sfga2008

I doubt the fundamentals of the program would change, only that to deduct from your dining plan the RFID on your Key to the World would be used instead of a physical scan/swipe. It would be way to early for Disney to completely change access media types overnight. AFAIK wristbands have not even been used in a public test. I would imagine a mix of both in the future would be the most likely scenario as Robb suggested. Wristbands would be an attractive upcharge for their convenience. Renderings on the internet offer photos that showed more "stylish" wristbands that appeared to be removable and more durable than the plastic ones used by Great Wolf Lodge. On a side note, Cast Member ID's Now have RFID in them allowing access to some office door's and more recently Epcot's back stage entrance requires you to tap your ID to gain access. It's use is not wide spread yet but is gaining prominence in backstage areas as well.

I love the wider entrance and increased number of ticket validator's used in the latest test. I'm very curious to know what kind of technology is being deployed to monitor the guests walking through to determine who scanned the ticket.

I think the biggest benefit this will offer is having 8 turnstiles in the same space 4 or 5 had. The process of validating does not need to be faster when sheer increase in turnstiles will help move longer lines through faster using the same amount of space. There are 6 employees standing at that one entrance when usually there is one or two there, I wonder if this is simply for the test and adjust, or if the new turnstiles will bring higher labor cost? This does seem more permanent than the previous testing at EPCOT earlier this fall (late summer?) I hope it is the beginning of a larger scale test/roll-out.

Sadly neither Iron Wolf or Batman have ever had three trains on the ride course simultaneously. Iron Wolf opened with 2 trains and that's all it has ever had, Batman has run 4 different trains on its tracks in its lifetime, but that's a whole different story. The section of track that was in question is a space made available to add a trim brake if necessary, but it was never added. Many B&M's have a section of track designed to allow the addition of a Trim with minimal modifications in the future should they have to. Also, B&M advises that when trains will not be moving for long periods of time on IW that they be moved off the track and onto the storage track to prevent "flat spots" on the wheels which would make storing them on the mainline impractical. Iron Wolf and Batman have not ever had the required number of blocks to offer adequate and safe breaking distances for three trains. Hope this clears up some of the confusion!