For frequent Disneyland-goer Alexander Rodriguez, the hand stamps at the amusement park remind him of the excitement he felt as a child about which character or design he would be wearing that day.
So the news that Disney Resorts has done away with its lemon-scented re-entry hand stamps struck him as bittersweet.
"It's sad because I remember getting hand stamps as a kid and now my kids won't be able to have the same enjoyment," Rodriguez said.
Starting this week, every park visitor who visits Disneyland or California Adventure will have to take a photo, which will then be encrypted into the barcode of his or her ticket, according to park officials.
When park-goers try to re-enter the park after leaving, staff members will scan their tickets and check their identities against the photo they took earlier, rather than checking their hand under ultraviolet light for a stamp.
Annual pass-holders have not needed hand stamps for several years because Disneyland already keeps photos of them in their system.
Rodriguez thinks that the change is just part of the natural progression of technology in the park. With the old policy, people would try to duplicate the stamps to get into the parks for free.
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Walt Disney World in Florida fingerprints visitors for re-entry and Disneyland's Shanghai location puts visitors' photos directly onto their tickets.
Similarly, at Universal Studios Hollywood, a fingerprint is required for guests to gain entry to the theme park.
Universal Studios and NBC-owned TV stations operate under the same parent company, NBCUniversal.
