Martin’s Fantasy Island in the United States, a family theme park in the hub of Northern New York’s Niagara Region and less than 10 minutes from downtown Buffalo, is using Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies’ HandPunch hand geometry terminals to provide 100 percent verification of season pass holders.  The biometric readers also prevent pass-backs, in which several people use the same pass to enter the park.  HandPunch readers automatically take a three-dimensional reading of the size and shape of a hand and verify the user’s identity in less than one second.

“We previously used laminated cards for season passes,” reports Mike McGuire, Customer Service Director for Martin’s Fantasy Island.  “We discovered that some people were creating their own season passes to get into the park.  Therefore, we needed to implement a more secure system.”

After Martin DiPietro, park owner, consulting with Plasco ID (Miami, Fla.), Martin’s Fantasy Island decided to deploy BioParkPass, a passholder verification system that streamlines the process of tracking guests and uses hand geometry as the credential.  The park ordered three hand readers, two to be used to register guests and the other at the front entrance gate for passholders to use.

“Today, when a season passholder arrives at the front entrance, they swipe their pass and then present their hand to the hand reader,” McGuire explains.  “If they are indeed the passholder, a green light flashes and they are immediately let in.  This gives us much better verification than the pass alone.  It also speeds the passholder into the park quickly.”

According to McGuire, the biometric-based system has been very helpful.  It gives a record on how many times the passes are used.  This helps the park determine future costs of the pass since they can now determine use and which days are busier.  With this information, they are able to better plan special events and promotions.