Great Wolf Lodge® Colorado Springs Bolsters Guest Experience with PDC’s Smart Band® RFID Wristband System

RFID Wristbands Improve Guest Convenience with Cashless Purchasing and Access Control

Valencia, Calif. (Feb. 23, 2017) PDC, the global leader of innovative identification solutions, announced today the installation of its Smart Band® RFID Wristband System for electronic access control and cashless payments, at Great Wolf Lodge® Colorado Springs, the brand’s newest property located at the eastern foot of the Rocky Mountains, south of Denver. The indoor waterpark resort is the latest of eleven Great Wolf Lodge resorts to introduce PDC’s RFID wristband technology.

Designed to streamline guest transactions, Smart Band® supplements traditional forms of payment and access credentials that are usually carried in a wallet, purse, or pocket. Upon check in, Great Wolf Lodge guests are issued a non-transferable, waterproof PDC Smart Band®, with a securely sealed RFID chip inside that safely collects and transfers data when scanned by a reader in the park. Each chip is programmed with a unique alpha-numeric code that is assigned to a guest portfolio, so the bands are impossible to duplicate.

“Personal data is never compromised with Smart Band®. When scanned by a Great Wolf Lodge reader, each wristband’s unique ID number simply verifies access or purchase authority that has been assigned to that guest,” said Robin Barber, Vice President of Leisure & Entertainment for PDC. “Once the guest leaves, that unique ID becomes void.”

Smart Band’s contactless interface provides significant advantages for hotel room access, compared to standard magnetic strip key card door locks, which can collect dirt and debris, impacting performance. Since Smart Band® is securely fastened around the wrist, guests no longer need to worry about forgotten, lost, or misplaced key cards.

Functioning as a convenient “wrist wallet,” Smart Band® enables Great Wolf Lodge guests to make convenient instant purchases using their RFID wristband. “PDC’s Smart Band® RFID wristband technology has positively impacted the guest experience, and is extremely well-received by guests and staff alike,” noted Rajiv Castellino, CIO for Great Wolf Resorts. “Guests no longer need to worry about carrying cash, credit cards, and room keys throughout the park, since the wristbands function as a one-stop shop. The last thing a guest wants is to end up with soggy or lost money and the Smart Band® RFID wristband technology solves this common concern.”

Smart Band® is fully customizable, and offered in a wide variety of colors and material options including plastic, silicone, woven fabric, and thermal print-on-demand styles. Its nontransferable single-use closures and re-wearable styles are ideal for either single-day use or season pass programs.

In addition to its newest Colorado Springs resort, Great Wolf Resorts uses PDC’s Smart Band® RFID Wristband System at resorts in: Wisconsin Dells, WI.; Poconos, PA.; Niagara Falls, ONT., Canada; Mason, OH.; Grapevine, TX.; Grand Mound, WA.; Williamsburg, VA.; Concord, NC.; New England, MA., and Garden Grove, CA.

About PDC

With over 60 years of experience, PDC connects people, products, and technology through innovative ID systems that deliver superior customer experiences worldwide. PDC is a global leader and pacesetter in the development of wristbands, lanyards and RFID solutions. The company serves the leisure & entertainment, law enforcement, and animal identification industries. A pioneer of innovative technologies, PDC introduced the first bar code wristband system, first thermal printer wristband, first Smart Band® RFID wristband system, and the award-winning PDC Smart® Kiosk, among many other innovations.

Since its launch in 2000, PDC’s Smart Band® RFID wristband system has been used by leading amusement parks, water parks, resorts, and music festivals to deliver unique and convenient applications that help redefine the guest experience, while reaping bottom line benefits to the companies who use them. Applications include: cashless point-of-sale; cashless arcade and vending; social media integration; keyless hotel and locker access; electronic access control; photo management systems; and customer loyalty programs. Additional PDC RFID solutions include PDC Smart® Cards, key fobs, lanyards, and parking passes. For more information, visit www.waterparkRFID.com.

On Dec. 28, 2012, PDC was acquired by Brady Corporation, (NYSE:BRC) a world leader in identification solutions for premises, products, and people.

About Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.

Great Wolf Resorts, Inc., Madison, Wis., is North America’s largest family of indoor water park resorts, and through its subsidiaries and affiliates, owns and operates its family resorts under the Great Wolf Lodge brand. Great Wolf Resorts is a fully integrated resort company with Great Wolf Lodge locations in: Wisconsin Dells, Wis.; Sandusky, Ohio; Traverse City, Mich.; Kansas City, Kan.; Williamsburg, Va.; Pocono Mountains, Pa.; Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada; Mason, Ohio; Grapevine, Texas; Grand Mound, Wash.; Concord, N.C.; Fitchburg, Mass; Garden Grove Calif., Colorado Springs, Colo., Minneapolis, Minn. (opening in late 2017/early 2018), and LaGrange, Ga (opening in 2018). Additional information may be found online at http://www.greatwolf.com