big brother is goofy
wendyHave you taken your little one to Disney World lately? I hadn’t been to the Magic Kingdom in ages but I took Girlie and three other kids (and two other adults - I’m not crazy) there yesterday for her 7th birthday. I should have known that security measures had changed when I went to AAA on Friday to purchase tickets. It used to be that you could get actual tickets from AAA and avoid the ticket line at the park. Not anymore. AAA gives you ticket vouchers that you exchange at the ticket window. Here’s why.
Before you can go in the park, the identification of each adult is checked and swiped through their computer. Then you have to write down the names and birthdays of each child on a slip of paper and wait while the ticket agent enters all that into the computer. (Won’t that be easier when everybody, even a baby, has to keep an national ID card on them at all times? Don’t answer, I’m being sarcastic.) Then you get your tickets and proceed to bag check and on into the park.
Perhaps I’m slow on the uptake, but how exactly is my security improved with these procedures? I’m sure that Disney benefits from having the names and information of everybody entering the park. And they own it, they can do it, I realize that. My question is: is this a valuable security measure that all parks should be employing, like Busch Gardens, or is this security measure just a thinly disguised way to get information about park visitors? Entering Disney was no less cumbersome than entering the United States through customs. What do you think?
Tags: business, Florida, tampa, tourism
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January 31st, 2006 at 11:52 am
I don’t see how a great many of these so-called security measures helps to keep us safe. Thanks for yet another example.
January 31st, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Could be data collecting for their marketing department. They want to know the ages of folks coming to visit. What if you don’t have ID with you. Do they not let you in?
January 31st, 2006 at 2:00 pm
Cookie-
My understanding is that without ID, adults are not admitted.
January 31st, 2006 at 2:29 pm
Ask one of the security people the next time you are there what they use the childrens dob for. My experience with corporate policies is that there usually is an internal logic at work that may be inscrutable to outsiders. Offhand I’d say in case of something happening they have accurate records of all the adults and at the very least the ages and names of any children involved. I think this is the same type of thinking my employer uses when they ask for my mom’s phone number.
January 31st, 2006 at 5:20 pm
editengine is pretty close on this one, Wendy, but I must say, I think they’re getting a two-fer on this deal. Great marketing info, plus a security layer.
I just don’t imagine that Disney World is hooked in to any major law enforcement database (though I could be wrong), running instant background checks on everyone who enters the park.
My guess is that it is a bit more along the lines of keeping track of who is in the park when and during what events, as editengine says. If someone attacks Disney, the FBI can then come in and readily see who was in the park when. What does that have to do with children’s DOB? Ensuring that they don’t confuse the name of a terrorist with the name of a child, both of whom happened to be in the park during an event (small chance, but not impossible), or, morbidly (sorry) more ready identification of the deceased.
February 1st, 2006 at 12:20 pm
I resist that kind of stuff, I won’t give up my personal information to go into a theme park. Whenever I’m pestered for personal info, I make stuff up.
Here’s a fun tip, all those online newspapers that require you to register, you can get a password and user name by going to http://www.bugmenot.com …
February 2nd, 2006 at 12:01 am
Having recently worked part-time at a local theme park which shall remain nameless, I’m guessing that Disney’s strategy has more to do with marketing and profits and less to do with security. Theme parks keep a lot of interesting statistics, like how often people visit, how often annual pass members use their passes, and from what areas of the state and country (and world) visitors are from.