There are extra little details that people have come to love about Walt Disney World, but that doesn’t mean they will always remain in place. Some guests love to find the Bubblegum Wall at Epcot or take a picture in front of the Moss Wall in Pandora – The World of Avatar . There are plenty of little things that have become Internet famous, and one of them is the red wait time card given out at attractions, but they won’t be around much longer.
It may seem like there are a lot of things changing at Walt Disney World such as the closing of the Great Movie Ride and Universe of Energy, but this is slightly different. The red wait time cards are just something used as a tool by cast members, but they’ve somehow become something that gives a guest the status of the “chosen one.”
Unfortunately for those who love to enjoy the hype, they are actually being phased out and Disney is getting rid of them.
For those who aren’t aware as to what the red cards are. They’re actually called “FLIK” cards as detailed on Disneyland board on Reddit , and they’re used at multiple Disney parks around the world. The cards are used to help cast members determine the wait time for their attraction and let guests know how long they will be in line.
The FLIK cards are held by cast members at the entrance of an attraction queue, scanned, and they will randomly give it to someone entering. They ask the guest to hold onto that red card and hand it to the cast member at the other end of the line which will be scanned to determine the time it took for the card to go from start to finish.
After that is done, the cast members can adjust the wait time for an attraction so that guests are aware of the approximate time it will take to get on it.
Disney fans have taken this red card being handed to them as them being the “chosen ones.”
The one who has been chosen! ?? #itsasmallworld #itsasmallworldafterall #disney #disneyworld #orlando #thechosenone pic.twitter.com/DsV6w7m0Zp
— Katelin Sipe (@StudioTen16) July 8, 2017
For weeks, whispers have been going around that the red wait time cards are going away, and well, it isn’t actually a rumor. A longtime cast member, with a Legacy name tag, advised that the cards are indeed being phased out and it is all because of the MagicBands.
Soon, the cards will be completely taken out of Disney theme parks as MagicBands will be used to measure the wait time from the start of a line to the end of it. That technology will be used to determine wait times and take away the necessity of the FLIK cards.
While many attractions still have them, others have already done away with them. Mission: Space at Epcot is already one of the rides that no longer uses them at all and they will soon be gone from Test Track, as well.
A Future World supervisor at Epcot did state that the phasing out of the red cards is already taking place, but there is no set date for them to be gone entirely. It’s just a time-saving matter and the fact that technology has rendered the wait time cards as obsolete.
Guest Relations at Magic Kingdom have also confirmed the FLIK cards being phased out and there is no set time or schedule as to which attractions will do away with them first.
Walt Disney World really does have a lot to offer to its guests with attractions, restaurants, shows, character greetings, photo opportunities, and so much more. The additional things that guests bring about to have fun are just enjoyable actions and have grown to popularity thanks to social media. One of those things is being “chosen” as the holder of the red “FLIK” wait time card, but technology will soon take them away.
[Featured Image by Danny Cox]