July 18th, 2005 | 
Author: We’re scheduled to head down to our timeshare in Orlando next month. Looks like we won’t be going to any of the Disney parks this year.
Finger Scanning At Disney Parks Causes Concern
The addition of finger scanning technology at the entrances of Walt Disney World theme parks for all visitors has caused concern among privacy advocates, according to a Local 6 News report.
Tourists visiting Disney theme parks in Central Florida must now provide their index and middle fingers to be scanned before entering the front gates.
The scans were formerly for season pass holders but now everyone must provide their fingers, Local 6 News reported. They have reportedly been phased in for all ticket holders during the past six months, according to a report.
Disney officials said the scans help keep track of who is using legitimate tickets, Local 6 News reported.
Even though the article says that SeaWorld and Universal Orlando plan to roll out the same technology, we’ll go to those parks until they do. Besides, they’re cheaper (not much, but still…) than Disney.
I’m not going to have my families fingerpints cataloged in a Disney database just so they can squeeze even more goddamn money out of me. Thats all this is really. Disney (and the other parks) sell a variety of tickets from single day single park tickets to multi-day park hoppers to season passes. They want to force people to buy new tickets instead of handing over tickets with unused days to friends/family. I’m sure that once a large backlash about this starts up, Disney will revert to the ‘ol safety and security bullshit to calm people down.
Actually, I’m kind of relieved about this. The ticket prices for the Disney parks are absolutely fucking insane anyway. To buy tickets for my family (2 adults, 3 kids under 10) three day park-hopper tickets would cost a little over $1,100. This just gives me the final push to say screw it, I’m just not paying it anymore. We’ll most likely hit Universal and/or Sea World for a day, hang out by the pool (the timeshare has two very cool lagoon pools that the kids absolutely love) and then head down to the keys to visit family for a few days.
Technorati: Disney
Oh boy. I totally agree with you; they’re more motivated by potentially finding new revenue than security. I just went down there with my wife last year and we had the multi-day Park Hopper tickets. I thought the flexibility was pretty neat (it was my first trip there). If I had had to have my fingerprints scanned in addition to that (especially without knowing beforehand), I don’t know what I would’ve done, but I’d have been pissed! They already have inspectors at the gates; what more security do they really need?
Hi. I’ve got more info on the biometric scanning on my website. But thought I’d post here too. If you’re going to avoid all themeparks with biometrics on your Orlando trip, then you’ll have to avoid SeaWorld too. They scan the whole hand.
As for prices, I recommend buying at least a 7-day non-expiring park hopper ticket. Yes it’s more expensive upfront, but if you every plan to return to Disney World you can still use those tickets. A 10 day ticket gives you the best deal. The new system is insane for short term visits to the resort. But they really reward people who either stay longterm or know how to play the game.