy a single thing int he park. Now I doubt they'll give specifics of the technology they are using, but I know with the Enhanced Drivers Licenses (EDL) that DHS pushed aggressively for they have quite the long range RFID in them, I've read some stories that say up to 50 meters away you can read them, even if that number is on the far end there's not too far you can get away from the side of a road where an RFID reader might be actively scanning so you can bet there's no place you can "hide" by being out of range in a Disney park.

Now I can definitely see some positives to being able to track this sort of thing, basically Disney can track traffic patterns on the walk ways, in lines, when parades start, finish, I mean the amount of data you can get from tracking individuals is staggering, hell maybe even wait times will be more accurate, rather than every so often giving someone a red card to hang onto through the line, now every is that "red card". Also if there is a unique identifier in each tag this could be quite useful for lost kids, "Help I lost my child" "no problem lets just verify you are the parent, ok good.... *types some keys* he's over by dumbo"

Now of course there's always the tinfoil hat people who don't like being tracked, and I'll admit I'm one of those people as well. However I really don't think there's any Machiavallian schemes going on here. In fact could be quite the opposite where as you walk by a screen or something perhaps a unique "ad" or "message" gets played for you. And if there's any LED lights on it they could flash to some pattern during a show or something, like they do at DLCA with their flashing Mickey Ears that have RFID in them for the World of Color show.

Now one thing that I haven't seen addressed is why there is a battery and is there an active transmitter. Maybe someone with better electronics knowledge can look over the documents. Though the document asks Confidentiality so it may not be spelled out.
.

This probably comes into play with the long range aspect of it, something to help boost signal strength or something of that like is my guess, for it to constantly send a signal out unless there's a transmitter that's requesting it would be silly and wasteful. I do predict a ton of Disney themed RFID receiving stations to be installed in every possible place in the park, side of roads, in lines, along rides, in restaurants, near parade routes, hell perhaps even in bathrooms (too many people going to the bathroom after all ate at a restaurant... good way to track any health issues with food). Disney is already known as one of the best in the world in moving large quantities of people, they're just going to get better by being able to arrange traffic even better too. Basically you see that bottleneck in that pathway? Hmm maybe we should move the churro cart elsewhere during the times of 4pm to 6pm, or what not.

Lots and lots of data for Disney that's what these RFID bracelets are going to be used primarily for, not for your experience, and not to make things "easier" for you. I don't honestly see how a card isn't easier, it fits nicely into a credit card compartment of my wallet, I am virtually guaranteed to never lose it, can't say the same for a bracelet that I don't want to wear so might stuff in my pocket or clip onto a belt strap, that introduces a large potential to "break" off or fall out of a pocket. I'm still going to have to scan my finger at the gate to make sure the bracelet is in fact me, I'm still going to have get held up in line getting into the parks not for tickets getting scanned but for all those geniuses who want to get creative with their finger scanning and can't remember which finger they used. Fastpasses might go quicker if lines for them are long, but I assume I'll still get a ticket so I can remember when it is. And best of all it's an added piece of remembering I'll have to do since I don't wear bracelets ... EVER... and have to remember to strap it on, where as my wallet I pocket every day when I leave the house so it's instinctual.

 

[chartle]

The point of my post was that they track you now there has never been any mention besides this thread that said anything like they were going to track your every move such that if a kid was lost they could key in the kids wristband ID and find them on a map moving around like they do on various TV shows.

 

[arthuruscg]

Humm, this will only be cool of I can load the rfid "key" on to my cellphone. Then all i have to carry is my phone.

 

[Peanut Giggleface]

For those who don't want to be tracked around Disney property, just wrap your bracelet in aluminum foil. I guess an empty tuna fish can would work as well, just need some foil to keep it enclosed. LOL just kidding.... Seriously I don't mind Disney tracking my moves around property, it would probably look like a kid scribbling on an etch a sketch anyway, but I don't like the idea of credit card info being tied to the bracelet. That's too risky for my comfort with the technology out there for people to skim that data. So I guess I won't be opting to load my credit card info onto the bracelet. Everything else about this idea is fantastic. I expect this will drastically cut down on wait times to enter the park. Looking forward to finding out more about this and when it will be rolled out.

