Disney Parks to introduce RFID

The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions' (IAAPA) corporate blog, In the Queue, sat down with Randy Josselyn of Disneyland Resort to discuss plans to introduce RFID technology to their parks. RFID "tags" will be used in various functions such as point of sale, ticketing and more.

RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) is a method of automatic identification that relies on small microchips to store and protect information while making that information available to remote receivers. Though the technology has been used in some capacity or another since the 1940's, it has only recently become cheap enough to produce and efficient enough to be considered widely useful.

One of the ways in which Disneyland Resorts will be implementing this technology is as a means of cashless payment. It is believed that this will allow guests to stow away sensitive identification and keep their money where it is safe. This may be especially useful in water parks. RFID will also be used for ticketless access control. Those guests who choose to make use of the RFID system may be able to do away with the need to keep up with tickets in favor of a scannable wristband.

Though RFID implementation is becoming more popular the world over, there are still many concerns about the technology. Many organizations have proven that RFID encryption is relatively easy to circumvent. Others have shown that the signal required to read the information on the chips can be blocked altogether. Because the devices must be very small, most do not have batteries of their own and cannot contain very much data. Due to this, most modern chips are unable to hold the amount of cryptographic information required to make them safe enough for very sensitive data. Disneyland Resort feels that the technology is safe enough for standard park-going activities and is providing the technology on an opt-in basis.