I don't doubt the fake wristbands, however I don't think that a hotel was passing out several different color bands and telling guests to watch what color other people were wearing and then put on...
Actually, regardless of your personal behovior, the chances of losing something are greater if you have to handle it than if you don't. The behavior doesn't change, the number of times you have to...
Maybe they are hoping that as people dig for their KTTW cards, money will fall out of their pockets as well so this actually turns into yet another revenue stream.
Can the wristbands cost that much? The poor attractions staff now needs to manage the process which I would imagine is going to make it pretty lax and prone to abuse.