Be careful with park tickets when getting Fastpasses!!

[scoggs]

Just a little word to the wise for anyone going to Disney and getting Fastpasses... Make sure to take your last ticket when it comes out of the machine - don't just grab your Fastpasses and go! When I was there during Thanksgiving week, I went to get Fastpasses for Space Mountain, walked up to a Fastpass machine, and there sat someone's ticket...they had taken their Fastpasses, and left their last ticket sticking out of the machine...and the really awful thing was that someone walked up to the Fastpass machine next to mine, and they also had a ticket sticking out! So, 2 lost/left tickets within a matter of minutes! I did give both of them to a CM, who said she would get them to a SM worker (there was no CM working the Fastpass machine....) I hope that the lost tickets got back to their rightful owners, but what are the chances?? So, remember to take your Fastpasses AND tickets, and also make copies of your ticket info in case you do lose them!

Dana

 

[shafke]

That and just remember to keep them safe... on our last trip we found a ticket on the ground... we handed it off to a CM. Hopefully it found its way back to its owner.

A family of 4 can have almost $1000 worth of ticket media just loosely floating around in a fanny pack or purse... you start digging around for something and a ticket falls out... your tickets should be treated the same as you would your cash or credit cards.

 

[tjmw2727]

We also found two park hopper tickets this November and they were left at the Space Mountain FP machines as well.

We always save our receipts when we purchase passes and I always copy the back of the pass. I keep a set of copies with us on vacation and leave a copy with someone at home. Sounds like overkill but if a pass needs to be replaced the back of the pass will be helpful.

TJ

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I thought I was the only one who freaked out about keeping track of the tickets! These stories are my nightmare! Tix seem so easy to lose, especially when you have to dig them out of your wallet/ purse/ fannypack several times a day and run then through FP machines and use them as charge cards in restaurants and stores.

I wonder if Disney could issue tix in the form of lanyards or wrist bands. I'd pay a dollar or two extra for something more innovative and secure than the currnet ticket media.

 

[seashoreCM]

Originally posted by Zippa D Doodah
I wonder if Disney could issue tix in the form of lanyards or wrist bands.

Would need to re-imagineer all of the machines to accept those tickets.

The Universal Studios "fastpass" machines are better in that you don't have to stick your park ticket all the way in. A lanyard park ticket would work with those machines.

Bar coding on the tickets and laser scanners on the fastpass machines would be an innovation, but I kinda doubt this is worth the expense.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/fastpass.htm

I keep my ticket in a plastic sleeve that is in turn safety-pinned inside my pants pocket. I have seen similar plastic sleeves that are attached to a lanyard. The plastic sleeve needs to be snapped shut or else the ticket can still escape.

 

[Rodrigo]

The machines should have some kind of visual/auditive alarm to remember you to pick your ticket, just as ATM's do.

 

[joshsmom]

Ok, help me out here. I'm new and have never made copies of anything--my bad!! I just received all the paper things from Disney travel that you turn in to get your tickets. I have hotel reservation vouchers, park hopper ticket vouchers, and MEARS vouchers. Do I make copies of all of those things or the actual tickets? I won't get the tickets until we get to WDW. So do they make copies for you down there? I'm getting a little freaked about the safety of the tickets now.

 

[eeyore0062]

I found 2 in the SM FP machines in July... wow.... what is it about SM that makes guests forget their last tickets?

I also found four 5 day hoppers along with the receipt and AAA parking pass in the lady's restroom in Harambe in AK in October. I turned them into Guest Relations. I hope that the owner was reunited with them.

Please, be very aware of your tickets, because without the receipt or a copy, there is little that can be done, especially if it was ALL of them. Be VERY careful!

 

[mplsmom1]

I'm a control freak - which means I hold all passes for my entire family and have many compulsive ticket checks throughout the day!! It is definitely easy to leave behind -- thanks for the reminder scoggs

 

[Maddle]

First of all, don't get overanxious. Now you are aware of the potential problem - so you will be conscious of your tickets. Just make sure you have them all before you walk away from the machine.

