finger scanner @ the parks

[Lewisc]

Should AP holders be allowed to "loan" their passes to friends and family members on days they won't be using it?

Your point has a little validity if a person wanted to sell or give away a ticket before first use. The multiple day discounting is only for one person.

This (scanning) is just another example of consumer rights being taken away from us.

If you purchased a ticket you should be able to re-sell it or give it away.

You can buy a $20,000 car and sell it or give it away. You can buy a book, read it, then give it away or sell it. Why not tickets?

I understand people get ripped-off on ebay but they can get ripped off no matter what they are buying.

If they cared about the consumer they would give you a way to transfer your tickets. Maybe pay a small fee to transfer the unused portions to a relative or friend. Maybe an online form to change the name? There's a number of things Disney could do if they really cared about their customers.

Let's say you buy a 10-day park hopper that doesn't expire, you used a few days, and want to give the other 7 to a needy child? Is there anyway to do this legally? <-- extreme example but you get the point.

 

[peter11435]

Your point has a little validity if a person wanted to sell or give away a ticket before first use. The multiple day discounting is only for one person.

Exactly. And since the finger scan is not done until the first use. There is nothing that stops you from selling or transfering it before first use.

 

[DebbieB]

The way the MYW passes are now setup, you pay only a few dollars for each additional day over 4. A base 10 day is only about $12 more than a 5 day. So you are practically getting the additional days free. In return for that, the rules are they are non-transferrable. That is clear upfront. Otherwise if 2 people were going for 5 days each, they could split a 10 day and save a ton of money.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

no it won't match. it goes by bone structure of the person with the ticket and that's how they match it up, yours won't match.

 

[netposer]

Florida State Statute 817.361 states that:
Multi day and multi event ticket media must be used by the same person on any and all days. Thus they are actually following the law.

When you buy a car you are purchasing the car. You can then do with that car what you want. When you by a 10 day WDW ticket or an Annual Pass you are purchasing a 10 day WDW ticket or an Annual Pass for yourself it is and always has been part of the sales agreement that it is for you and you only. Now with the finger scans they have simply found a way to properly inforce a already existing rule and state law.

I'm not saying they are doing anything wrong but rather it's a trend with corporations taking away consumer rights. Just look at all the DRM'd music and movies.

And if you buy 10 days at Disney does it really matter if one or 10 different people visit the park? I understand the APs as they could be sold for a time period over a year.

And why would Disney offer a ticket that expires after 14 days? Because they realize that if you don't use it they get 'free' money.

Why doesn't Disney offer 'money back' if you can't use your days? Maybe at a percentage of the cost? What if something happens 2 days into your vacation and you lose 3-7 days?

All I'm saying is Disney could put in place a 'used' ticket purchasing center at their parks for those situation. Disney could re-sell and buy-back the un-used tickets.

 

[taximomfor4]

Disney is a business, not a public utility. We don't have a "right" to enjoy Disney. In order to enter a Disney theme park, we enter into a contract. We agree to pay money and to abide by certain rules. One of the rules is the non-transferable nature of the ticket media. When you buy a car, you don't buy it on the condition that you won't let anyone drive it. When you buy a book, you don't have to agree not to give it to anyone else. But when you buy a Disney admission, in buying it you agree to not let anyone else use it in your stead.

If you don't like the rules, then you don't go into a Disney theme park. No one's forcing anyone to fork over the money and abide by the rules. We each make that decision for ourselves.

If Disney offers an attractive-enough product, then you have a tough choice about whether or not to pay the money and follow the rules. God Bless America.

I don't begrudge WDW enforcing the non-transfer clause. They want to offer extra days at a steep steep discount...if someone transferes day 7 (which cost $2 more than day 6) WDW is out the $63 they would have gotten from the transferee's first park day...Now, multiply that by how many people were transferring their tickets. I'm in Ohio, and know many people that did it.

