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View Full Version : Ticket Question-- Halloween



mowsluver
10-03-2008, 07:24 PM
Just curious...does anyone know how many tickets are sold for the Trick or Treat at DCA?

I noticed a few nights 'sold out' and it piqued my curiousity! :fez:

lomilomi
10-05-2008, 08:23 AM
No, but I was curious too so I thought I'd bump ya up.
:)

AVP
10-05-2008, 08:57 AM
I didn't have time to post this earlier, but I learned the hard way this Friday that "Sold Out" doesn't really mean that they don't have any tickets.

The 10/3 event has been showing as sold out for more than a week now, which was unfortunate because my brother-in-law decided to bring his family down from Northern California to join us at the MousePlanet meet. Nope, the tickets were "sold out," we couldn't get them for him w/o going to eBay. They decided not to come.

As I was walking into the Esplanade Friday around 1:00 p.m. from the West / Downtown Disney approach (this will become important later), I noticed a "lollipop" sign stationed just beyond bag check that said tickets were available for that night's event. I was REALLY surprised, and so I got in line at the ticket booth just to verify that yes, they did have tickets. The CM confirmed that they had a little more than 200 tickets, and so I called my husband to 1) see if there was ANY way his brother could get down in time for the 7:30 event and 2) have him PM the two other MousePadders who had posted that they were looking for tickets to the 10/3 event.

While I was waiting for Tony to get in touch with all of these people, I went into the park to do some quick shopping. Tony's brother said there was no way he could get down here fast enough, which was just bitterly disapointing. Had we even a little more notice, he could have made it. Luckily one of the Padders got the PM in time, and we arranged for me to buy the tickets for him and to meet before the event.

I was still in the park, so popped into City Hall to buy the event tickets (for some reason I thought you could buy them there - I'm thinking of WDW I guess), and the very friendly CM pointed me back out to the ticket booths. As I was about to leave, I told her that the Disneyland Web site had shown this event to be sold out for a while, and that I was really surprised and disapointed to find that not to be the case too late to get the tickets for the rest of my family. She immediately pulled up the Disneyland Web site on HER computer - and NONE of the dates were showing as sold out.

None.

I *know* that at 5:06 PM on Wednesday, October 1 (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/blog.php?b=275) the Disneyland Web site showed all five Friday night events to be sold out, so why did the City Hall computer show otherwise? The CM went to talk to a manager, and when she came back she told me that the manager said that all five Fridays were sold out; there were NOT tickets available for the 10/3 event and that I had apparently mis-read the sign in the Esplanade because the only sign out there said that the event was SOLD OUT.

These things make me a little crazy.

I went right back out to the Esplanade and snapped a photo of the sign that was out there, just as proof. Then I went to the ticket booth to buy the tickets. I asked to speak to a lead or manager, and when one arrived she explained that the resort had just released about 300 additional tickets to that night's event about "an hour ago." I asked if that was going to happen every week, and she said she didn't know.

After that I went back into City Hall with 1) the picture of the sign that didn't exist and 2) the just-purchased tickets to the 10/3 event that the manager had previously said were not available. I asked to speak to the same CM, but she had gone on break. I showed the photo and the tickets to the new CM, and asked that she find whatever manager the prior CM had spoken with and try to clear up whatever communication issues were going on.

During all this, I called a friend to look at the DL Web site from home, and he confirmed it was still showing the 10/3 event as sold out. Not "tickets available at the door," just "sold out."

Another friend entered the Resort from the East / Harbor approach, and THAT lollipop sign said that the event was SOLD OUT.

To recap: The 10/3 event was sold out, but only until they decided to release 300 tickets around 1:00 pm the day of the event. The only way you would know about these available tickets would be to walk into the Disneyland Resort Esplanade from the West entrance sometime after 1:00 pm. If you came in through the East entrance, checked the Disneyland Web site OR asked at Guest Relations you would have been told the event was sold out.

FWIW, tickets were STILL available when the 10/3 event began that night, though they never changed the sign on the East entrance to reflect that.

I have no idea if this is going to happen every week. I know there are readers looking for tickets to some of the sold out nights, so my only advice is to try to hit the Resort in the late afternoon on the day of your desired event and see if you can muddle your way through the conflicting messages and secure your tickets.

AVP

Autopia Guy
10-05-2008, 09:22 AM
Yes, the Disneyland.com tickets section does flip to show events as sold out before they actually sell out. I think this is done to keep a few tickets for those people who spend the time to come to the booths and ask for the tickets there. But some of the nights that show as sold out are really sold out. I think all the remaining Friday night Trick-or-Treat events are sold out, not just on the website.

And don't believe what you are told or see on signs. Just go to the booths and ask the CM there to pull up the events tickets to see if there are extra tickets. The misinformation is just a little rampant on what nights are sold out and such.

And I've been told that the events are limited to "About 3,000 tickets being sold" but that can change as was made evident on 10/3.

AVP
10-05-2008, 10:17 AM
Yes, the Disneyland.com tickets section does flip to show events as sold out before they actually sell out. I think this is done to keep a few tickets for those people who spend the time to come to the booths and ask for the tickets there. The reader for whom I purchased the tickets drove to the Resort on Thursday in the hopes that this was the sitation, and was told that the event was sold out.


And don't believe what you are told or see on signs. Just go to the booths and ask the CM there to pull up the events tickets to see if there are extra tickets. About 1:30 I was told tickets for 10/17 were available at the ticket booth. About 2:30 they were sold out again. I'm really going to be curious if they become available on the day of the event.


The misinformation is just a little rampant on what nights are sold out and such.With all due respect, "misinformation" implies that there is someone out there accidently or deliberately misstating the situation. When the Disneyland Resort Web site, City Hall and 1/2 of the signs in the Resort say the tickets are sold out, that's not "misinformation," that's poor communication.


And I've been told that the events are limited to "About 3,000 tickets being sold" but that can change as was made evident on 10/3. One of the myriad of people I spoke with on Friday told me that the 300 tickets that were "added" on Friday had actually been tickets held in reserve for resort hotel guests, and were released back into the main ticket pool that day. So this may have been an issue of them "adding" tickets, but I don't know that is necessarily the case.

AVP

stan4d_steph
10-05-2008, 12:56 PM
That's really frustrating. That seems like a lot of tickets to hold back. Are they holding them for VIPs or something?

Malcon10t
10-05-2008, 01:01 PM
That's really frustrating. That seems like a lot of tickets to hold back. Are they holding them for VIPs or something?It sounds like they were holding them for Vacation Planning. Will be interesting to see what happens.

BaySickClothing
10-15-2008, 01:13 AM
so is there a chance i can get tickets for 10/16 or 10/17 the day of the event? im about to drop $130 on a pair from somebody on craigslist, but maybe i should just take the risk...

racccoon
10-15-2008, 09:01 AM
so is there a chance i can get tickets for 10/16 or 10/17 the day of the event? im about to drop $130 on a pair from somebody on craigslist, but maybe i should just take the risk...
Careful about craigslist sales. I friend of mine bought tickets from a girl on craigslist, just normal day passes. They looked legit, printed from the Disney website. The paid cash and took the printout. When they tried to get in, the tickets came up as "canceled" So I am assuming that she bought the tickets, then canceled the tickets and then sold it to my friends.