Sunday Morning Ticket Booth Lines?

[matthewthompson87]

Heading to try for a RotR Boarding Group tomorrow, Sunday 2/2... and realized I need to perform an upgrade ticket transaction before entering DL.

Best predictions when I should get there with RotR, Sunday, and Super Bowl crowds for the best chance at getting through the ticket booth process.

I haven’t seen anything about how crazy the ticket lines/booths are with Rise’s opening... just lots on the security and gate line reports.

 

[BlueRibbon]

The few days I've gone, the lines at the ticket booths aren't anything out of the ordinary. Goes without saying though,get there early!

In years past, the lines at the ticket booths moved at a fairly good clip because people just needed tickets and that was that. These days you have to assume that people for the most part are going to the ticket booths because there's a situation that couldn't be rectified online. So even though the line is short, it can still take a while.

Sorry, I can't help myself here, but the last time I was in a line at the DL ticket booths I recalled a time at Target where I was stuck behind a lady who challenged the price of 3 items - "Well..it said $1.99 on the shelf!" I was preparing myself to hear her say "Why won't you accept my out of state, 3rd party check!!??"

 

[twodogs]

We had to pick up an AP card (already purchased on the app), and this took about 2 minutes at the window a few weeks ago. We had to upgrade tickets to APs in October, and this seemingly very simple transaction (no payment plan or anything at all complicated) took the CM over 45 minutes to complete. No idea why it took that long.

That is to say, some parties will have a quick visit to GS, and others may tie up one GS person for almost an hour without really having a major issue at all. When we went early in the morning in October, there were only 2 windows open (went at 7am, parks opened at 8). When we went in the evening in January (opening night of ROTR, no less), they had 6 windows open. Even still, there were about 4 parties ahead of us in line, and we waited in the line over 30 minutes.

So, give yourself ample time to wait at GS (I would count on 45 minutes to 1 hour to stand in the GS line and complete your transaction). It might be much less than this, but remember that there are some folks who will be there complaining about the fact that they missed out on ROTR the day before when their group didn’t get called etc. Who knows. If you have another person in your party, you could possibly send them to get in line at one of the gates, and then you could join them after you finish at GS (please don’t flame me!). However, if all of you need to upgrade a ticket, you may all have to be present at GS. When we upgraded tickets to Flex pass in October, I let my DD sleep in that morning since we had been at the Oogie boogie bash the night before, and the CM said she could not upgrade anyone’s ticket who was not physically there at the GS booth. So we had a grumpy little camper at GS shortly thereafter!

Good luck and MTFBWY on getting your ROTR BG!!

 

[matthewthompson87]

We had to pick up an AP card (already purchased on the app), and this took about 2 minutes at the window a few weeks ago. We had to upgrade tickets to APs in October, and this seemingly very simple transaction (no payment plan or anything at all complicated) took the CM over 45 minutes to complete. No idea why it took that long.

That is to say, some parties will have a quick visit to GS, and others may tie up one GS person for almost an hour without really having a major issue at all. When we went early in the morning in October, there were only 2 windows open (went at 7am, parks opened at 8). When we went in the evening in January (opening night of ROTR, no less), they had 6 windows open. Even still, there were about 4 parties ahead of us in line, and we waited in the line over 30 minutes.

So, give yourself ample time to wait at GS (I would count on 45 minutes to 1 hour to stand in the GS line and complete your transaction). It might be much less than this, but remember that there are some folks who will be there complaining about the fact that they missed out on ROTR the day before when their group didn’t get called etc. Who knows. If you have another person in your party, you could possibly send them to get in line at one of the gates, and then you could join them after you finish at GS (please don’t flame me!). However, if all of you need to upgrade a ticket, you may all have to be present at GS. When we upgraded tickets to Flex pass in October, I let my DD sleep in that morning since we had been at the Oogie boogie bash the night before, and the CM said she could not upgrade anyone’s ticket who was not physically there at the GS booth. So we had a grumpy little camper at GS shortly thereafter!

Good luck and MTFBWY on getting your ROTR BG!!

Thank you! This was very helpful!

 

[WonkaKid]

Best predictions when I should get there with RotR, Sunday, and Super Bowl crowds for the best chance at getting through the ticket booth process.

I’ve been to DL for the past four or five Super Bowls. Unfortunately, the big game seems to have little if any effect on park crowds. The same thing has happened with all big national events: The Oscars, Grammys, etc. The only thing that seems to make any difference (and not always) is rain. However, if it’s a big holiday like Thanksgiving, people’s plans are not changed easily so in those circumstances, rain keeps nearly no one away.

As to when to arrive, it seems that a lot of people get there far earlier than usual. 5:00 seems typical. I arrive at the park gates around 7:00 and for the past two Sundays lines have been at least halfway to DCA by that time. However, arriving earlier doesn’t seem to have any impact on BGs. As long as you’re in the park by 8:00, you’ve got the same chance as everyone else (it seems to me).

 

[matthewthompson87]

FYI— cars lined up down Harbor at 6:15am waiting to get into Toy Story lot. Looks like that’s the first bottleneck for an early Sunday arrival.

 

[WonkaKid]

I’m here now (lines were all the way to DCA and even *into* the scanning kiosks). Lines at the ticket booths looked nearly nonexistent.

 

[matthewthompson87]

I’m here now (lines were all the way to DCA and even *into* the scanning kiosks). Lines at the ticket booths looked nearly nonexistent.
View attachment 470315

Yes, they had maybe 6 ticket windows open at Harbor side. I was glad to see them so well prepared this Sunday.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Question...what ticket are you upgrading that requires to be done prior to first entry that day vs by end of that day?

...asking cuz you may not need to wait in ticket line first thing.

 

[matthewthompson87]

Question...what ticket are you upgrading that requires to be done prior to first entry that day vs by end of that day?

...asking cuz you may not need to wait in ticket line first thing.

Fortunately there weren’t any lines and many windows open.

To answer your question, we had 2 day convention tickets for a visit later this year, but two of us found ourselves able to make a spontaneous visit yesterday. With a Southern CA resident ticket deal, we could add a third day for $4.

I debated trying to see if the convention tickets would get us in then upgrade later... (the verbiage on the ticket only says “expires 13 days after XXX” (doesn’t mention a first use date anywhere, despite the purchase interface saying so online).

The ticket booth lines were much longer as we were exiting for the day at 3pm than they were at 7:15am.