So how do MagicBands work if the passes are different? How does it choose which to use?
It’s a similar logic tree to before, but they tied the condition of valid time slot to the specific ride.
What enabled the accelerate glitch was likely a logic tree like this (Conjecture, but the theory works, sorta)
- Does this user have a valid pass for this ride? (Y/N)
- Does this user have a valid pass for this time? (Y/N)
- If Y/Y, THEN consume a valid pass FOR THIS RIDE.
There’s a wrinkle. Say you scan at Space Mountain at 1 PM. You have a Space Mountain Pass for 6 PM (Yes to Q1), and a Multi Pass that’s good any time that day (Yes to Q2). The system would consume your ride specific pass, ignoring the time slot. That’s what enabled the previous accelerate glitch.
Then, Disney decided to charge $400 to access this glitch, and branded it
Lightning Lane Premier Pass. Great business decision. Pure profit. Also kinda sad because I don’t have the infinite money glitch. Yet.
New logic for magic bands or if you scan your ticket:
- Does this user have a valid pass for this ride? (Y/N)
- Is this pass valid FOR THIS TIME SLOT? (Y/N)
- If Yes: Consume that Pass
- If No: Does this user have a valid multi-experience pass for this ride? (Y/N)
- If Yes: Consume Multi Pass
- If No: Flash Blue (Right ride, wrong time slot)
Fixing this was probably a simple-ish coding problem (although Disney’s cloud infrastructure is frankenware from the 90s) that nobody actually wanted to spend the IT team’s hours on because it added/subtracted no money from their division. Until Premier Pass showed up. Then it made a financial impact, which meant they had to allocate resources to fix it.
The accelerate glitch was fun while it lasted. RIP