First look: Disneyland begins FastPass scan tests, reminiscent of MagicBand tech from Walt Disney World

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Guests at Disneyland were taken aback today as similar technology from Walt Disney World’s Magic Band system seemed to have appeared as part of a test at the Space Mountain entrance in Tomorrowland.

FastPass-holding guests were ushered through a newly-roped-off queue and instructed to press the barcode of their FastPass against one of the two readers on either side. The lights on the readers turned green in a very familiar way when the passes were validated. Normally, guests at Disneyland show a print-out ticket displaying their return time to ride an attraction.

At this time, there is no other information available as to future plans for this technology at the Disneyland Resort.


Update (10/20/15): A Disneyland official reached out to elaborate on the testing following the publication of this article. According to the company representative, the test for now is just for Space Mountain, in which Disney is gauging the efficiency of using a barcode-based FastPass reader at the ride’s entrance. If the test goes well, future paper FastPasses could have bar codes printed on them for quick scanning. The Disney representative could not offer any further comment on whether the test is related to any potential inclusion of MyMagic+, MagicBands, or FastPass+ at the Disneyland Resort, only to say that they are frequently testing new technologies to see what works in the parks.


Cast members did not comment on how long the test would run or even whether Magic Bands themselves would make their way to the California parks.

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