It is more like car rental, than car purchase... if I rent a car, it is "my" car for the amount of days I rented it for. If, on the last day, I decide to transfer the keys to dh (who is, like me, a licensed, insured driver), and he gets into a fender bender, the rental company finds out that someone else was driving (who the car was not contractually rented to). That rented car was MINE, for the amount of days I paid for. I'd have broken my contract, letting someone else use the rest of my rental.

 

[pezpam]

I'm not saying they are doing anything wrong but rather it's a trend with corporations taking away consumer rights. Just look at all the DRM'd music and movies.

And if you buy 10 days at Disney does it really matter if one or 10 different people visit the park? I understand the APs as they could be sold for a time period over a year.

And why would Disney offer a ticket that expires after 14 days? Because they realize that if you don't use it they get 'free' money.

Why doesn't Disney offer 'money back' if you can't use your days? Maybe at a percentage of the cost? What if something happens 2 days into your vacation and you lose 3-7 days?

All I'm saying is Disney could put in place a 'used' ticket purchasing center at their parks for those situation. Disney could re-sell and buy-back the un-used tickets.

I'll start upfront with the fact that I am NOT flaming, but offering what I see as a possible explanation - up for discussion.

If we paid the same amount for each day, I could see them allowing tickets to be transferred, but as it stands, they are essentially giving us a bulk discount. If I gave my leftover day to Aunt Tillie, she'd essentially be getting into the park for $5 or so. The discount seems more designed to encourage longer vacations and allowing me to use 5 days and then pass the ticket on (maybe to a local family member who would not spend on a WDW hotel or breakfast, etc....) defeats the marketing strategy. It's an incentive for each person to stay longer, just like the DDP is an incentive to buy a package and stay onsite.

The expiring tickets, besides giving WDW 'free money' if not used or upgraded, allow for tighter projections of how many people they can expect to show up at each park. Part of the problem that resulted in the park closure (and near-riot) at the Hong Kong park was due to people buying various versions of non-expiring tickets and then all showing up on the same holiday day. Unless they go to a system where everyone has to buy tickets for specified days, the system will never be perfect, but this does allow for better planning. I guess you could think of it as the expiring tickets costing less partly because they allow for this easier planning as well as giving up some flexibility.

Could they buy back unused tickets? I suppose so, but it seems that overall both the park and the public are getting more out of allowing the tickets to be upgraded (to AP or nonexpiring) than out of rebuying them. If Disney perceives a desire on the part of enough people to resell their tickets to Disney that they feel it would actually keep people coming back more so than the current system, they'll probably look into it. I don't see the need ever being that great, though - if you have a lot of days left, it's possibly better to upgrade to nonexpiry, if there is only a day or two left, there is a good chance thet you only paid a few dollars for those last days to begin with and losing $12 probably doesn't sour many people on WDW enough to make them stop going.

 

[Dustin]

i know that tickets are supposed to be non-transferable BUT my mother has one day left on her 5 day hopper & wants to give it to me for my upcoming quick trip in Jan. She definitely used the hopper pass w/ the finger scan. Will I be able to enter the park w/ her pass?

I know how you feel...I wanted to use my cousin's AP

 

[NJBlackBerry]

I'm not saying they are doing anything wrong but rather it's a trend with corporations taking away consumer rights.

What "consumer rights" is Disney "violating"? Sounds like more of the entitlement mindset that has infected America. I bought something and I can do anything I want with is.

Sorry - I just don't buy that argument.

Sounds to me like Disney is enforcing a Florida Statute. We wouldn't want them to break the law, would we? Mickey behind bars?

 

[seashoreCM]

Disney's annual passes had finger scans long before other kinds of passes did.

Disney doesn't need a state law to declare its tickets non-transferable, whether or not Disney lobbied for that law in Florida.

Guests can find out the rules for using tickets before buying the tickets so there is no violation of consumer protection laws or ethics.

If you have to cut your vacation short suddenly, you can get non-expiration for your ticket.

