Overheard in the ticket line

[LittleDollClaudia]

So today I am in the ticket booth line to find out about my annual pass redemption, and this couple is behind me. If they are members on this board, I apologize. But wow, common sense would have voided this entire discussion.

Since I have no MP3 player, I am forced to listen to their inane conversation which went something like this:

SG1 :"So, what's that? So Cal people can pay as little 5 bucks a month for an annual pass?"
SG2: "I don't get that either. How can they do that?"
SG1: "Why should those people get preferred treatment? I have to pay $400 for my Premium Pass at once. How is that fair?"

A few moments of quiet... and then...

SG1: "You know honey, since it is your birthday, you're going to get the gift card, not that re-admin, right?"
SG2: "Of course, and then we'll queue up for that show we want to see just as soon as the Cast Member says it's okay."
SG1: "You know, they really should give us a gift card for making us wait so long to get in."
SG2: "You're right! I will complain when we get to the ticket window."


I was having such a hard time not turning around and saying, "Okay, first off, if you're not a So Cal resident, why the hell would you even buy a year pass unless you are stationed here which I feel is highly unlikely? (neither one of them were in that kind of shape, if you know what I mean.) I feel that's extremely fair as more local people will have the joy of being able to visit Disneyland when they couldn't before."

"Also, the fact that you're getting in on your birthday for free AND getting a gift worth about $60 is pretty generous, don't you think? Some families save up for years to get here and you are complaining about 15 lousy minutes? Guess what, this is probably the shortest line you'll be in all day. Besides the fact that who waits until 3pm to arrive at Disneyland, really?"

It was just funny to hear them speak in Disney terms to make themselves feel important. Gah, I was a CM and I don't do that.

[Lasolimu]

There are a lot of reasons to get an AP if you are not a resident. I live in Utah and getting an AP would make a lot of sense because I tend to visit a lot. Then there was the time my Dad got an AP for WDW, we had some tickets that were still usable from our previous trip and so we figured out that getting one AP with just a couple park hoppers (I don't remember the number of days we needed) would be cheaper when you take the AP discounts into consideration. It was weird in that situation to find that getting one AP for one trip saved money, of course my parents went back later that year so he could use it one more time.

[EpcotFan]

I get APs for WDW despite living near Vancouver. I always get at least two trips out of a pass, usually around Food and Wine Festival time. (I'll go late Oct/early Nov one year and earlier in Oct the next). Of course, when I actually have a pass, it's sometimes tempting just to drop in for a shorter trip. Last year I fit in four days at WDW in the middle of a New York trip (NYC was just too expensive for the entire trip) and burned some frequent flyer miles in August for a 3-day weekend to see the Adventurers Club one last time before it closed.

[DisneyMom]

WOW, they can afford PAP's and complain that others can only afford payments on their SoCal passes? Totally Clueless :mad:
OTOH,I was waiting yesterday in line for the Journey into Africa Tour at the San Diego Wild Animal Park and there was a lady there complaining that Zoo Members got to take the tour for "Free" while others do not....
We only get there once or twice a year, but have been members for years as we go to both the Zoo and WAP so it doesn't cost much more to become members and get extra benefits, not to mention it helps the animals and employees there continue their lifestyles. :)

[missmonkey]

I have to delurk to say that LittleDollClaudia has captured the strange sense of entitlement that guests I've helped at the DLR have been displaying in connection to three things: the advent of the annual pass payment plan, the long lines since the holiday season and the birthday tickets.

Transactions at the ticket booths have been much longer in part because guests want to learn about the new payment plan for annual passes and because, when they do sign up for it, they enroll multiple family members who are often getting their first passes. Doing all of this takes time. I'm happy to do it as part of my job but also because families can now stretch their entertainment dollars and do something fun together. The part that irks me is the still-affluent numbskulls who can afford to pay for their Premium passes in one shot and then wonder out loud, with actual contempt in their voices, "Why would anyone bother to pay $5 a month for a pass? Just pay for it all at once!" Er, they bother because they are young or working-class families who can now afford to treat everyone in the family to something nice. It shouldn't -- but it does -- surprise me that there are some who have so little empathy for others who are having a hard time during the worst recession since the Depression.

Since transactions take a little longer, lines are a little longer. When you, Entitled Guest, get off of the tram, enter the esplanade and see the full queues at all eight ticket booths, no one is obligating you to get in the line. Surely you can judge how long your wait will be and extrapolate how crowded it will be inside the parks. I had one guest during the week of Christmas (when the queues extended from the front of the booths around to the back) who was absolutely furious by the time he got to my window. He said, "This is my official complaint. These lines are ridiculous. Ridiculous! We should never have to wait in lines this long!" I wondered if he was using the royal "we" and just said, "Oh, thank you for your comment. I'll make sure a manager knows about your wait." What I really wanted to do was ask which CM had held a gun to his head and forced him to wait in a line that was two hours long (by his estimate). I'm not surprised how many people continue to try and make their concerns into other people's problems.

