Usually love Marci Gras and a concert.....

[lyndrajo3]

But tonight was a waste. We have Premier Annual passes and use them for mostly maradi grad parades and concerts, Halloween Horror Nights and Grinchmas. Didn't have any issues last year really at Mardi Gras and the various concerts but tonight was a joke. We were not aware of the new protocol of requiring a separate ticket for the concert. This is new. I think passholders should have been notified of this via mass emails or such. We could have planned accordingly to the new requirements. We had great seats for the parade (and NO it was not in the "special viewing area for passholders")

Not only could we not see the stage but nor were we able to see the jumbo screens. And we couldn't even hear the concert above all of the Mardi gras music still being played during the concert. It would only make sense to pipe the concert music throughout the park for all paying guests to hear. It would help with customer service/complaints as well and maker for happier guests at the end of the night.

I KNOW I wasn't the only unhappy Premier Passholder! Unbelievable and unacceptable Universal. I guess Universal has "gotten too big for their own britches" as my Grandma would say. They must have forgotten who has actually helped raise their attendance numbers- patrons and revolving patrons at that. Guess we won't be renewing our passes anytime soon.

 

[Timmy Boy]

Well I wouldn't not renew your passes after one bad incident. I didn't know there was a separate ticket for the concert, I thought it was included for the day?

 

[donaldduck352]

We were not aware of the new protocol of requiring a separate ticket for the concert. This is new.

Separat ticket for concerts??When this start??

 

[damo]

You shouldn't have needed separate tickets. It is included with your normal ticket or annual pass. Someone was terribly misinformed at the gates if that was what was going on. http://www.universalorlando.com/Events/Mardi-Gras/Overview.aspx

I don't have any issue with the music only being played near the stage. A lot of that music that they play at the concerts I wouldn't want to hear.

I can imagine that the Kelly Clarkson concert would have been an absolute zoo and that people would have been saving their spot around the stage for hours and hours.

 

[Metro West]

Separat ticket for concerts??When this start??

This must have been a special thing for Kelly Clarkson due to the crowds that would be there. There was no separate ticket last week so I'm thinking this must have been only for tonight. I doubt there was a charge for it but I do remember something from last year about a different entrance for the concert only...but again I doubt there was a charge.

Last week was great but KC brought a lot more people in than the B-52s did.

I KNOW I wasn't the only unhappy Premier Passholder! Unbelievable and unacceptable Universal. I guess Universal has "gotten too big for their own britches" as my Grandma would say. They must have forgotten who has actually helped raise their attendance numbers- patrons and revolving patrons at that. Guess we won't be renewing our passes anytime soon.

That's your choice not to renew of course but last week's parade and concert were great so tonight must have been something different...and the ticket situation was mainly for some sort of crowd control I suspect. But you're right...if anything was going to be different, they should have notified everyone since Kelly Clarkson's concert was the first show announced. It's too bad you won't be a passholder any longer but that's the way it goes sometimes I guess. I will continue to enjoy Mardi Gras and HHN to the fullest regardless what might happen on any given night.

 

[atricks]

Kelly Clarkson is a special case concert, we got there around 5 and saw the ticket thing, but quickly realized it was mostly for those who got there to keep people from camping out the concert area the whole day.

They let everyone in special ticket or not around 6:15 and we still got pretty close to the stage without any ticket (Just one section back from the front)

We realized pretty quickly that it was either parade or concert, but not both then.

 

[damo]

Kelly Clarkson is a special case concert, we got there around 5 and saw the ticket thing, but quickly realized it was mostly for those who got there to keep people from camping out the concert area the whole day.

They let everyone in special ticket or not around 6:15 and we still got pretty close to the stage without any ticket (Just one section back from the front)

We realized pretty quickly that it was either parade or concert, but not both then.

So you didn't have to pay extra for the ticket?

 

[atricks]

So you didn't have to pay extra for the ticket?

No. There was no extra pay ticket other than our regular annual passes to get into the park.

They were giving the queue time tickets (for free ala fast past/potter queue) for those who camped out super early (like when the park opened) just for the concert so they could go away and enjoy the park and come back without losing their "spot", and they were let in before the masses, but that was about it. The queue ticketed people amounted to pretty much the areas right at the front of the stage.

The communication of all that was pretty bad though.

I can't see them doing this for most of the concerts, as it probably was just a special case for Clarkson.

 

[Jason71]

I know they used a separate line for the concert area last year (as I mentioned in at least one or two other posts on here prior to the show--and several of us said don't expect to see both the parade AND the concert). Honestly, this "FastPass" like system seems like a better option.