Although Disney's multi-day tickets were once advertised as "good for any x days out of the rest of your life", there have been instances recently when a ticket was officially transferred to next of kin following the original user's death.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[goofy4tink]

Disney owns the parks, they sell you passes, they make the rules...the rules are quite plainly stated. If you don't like the rules, don't buy the passes. They get to make the rules. The passes have always been non-transferable...did we 'take advantage' of the fact that there really wasn't a way to track them by person? Yep, we sure did. In fact, I used the remaining day on 2, 5 day ph's from '01 for my dad and step-mom when they visited us in WDW over Thanksgiving week-end in '04. We all had APs.

When you buy insurance every year, do you expect the company to refund you money if you don't have any claims? Didn't think so. So, if you decide to buy an expiring pass, but don't use the days, well...I guess you should have planned better. Disney is right up front about what each pass costs and what benefits it has. If you think there is any chance you might not use it within that 14 day period, buy the non-expire. option.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound harsh....but Disney is a business. Is it expensive? Definately...maybe too expensive. I'm visiting Busch Gardens in May, with my ds, at the end of our WDW trip. Imagine my surprise when he told me I could get a pass for $58 that was good until the end of the year. Now, that's a bargain. It sure would be nice if Disney did that....of course they have 4 parks whereas there is only one at BG. So....it's about $100 for each park for the year if you use an AP. Close. Maybe Disney should start selling individual APs for each park....$60 for MK, $60 for Epcot and so on. Add in a park hopping cost, if you wanted it, and maybe it could come to $340...not very different from what we pay now when you consider that you get some benefits with the AP.

 

[netposer]

Wow. I guess some of you didn't read what I wrote. I never said Disney did not have the right to sell tickets this way.

All I said was Disney is doing what a lot of corporations are now doing because they know their customers will put up with it.

I never said I was 'entitled' to anything I did not pay for.

And the argument about Disney giving you the 10th day for $2 is a bogus one. Anywhere you go you get volume discounts. Buy 1oz of something and buy 64oz of the same thing--the price per oz is cheaper for the 64oz version. The first oz is this much and the last oz is that much? No, you divde the cost by the oz's and that's your cost per oz.

Disney has the right to sell their products any way they wish and I/we have the right to disagree. Either by not buying or voicing our opinion on a forum.

Pretty soon most companies will do business like this and we all will suffer. Just wait until the vacum cleaner you buy is non-transferable. Don't laugh I read once about some wood working tool that was licensed and not sold. So the buyer could not re-sell it.

Anyway I'm counting the days until my trip--!

 

[MareQ]

All I'm saying is Disney could put in place a 'used' ticket purchasing center at their parks for those situation. Disney could re-sell and buy-back the un-used tickets.

Why on earth would they do something like that??? Disney is a business - their primary intent is to make a profit. Why do you think companies LOVE to issue gift certificates? Ever see the percentage of certs never used??? Profit - sheer profit. Ever see a company offering to buy back old, unused gift certs??

Besides you are forgetting the non-expering option and the fact that anybody that doesn't like the laws and the rules can just stay home...

 

[Chuck S]

I look at theme park tickets as purchasing a "license" to enter/use the park for the number of days stated on the ticket by one individual...just as your drivers license can't be transferred to someone else, the license to use enter the parks can;t be transferred without the express permission of Disney. Park tickets have alays been non-transferrable, this is nothing new, they simply now have a better way of enforcing it. Technically it has always been illegal, now folks are upset that they no longer are easily able to break the law.

 

[Linzybrooke]

I have been there several times since they started using the scanners and everytime I am there they aren't working...not that they don't ever use them but I haven't had too. I say if you want to use it, then do. The worst they can do is tell you know, and they shouldn't be mean about it.

