WDW Meets Big Brother

[rodkenrich]

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[bicker]

Sounds like it will be great. I hope that they tie them into the room keys for the resorts, as well... do away with KTTK entirely.

 

[ilovethisplace]

I took a survey in MA about these things (and several others) at least 2 years ago. The moderator told me these things were set in stone but Disney is just looking to get some feedback. They mentioned that FPs, ADRs, room keys and charging privileges would all be coded into these bracelets. They also mentioned that it would have your name in it so when you approached a character meet and greet it would somehow show up to the character ahead of time so the face characters could call you by mane making it extra special (I guess). This was a long time ago and there hasn't been much discussion about it lately. I was wondering if this whole idea had been thrown on the scrap heap.

 

[bicker]

It's the wave of the future, though. Look at how much of the complexity of our lives are being simplified onto smart phones. All they need to do is come up with a way to get the majority of store POS machines and ATMs to interact with smart phones instead of requring (easily-counterfeited) charge cards (and you can see the little chip on many charge cards, these days, that shows things moving in this direction).

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Actually, it's not going to be a wristband but an RFID chip implanted in your left shoulder. It will be all the stuff on the KTTW and then some. It will be able to serve as a fastpass. And, for small children they can be height-measured at any of the parks at the start of their trip with a sensor at the entrance to each height-restricted attraction to automatically indicate if they qualify to ride.

The chips would be in a permanent database, so when you return on a subsequent trip they will only have to update the information. Also, if you want to upgrade a ticket it only needs to be done in the computer.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Highly unlikely it will be implemented. Although RFID is a great technology incorporating it in a bracelet that people would be expected to wear at all times would fail. I could see the existing KTTW cards being changed to RFID cards though and they would no longer need to be inserted, rather just waived over a panel at the gate or to get a Fast Pass, etc. Similar to the chips in some credit cards (ie. my AMEX has a chip I can waive over a lot of POS terminals to check out instead of sliding the card).

I know for me, I wouldn't wear the bracelet on my wrist, I hate to have tan lines from a watch/bracelet and although I wear them when I go to the special events (ie. MNSHP), it's dark and no tan lines and I can discard them at the end of the day. These bracelets would need to be secure to people's wrists (and plus many people are still against RFID tech), waterproof and lasting over the period of a trip.

 

[bicker]

I wouldn't be so sure that they'd value some guests' antipathy for bracelets as much as you seem to think they will. They already use bracelets to secure some restricted services; it is a great means of doing so because the bracelet can be made such that an attempt to transfer it from the person for whom the services associated with the ID were sold to another person would be more readily evident, and therefore the bracelet approach is somewhat less subject to abuse by guests. As times goes on, it has become clear that some consumers are intent on escalating their efforts to extract more from product and service providers than they paid for, and so asset protection will continue to increase in priority.

 

[Disco]

Well Disney is spending a billion dollars to develop this next gen interaction feature so something is going to come out of it. Whether it turns out to be a wristband or not is moot.
A key card would share many of the same problems that a band would present. Frankly, I was imagining a card worn around the neck like many other IDs.
I wouldn't mind a bracelet though....

 

[bicker]

Frankly, I was imagining a card worn around the neck like many other IDs.

That would make a lot of sense, if there was some other means of enforcing non-transferability, such as biometrics, perhaps.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I wouldn't be so sure that they'd value some guests' antipathy for bracelets as much as you seem to think they will. They already use bracelets to secure some restricted services; it is a great means of doing so because the bracelet can be made such that an attempt to transfer it from the person for whom the services associated with the ID were sold to another person would be more readily evident, and therefore the bracelet approach is somewhat less subject to abuse by guests. As times goes on, it has become clear that some consumers are intent on escalating their efforts to extract more from product and service providers than they paid for, and so asset protection will continue to increase in priority.

There is a difference between a special event and a week long stay in terms of using a bracelet (additionally most special events are at night). You'd either have to have guests replace the bands daily (which increases the risk of theft or need for additional staff/support to issue new bracelets) or have them heavy duty enough to withstand the week (or longer) of abuse (and guests willingness to wear them for a week). You could also have bracelets that can be taken on and off but then you still will need a biometric control or additional ID control to ensure bracelets are not being swapped, not all that different then we have with KTTW cards.

I don't doubt Disney is doing something, but I don't think guest issued bracelets will be the future.

 

[Disco]

That would make a lot of sense, if there was some other means of enforcing non-transferability, such as biometrics, perhaps.

Like face recognition software and electronic profile readers? How cool would that be? Don't have to scan anything. You'd still need the RF chip in a card or wristband though but you could just walk right in. The tickets/chip couldn't be in a wallet/purse due to all the RF shielding they are installing now a days so it would have to external badge or band of some sort.
Total minority report though. Could be just walking down Main Street and personalized ads could pop up just for you (not to mention the personalized queues they have already mentioned).
For all you conspiracy theorists out there don't fret. I'm sure you can opt out and still use older manual systems in order to stay anonymous. Just don't gripe when you’re in the queues and everyone else is giggling and Mickey knows your name.

 

[bicker]

There is a difference between a special event and a week long stay in terms of using a bracelet

That is a good point.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Children are already required to wear a bracelet on both Disney and RCCL with their muster station. They are not allowed to take it off all week. Mine always kept it on even though she did not like wearing it. What they do with parents that don't agree I do not know. My point being Disney has used the bracelet in a different way before with guests. For DD it had her name our name cabin number and muster station. No credit card info - I would personally not have liked that! We don't allow DD to have charging on her KTTW either.

 

[owensamo]

Children are already required to wear a bracelet on both Disney and RCCL with their muster station. They are not allowed to take it off all week. Mine always kept it on even though she did not like wearing it. What they do with parents that don't agree I do not know. My point being Disney has used the bracelet in a different way before with guests. For DD it had her name our name cabin number and muster station. No credit card info - I would personally not have liked that! We don't allow DD to have charging on her KTTW either.

Actually, DCL now uses RFID bracelets for the kids in the kid's clubs. They're about the size of a wrist watch - and my DD had no issues keeping hers on her wrist for both of our recent 5-night cruises. They made check-in and check-out so much easier - just swipe the band and done. The staff also could locate the children and which club they were in very easily.

If 3-12 year old children on a DCL cruise (who spend half the time in the pool or the ocean) can keep these on and working for a week at a time, I don't see why Disney wouldn't expect their WDW guests to be able to do the same.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

We have not been on the DCL in a few years as we prefer RCCL. RCCL is still using the low tech one. I think it would be easier to check in and out with the new ones!

 

[Vandercapellen]

We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge a few years ago for a week, and they gave us wrist bands that held our "key' for our hotel door, entry into the water park, and we had the option to put our credit card on it. (We declined, only because this was a cash only trip for budgeting reasons) We went into the water park every day and the band never gave us any problems.

I see the wristbands being able to withstand an entire WDW stay, no problem.