security line + biometric scans= how much time?

[lodgelady]

Hi all-
A lot has changed since our last trip re: stuff to do before you even get to the otherside of the turnstile!
Has anybody been recently who can estimate how much time this stuff adds on in the morning?
An aside- we just bought MYW tickets. Do you have to do anything different to activate them the first time they are used?

I can't wait to be warm!!!

 

[tpmorley]

...on when you enter the parks. We were there last week and if you are there first thing in the morning it will take longer than later in the day when the bulk of the people have already gone in. Even if there are a lot of people there (we made it to rope drop one day) the lines move along and it doesn't take that long.

I thought the security checks were sort of a joke. I mean, I know they have to do it, but all you do is unzip each part of your bag and hold it open and they briefy look in and let you pass through.

We had the new tickets too and there isn't anything special you do the first time to activate. It is the same process each time. Stick your ticket in the slot--place your 1st two fingers around a little peg and when it registers your ticket will pop out and in you go!

Have fun!

 

[Twigs]

We were there last week too, and as tpmorely said it can depend on what time of day you get there. Some people have trouble with the scanning. They tell you to keep your fingers straight, slide them all the way into the scanner, and to squeeze them againts the posts in the scanner. DS had to redo these steps 3 or 4 times each time he went through! I would purposely go behind him as I thought at first that he wasn't doing something right, but he wasn't doing anything wrong , it just didn't go easily for him.

 

[goofyernmost]

Having just been there I can tell you that it adds quite a bit of time. If it isn't particularly crowded it probably won't be really noticable but I can almost assure everyone that during peak times it will be a nightmare. Almost everyone I saw didn't know how to use the scanner, didn't put thier fingers in properly and had to try two or three times. That required reinserting the ticket and trying again.

I could tolerate it if it wasn't for the fact that it is totally Disney greed inspired. They are so afraid that I might give my ticket to one of my children to use that they are willing to inconvenience everyone. They are trying to solve a problem that really doesn't exist. They got the money, now they should shut up and honor it. For those of you that I know will wag a finger at me and tell me how it is non-transferable etc., ask yourself, when the ticket was purchased did they ask you who you were buying it for? Was that ticket spacifically designated to a specific person? Did they take a name and assign it to each ticket? Who knows...I might have bought it for my families usage. They didn't ask did they? If so, then I technically didn't transfer it. It is being used as intended.

 

[kakiegirl]

I understand your frustation and it is definently I am sure in part greed. However, there is a big black market re sale on un used days on tickets. If you go to places like e-bay people auction them off and alot of times they are selling for even more than you would pay at disney. I guess people don't research the prices before bidding. There are many other places that sale unused days also. It is dangerous for the person buying them because they have no way of knowing if there are really unused days on the ticket until they get to disney. Yes it is a shame that makes it where you can't give unused days to family members are friends to use. However, it is just an example of everyone has to pay when people abuse the system.

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

Do all ticket holders do this. Knowing my 6 Y.O. - It will most likely freak her out, for the first FEW times. She can be quite the wuss, about some things.

If kids have to do it too, I could see it taking a long time in line.

 

[rangebob]

The lines do move at a snails pace now that everybody has to use the biometric scanning. Children 11 and under don't have to do it. I've seen people trying to put their whole hand in there, using too many fingers and most of the times the gate attendant shakes their head and hits the button to bypass the scan. I think this is one of the most stupid things that Disney has done, first the new EXTREMELY confusing tickets and pricing and then the finger scan. Whats next????

 

[dwfanatic]

We still have our old hopper passes that we will be using on our trip in Marc/April. Do they have you do the finger scan for these?

 

[ColleenLovesMinnie]

My family and I never had to do the finger scans last week when we were at the parks. I think it was because we had the old Park Hopper tickets we purchased from home in December before they switched over to the new ones. We really felt this new system greatly slowed down the process of getting into the parks. We always seemed to be behind someone having a problem using their ticket (and there were lots of them!).

 

[Twigs]

dwfanatic, Last week we used the last day on our old park hoppers and we did not have to do the scan. It was really nice too . Just want to say again, the scanning hold ups are not just from people using the scanner wrong, as I said I stayed with DS to be sure he was doing it right he was, and each time he had to repeat the process 3 or 4 times! The CM's didn't know why he was having a problem either, as they would watch him too.

 

[TTRider]

We were there last week and the process of getting in was pretty easy. My children had no trouble with the finger scans. We always had our bags open for security to see in to make it easier. Only one time someone in front of us had trouble with the ticket/finger scan so it took a few extra minutes.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I agree that this system is a major pain! We were there in late January/early February. DH and I both remarked that we just can't wait until we are there between Christmas and New Years! Should only take about 2 hours to get in the gate. When we were there they didn't have nearly enough cm's one day at MGM. I ended up showing some family who spoke no English how to scan their tickets. They need a cm at each turnstile if they insist on this stupid system. I also noticed many times that people just could not get their tickets and fingers to do the right thing. Never once did a cm ask to see id to see if they matched the name on the ticket. They just put them through anyway. Can you imagine how frustrating it is for the cm's?

 

[goofyernmost]

We still have our old hopper passes that we will be using on our trip in Marc/April. Do they have you do the finger scan for these?

I had park hopper tickets left over from last year. No problem at all. They worked just like before...no scan necessary.

As for black market ticket sales this is what I think about it. Anyone that is foolish enough to buy a ticket that has no visable way of identifying if it even has any days left on it, is totally out of their minds. I don't think that is the problem it used to be when they had the "stamped" tickets. I used to buy those but I would not consider buying them now. I have seen people turned away at the gate because they had no time left on the tickets that they had just purchased at a roadside stand.

 

[Luv2Roam]

Between security and most evreyone finger scanning, entering has slowed up. I never thought it was speedy before. A major problem? No. But we have seen the pace put guests in a surly mood before even getting into the parks. (Of course entering USO just in our car puts us in much more of a surly mood! We HATE the park entering process at USO -- and we are still in our car!!)