ANOTHER Figment?

[Shorty82]

If they add Australia, I know where they can get kookaburras. Not cheap, but take a gander at the Murray McMurray's Hatchery site; they used to sell year old male kookaburrras, but now they sell both genders and as youngsters. They feed mainly on snakes.

They are adding Australia, the question is when. I've not heard any dates. Last I heard they're planning to put in some space that's in between Rafiki's Planet Watch and Kali River Rapids.

[ktulu]

They are adding Australia, the question is when. I've not heard any dates. Last I heard they're planning to put in some space that's in between Rafiki's Planet Watch and Kali River Rapids.

Does this signal the return of BW to AK? Will Wombat visit BW in AK? Does anyone else hear William Dozier when I type out questions like this? Tune in, same SGT time, same SGT channel!

[Doctor McKey]

They are adding Australia, the question is when. I've not heard any dates. Last I heard they're planning to put in some space that's in between Rafiki's Planet Watch and Kali River Rapids.

Shortie.. i think that area is to small for a complete country... i think the space at the camp is where it was slatted... then again.. i have heard a rumor about a water based animal area like the seas going in at AK also.... but we will see


The Doctor

[Shorty82]

Shortie.. i think that area is to small for a complete country... i think the space at the camp is where it was slatted... then again.. i have heard a rumor about a water based animal area like the seas going in at AK also.... but we will see


The Doctor

I remember seeing a newspaper clipping in the break room months ago and it showed it going in between Kali and Rafiki's. There's more space back there than one would think and it's pretty much unused. Naturally, things could have changed since then, this is Disney we're talking about. Nothing is set in stone until it happens.

Edit: Where in Africa is there room for a show the size of Lion King? I admit I don't know Africa as well as I do Asia but I can't think of anywhere there is room on that end of the park.

[Darksin]

Some of the other intell I have i have known for over 2 years amd recently ( as in jan of this year ) shared with BW about Big Brother-ish tracking of guests and employees via a RFID system. Its going to be billed as a way to help interactive ques and what not.. but I have a good feeling that it will be more devious then that. I hear that employee's are starting to be switched to a new id that has an embedded RFID chip in it. The Orlando Sentinal did a small piece that got buried in the paper about how the WED team went to a RFID conference and trade show....

The Doctor

I know they want to do it for the drink mugs but it wouldn't surprise me one tiny bit if they're going to tracking the movements of people constantly. I can see this working with resort guests since they have a hard card everything is programmed to but I wonder if they'd spend the money to print everyone a single day hard pass ticket just in order to track movements.

[avengador1]

The last thing I heard about IDs was they everyone, including managers, was supposed to be issued a new Blue ID picture card. The ones I saw still had magnetic strips and bar codes on them. I don't think they were RFID, as they didn't have the 'smart' chips on them one usually sees on these.
I know which company was working on the smart beverage cups. The idea behind these cups was to control how many refills a guest could have. The beverage machines would not dispense any more drinks than what the cup was programmed to get.

[CptnSkippy]

The last thing I heard about IDs was they everyone, including managers, was supposed to be issued a new Blue ID picture card. The ones I saw still had magnetic strips and bar codes on them. I don't think they were RFID, as they didn't have the 'smart' chips on them one usually sees on these.

They have RIFD in them, as well my old red ID also had the RFID chip. (On the back at the bottom there's small lettering indicating the serial number of the chip).

These are usually used just for access (instead of swiping the mag stripe, you could just hold the card up to the reader. Great for outdoor readers where the corrosion can screw up the mag reader head or, if your hands are full, you could back your butt up to the reader and usually get it to read from your wallet). As i mentioned in the thread about the mugs, if Mickey wanted to track us - there are already RFID strips in our costumes

[hobie16]

The use of RFIDs in cups is interesting but has anyone considered the cost of the chips?

Most companies that sell RFID tags do not quote prices because pricing is based on volume, the amount of memory on the tag and the packaging of the tag (whether it’s encased in plastic or embedded in a label, for instance), whether the tag is active or passive and much more. Generally speaking, active tags are $25 and up. Active tags with special protective housing, extra-long battery life or sensors can run $100 or more. A passive 96-bit EPC inlay (chip and antenna mounted on a substrate) costs from 7 to 15 U.S. cents. If the tag is embedded in a thermal transfer label on which companies can print a bar code, the price rises to 15 cents and up. Low- and high-frequency tags tend to cost a little more.

Even at $.07 per chip it seems awfully expensive to keep some weasel from snagging a couple extra cups of sugar.

[kurtisnelson]

I know for a fact that Australia has moved past the imagineering stages at some levels and is reaching actual implementation studies.

As far as RFID goes, yep, all new cast IDs have it, they've been using it at the DAK cast entrance for awhile haven't they?

[Cranbiz]

Just before I left in January, the newly redone cast entrance at DAK (by the buses) was completed with both proximity sensors and swipe readers.