As for the birthday tickets, I think that they're fun gifts. But the ticket (or an alternative gift, if you qualify) are all that's promised to you and all that you get. No, there are no front-of-line privileges associated with your Happy Birthday pin, there is no separate Birthday line at the Bank of Main St. to pick up your annual pass and no, there's nothing else. There are many hundreds of you celebrating the same thing today. Get some perspective on your speshulness and just say, "Thanks for the freebie!" On second thought, never mind about the thanks. I'd probably drop dead of shock.

Mostly, I wish, when confronted with the above situations, that I had enough of LDC's presence of mind to say some variation of her statement:

"Also, the fact that you're getting in on your birthday for free AND getting a gift worth about $60 is pretty generous, don't you think? Some families save up for years to get here and you are complaining about 15 lousy minutes? Guess what, this is probably the shortest line you'll be in all day. Besides the fact that who waits until 3pm to arrive at Disneyland, really?"

In a Disney way, of course!

[hobie16]

"We should never have to wait in lines this long!" I wondered if he was using the royal "we" and just said, "Oh, thank you for your comment.

He had the Pope in his pocket.

[dizneeluvr]

you mentioned the birthday day guest pass for admission to the park, we will be back again to WDW in sept. and during that visit both my husband and daughter will have a birthday. i know there is park admission (we will already have paid tickets) but is there anything else? also, my husband's driver license will show proof of birth, do we have to bring a photocopy of my daughter's birth certificate? thank you in advance to all who reply.

[GuestJockey]

Transactions at the ticket booths have been much longer in part because guests want to learn about the new payment plan for annual passes and because, when they do sign up for it, they enroll multiple family members who are often getting their first passes. Doing all of this takes time. I'm happy to do it as part of my job but also because families can now stretch their entertainment dollars and do something fun together. The part that irks me is the still-affluent numbskulls who can afford to pay for their Premium passes in one shot and then wonder out loud, with actual contempt in their voices, "Why would anyone bother to pay $5 a month for a pass? Just pay for it all at once!" Er, they bother because they are young or working-class families who can now afford to treat everyone in the family to something nice. It shouldn't -- but it does -- surprise me that there are some who have so little empathy for others who are having a hard time during the worst recession since the Depression.

Since transactions take a little longer, lines are a little longer. When you, Entitled Guest, get off of the tram, enter the esplanade and see the full queues at all eight ticket booths, no one is obligating you to get in the line. Surely you can judge how long your wait will be and extrapolate how crowded it will be inside the parks. I had one guest during the week of Christmas (when the queues extended from the front of the booths around to the back) who was absolutely furious by the time he got to my window. He said, "This is my official complaint. These lines are ridiculous. Ridiculous! We should never have to wait in lines this long!" I wondered if he was using the royal "we" and just said, "Oh, thank you for your comment. I'll make sure a manager knows about your wait." What I really wanted to do was ask which CM had held a gun to his head and forced him to wait in a line that was two hours long (by his estimate). I'm not surprised how many people continue to try and make their concerns into other people's problems.

As for the birthday tickets, I think that they're fun gifts. But the ticket (or an alternative gift, if you qualify) are all that's promised to you and all that you get. No, there are no front-of-line privileges associated with your Happy Birthday pin, there is no separate Birthday line at the Bank of Main St. to pick up your annual pass and no, there's nothing else. There are many hundreds of you celebrating the same thing today. Get some perspective on your speshulness and just say, "Thanks for the freebie!" On second thought, never mind about the thanks. I'd probably drop dead of shock.

Sounds like an average day in City Hall. At least the one guy complained about his wait right when he got to your window. I had a lady a few days ago who waited in the 15 minute line at City Hall, came in, waited until I had finished her Birthday transaction, THEN yelled at me for how long the line was, capping it off with "Some Birthday!!" I wanted to take her "fun card" back and kick her out, I couldn't believe it. We get all sorts of variations on the "Is this all we get?" statement in the hall. On the first day I had a girl come in who had gotten the FYOB ticket at the booths and upgraded it to a hopper, then she brought that in and tried to lie about it to get a "fun card", then when I called her on it but offered her a button, she slid it back across the counter quickly and said "What is THAT gonna do for me?" and stormed off. I almost quit that day.

[hobie16]

"What is THAT gonna do for me?"

If you take it, it may save you from a punch in the mouth. :twisted:

[GRUMPY PIRATE]

If you take it, it may save you from a punch in the mouth. :twisted:

Good one!

Jeez, what is it with all this greed. When we go to WDW, Its usually for out anniversary, just by planning, my birthday is a few days before.

Yes, DW makes me wear the button, but only during the day at the parks. Its fun, and even some little kids wished me a happy birthday. I also managed to see other kids with the button and wish them a happy birthday! (although a FEW of them seemed confuesd, perhaps it was not their birthday?)

I don't get that you need more that that, I mean after all YOU ARE AT WDW OR DLR!!!!! What better way to spend the day?

I guess a good reply to that 'Is that all I get?" questions would simply be: "No, you get wished a happy birthday from the best CM's here!!"