We usually have one person hold the tickets, me or my husband. When it is me, I keep count. We come through the gate, I count. We get Fastpasses - I count. Every time I take the tickets out, I count before I put them back into my wallet. My kids and sister think I am nuts and obsessive - but they haven't lived long enough to know how easy it is to make a mistake - and how hard to correct it.

I have a small little wallet with a key ring on it - and I attach that with a spiral key thingey to my waist pack, or belt loop. One bad thing: the wallet is leather, and it seems to decode the mag strips if I don't keep them all in the paper sleeve that comes with the ticket....guest services can help with that problem.

If you can't make copies, just write down the numbers on the back of the tickets. If the tickets are part of your resort pass/hotel key...I'm sure they have a way to keep track, you will have to ask at the desk. (We've always had separate tickets.)

Don't stress too much about it - you are no more likely to lose the tickets than you are to lose a credit card - and you take good care of them, right?

Best wishes for a great trip!
Maddle

 

[threeboysdad]

Hehehe... I lost one 5 day park hopper with 3 days left at a FP machine a year or two ago.

DW went to GS and started bauling... They gaver her a new 5 day pass... (Disney hates to see a mom cry)

However, we also learned that when tix are bought with AMEX they can track the numbers (no copies needed). CM said they could replace them easily with that info (even though they did anyway)

 

[annie5379]

Thank you so much for posting this..... It's a great "Heads Up "for everyone!!!!


Annie

 

[kilee]

I know it is preferable to have copies of the tickets. However, according to the CM's at the ticket windows, when you buy them. The receipt is sufficient enough to have them replaced. Obviously it's easy enough if you buy them there. A different story if you bought them at home and have to remember to bring the receipt. For us, DH carries the tickets and I am in charge of the receipt.

 

[RAV]

Just a gripe- it seems wrong that someone who buys a hopper for a couple of days receives a credit card type pass ( I know room key) couldn't they make the annual pass the same rather than that paper card? I too, carry the receipt to WDW separate from the passes, and we count at each entrance and fast pass. I always feel that if we check more frequently, there are less steps to re-trace.

 

[pjlla]

TalkDisney.com and read the horror stories on a board there about losing tix etc at Disney. It is under the "Trip planning forum" and "Disney for Families". The thread is called "Hope someone can learn from my HUGE mistake." All kinds of stories about losing PHP tix and such (including my own story!). Sorry I can't paste the link here.... I'm a computer dummy!!....P

 

[Pooh68]

If you make a copy of the tickets with a copy machine does that decode them

 

[tink2]

This happened on our trip last week. My brother had our whole faimly's tickets- 10 in all- and lost one getting a FastPass to Winnie the Pooh. He had a hard time, but the CM ended up tracking the number and replacing the days that were left on the park hopper. We're glad it worked out, but it was a pain and took about an hour. Be very careful- it can happen!

 

[disneykins]

I bought my 7 day hoppers a few years ago and still have 3 days left on them. If I were to lose them now would CMs still be able to track them, I know the receipt is long gone. I even have one ticket bought in 1991 with one day left, better use that one before I lose it. LOL

 

[BonnieA]

In November 2002 I did leave my 5 day hopper in a fast pass machine (at least that's where I assume I lost it). I went back about an hour later when I noticed it gone. The CM gave me a hopper after I described it. It was a year 2000 hopper with donald on it. Unfortunately I found out later that even though it looked like mine, it was not. I had someone else's one day year 2000 hopper. Didn't even know they made 1 day hoppers. Anyway, after I discovered the problem, I got the photo copy of my hopper, took it to guest services and they gave me a new hopper with the correct number of days and pluses. That could have been a costly mistake if I had not had the copy.

 

[drp4video]

I lost a 4 day hopper once 2 years ago, I had three days left. Because I bought it at AAA at home, Disney refused to replace it. I had to buy another 4 day hopper.