Stupid Guest Tricks

Oh, okay. That makes more sense.

So that just means as usual SGs expecting VIP treatment no matter WHERE they go, yes?

Is the upgrade at Universal really worth that though?

I've been to Universal. Once. Back in 02 before I left California. (Yes, I have moved from Indiana, to California, back to Indiana, then back to California. I'm a sadist.)

It was kinda like DCA for me in a way....cool, but I didn't find enough to spend all day on, even without spending extra money to get shorter lines. Saw everything we wanted, caught Mummy Returns at the theater at Citywalk, had a nice calm dinner, shopping, and was still back at a decent hour.

Just...ya know...weird stuff. Oh well, better get used to it. Summer's coming!
T

Claudia-

Not the person to answer that...I do tours for a living.

The thing with the Universal express pass is that you only get to do each ride ONCE for that price. They scan your ticket so that you can't repeat. Maybe worth it on a really crowded day...we do it for the haunted houses for Halloween Horror Nights at it's worth every penny. But for "normal" days we have an annual Premier Pass that allows us to use the express line as much as we want after 4 p.m. so I'm pretty spoiled.

At the Universal in Orlando, guests who stay in Universal resorts are automatically express passed into the major rides once. Perhaps they got their tickets through their resort and thought Disney worked the same way?

Syndrome wrote:But for "normal" days we have an annual Premier Pass that allows us to use the express line as much as we want after 4 p.m. so I'm pretty spoiled.

Ah, so you are those rich people who pay your way out of the line! (I just have a plain annual pass) The Universal express makes their wait time estimates really bad because there is no rate limiting to how many can pile in at once. They also do a MISERABLE job of defending the line from SGs.

smart1hermione wrote:What is are "No Strings Attached" or "re-admittance" cards?

I can't answer about the re-admittance cards but I can about the No Strings as I see them somewhat regularly in merchandise.

No Strings Attached are essentially coupons a CM can fill out to compensate a guest for something. Say I see a guest drop his popcorn, I could fill out a No Strings for him to use to get a new popcorn for free. Guest Relations uses them occasionally to replace a guest's lost or damaged camera, hat, or something similar. Today a Dream Squad member used one to get some bottled water for the Grand Marshals for the parade from the Firehouse while I was working in there (the VIP area where they watch from is in front of the Firehouse).

They can also be used due to wait time issues.

The other day I was at DAK. I checked and BW was on a truck so I used my Fast Pass for Safari. As I'm getting to the platform I see him pull away so I knew I'd have to wait a while and was willing to. I tell the CM on the platform I want to ride with BW and he has me wait to the side. Well, about the time BW should be back from his round the CM checks and it turns out BW got sent to break right after his round even though the coordinators were told someone was waiting for his truck. As compensation for me waiting 20 minutes to ride in BW's truck and not being able to the CM writes me out a No Strings to skip line at any attraction in DAK. I never used it and have it around here somewhere.

Big Wallaby wrote:Maybe she got it at a timeshare presentation? You know they'll make wild claims just to get you in the door.

A Mainland friend purchased a timeshare in the Westin at the bottom of our hill. He invited over and said they were in the north wing. We walked into the lobby and turned right expecting to see an elevator but all there were was unmarked doors.

There saw two guys who were obviously timeshare salesmen so we asked where the elevator was. One volunteered to show us. As we were walking down the hallway it became apparent the unmarked doors were the closing rooms.

I told my wife, "These are sales rooms. If it was earlier in the day we'd hear cries of, 'Where's my free gift?' 'If you don't sign today the price goes up $10,000.' 'There is no property tax.' 'There is no fee simple property left in Hawaii.' "

Every time I said something the salesman's head jerked. That's why all the locals call them crimeshares.

LittleDollClaudia wrote:It's all Universal's fault. You pay like an extra 15 bucks and yes, you do get front of the line (no waiting). Apparently, from what I've heard though theirs works a little different from Disney's Fastpass. There's no time limit that you have to wait between attractions.

If I'm wrong, please enlighten me.

Universal in LA does have a front of line pass for extra money. It works great. You also get early entry to shows and get to see behind the scenes stuff. The best was the Waterworld show. We got in early to get front and center seats and also got to watch the set being reset for the next show.

When I worked at Knott's, I seem to remember guests asking if we had any front of line passes. When told no, they'd say, "Disney has them!" and our answer was, "This isn't Disney". Though I had one troublemaking guest get me into trouble for saying that when she complained about Knott's closing at 10 p.m. instead of midnight like Disneyland. :mad: Idiots.