Illegal tickets

[ButterflyKisses77]

So one of our patients at work today said that there is some guy that lives right near DL thats sells half price tickets to the parks illegally. I guess he bought a bunch of APs and you can pay him $50 or whatever and he gives you the pass and then you have to bring it back to him after you're done! I didn't believe her when she told me about it but her and her family did it! She says he's making a killing off of doing this! I don't understand how they are getting away with this though because don't you have to have your picture on the pass to be able to use it?? I guess he even has a website advertising this!! I want this guy to get busted! What do you guys think?? Has anyone else heard of him?

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

Never heard of the guy, but I don't see how this works. Yes, I have a picture attached to my AP and it pops up everytime it's scanned at a turnstile. They also ask for photo id anytime I try to use it for food/merchandise discounts. Even my kids have pictures attached to theirs.

How long would they let a person have an AP without having a photo attached to it? Doesn't it still have a name? And what stops somebody from just keeping the AP and having their own photo attached to it?

 

[GoBears 1980]

I've never heard of someone using an AP, but there used to be a thriving business of people buying multi-day passes with unused days and reselling them.

 

[MillauFr]

Agreed. I don't believe the story.

 

[bumbershoot]

I guess he bought a bunch of APs and you can pay him $50 or whatever and he gives you the pass and then you have to bring it back to him after you're done!

Impossible with APs. Just about impossible in the last year or two with multi-day passes. They all have pictures attached to them.

I didn't believe her when she told me about it but her and her family did it!

Would have been at least 3 years ago, and he (and they) is part of the reason we have to have pictures taken while trying to get into the parks on our first day. Thanks, people!

I guess he even has a website advertising this!! I want this guy to get busted!

Um, then report him and his site to Disneyland? Or the police? Seems simple to me.

I will NOT go googling, and I hope no one else here does either. But the OP, who knows the site already, should absolutely report him.

 

[RKKUNK]

Yes, they have made it pretty hard for someone to pull the scams that were going on some years ago. I don't think that the OP knew of the person with the web site. They said someone else had told them about it. The OP had said that they want that person to get "busted" for doing this.

 

[LizzyS]

There's no way that this is currently going on with all of the safeguards that Disney has put into place in recent years.

 

[DharmaLou]

If this irritates you so much, then please report him. But as others have said, with photos attached to tickets now it makes it impossible.

 

[bumbershoot]

I don't think that the OP knew of the person with the web site. They said someone else had told them about it.

The OP knows someone who used the person to buy the tickets, and I assume the OP found out about the person's website. Therefore I assume the OP knows the website. If they know all this, THEY are in the position to take this further.

If she doesn't know these things and is just coming here to say that this exists and something should be done, well...that's not going to get anything done. Right? Would make no sense.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

People who sell illegal tickets are one of the reasons why it is no longer possible to buy tickets for 6 days or longer.

 

[RKKUNK]

If they were told the person's web site, then yes, they should report that web site and that person to Anaheim PD or some other authority. But somehow, I just get the feeling that the OP was just posting to talk about what they had found out. Kinda like they couldn't believe it. Does it make sense or get anything accomplished, no.

Unfortunately, there are always going to be people out there trying to make a buck by pulling scams like this and make the rest of us hard-working people pay for it. So glad that Disney finally figured out a way to put a stop to it!

 

[sheetz]

People who sell illegal tickets are one of the reasons why it is no longer possible to buy tickets for 6 days or longer.

It's accurate to say they are the reason why photos are now being attached to multi-day tickets. But I wager the real reason longer stay tickets are no longer available to domestic visitors is that Disney does not receive enough incremental revenue from those extra days. Longer stay tickets are still sold to high spending tourists from Australia and New Zealand.

