Trying to Avoid Germs at Disney World? Don’t Scan Your Finger When You Enter!

in Walt Disney World

disney world fingerprint scan

If you’re still planning to visit Disney World amid coronavirus concerns, you’re not alone. Plenty of Disney fans continue to flock to the Most Magical Place on Earth for spring break. But many still want to protect themselves from germs as much as possible — and that includes avoiding touching surfaces that thousands of other guests have had their hands on.

There’s one thing you can avoid touching if you’re trying to avoid germy surfaces: the fingerprint scanners at the entrance to every Disney World theme park.

All of the theme parks at Disney World — this includes Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and Disney’s Animal Kingdom — have scanners where guests scan their MagicBand and fingerprint before entering the park. This is known as the Ticket Tag service — it’s customary and has been the way guests enter the parks for years now. But even though scanning your Disney MagicBands and fingerprints is the norm, it isn’t actually required. In fact, scanning your fingerprint is something that you can opt out from, whether it’s because you don’t want your fingerprint scanned or you’re trying to avoid germs as often as you can while on vacation.

Read More: Here’s the REAL Reason Disney World Has Fingerprint Scanners

Disney World Fingerprint Scanning
Credit: Disney

Here’s what Disney has to say about the fingerprint and MagicBand scanners — the Ticket Tag service — on the official website:

What is the Ticket Tag service and what information is collected through it?

We offer the convenience of Ticket Tag at the entrance of many of our theme parks and water parks. Ticket Tag helps to facilitate ease of re-entry into our parks and helps prevent fraud.

In order to use Ticket Tag, you simply place your finger on a reader. The system, which utilizes the technology of biometrics, takes an image of your finger, converts the image into a unique numerical value and immediately discards the image. The numerical value is recalled when you use Ticket Tag with the same ticket to re-enter or visit another Park. Ticket Tag does not store fingerprints.

Are all guests required to use Ticket Tag?

If you don’t want to use Ticket Tag, you can simply carry and show a photo ID that matches the name identified with your ticket.

If you visit Disney World and want to opt out of scanning your fingerprint, make sure you carry a valid form of ID with you. The name on your ID must match the name on your Disney theme park ticket. To make the process smoother, visit Guest Relations — located at Disney Springs, at the front of the entrance of each theme park, or inside the theme park after you enter. There, you will fill out a form and Disney will make note on your account that you do not want to use the Ticket Tag service. 

We suggest arriving to the parks early on your first day an visiting Guest Relations right outside the park entrance in order to opt out as early as possible and make the process smoother for the rest of your vacation, if this is something you are interested in. If you are planning on going to Disney Springs on the first ay of your trip before you head to the parks, you can always talk to Guest Relations there and possibly wait in a much shorter line.

Related: Disney’s Official Statement Regarding Coronavirus Protocol and the Theme Parks

Walt Disney World
Credit: Disney

No matter what, if you have any questions or concerns about fingerprint scanning or how Walt Disney World Resort is handling coronavirus, contact Disney’s Guest Services team here.

Book a trip to Disney World with Academy Travel!

in Walt Disney World

View Comments (7)