As for NSA being jealous of what data Disney can collect - they'd just be happy if the bands worked as well as the ‘Keys to the Kingdom’, RFID equipped cards that they've had for years now. Except they had to replace most of their readers because while customers have no problem holding a card up to a door for a moment, they do object to more than waiving a wrist towards the same door.
Heck, if the NSA wants to come down and fix Disney World's system, they'd be very happy.
See, while you or I would think that such a system should be able to track a visitor on the resort property (very handy for finding a lost child,) no such features or abilities are incorporated into the system. I know a few of the designers of the system and they were shocked that this was the first thing I expected of the system. ‘It never came up in focus group conversations..’ (held in Seattle, mostly by tech savvy nerds talking to not so tech savvy young adults.)
Did your designer friends give you any more information as to what they were hoping to accomplish with this? They already had the cards that tracked information. It is a massive amount of money to spend to just change from cards to bracelets. I am really curious.