- Disney is patenting a blockchain-based ticketing system to prevent fraudulent tickets for its parks
- Unsuspecting visitors are frequently sold fake tickets, something that Disney cannot currently protect against
- Blockchain technology could help authenticate tickets irrefutably
Disney has filed a patent application introducing a blockchain-based ticketing system in order to combat fraudulent tickets from being used in its parks. The patent, titled “Systems and Methods to Produce a Physical Article that Provides Admission Authorization to an Event Which Correlates to a Digital Asset from a Temporary Wallet,” aims to bolster ticket security, an integral aspect of Disney Parks’ operations, although implementation will be years away. Ticket authenticity is a prime example of the benefits of blockchain technology, and it is being trialed by other ticketing giants such as Ticketmaster.
Fake Tickets Damaging Everyone
The issue of fraudulent Disney park tickets and how to combat them was recently highlighted by Seth Kubersky, author of The Unofficial Guides, and Matt Roseboom, editor of Attractions Magazine. Kubersky explained the predicament of tourists who unwittingly purchase invalid tickets and so are denied entry, ruining their holiday plans and affording the seller a nice payday.
Roseboom emphasized Disney’s ongoing endeavor to fortify the integrity of ticket sales, calling it the “lifeblood” of Disney Parks, expounding on the potential advantages of utilizing decentralized blockchain technology, which could enhance transparency and reliability within ticketing systems:
Right now, they store all this information in their own private servers. Having something on the decentralized blockchain both adds to the transparency of it and possibly the reliability of it.
The proposed system offers comprehensive tracking of ticket transactions, effectively curbing issues like the resale of used tickets or the misuse of discounts and giving customers “more confidence in knowing that their tickets are authorized and authentic if they’ve purchased them from a third party,” in the words of Kubersky.
The envisaged benefits of enhancing ticket security and customer assurance through the blockchain signify a potential paradigm shift in Disney’s ticketing processes in the foreseeable future, although the pair caution that practical implementation may still be years away.
