question

[Memphisgirl1]

We were in Disneyland a couple of weeks ago and had a strange thing happen that I'm not sure what to make of it. Thought maybe some of you on here could offer some explanation for what it was all about. As we were leaving the park around 11:00 or so to wait in line for the tram back to the parking garage we were approached by 2 ladies (early 30's I'd say) and the one very politely asked me if she could ask me a very unusual question. She wanted to know if by any chance we had purchased a 1 day park admission and if we still had our tickets would we be willing to let her have them or she could give us something for them if we wanted. I told her we were keeping them for the kid's scrapbooks so she politely thanked us anyway and approached someone else with her request for 2 tickets. My question is what was that all about seeing as of course our tickets had already been used by us to go to the park that day? Have never had that happen before in all our time of going there!

 

[YellowMickeyPonchos]

That is just way bizarre. We go every two weeks or so and I've never seen anything like it, although I'm sure it happens. It is a "local's" park and there is more of a chance for "local issues" (not sure if that's the best word I can come up with) like begging, amateur con artists, etc than WDW would have, being more of a "pure tourist" haven that locals avoid like the plague. Maybe the con (on Disney, not the ticketholder) is to see if someone had a ticket they didn't want, then they could take it, turn around, and use it to go back in. A 1-day ticket is a "throw away", so it would be easier to con free admission off of that by saying they forgot to get a handstamp when they left because they didn't think they would go back in.

Very odd indeed. I'll keep my eyes open for that issue. I would have reported it to the nearest Disney security officer. There is also an Anaheim Police Substation at DTD.

Nancy

 

[Gisele]

That is rather bizarre I most agree, and it most likely is some kind of con game, too weird.

 

[CrazyDuck]

I can think of only a couple of reasons someone would want an expired ticket... they want to use it to try and scam someone into buying a used pass... or more likely they want to try and use your tickets to try and upgrade them to a 2, 3 or more day hopper or an annual pass. If you paid full price $94 for a single day hopper, using your ticket to upgrade they could possibly upgrade to a So Cal Select annual pass for only $40... But that's just my guess!

 

[chrissiecutie]

I agree with Crazy Duck. They were most likely trying to find a ticket to use to upgrade. I remember seeing something about this very same thing on the boards awhile ago.

 

[DL4my2kids]

We were in Disneyland a couple of weeks ago and had a strange thing happen that I'm not sure what to make of it. Thought maybe some of you on here could offer some explanation for what it was all about. As we were leaving the park around 11:00 or so to wait in line for the tram back to the parking garage we were approached by 2 ladies (early 30's I'd say) and the one very politely asked me if she could ask me a very unusual question. She wanted to know if by any chance we had purchased a 1 day park admission and if we still had our tickets would we be willing to let her have them or she could give us something for them if we wanted. I told her we were keeping them for the kid's scrapbooks so she politely thanked us anyway and approached someone else with her request for 2 tickets. My question is what was that all about seeing as of course our tickets had already been used by us to go to the park that day? Have never had that happen before in all our time of going there!

When we were headed back to our room but a man and woman with a little girl approached us for our tickets. I felt so bad for the little girl and I know there are so many scammers out there but we were only on day 1 of our 5 day passes so I was definately not handing over any of ours.

 

[Sherry E]

The only other thing I can think of - and this doesn't make it right or 'un-weird' - is that, if this was a night that the park closed at midnight, maybe they needed to run into the park and buy something or ride something in that last hour and wanted to do it for free. But. more than likely, it is what the PP's have said. They probably wanted to catch people who were leaving and would not be needing the 1-day tickets anymore so they could run to the ticket booths and upgrade them to Hoppers. It is not necessarily a BAD idea to do that, per se, if you are trying to save some cash and you maybe know someone personally who has a ticket and will let you use theirs, but to approach strangers with that request is going to be very off-putting. I don't know, though, I can see that some people in some cases, who don't need the tickets for souvenirs, might have said, "Sure! Why not? You can have our tickets." And some folks might have gone running for the hills in fear!

Oh well. Gotta give them an "A" for effort!

 

[PinkBudgie]

If the purpose is to upgrade off of someone else's ticket, then I will call that "wrong". We saved up to buy our tickets and they can do that too. And if they are locals they get a lot better deal than we do.