 

[chartle]

Humm, this will only be cool of I can load the rfid "key" on to my cellphone. Then all i have to carry is my phone.

On the Samsung Galaxy SIII commercials when they touch phones to transfer pics or playlists they are using NFC or Near Field Communication basically a really close range RFID that I think is the future of checkouts. So if Disney started using NFC it could replace the wristband.

Note I haven't at all researched this so I could be completely wrong and have no idea what I am talking about.

 

[MikeSF]

On the Samsung Galaxy SIII commercials when they touch phones to transfer pics or playlists they are using NFC or Near Field Communication basically a really close range RFID that I think is the future of checkouts. So if Disney started using NFC it could replace the wristband.

A NFC would give Disney no benefit over the much longer range RFID (assuming these bracelets don't work in the NF).

Next up, just like the movie Minority Report, simply scan your eyes from afar to know who you are.

 

[chartle]

1. A NFC would give Disney no benefit over the much longer range RFID (assuming these bracelets don't work in the NF).

2. Next up, just like the movie Minority Report, simply scan your eyes from afar to know who you are.

1. I'm just assuming that NFC is more secure than RFID and also allows other devices to be programmed with the correct code.

2. Or just every time you touch something they do a DNA sequence.

 

[rock_doctor]

two comments...

Personally, i don't mind the idea of an rfid tag that is used for location awareness. For example, you pass the reader at PoC and it sends a message to your phone or to an app on your phone that the wait will be 20min or sends a message that your fast pass is coming up and gives you directions to the ride...I think this is brilliant and since the parks now have WiFi it can be done easily. To use their app you have to log in now and in the current version it uses GPS but in this case it would use physical location via rfid tags. Technically, you could also go into the park the same way. It knows you are at the gate and you just have to identify yourself with either your finger print or a pass code. As cell phones get the ability to transmit short distances (the current generation of Samsung S3 can transmit short distances, a couple inches, to another S3 - Near Field Communication) it could even use an app to tell you phone to "ok" your entrance into the park by sending a signal from the phone to the turnstile. As long as you have your phone on you it would work fine. In this case it would require your rfid and phone to be on your person... People in Europe use their phone for everything including buying items from vending machines. Lastly no reason it has to be a bracelet. It could be a simple sticker on your room card. Usually passive rfid are good for a couple feet. No reason i can't transmit from your wallet, backpack or pocket.

I have no issues with the rfid as long as to access your account a physical input from the owner is required.

 

[skier_pete]

For all the "I don't like being tracked" people...better throw away your cell phones...your being tracked right NOW!

As far as wristbands go, does anyone here go anywhere besides Disney? I've been to resorts in Canada, Myrtle Beach, Florida and local amusement parks where they give you a wristband (one of those cheap plastic ones) that you have to wear in order to get into the resort/restaurant/water park/wherever. Heck, Legoland had one where you had a wristband when you rented a locker that you had to swipe on a pad to get into the locker. Our local park has a wristband when you rent an innertube, though this didn't have a chip in it. Never once do I think "Oh God..I can't believe I'm being forced to wear a wristband".

Y'all sound way too whiny for me! I think you should stop going to DisneyWorld because of this horrible wristband torture they are subjecting you to, leaving the line in front of me much shorter (and quieter).

 

[mike the canuck]

I feel like I'm one of the few that don't really care. I think it's a cool idea.

 

[niffer5150]

I feel like I'm one of the few that don't really care. I think it's a cool idea.

I think its an awesome idea too.
I have no notions that I'm so important that Disney is going to track me personally and if you think about it, knowing excact wait times or that an area needs more staff attention is brilliant. My credit cards already have rfid in them so the idea of my info on a bracelet doesn't scare me either. Criminals aren't going to go to crazy lengths when there are much easier, faster, and less visible ways to go about their dishonesty.