The biometric finger scanners have been installed on every turnstile at all 4 theme parks. There is no need to do anything prior to entering the park; a regular Magic Your Way pass requires no special treatment or activation before you use it.
Just walk up to the turnstiles as you did in the old days before the biometrics, put your pass in the slot, and put the first two fingers of your right hand in the scanner, as indicated by the hand-shaped diagram. Best results are obtained by squeezing the two fingers together as hard as you can inside the scanner.
As to time, yes, you better budget a little extra time to get into the parks in the morning. At rope drop, the wait at the turnstiles can be as much as 30 minutes, and that's after you get through the bag check line.
The delay is caused by a combination of factors:
1) Not everybody knows that the tickets will work no matter which side goes into the slot first, no matter which side is up, and no matter which phase of the moon is current, and lots of folks spend extra time at the turnstiles trying to turn their tickets "right-side-up" as they do with credit cards and ATM cards.
2) Not everybody knows how to put their fingers in the biometric scanner, and many folks put in the wrong fingers, don't squeeze, or can't squeeze hard enough because of injury or illnes (such as arthritis). My fingers are healthy, but to make the scanner work I usually have to squeeze so hard it hurts.
3) The damn biometrics just don't work for some people. The scanners at Epcot, only Epcot, have always given me a fit, even in the old days when they were only required for Annual Passholders. The other 3 parks' scanners have always worked just fine for me.
4) Same old thing - some people simply don't care that there are dozens of others waiting behind them, and will take a long time to get their passes out of their wallets or purses (even though they have had a 20-minute wait in which to prepare), or go through and then stop dead just inside the turnstile to put their passes away or read a park map, blocking everyone behind them.
Don't forget to pick up your pass from the inside of the turnstile after you go through!