 

[netposer]

I look at theme park tickets as purchasing a "license" to enter/use the park for the number of days stated on the ticket by one individual...just as your drivers license can't be transferred to someone else, the license to use enter the parks can;t be transferred without the express permission of Disney. Park tickets have alays been non-transferrable, this is nothing new, they simply now have a better way of enforcing it. Technically it has always been illegal, now folks are upset that they no longer are easily able to break the law.

Last I checked you don't have to have good eyesight and pass a test to get a ticket into Disney. And the tickets are transferable before the first use. Don't you buy an 'Adult' ticket and not a ticket for "Insert Name Here"? My wife buys all of our tickets and so far the 'Adult' ticket was just that--a ticket for one adult to get into the park. So according to you my wife and myselft have probably broken the law because she used my ticket and I used her ticket.

And I think you are getting laws and Disney rules mixed up. It's not criminal to give your ticket to someone else. Just like you can't get arrested for copying a CD and giving it away. You can be sued but you can't go to jail.

 

[peter11435]

I say if you want to use it, then do. The worst they can do is tell you know, and they shouldn't be mean about it.

If you are caught trying to use a ticket that does not belong to you, the ticket will be confiscated.

 

[Chuck S]

Last I checked you don't have to have good eyesight and pass a test to get a ticket into Disney. And the tickets are transferable before the first use. Don't you buy an 'Adult' ticket and not a ticket for "Insert Name Here"? My wife buys all of our tickets and so far the 'Adult' ticket was just that--a ticket for one adult to get into the park. So according to you my wife and myselft have probably broken the law because she used my ticket and I used her ticket.

And I think you are getting laws and Disney rules mixed up. It's not criminal to give your ticket to someone else. Just like you can't get arrested for copying a CD and giving it away. You can be sued but you can't go to jail.

Actually, yes, it is criminal to give a partially used park ticket. It is a FL law, not just a Disney policy. Located in the FL Criminal Statutes under Fraudulent Practices:


817.361 Resale of multiday or multievent ticket.--Whoever offers for sale, sells, or transfers in connection with a commercial transaction, with or without consideration, any nontransferable ticket or other nontransferable medium designed for admission to more than one amusement location or other facility offering entertainment to the general public, or for admission for more than 1 day thereto, after said ticket or other medium has been used at least once for admission, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A nontransferable ticket or other nontransferable medium is one on which is clearly printed the phrase: "Nontransferable; must be used by the same person on all days" or words of similar import. Upon conviction for a second or subsequent violation of this subsection, such person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

 

[kjm4]

Just because something is "The Law" doesn't mean that it is necesarily right or that it should be or is even enforced. I was a police officer for 5 years and came across some weird laws here that you wouldn't even think of enforcing anymore (adultry).
That being said, I still believe the person who buys the ticket should be the one to use it though. If people want to try to get around it that is their decision.

 

[LongIslandCouple]

Actually, yes, it is criminal to give a partially used park ticket. It is a FL law, not just a Disney policy. Located in the FL Criminal Statutes under Fraudulent Practices:


817.361 Resale of multiday or multievent ticket.--Whoever offers for sale, sells, or transfers in connection with a commercial transaction, with or without consideration, any nontransferable ticket or other nontransferable medium designed for admission to more than one amusement location or other facility offering entertainment to the general public, or for admission for more than 1 day thereto, after said ticket or other medium has been used at least once for admission, is guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A nontransferable ticket or other nontransferable medium is one on which is clearly printed the phrase: "Nontransferable; must be used by the same person on all days" or words of similar import. Upon conviction for a second or subsequent violation of this subsection, such person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

Based on reading the above, I don't belive it is illegal to attempt to use someone else's ticket. The crime specified in this statute is limited only to those persons who:

- attempt to sell
- actually sell
- actually transfer if it is connection with a commercial transaction

but nowhere does it say it is illegal to purchase or receive a transfer.

Furthermore, if someone could sell the ticket in New York (or any other place outside of FL) as this law does not apply to any locations outside of Florida.