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Progress on Ticket System Merger including new FastPasses... As many of you know, the ticket system between Disneyland and Walt Disney World was recently merged together, though the stored data is not always accessible... yet.
Here is a rundown of what will happen in the future:
Disney's eTicket... not to be confused with an E-Ticket attraction like Pirates of the Caribbean, this is a way for people to print their tickets at home with barcodes and use the scanners at the park for admission. Currently, the only way this can work is with the transfer of the data onto a new ticket at admission into the park, or for one time use events without the use of FastPass, such as Disney's Pirate and Princess Party.
Obviously, the use of barcodes is now being favored in place of magnetic strips. As such, the evolution must take place at all locations that magnetic strips are used, including FastPass machines. This is where Disneyland's ticketing system comes in, as well as FastPass. The new concept is fairly simple. Use FastPass machines that can accept magnetic strips and barcodes, and move to the superior FastPass design. As a result, Disneyland's design is superior, thus has been chosen. Currently in beta testing at Kilimanjaro Safaris, the first Disneyland-style FastPasses for WDW have been implemented. You'll be sure to notice some differences, but they are basically the Disneyland design, complete with the larger printed date, and the card-stock like tickets instead of the Heat tempered fax paper that is currently used for WDW FastPasses.
If the test is successful, you can expect to see this new type of FastPass available at all areas of WDW very soon.
The machines can accept magnetic strips and barcodes... ever moving forward to supply the Disney Parks Pass... a type of ticket media that can be used at WDW or at DL, with no need to change the media type. Of course, this means an eventual increase in Disneyland's ticket prices to become the same as WDW's prices as well, but let's not look at that... yet.
My thoughts on the subject are mixed at best. Yes, it's a good idea, I find myself visiting WDW and DL on at least an annual basis, and an annual pass good for both resorts would be of value to me. But the local markets at WDW and DL are very different for visitor make-up. That's percentage wise... because WDW is so much larger. In reality, WDW has about as many APs as DL does. You don't notice it as much though because WDW has four parks instead of two, and Florida is much more spread out than Southern California is. The local hangout park of choice in California is Disneyland, in Florida it's Epcot. Why? There are many reasons, so many, I could write a book about it. So I'm not going to get into that here. But the markets are different, so that's why I'm a bit worried. I'm sure it will straighten itself out, but one thing is for sure, the ticketing system is about to get a lot more complicated.
FastPass included.
Originally Posted by Dr. Nigel Channing 
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