Shanghai Disneyland discovered a surge in visitors holding "Early Entry Cards," which allow earlier park access. After investigation, it was found that criminals were producing and selling fake 'Early Entry Cards' for profit. Shanghai police recently announced that they had busted two groups forging Disneyland hotel room cards and 'early entry cards,' arresting 33 people with the total amount involved exceeding 300,000 yuan (177,100 MYR).
According to Shanghai Disneyland policy, guests staying at Disneyland Resort Hotels and Toy Story Hotel are allowed priority access to the park using their room cards—an exclusive benefit from the park. For regular visitors, early entry requires the separate purchase of an 'Early Entry Card.'
●Purchasing Real Hotel Room Cards Raised Police Suspicion
According to a June 23 report by Shangguan News, the Pudong Public Security Bureau’s International Tourism and Resorts District Management Unit noticed in March this year that suspicious individuals were buying Disneyland hotel room cards from tourists in Disneytown.
Not long ago, the park reported that the number of guests entering early using hotel room cards had suddenly increased, far exceeding the actual number of hotel guests for that day. This oddity drew the attention of police.
After investigation, police discovered that some early entrants were using fake room cards—these fake cards are slightly thinner than the real ones and have different light transmittance under strong light, but look similar in appearance and are hard to distinguish with the naked eye. Police determined that criminals were exploiting Disneyland hotel room cards to commit fraud for profit.
In response, the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Pudong Public Security Bureau, together with the International Tourism and Resorts District Management Unit, formed a special task force. After identifying the suspects, the team raided two fake room card and 'Early Entry Card' crime syndicates on the evening of the 7th, arresting 33 people and seizing a printer used to forge hotel room cards, a computer used to fake guest stay information, and over 500 unused room cards.
Police stated that the suspects purchased unused hotel room cards—used to exchange for 'Early Entry Cards'—from tourists at 80 to 100 yuan (47 to 59 MYR) each, repackaged them as 'Early Entry Cards,' and sold them for 120 to 150 yuan (71 to 89 MYR) to people wanting to avoid lines. As the supply of genuine room cards could not meet demand, they began forging 'Early Entry Cards.'
Gu Ye, deputy captain of the anti-property crime team of the Pudong Public Security Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Unit, said the back of hotel room cards is printed daily with different verification codes, which security guards check to verify authenticity at early entry access points. However, once criminals acquired real room cards, they obtained the verification codes and printed them on the fake cards, along with forged accommodation details using software like Photoshop.
●Teaching How to Answer Security to Increase Entry Success
Police noted that these criminals had personnel on site to brief tourists on how to respond to security’s questions, increasing their chances of gaining entry. During times of heavy crowds, security guards may not have time to check the NFC recognition of the room cards.