Multi-day tickets - what to do when we arrive

[lmmantini]

A poster on the bag/security post mentioned that people who are using their multi-day tickets for the first time slow the security line down because everyone needs to sign the ticket and take a picture.

I purchased multi-day tickets online. We're arrive very late Sunday night (technically early Monday a.m.). Our first day at the park will be Tuesday. Can I go to the gates and get out tickets, sign them, and get our picture taken on Monday so we're ready for Tuesday a.m.?

 

[amyg1975]

There are two lines you go through before entering the park. The first line is security, your tickets have nothing to do with that line. That line was huge last week, but it is just for security (bag checks). Once you get through security you then line up to enter Disneyland or DCA, and only then will you get your picture taken and sign your card. No, I do not think you can do all that in advance, because it needs to be done at the turnstiles when on your first day that you enter.

 

[sherilaine]

Honestly it doesn't take that long at the gate, and the longest part is the CMs fumbling with their iPhones to take a picture - it seems most every CM we saw at the gate struggled to use their iPhone!

This is just part of the process though and if people get behind a new group who are exchanging their eTickets then that is just the luck of the draw!

 

[mad hatter fan]

If you happen to get there early enough on your first day to be one of the first people in an entry line, sometimes they will scan your tickets/take your photo a few minutes early so your can just zoom in when they open. Granted it has been a few years since I saw this.

 

[sherilaine]

If you happen to get there early enough on your first day to be one of the first people in an entry line, sometimes they will scan your tickets/take your photo a few minutes early so your can just zoom in when they open. Granted it has been a few years since I saw this.

This happens. We were front at the gate 4 of our 5 days and every time, our family and the next party behind us all had our tickets scanned prior to the countdown and were just told to not go through the turnstiles until the countdown was done. It was great!!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I REALLY wouldn't worry. Disney is very fast at the pic & sign your first name. Seriously they whip up this iPhone thing, snap, say sign here & you're done. That person complaining sounds ridiculous IMHO. Maybe they got stuck behind a group of like 20 people activating their tickets or something? Solution: don't stand behind a huge group!

And I would absolutely not go have the photo done Mon. I don't know how the system works but there is no way I would risk activating that ticket on a day I didn't plan to use it. It's not worth losing a day over. You'll be fine OP!

 

[lmmantini]

Thanks! We'll just wait until Tuesday morning. Don't want to risk activating our tickets early and there will only be two of us, so hopefully we won't hold the line up too much!

 

[Disneyland1084]

Honestly it doesn't take that long at the gate, and the longest part is the CMs fumbling with their iPhones to take a picture - it seems most every CM we saw at the gate struggled to use their iPhone!

This part is very true. I remember last summer before my trip I posted my concerns about this on the DIS and everyone reassured me it wouldn't take long, and they were right.

 

[Girimama33]

You cannot sign the ticket and get the photo until you are activating the ticket at the turnstiles.

 

[KCAshley]

I bought our tickets online with electronic delivery- can I show that email at the ticket booth to get our "real" tickets the night we arrive (vs our first park day) or do I need to do that at the turnstiles?

 

[Girimama33]

If you bought them from the Disney site, you can take them right to the turnstiles...no need to make a trip to the ticket booth the night before.

 

[sherilaine]

You cannot sign the ticket and get the photo until you are activating the ticket at the turnstiles.

We purchased our tickets through a travel agent - the day we arrived we took this voucher to the ticket booth as they had to be exchanged there - and we were given our actual paper tickets and the CM at the ticket booth wrote our names on our tickets for us - we did not sign them. So while I think for eTickets you do not have to do this, until they scan your ticket at the gate, it's not activated. Our photos were taken the next morning when we entered the park.

I really don't think anyone wants to go to the ticket booth unless they have to and if you have an eTicket then go straight to the gate!

 

[Metalliman98]

I REALLY wouldn't worry. Disney is very fast at the pic & sign your first name. Seriously they whip up this iPhone thing, snap, say sign here & you're done. That person complaining sounds ridiculous IMHO. Maybe they got stuck behind a group of like 20 people activating their tickets or something? Solution: don't stand behind a huge group!

That person was probably me.

To be clear, I was not advocating that people use their tickets early or at disadvantageous times just to get pics taken, so OP please don't try that. I was just commenting that the process adds time to getting into the park, and that this should be accounted for when determining what time to arrive for park opening.

Does it add much time? In the grand scheme, probably not. But it is still frustrating, especially during EMH/normal opening. I realize Disney has to do it to prevent fraud. I harbor no ill will to the people who have to get their pics and sign, it's out of their control. But it adds inefficiency to what should be a fairly simple process of getting through the gate.

Again, each individual picture doesn't necessarily take a lot of time. But if you are in line for opening, it's not hard to be behind 3 or 4 normal size
families who are using their tix for the first time. At 20-30 secs per (which can happen at opening as the picture takers/ticket scanners run incredibly slow due to the morning crush) it adds 8-10 minutes. First world problems and all that, I know, but annoying nonetheless.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem there are any elegant solutions to this problem. Giving dedicated lines for APs/those who've already had pics taken would cause more confusion and delay, though it's the solution I wish they'd implement. Likewise with having a separate booth or something for first-time ticket users to get pics before heading to main gate line. But alas, just like the airlines won't board/deboard people in a logical manner (window seats back to front, middle seats back to front, aisle seats back to front, then reversed for deboarding) the gate entry method won't be changed anytime soon either.

 

[lindyv321]

When we went and were standing in line before the turnstiles opened a CM was going down the line an activating tickets then so which helped

 

[nikkislaght]

just make sure that if you have someone in your group that loves to have a "perfect " photo. tell them to get ready before they get to the gate. we got stuck behind a group of about 15 people a few years ago.. waited inline for a good 30 minutes and not once did any one of those women take out a mirror or comb... come to the gate and they were all freaking out because they were getting their photo taken,, yes they must have been blind not to see the other people in front and around them getting their photos... so while they were moaning to the CM about needing to comb their hair etc.. I asked if we could go around them.. yeah , apparently not a good idea... the CM just looked at me and shrugged sorry ..