PrincessInOz
Thanks for my avatar, Mary Jo!
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2010
100 Yuan = A Disney Scammer Problem
We got in line.
I know that there has been a lot of press about the rudeness of the Chinese people where lines are concerned. Our first experience with queue cutting was here. There was a couple that just barged their way towards the front of the queue. Whilst I didn’t like it, there really wasn’t anything I could do. Afterall, the group of people in the front and to the back of where the couple joined the line just let them in. It really must be a cultural thing. As Elsa said….Let it go.
I will say that we did see a few instances of queue cutting during our time here. By and large, they were in the minority. The majority of queues were quite orderly.
However, it wasn’t long before another incident completely overshadowed any queue cutting behaviour and everything kinda paled into insignificance after that.
It was about 8.20 am when we joined the queue. The Park wasn’t schedule to open until 9 am; so I amused myself with a bit of people watching.
It didn’t take me long to spot the people walking up and down the queues with bags of merchandise. They were selling headbands, hats and whatever else would fit into a tote bag. And yes, there were people buying the merch.
But there were also a few people walking up and down the queues without merchandise. They weren’t exactly yelling but they did tout their ‘wares’ and my Mandarin speaking mother filled me in on the details. My mother told me that these people were selling fast passes. 100 Yuan would get you 2 fast passes to choose from the rides that are linked to the FP system. That’s $20 in my money.
My mother also told me that you would need to give them your phone number and they would text you in about an hour to collect the fast passes.
There were people buying!
With all the security measures in place and TONS of guards everywhere, it was just mind-boggling as to how the scammers were there at the entrance and still able to get away with it.
Anyway. We were to experience Countermeasure Mark 1 of how Disney was dealing with the scam at one of the FP rides later in the day. At the time of our visit, Disney CM were asking to see our park ticket when we wanted to redeem our FP. The CM would check that the ticket number matched the FP number.
Err…….I think I figured out why the scammers were wanting your phone number and why it would take an hour to collect the FP. I guess that’s the time it would take for them to custom print your fast pass with your ticket number and deliver them to the park.
So much for FP and Ticket matching!
Since our return, I gather that Disney have now introduced Countermeasure Mark 2. They are now selling Premium Access passes. And they aren’t exactly cheap! A single land-specific FP sells for 120/150 Yuan for peak/off peak (about $24/30 in my money) or a set of 7 FPs for all the FP rides sells for 480/600 Yuan (about $96/$120 in my money).
It remains to be seen if the Countermeasure Mark 2 kills the scam.
(Continued in Next Post)
We got in line.
I know that there has been a lot of press about the rudeness of the Chinese people where lines are concerned. Our first experience with queue cutting was here. There was a couple that just barged their way towards the front of the queue. Whilst I didn’t like it, there really wasn’t anything I could do. Afterall, the group of people in the front and to the back of where the couple joined the line just let them in. It really must be a cultural thing. As Elsa said….Let it go.
I will say that we did see a few instances of queue cutting during our time here. By and large, they were in the minority. The majority of queues were quite orderly.
However, it wasn’t long before another incident completely overshadowed any queue cutting behaviour and everything kinda paled into insignificance after that.
It was about 8.20 am when we joined the queue. The Park wasn’t schedule to open until 9 am; so I amused myself with a bit of people watching.
It didn’t take me long to spot the people walking up and down the queues with bags of merchandise. They were selling headbands, hats and whatever else would fit into a tote bag. And yes, there were people buying the merch.
But there were also a few people walking up and down the queues without merchandise. They weren’t exactly yelling but they did tout their ‘wares’ and my Mandarin speaking mother filled me in on the details. My mother told me that these people were selling fast passes. 100 Yuan would get you 2 fast passes to choose from the rides that are linked to the FP system. That’s $20 in my money.
My mother also told me that you would need to give them your phone number and they would text you in about an hour to collect the fast passes.
There were people buying!
With all the security measures in place and TONS of guards everywhere, it was just mind-boggling as to how the scammers were there at the entrance and still able to get away with it.
Anyway. We were to experience Countermeasure Mark 1 of how Disney was dealing with the scam at one of the FP rides later in the day. At the time of our visit, Disney CM were asking to see our park ticket when we wanted to redeem our FP. The CM would check that the ticket number matched the FP number.
Err…….I think I figured out why the scammers were wanting your phone number and why it would take an hour to collect the FP. I guess that’s the time it would take for them to custom print your fast pass with your ticket number and deliver them to the park.
So much for FP and Ticket matching!
Since our return, I gather that Disney have now introduced Countermeasure Mark 2. They are now selling Premium Access passes. And they aren’t exactly cheap! A single land-specific FP sells for 120/150 Yuan for peak/off peak (about $24/30 in my money) or a set of 7 FPs for all the FP rides sells for 480/600 Yuan (about $96/$120 in my money).
It remains to be seen if the Countermeasure Mark 2 kills the scam.
(Continued in Next Post)
