A new scanning system at Six Flags sounds like it’s from the future, but the biometric scanner aims to make faster entrances for season pass holders. When guests arrive at the front gate for the first time of the season, they will present their voucher and a scanner processes an image of their fingerprint, assigning a unique set of numbers that are used to validate the pass holder’s card each visit.

The first visit should take only about 20 seconds to set up the card, as opposed to the additional time of taking a photo and getting it printed on the card, according to spokeswoman Elizabeth Gotway. Return visits should take less than 10 seconds, she said.

"The faster they can get through stuff, the quicker they can get on the rides and see the shows," Gotway said.

A biometric scanning system was implemented when Six Flags St. Louis opened earlier this month. Prior to the scanner, a photo on the card was used to help identify pass holders upon entrance to the park. The scanner does not take the image of the fingerprint, Gotway clarified. "It captures and creates a mathematical equation that gets put onto your card," she said. "Every time when you come in, it takes that same equation; no fingerprint or image is stored…. There was just no reason for us to have anyone’s fingerprints." […]