Resort Room Keys: Now with Barcodes!!

[CanadianGuy]

Disney is rolling out a system whereby resort room keys will now have a barcode printed on the front ... these barcodes can be read in any turnstyle/ticket reader that current reads other ticket media with barcodes.

Barcodes are a much less problematic form of storing the ticket entitlement info than the magnetic stripe on the back of the room keys..

By mid-February all resorts should be printing this barcode on room keys with additional entitlements.

Knox

 

[praline3001]

Will the barcodes keep our cc info too?

I have read in a few places there were issues with putting the cc on the room key when it came to the dining plan.... will this new barcode fix this issue?

 

[CanadianGuy]

Your credit card is never stored on the card.

The issues with having room charging enabled on the room keys and the dining plan has to do - generally - with CM's at dining establishment not following published procedures when charging the meal to the dining plan as opposed to accidentally charging it back to your room

This bar code will not impact CM's who don't follow published instructions unfortunately.

As with everything, anytime you are presented with a receipt to sign .. you should check it to confirm that it is correctly charged and is debiting the meal plan or your room charges -- whatever the situation calls for.

Knox

 

[CanadianGuy]

One further note - near as I can tell the bar code is strictly for ticketing purposes.

Knox

 

[JustSomeGuyTN]

I for one am happy to hear this. Though it's really avoiding the problem rather than actually fixing anything. The data wasn't written to the stripe strongly enough. My sister has a purse with a tiny low gauss magnet in the front flap. Just enough to keep it closed unless you turn the purse upside down. That magnet was enough to corrupt her room key/ticket. We will just have to be carefull not to scratch or get ink on the card now.

 

[Folklore]

I am sooo happy to hear this! DH always has a problem with these but our trip to WDW was the worst with him going thru 9 keys in the first two days. His battle ended up costing us so much precious park time. But they did make great scrapbooking souvenirs.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Did he need to replace keys because they wouldn't open the room?

If so I'm not sure this change will help.

 

[Jillpie]

And speaking of opening up your room...so will the barcode do this for you now, as opposed to the strip?

 

[CanadianGuy]

No.. my understanding is that the barcode is for ticketing purposes only.

Knox

 

[werfamily]

Okay, just so I understand...the new room keys will still have a magnetic strip for room access, and a bar code to store ticket information?

 

[CanadianGuy]

Basically the info on the barcode is pretty much the same as the info on the mag stripe... yes that's correct. But the only place where the barcode readers are currently installed is park entrance turnstyles... in part because apparently some ticket media use barcodes vs mag stripes.

The barcodes will be printed on the FRONT of the cards.. the mag stripe will still be on the back.

I suspect -- tho I have ZERO information to back this up.. that eventually they'll change the door locks at resorts to barcode readers. But , if that turns out to be the case, that will be an expensive proposition and won't happen in 35 to 60 days.

Knox

 

[Booyakasha]

FYI - For those of you that have problems with the mag stripes if you put the card next to your cell phone it can alter the stripe so it won't work. I have never done this at DW but it has happened at multiple hotels.

B.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

I suspect -- tho I have ZERO information to back this up.. that eventually they'll change the door locks at resorts to barcode readers.

If they do, it will mean they've invented the technology. I think the expense makes it a non-starter.

It makes sense for ticket media where you have a relatively limited number of readers, but room keys would involve thousands and thousands of readers.

I'm guessing here -- again, pure speculation on my part -- but I think the barcode on the ticket may also be a precursor of future plans to update the fastpass system. Isn't there talk that FP may go paperless? A barcode on the ticket would make sense in that case because it would allow the CM to have a wireless handheld scanner at the entrance to the FP lane.

 

[CanadianGuy]

If they do, it will mean they've invented the technology. I think the expense makes it a non-starter.

It makes sense for ticket media where you have a relatively limited number of readers, but room keys would involve thousands and thousands of readers.

I'm guessing here -- again, pure speculation on my part -- but I think the barcode on the ticket may also be a precursor of future plans to update the fastpass system. Isn't there talk that FP may go paperless? A barcode on the ticket would make sense in that case because it would allow the CM to have a wireless handheld scanner at the entrance to the FP lane.

Good points.. you're right - it WOULD be expensive to change the locks.. at last count something like 23,000+ doors.

And yes... I completely agree with you - I do think this will have something to do with FP stuff eventually.

Knox

 

[sorul82?]

So they will have both the mag readers and bar code scanners at park entrances?

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

Will this affect any of us that have AP's?

Suzanne

 

[CanadianGuy]

Suzanne:

Don't know. Probably not. Unless they start printing the bar codes on AP's..

But even if they do.. shouldn't matter.

Knox

 

[noahdove]

I have also been told, never to put magnetic strips back to back...I found that out the hard way..also, chewing gum sticks can create problems also

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

I have also been told, never to put magnetic strips back to back...I found that out the hard way..also, chewing gum sticks can create problems also

Suzanne

 

[Folklore]

Did he need to replace keys because they wouldn't open the room?

If so I'm not sure this change will help.

He was having problems getting into the parks, the room and paying at restaurants. They finally ended up giving him a paper ticket and that worked for the rest of our stay to get into the parks and we used mine for everything else. I will say he was quite worried when we went on any of the water rides, which are my favorite.

This also happened to him when we went on a cruise a couple of years ago. The weird thing is that I have never had a problem and our cards are always together.