 

[cheerbaybee]

I think the pass idea was amazing. I have a perferred annual pass and I got to the park at 10 to start waiting in line. instead of having people wait in line you got a return time. because i arrived early my time was for 3:50. the earliest was 3:00. That meant i had from 10:30- 3:50 to enjoy the park and not have to wait. I am a big kelly clarkson fan so i knew that it would be busy. I ended up being 3rd row from the stage and it was a great show. I actually hope Universal consider keeping it this way. That way you arent wasting an entire day waiting for the concert to begin at 8:30..


Maybe i am the only one.

 

[cheerbaybee]

sorry... a double post.

 

[PammyK]

I have to say I've actually been surprised at how well controlled things have been for the concerts this year. Someone has obviously overhauled their crowd control protocols and it has been a much more pleasant and much less frightening situation, IMO. Especially since the crowds for Kelly Clarkson seemed really massive last night.

Granted, I didn't even try to get near the stage (crowds like that make me anxious), but we were able to find a spot with views of the video screens that didn't make me feel like a sardine in a can and I was fine with that.

I do wish they could have lowered the volume or turned off the Mardi Gras theme music in other areas of the park, but we just made our way closer to the concert venue and were fine.

 

[Metro West]

I have to say I've actually been surprised at how well controlled things have been for the concerts this year. Someone has obviously overhauled their crowd control protocols and it has been a much more pleasant and much less frightening situation, IMO. Especially since the crowds for Kelly Clarkson seemed really massive last night.

I agree and was pleasantly surprised by the way people left after the concert last week. I'd had some bad experiences previously of people pushing and shoving to leave the park but it went w/o a hitch. I didn't go last night mainly because of the crowds but I'm looking forward to Diana Ross next weekend.

 

[phamton]

I can't see them doing this for most of the concerts, as it probably was just a special case for Clarkson.

Yep, you're correct. Last night was set up differently because of the popularity of the concert.

 

[DOOM1001]

Anybody there right now for the Boyz II Men concert can you let us know if they were doing the ticket thing for them also.I saw them at the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot in October and they packed that place like I had never seen before so I'm assuming the concert area has to be packed in like sardines tonight.I'll be there for Diana Ross next week but I'll be doing Sea World for the BBQ event and concert during the day and will probably get to Universal about 6:30 so I'm thinking I'll be nowhere near the front,that's OK as I want to see the parade as last year waiting for Frankie Valli and the Beach Boys I never got to sniff the parade,first time in years I didn't get any beads.

 

[TheRealDrDisney]

I have to say I've actually been surprised at how well controlled things have been for the concerts this year. Someone has obviously overhauled their crowd control protocols and it has been a much more pleasant and much less frightening situation, IMO. Especially since the crowds for Kelly Clarkson seemed really massive last night.

Granted, I didn't even try to get near the stage (crowds like that make me anxious), but we were able to find a spot with views of the video screens that didn't make me feel like a sardine in a can and I was fine with that.

Hi Pammy - not to doubt you, but just to offer an additional POV...

My wife and I watched the parade from in front of Macy's and walked with the crowd down to the corner in front of the Twister store to view the concert. We could see a big screen over the corner bar and could kind-of see the stage. People kept coming and crushing in, pushing through, spilling beer, knocking people down... the whole deal.

Also came the people shouting "wheelchair coming through - move!" or the same thing with strollers. The crowd was so packed that no one could move. We did the best we could, but toes were rolled over, people were pushed, children were knocked down. There was yelling, swearing... it was pretty ugly. Honestly, we would have left if we felt we could have done so safely.

We would have loved to see more yellow shirted security personnel, some roped off walkways for the folks with mobility issues or children, and just some general enforcement (say, throwing out the people pushing through and spilling beer).

Just my 2 cents...

 

[cheerbaybee]

What you guys have to realize is that Kelly Clarkson is on tour right now. I went to her concert in Jacksonville and it was exactly the same except for the fan favorite. What Kelly did was instead of going to bob carr or amway for her Orlando stop, she went to Universal. What she performed was her whole concert not just an hour of her time. She didn’t have an Orlando stop for this tour. The same is going to happen for Big time rush. They will be on tour and they do not have a Florida date at all for this tour. The Universal Concert will be the only one.
I knew I wanted to be as close to the stage as possible, and if it weren’t for traffic to Orlando I would have been in the opening group. Kelly Clarkson is huge..