This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine, July 2007.
The simultaneous deaths of two dress-code no-nos -- the fanny pack and the water-tight swim pouch -- are near. But don't credit the fashion police for the slow and steady killings. Modern technology is changing how amusement park and resort patrons accessorize by revolutionizing the way they transact business.
Innovations in RFID payment and security systems include featherweight waterproof wristbands that are "value loaded" via cash or credit at kiosks. By waving their wristbands in front of readers placed throughout resorts, guests can leave and return to their rooms, and enjoy wallet-free spending throughout the property. Season-pass holders at amusement parks can leave their tickets and membership cards in the car because biometric scanning is becoming the standard for a quick pass through the gate. In both cases, transaction throughput quickens while guest satisfaction rises -- and humankind is freed from tacky waist bags.
The technology behind each advance isn't terribly new, but only now are such field applications becoming more widespread. Great Wolf Lodge, which operates 10 water-park-centered resorts in the United States, introduced RFID wristbands in late 2005. According to the company's chief information officer, Rajiv Castellino, the goal was to increase guest convenience with an innovative premium amenity.
"We've given the guest the ability to do about everything using the wristband," said Castellino. "They can charge for food, move about the lodge, use it at the arcade or the spa, and also as the room key. ... What we've done at Great Wolf is implemented a true cashless system using RFID. We're very pleased with the results."
Using its patented Smart Band Wristband technology, Precision Dynamics Corp. (PDC) developed Great Wolf's application to be waterproof, lightweight and easy to use. According to Doug Bourque, PDC's RFID market development manager, Smart Bands are deployed in multiple leisure and entertainment venues, but in many ways, the water-park application is its most versatile. Not only will the unit perform when wet and smeared with sunscreen, it comes with a wide range of parental controls.
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RFID-enabled wristbands give guests the freedom to enjoy the Great Wolf Lodge's water-park-based fun more freely. |
"At the kiosk, you can select the options for what you want your kids to be allowed to do," Bourque said. "If you need to limit a child's spending at the arcade, you can set the amount you want. When he's out of money, you can either say, 'No more,' or you can authorize more at any kiosk in the park."
If a mother wants to limit her kids' junk food intake, she can use the kiosk to select which food outlets her children can visit. If they had too much dessert the day before, she can disallow the wristband's use at an ice cream shop.
Early results show, however, that the parents might need a little spending restraint, too. Bourque said per-transaction averages rose 18 percent at one resort where PDC's wristbands are deployed. PDC wants to do some deeper research, he added, but "we know without a doubt they're spending more per transaction."
Increased transaction speeds play a role in higher guest spending. When all customers do is wave a wristband, lines move faster at the concessionaires, and as wait times drop, sales rise.
At theme parks, two products from Lo-Q Virtual Queuing allow park guests to avoid long lines by reserving seats on rides and at shows. The company's Flash Pass product is a handheld unit (dubbed Q-Bot) that guests wave near an infra red scanner at the entry point to a ride, allowing guests to download the current wait time for that ride and to schedule when they want to board the ride. If the guest chooses 3 p.m., Flash Pass will remind her in advance that her scheduled ride is coming up. The pager-sized unit is at work in five Six Flags amusement parks.
Lo-Q's VQ20-20 goes a step further and allows patrons to reserve seats at shows. Currently in use at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., patrons first use a kiosk to see a list of available programs and choose those they wish to see. Guests then download that information to their Q-Bots, which manages their schedule for the rest of the day.
"The Q-Bot also lists all the rides in the park, and people can just scroll down and choose what ride they want to reserve," said Scott Kelley, installation coordinator for Lo-Q's Lithia Springs, Ga., office. The company is headquartered in England. "If it shows the ride you want has a two-hour wait, you know to ride that one later and take one with a shorter wait."
Gate keepers
Paper season passes have all but disappeared at amusement parks and mag-stripe cards aren't far behind as more companies employ biometric scanning at the gate. With a single registration, a customer's handprint retains the key to his season-long entry while ensuring his pass-holder rights aren't shared with someone trying to ride for free. (To ensure an RFID-based system isn't abused, a park may have to employ someone at the door to double check faces with IDs.)
Unlike paper, electronic passes are easily replaced when lost.
Louisville, Colo.-based KIOSK Information Systems provides ticketing kiosks at parks such as Busch Gardens in Tampa, Fla. Craig Keefner, channel manager KIOSK, said the majority of customers prefer using the kiosks because of simplicity and speed. He said the technology is especially helpful to foreign visitors who might struggle to speak English at U.S resorts.
The kiosks accept both cash and credit, he added, and they're equipped with high-performance printers to keep lines moving and meet demand.
"You've got to be very attentive to printers in a situation like a park," he said. "Customers expect to get their tickets fast. Much like walking up to an ATM, where they get their cash in hand quickly, they want their tickets fast, too."
While RFID guest-locator systems are widely available, Bourque said amusement parks have been slow to adopt the technology because of the high cost. Park owners, he said, don't view it as essential, though some agree guests would see it as a value.
Active RFID guest-tracking systems that require a larger wristband tag, called a brick, allow guests to be located accurately to within 1 meter as they move.
In most cases, patrons rely on cell phones to find each other, Bourque said.
System integration
Great Wolf's Castellino said the main challenge in setting up his company's RFID system was park-wide integration between a wide range of devices -- door locks, vending machines, arcade machines and POS systems among them.
"Getting all the vendors together on the concept ... took a little time, but for the most part they all grasped it," he said. "They know RFID is here to stay, and after putting a test together that worked and showed it increased value at all the different outlets in the resorts, the vendors became partners in the whole agenda."
