Universal E-tickets from your printer - NO EXCHANGE! About This Page:

[WillCAD]

Having had a Universal AP for my last 3 trips, I haven't had to buy Uni tickets in a while, so this was news to me.

A friend of mine recently bought tickets on-line via the Universal web site (the 7 consecutive day 2-Park Unlimited Admission ticket, currently on special). When he bought his tickets, he printed them out from the web browser on his home printer; these printouts had the actual barcodes on them that would get him into the park.

I was sure that he would have to go to Guest Relations once inside the park and exchange these home printer papers for the common barcoded ticket media, but the TMs at the gate told him that those printouts from his home printer would be his actual ticket for the whole week!

Not wanting to carry a simple piece of inkjet printer paper around for a week as his ticket media, he went to Guest Relations anyway and raised a ruckus; The TMs at Guest Relations told him the same thing as the TMs at the gate - those home printed pages would be his ticket media for the week. If they were lost or destroyed, he could come to Guest Relations, show ID, and have them re-printed - but again, on cheap printer paper, not as standard ticket media.

The TM at Guest Relations did take pity on my friend and convert his flimsy home printer paper over to standard ticket media. But she made it clear to him that this was actually against the official policy.

I think this is the dumbest, stingiest, cheapest, most penny-pinching cost saving move Universal has ever made. Fer cryin' out loud, look at the number of posts on various boards where people complain about the flimsiness of the standard pasteboard ticket media used by Disney and Universal (which are actually Tyvec and just as sturdy as the plastic cards) - how do you think these folks are going to react when they find out they have to carry around a piece of computer printer paper for the length of their trip?!

[bradk]

honestly, i wouldn't have expected them to exchange the tickets. granted they're supposed to last a week, anytime you print a ticket at home, i don't expect them to be exchanged for the traditional thing, like ticketmaster for example.

i've even opted to not do that sort of thing anymore unless i absolutely must. i know universal does have a willcall option and they even have automated machines that you can use long before the ticket booths open. i don't know what type of media they spit out though (you can only pick up tickets there, you can't purchase them).

i do agree that in the interest of customer service, they shouldn't have put up such a huge fight, but when it comes to money, this is a company that's cheap by necessity, not out of greed.

[chezp]

I'm surprised by that. I would have thought (not knowing much about these things) that Universal would want to issue tickets, so they can go through the machines, as surely that gives them information they can use in the future - for example, which parks people visit and at what times?

[bradk]

i don't think they use machines like WDW does if i recall correctly. they have a laser scanner for barcodes.

[Colexis Mom]

Thanks for the info! We did the Will Call option and printed out our tickets from the machine the last time. I think I'll opt for that again in the future

[BarryH]

I use Print at Home tickets all the time at Sea World and Universal. I've never had a problem. I only use them for special event tickets (like Halloween Horror Nights) or one-day tickets. If I order a multiday ticket, I'm going to do the eticket Kiosk option. I know the paper tickets I print out will never last more than a day or so. Besides, the Kiosk option is only 99 cents more and they're really easy to use.

I did do the Print at Home option for the Pirates and Princesses Party at the Magic Kingdom. It printed out fine, but the machines could not read the bar code. I doubt if WDW will use that option in the future. Even if they did, I would not print out a multiday ticket from my home computer because I don't think it will last the abuse I put them through.

[HiddenMickey]

Wierd. I would never have thought that would be the policy.

I also didn't think there was a fee to use the E-kiosks. I don't remember paying one the two times we've used them in the past.

[Colexis Mom]

Originally Posted by HiddenMickey

I also didn't think there was a fee to use the E-kiosks. I don't remember paying one the two times we've used them in the past.

I don't remember a charge either last year when we used them : I'm pretty sure it was free for our tickets

[Kismet2213]

This will be the first time that we (my daughter and me) have ever been there, however, hubby has been there a few times before. Hubby printed off the tickets with the barcodes. Yup, and we got the 2 day option. It sort of hit me when I started thinking....we have NO idea what to expect completely, and we ended up printing them on to card stock..LOL. Our "tickets" consume the whole page, with all the mumbo jumbo printed on it.

I do wish they would have been a smaller print. Going to take a small backpack, with a ziploc freezer bag, and carry them with me that way. Since i have no idea if they have water rides, i want to be prepared. I dont want to get them all wet, and have to go thru the crud to replace our purchase of tix.

[GoofyMom]

That charge for getting the tickets from the kiosk must be new or else it was incredibly poorly advertised -- I never knew there was a charge for using the kiosk.

Originally Posted by Kismet2213

This will be the first time that we (my daughter and me) have ever been there, however, hubby has been there a few times before. Hubby printed off the tickets with the barcodes. Yup, and we got the 2 day option. It sort of hit me when I started thinking....we have NO idea what to expect completely, and we ended up printing them on to card stock..LOL. Our "tickets" consume the whole page, with all the mumbo jumbo printed on it.

I do wish they would have been a smaller print. Going to take a small backpack, with a ziploc freezer bag, and carry them with me that way. Since i have no idea if they have water rides, i want to be prepared. I dont want to get them all wet, and have to go thru the crud to replace our purchase of tix.

You will definitely need to protect your tickets from water - there are a couple of rides that will get you wetter than you get when you take a shower!

[Jennifer2003]

They charge you if you print at home, too. 99 cents a ticket.

Thanks for the heads up on the policy. I'll be sure to bring a ziplock baggie for my tickets. I'll also make sure to pass the information along to clients when I book their trips as well.