By Fantasmic Diva
If you visit the Walt Disney World Resort now or in the future, you will notice that the entryway to the parks has changed quite a bit from the last time you were there. In place of the cumbersome turnstiles and ticket machines are futuristic looking touch points that light up in the shape of Mickey Mouse. The light turns green to indicate that the ticket has been accepted and turns blue if there has been an error (most are likely easy to resolve).
For an adult ticket to the WDW resort, there are two steps to entering the park: 1) Touching the RFID enabled ticket up to the center of Mickey’s nose on the touch point and 2) Then placing a finger (I HIGHLY recommend using your right index finger) on the bio scanner. There are a lot of concerns about this step in the process, so I thought, as a trained touch point Cast Member, I would try to clear up some of the concerns and clouds surrounding the bio scanner.
What it is…
The machine that is actually scanning your finger is called a bio scanner…all this means is that it a mechanism meant to scan bio material…like a finger. What it does is it scans your finger, converts it into a photo which is then converted into a number which is now associated with the ticket number which was touched to the touch point. This is ALL for your protection. What this effectively does is prevent someone else from using your ticket. It tells the system “This finger number goes with this ticket.” When the wrong finger is placed on the scanner (usually for park re-entry or second day park entry) is registers in the system as not compatible with the number associated with the card touched to the touch point and the ticket will not be accepted. This system prevents ticket theft and with the Magic Bands…theft of a whole lot more than tickets or park entries.
What it is not…
It is not a finger print…I promise you that. The number does not even go into a database that Cast Members can access. We have no access to the information stored in that system. This is why we cannot look up lost tickets by fingers…because it is not actually a finger print. We won’t sell your information to the NSA, the FBI or the CIA (I have been asked…this is not a joke). This is not research for a government agency. This is not a way to try to hold up people in their time at the park. It is also not required for children. If parents purchase child tickets for their kids, the children will not have to place their finger on the scanner. If the touch point prompts the guest to place their finger on the scanner, then the ticket that was touched up to the touch point was an adult ticket. And the last thing it is not…NEW. I have been to WDW multiple times and walked through the old turnstiles and have had to place my finger on a glass scanner for as long as I can remember.
I hope that this clears up some of the confusion surrounding the bio scanners at the newly refurbished park entrances. Just remember what finger you used (like I said, right index works best) and everything should go smoothly. If you are positive that you are using the right finger and the scanner still turns blue instead of green, don’t panic, the guest relations agents behind the main entrance cast members are ready to come to the rescue!
yes I need to know how to get a discount. I have been 5 times in February but want to go september and see halloween scened. can you help
Hi Heidi, you can talk to our travel agent Leslie Harris and see if she knows of any discounted promotions for tickets or anything else. Her services are free, and she would be the most knowledgeable in that area. You can request a quote here. http://www.tipsfromthedisneydiva.com/2012/09/12/get-a-quote-from-leslie-harris-of-pixie-vacations/ Best of luck!
I would like to thi your explanation is accurate and that Disney is not connecting millions of peoples fingeprints to their credit card IDs for some futuristic ourpose – you know, like Google stores all your emails, and all your cell phone conversations are and stored. — And because you work there, you woukd onky know what the vioscan is based on what Disney tells you… right? — you say the finger scan is not finger printing and is only used to prevent theft and someone fraudulently using a stolen admission ticket… but I can say this, as an experiment, my sister and I switched admission tickets. She took mine and I took hers, the 2nd time we were going into the park. Her fingerprint went with my card and my previous fingerprint and mine with hers. You know, it set off NO alarms. Nothing. So I’m not real sure what the comoany told you is really accurate, otherwise, me using her ticket and she using mine should have been noticed… i’m just sayin’ …