It's part of an overall trend to weed out the least profitable guests. Other things they have done include the halting of SoCal AP sales, the elimination of blockout passes, and the elimination of parking passes for most APs.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I don't doubt that profitablity remains the bottom line, but the 6 day tickets were being sold and resold openly (remember the guys dancing with signs at the local gas stations by the parks?). Ending the sales of those tickets and requiring photos to be attached to the remaining multi day tickets has significantly reduced the illegal ticket sales. But, as the OP's original post makes clear, there are still people out there determined to scam people in one way or another with Disney tickets. There certainly have been enough posters on these boards to make it appear that there are plenty of people out there who would gladly pay for more than 5 days on a ticket. But that possible profit has not swayed Disney yet. To me, it looks like clamping down on the illegal activity is a big motivation.
I did not hear that the SoCal APs were unprofitable, but that there were too many passholders in that category. Disney has complained that premium passholders are unprofitable because they don't spend enough in the parks, but I know many premium passholders, including myself, who spend a lot overall each year. (How many high end collectibles and dinners at Napa Rose does it take for me to be considered profitable to Disney? LOL) If Disney really wanted to follow through on their complaints, they would have to discontinue the premium passes. That would be interesting, wouldn't it?

 

[sheetz]

There certainly have been enough posters on these boards to make it appear that there are plenty of people out there who would gladly pay for more than 5 days on a ticket. But that possible profit has not swayed Disney yet.

I would argue that since longer passes are still available to foreign visitors that it's a matter of profitability first and foremost.

I did not hear that the SoCal APs were unprofitable, but that there were too many passholders in that category. Disney has complained that premium passholders

I have heard the opposite--that the SoCal Ap holders did not spend enough money and that the premiums AP holders were more profitable.

 

[MillauFr]

People who sell illegal tickets are one of the reasons why it is no longer possible to buy tickets for 6 days or longer.

They have eliminated the llegal ticket sales so I don't believe this is the reason you can't buy 6 day tickets.

 

[4Siamese]

Honestly nothing is IMPOSSIBLE. Someone somewhere will always find a way to circumvent things. While it is unlikely it is sadly possible. It is a shame that people who can be dubiously intelligent enough to figure out how to do things the wrong way cant use their intelligence for GOOD things.

If the OP does know of the persons website though it should be reported.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I would argue that since longer passes are still available to foreign visitors that it's a matter of profitability first and foremost.



I have heard the opposite--that the SoCal Ap holders did not spend enough money and that the premiums AP holders were more profitable.

Are the longer tickets still available in Canada? I have read complaints here from intl. visitors who say they cannot find the longer stay tickets anymore or that they are having a very hard time finding them. And the info I heard about the SoCal APs (which may or may not be accurate) came from a source at TDA.

They have eliminated the llegal ticket sales so I don't believe this is the reason you can't buy 6 day tickets.

The fact that the OP started this thread shows that illegal ticket sales are still going on, just not as blatantly as before. Disney has many reasons why they do things. I never said that the illegal ticket sales were the only reason why decisions were made.

 

[MillauFr]

The fact that the OP started this thread shows that illegal ticket sales are still going on, just not as blatantly as before. Disney has many reasons why they do things. I never said that the illegal ticket sales were the only reason why decisions were made.

How on earth can illegal ticket sales still occur when your picture comes up on the screen when they scan your park hopper or annual pass?

 

[MillauFr]

Honestly nothing is IMPOSSIBLE. Someone somewhere will always find a way to circumvent things. While it is unlikely it is sadly possible. It is a shame that people who can be dubiously intelligent enough to figure out how to do things the wrong way cant use their intelligence for GOOD things.

If the OP does know of the persons website though it should be reported.

Sure it is possible that the person could hack into Disney's database and change the picture that comes up on the screen when they scan your park hopper or annual pass. If they are sophisticated enough to do this though they wouldn't be fooling around selling park tickets for $50 per day. They would be going after serious money and draining money from people's bank accounts.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

How on earth can illegal ticket sales still occur when your picture comes up on the screen when they scan your park hopper or annual pass?

The illegal tickets don't have to work to still be a scam. There was a post here 2 or 3 weeks ago about some guy who was arrested for selling scam tickets. He sold them for cash and gave a fake cell phone number. The buyers got stopped at the turnstiles with fake tickets, but they couldn't contact the guy, obviously. Having a photo attached to the ticket was irrelevant because the ticket bar code never scanned. Fortunately, the guy was caught and the police were asking victims to come forward.