Ive just received my travel docs from our travel agent for our trip in two weeks time and the Universal park ticket is a pdf with instructions on how to use the Will Call kiosks at the park entrances.
We arrive late on Saturday and want to hit the ground running on Sunday morning, so I’m looking for ways to iron out any logistical wrinkles. I want to arrive at the gates before the park opens with my park admission all sorted. Is there anyway of getting that ‘ticket issuing’ stage over with before our first day - even the night before?
And what, physically, is the admission process at USF and IOA?
Are you staying on site? The vacation planning desks, if open, can get you your tickets. Many lobbies also have self-service Will call stations (ask at check in) there would also be a bank oof self service kiosks outside of the park.
They will scan your ticket and scan your face. Security is before you enter City Walk.
There are kiosks at your hotel in the lobby. If you happen to go to Citywalk they can do them there at Guest Relations too. In the past it always printed out tickets but I feel like they also show up in the app cuz they’ll be there for frikkin years.
I would always keep one physical ticket with a barcode on it or room key or something for lockers on rides like Hulk cuz you have to put your phone away and need a barcode to open the locker (stupid design)
I like having one of these cuz these they’ll let you wear on the coasters under your shirt and it’s just easier than getting your phone out every time you need to scan to switch parks or if you have express:
You can link that ticket in the Universal App, if desired.
You will have to use some form of ticket to access lockers. Often you have to store your phone INSIDE the lockers. Making a e-ticket redundant.
Most people wear lanyards with thier paper ticket showing on one side and hotel key on the other. Having the key in the pouch helps with Early Park Admission and Express Pass
I wanted to give a longer answer as I know that going for the first time can be overwhelming.
Staying at Dockside…
You will get on a shuttle bus that is to the left as you exit the building. The bus stop is covered and very easy to spot.
Buses come about every 10 minutes. Multiple busses will be lined up about 70 minutes before Early Park Admission to take everyone there as soon as possible.
You will arrive at a bus terminal. Every hotel has there own pick-up/drop off location. There is clear signage where your stop will be later.
You then take an escalator to the Security Hub. It is a large are with about 20 airport style X-Ray machines and metal detectors.
After that you enter CityWalk via moving walkways. CityWalk branches off to each park like the letter “Y". You go right for USF and left for IOA.
Landmarks to help find for park…
IOA = Margaritaville, Lighthouse and Green coaster.
You mean like the actual line to get in. Depending on how early you get there you’ll either be waiting right at an entry machine or in a line to get to them at least that’s how it has been in the past, haven’t been since 2023 but going again in Dec. You’ll scan your ticket but I cannot remember if they do a picture or a fingerprint but I feel like it’s faster than Disney so that makes me think it’s a photo and not a fingerprint. Then in you go. @darkmite2 probably recalls, he goes more than me!
If you’re using early entry they check for hotel room keys to let you past the entry areas of the park, so like in IOA you’ll be stuck in Port of Entry but to get into Seuss Landing (which is the way you go to get to Hogsmeade) there will be someone there checking room keys.
Maybe this is unique to Epic, but at the gate, they first scanned our face and then I was able to scan the ticket barcodes off of my phone. The lockers were all facial recognition as well so we didn’t need a barcode there.
We had to go to the guest relations desk inside CityWalk for one of our recent trips ahead of getting into the park, so try to plan to be on the first bus, if at all possible, from Dockside so you can get to the desk, take care of your ticket, and then get into the seemingly huge line. Don’t let that huge line fool you, though, because once they open, it actually moves pretty quickly. And not everyone in line is there for EE.
All you need to do is scan your ticket. Then, the first time, they take your photo.
After that, when you renter you still have to show a ticket. Then just look at the camera screen. It’s very quick and efficient - as long as you already have your ticket ready.
I’ve been behind families digging through bags or scrolling endlessly on the app. Have your tickets ready!!
I haven’t been to Epic yet and I didn’t go to UOR this year. I was there during the first days the photo ID was introduced. It would be great if they’ve updated it to only have to do it once each trip.
With my AP, they still had me scan it at each gate at entry.
I could see how they might be able to eliminate the need to scan tickets at all once a face has been associated with the ticket/AP. It would be cool to see them get to this point ultimately.
It is kind of how it became next level to have the security scanners at WDW where you just literally walk through now (more or less). How cool it would be if Disney adopted this as well. You just walk through, no need to tap MBs, no need to fingerprint. Just walk through.
They did this somehow with our passports on the last cruise. We didn’t have to show them when we returned–they scanned our face.
It feels intrusive? A little. I wondered if I should be upset or not do that in some way. But then I thought–well, at least our actual face will be associated with our actual name, could help with identity theft . Get that scan and get in the system
It’s all scary, if you think too much about it. I try not to.
So, for the most part, they aren’t actually saving your photo. They take key biometric markers from your face (such as distance from your nose to eyes, etc) which are plugged into a formula that outputs a unique key. This key, however, cannot be used to “reverse-engineer” your biometric data. It is one way only. So, the technology can only be used to verify you are the same person who originally had their “photo” taken, but that’s it. This is also how fingerprint scanning works. They aren’t actually keeping your fingerprint itself, only generating a unique key from that fingerprint.
Some systems could, in theory, also store an image in your account along with your name, etc. This would be if they actually use LESS biometric data, and so need a secondary way for a person at the kiosk to confirm you are who the picture says you are.
I think where it can be scary is not in the case of private use cases, but in governmental use cases. It is rather intrusive to think that ANY kind of law enforcement or government agency could just use facial recognition software utilizing surveillance cameras…not because of legitimate uses of it (tracking down dangerous criminals), but because it could in theory be used in ways that now crosses lines. So far, I don’t think that’s the case…but it is definitely something people should be cognizant of. I think the technology is inevitable, and we are already so use to our phones unlocking just by looking at them (or, perhaps better stated, them looking at us!), but when we start to here of any kind of governmental abuse of the technology, it will be time to speak up. So, basically I’m not afraid of the technology…but in the history of the world, governments have crossed lines enough to be mindful of it all!!!
Yeah and what a private corporation has, a government can get. But I’ve also done my DNA tests with both ancestry and 23 and me and though I asked them to delete my data when they went bankrupt, I’m sure they didn’t and are selling it to the world. As my father said when I told him he must be 100% Ashkenazi Jew since I’m 50% and my mom has also done the DNA test and is none, “I’ll report to the gestapo right away.” Too soon?