 

[Sherry E]

The thing that I have the most problem with is the fact that the girls approached them (the OP) and asked for something. That in and of itself is creepy. In this day and age, you never know who is approaching you and what they will do - criminals come in all shapes and sizes. However, I would have absolutely no problem at all handing my one-day ticket or Park Hopper over to a friend once I was done with it so they could upgrade if maybe they were having financial trouble and couldn't afford the full amount, and my friends would have no trouble doing that for me. That is what friends are for - you help each other out. To me, that is not a big deal. AND, I would even do it for a stranger in the right circumstances. If I had a one-day/one-park ticket or a one-day Park Hopper, and I was leaving the park(s) at 7:00 p.m. and was totally done with the ticket, and I saw or heard someone at the ticket booth who seemed to need the help, I would gladly hand over my ticket and/or Park Hopper and say, "Here. If this helps you in any way, you can have it..." I think it would be a nice gesture. I can empathize with not having any money to go but wanting to go to DL badly, so I am not going to penalize someone for that. BUT, the key is, I would want to MAKE the offer to them myself. I don't want strangers approaching me and asking for things. That takes some nerve and instantly puts people on the defensive. But if I could offer my ticket to someone of my choice, in my opinion, I would think, Hey, why let the remaining hours of the day go to waste? Let them use the ticket! If they can do somehting with it, more power to them.

But, the way these two girls kind of approached the OP, it makes me think they were sizing people up, trying to decide who looked the most likely to do it. They sound like grifters! And they probably did have some money to get their own tickets. If they were going to have the nerve to approach strangers to ask for something in the first place, they should have at least had SOME money in hand to offer in return! A twenty dollar bill or something!

 

[PinkBudgie]

Yes, that's it. I don't like strange people coming up and asking me for something. I'm just naturally suspicious.

More than once on our trips down to S. CA. someone would come up to us at a gas station and ask for "gas money to get home". It is just annoying because you know it's a scam. Like you said, I want to choose who give to.

 

[Sherry E]

Yes, that's it. I don't like strange people coming up and asking me for something. I'm just naturally suspicious.

More than once on our trips down to S. CA. someone would come up to us at a gas station and ask for "gas money to get home". It is just annoying because you know it's a scam. Like you said, I want to choose who give to.

Yes, at a gas station, I would instantly feel like someone was about to rob me! That is no good at all. And there are probably a lot of scam artists roaming around the perimeters of DLR, thinking that all the guests have lots of money, and preying on them, waiting to pounce. Never mind the fact that so many people/families literally save up for an entire year just to be able to go for a few days/nights or so. Yes, I would much rather pick who I give my ticket or Hopper to. I don't like the 'approach factor' at all, and as I said, at least if you are going to do that, have the decency to wave some cash around to make it a little less intimidating!!! I wonder how young these girls were. It seems like something that younger girls/young adults would do - because they still have that sense of entitlement and lack respect!

 

[Disney Dreams]

If the purpose is to upgrade off of someone else's ticket, then I will call that "wrong". We saved up to buy our tickets and they can do that too. And if they are locals they get a lot better deal than we do.

Locals pay the exact same price for an AP as everyone else.

 

[dizneekrazee]

Locals pay the exact same price for an AP as everyone else.

Unless they are getting a SoCal AP.

 

[XTinabell]

It's too bad you didn't ask them why they wanted your tickets. But I would have to agree with the others, sounds like they were trying to upgrade. I've also heard of people getting fast passes with expired tickets so maybe they were gonna try that

 

[lampardcl]

Back in may on a sunday night at around 11.00pm i was approached by 2 teenaged girls out the front of big thunder, anyway the girl was distressed that she had lost her and her friends entry pass.She then went on to explain that she was told if she presented a pass to guest services before closure they would sell her another day at the cheaper rate.

 

[Sherry E]

Back in may on a sunday night at around 11.00pm i was approached by 2 teenaged girls out the front of big thunder, anyway the girl was distressed that she had lost her and her friends entry pass.She then went on to explain that she was told if she presented a pass to guest services before closure they would sell her another day at the cheaper rate.

Yep! I would say that your post compared with the OP's post says it all. Look at the comon themes in the two stories - both you and the OP were approached by two females, which is less intimidating than two males. And Both you and the OP were apporached at around 11:00 p.m. I would say this seems to be a definite scam. They know when to pounce on visitors leaving, so they wait until 11:00 p.m. or late at night. It seems like in the OP's case, the girls didn't even try to pull a lame excuse. They just asked for the tickets. In your case, they tried to be clever and give you a story. And I bet the stories get more and more heartbreaking each time they approach people. When I go in October, IF we happen to be up and walking around at 11:00 p.m. (unlikely, we are usually down for the count at that time), I am going to keep an eagle eye out for groups of two females together. If anyone like that approaches me, I will say, "All right. You can have my tickets if you PAY ME SOME MONEY."

I don't know if Disney security would even attempt to do anything about this 'scam,' because they may say that as long as the girls have not stolen anything from you or taken something against your will, it is okay to ask for tickets that are pretty much almost expired anyway. It IS nervy and morally wrong, but it is not really committing a crime, per se.