In the latest session of our Attractions Toolkit webinar series, ROLLER's Brett Sheridan sat down with Max Ebert (CEO, aifinity) to challenge how operators think about access control.
For a lot of venues, access control has always been a security tool, a cost line, and the occasional choke point at the front door. Brett and Max made the case that it can be much more than that: a practical way to recover lost session revenue, lower costs, add value to memberships, automate after-hours access, and free up staff to focus on the moments that matter most to guests.
In the session, they walked through four strategies you can put to work right away. Whether you run a family entertainment center, climbing gym, trampoline park, or indoor playground, there is a tactic in here for you.
🎥 Missed the live session? Watch the full recording here:
Meet the speakers
Brett Sheridan, Field General Manager, ROLLER
Brett has decades of experience owning and running attractions businesses, from founding the first OTA in the southern hemisphere to building and operating multiple FEC, indoor skydiving, and VR venues across APAC. He also managed the iconic Luna Park on Sydney Harbor. He now helps ROLLER customers implement technology that empowers teams and elevates guest experiences.
Max Ebert, CEO, aifinity
Max is the founder and CEO of aifinity GmbH. With over 16 years of experience in IT, he developed a scalable plug-and-play infrastructure for Stuntwerk across 9 locations and co-created NiceCheckIn to streamline member check-in processes across multiple sites. Max is passionate about creative problem-solving and building solutions that deliver real value to businesses.
1. Build real value into memberships
In a tight economic climate, attracting new guests is getting harder and more expensive, so your members become your go-to audience. Access control helps you treat them like the VIPs they are, rather than just discount-ticket holders.
You can give members exclusive zone access, fast-track entry that skips the queue, after-hours entry, and cross-venue check-ins. It also makes membership tiers tangible: a basic tier might unlock two attractions , premium four, and a top tier every attraction in your group.
It does not need to be expensive. Max noted that a member fast track can be as simple as a terminal with a scanner and a light next to your front desk. A member scans, the light turns green, and they walk straight in.
The numbers back up the focus on members. ROLLER's 2026 Benchmark Report found that members visit a venue 4.9 times a year on average, compared with 1.3 times for non-members. And ROLLER’s 2026 Pulse Report found that 41.2% of guests visit regularly without holding a membership. That is a large, ready-made audience to convert.
At his own Stuntwerk venues, Max has seen around 25% of members switch to an automated check-in that takes under two seconds and lets them come and go without waiting in line.
2. Zone control: turn restrictions into revenue
Zone control is what access control is best known for: making sure not every guest can enter every area.
You can manage access by capacity, age, session time, ticket level, or whether a waiver is required, and even set up behind-the-scenes access for staff and contractors. A kids' zone is the classic example, keeping younger guests in a dedicated, safe space away from adult attractions.
The more interesting shift is using those same controls to drive revenue rather than only enforce rules. Brett's favorite takeaway was turning a denial into an upsell: place a terminal in front of a premium or brand-new attraction that is not included in the standard pass, and a guest can buy access on their phone right where they are standing, then scan and go.
The same logic applies to session overruns. If a guest runs more than 15 minutes over, the terminal can prompt them to buy an exit ticket or pay an overstay fee.
Across Stuntwerk venues, Max said this approach has cut peak-time staffing costs by up to 50%. Just as importantly, freeing staff from manual checks to focus on service has lifted revenue by up to 12%, because guests who feel well looked after tend to spend more.
3. Unattended check-in: open up before and after hours
The next step beyond a faster check-in is letting guests in when no one is on the desk at all.
Many attractions pay rent around the clock but might only open to guests from 10am to 10pm. Venues with semi-unattended or fully unattended access (like 24/7 gyms) close that gap, opening up those early and late hours without a full team on site.
Climbing gyms are already seeing strong demand for early-bird and after-hours access, where guests value a quieter session, and Max expects this to spread to indoor playgrounds and smaller attractions. It can apply to a whole venue or to a single self-serve activity zone.
Brett's practical tip is to ease into it rather than flip the whole venue to self-serve overnight. Opening with no one on site can feel daunting, so a good way to test the waters is to build on a shift you already run: if a staff member is arriving early to set up, you can let members in an hour before opening through automated access to a specific area. The desk is unattended, but someone is still on site keeping an eye on things.
4. Turn access data into better decisions
Every time a guest checks in, scans a ticket, or enters a zone, your access control system records it. Over time, that adds up to a clear picture of how your venue is actually used: which attractions are busiest, how long guests spend on them, how members move around, and which areas bring in the most revenue.
That turns decisions you would otherwise guess at into informed ones. If an attraction is consistently popular, you might move it out of the standard pass and offer it as a paid premium add-on.
If guests routinely overstay a timed session, you could shorten the session or add a small overstay fee so the next group can get in. And if some areas sit quiet while others are packed, you can rearrange your layout to draw guests toward the spots they tend to miss.
The real value comes from combining two views. ROLLER holds the commercial side, who booked what, what they paid, and which memberships they hold, while aifinity adds the physical side, where guests actually go and what they use once they are inside.
Together they give a fuller picture than either could alone, so you can make better decisions on pricing, memberships, and staffing.
What's next: the autonomous venue
Looking ahead, Max sees fully automated access becoming the norm, as it already has at gyms. The goal is a clear, easy journey from the couch to the venue: buy a ticket on your phone, scan it at the door, and walk straight in to start playing.
The future of access control, he said, is less about controlling entry and more about automating the venue so guest journeys are safer, smarter, and more profitable, right down to a personalized touch like a terminal greeting a returning guest by name.
Putting it into action
If you are wondering where to start, Max recommends the main entrance, where guests immediately feel the difference between scanning straight through and queuing at the desk. It also nudges more guests toward booking online once they see that an online ticket means skipping the line.
Brett added a tip: make that entrance bold and clearly branded (for example, a members-only lane) so it doubles as a prompt to upgrade.
The barrier to entry is low. Start with a simple fast-track setup. From there, you can layer in zone control and unattended access, and let the data guide your next decisions.
Want to learn how ROLLER can help your venue put these ideas into action? Book a free demo today.
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