Black market for park tickets is dark side of Orlando tourism

A black market for park tickets has grown up in this theme park mecca with illegal transactions occurring every day in the heart of its fantasy fueled tourist district. Detective Kelly Boaz of the Orange County Sheriff's Office says illegal ticket sales is a multimillion dollar business.

"There is a lot of money out there in this type of activity," said Boaz, who works in a seven-person special unit dedicated to the theme parks.

This underground market is an unintended consequence of annual ticket-price increases and the popularity of multi-day passes that have made the tickets very valuable. A single-day ticket to a park costs almost $60, while a four-day park hopper, granting entry into all four Disney parks in Orlando, can cost $220 a person.

"The theme parks have always been an incredible experience that some people treat as a commodity," said Universal Orlando spokesman Tom Schroder. "So as long as there have been theme parks and theme park tickets, there have been people trying to take advantage of that."

The black market also has been fueled by the proliferation of booths selling discounted tickets in almost every major hotel and restaurant, or in front of every tacky T-shirt shop, in Orlando's tourist district.

The number of booths has increased in recent years from several dozen to 200 or 300. Many of the booths are run by timeshare companies that use the tickets as an incentive to get tourists to see their properties. They can rent for as much as $15,000 a month.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/business/12550068.htm

I'm not sure I am understanding this article. Is the problem conterfeit tickets? or selling previously used tickets that have some days left on them.

Casshew said:

I'm not sure I am understanding this article. Is the problem conterfeit tickets? or selling previously used tickets that have some days left on them.

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From the way I understood it, the problem is both counterfeit tickets and tickets that were purchased with stolen credit cards. The tickets were then given away as a draw/promotion for the time share apts- to get people to attend sales meetings. Some tickets were also sold outright at a reduced rate.

Disney is a very expensive place! I can understand people wanting to get a deal on admission. They probably check around for deals and don't even realize they are from shady sources.

I just recently had a conversation with a tourist wanting directions to a town just off the turnpike where he had heard he could get tickets for 25.00. I have never seen or heard of anything like that, except as you said, as an incentive provided by a timeshare group. I have lived here for 35 years, mostly dealing with tourists.

Beyond Belief said:

I just recently had a conversation with a tourist wanting directions to a town just off the turnpike where he had heard he could get tickets for 25.00. I have never seen or heard of anything like that, except as you said, as an incentive provided by a timeshare group. I have lived here for 35 years, mostly dealing with tourists.

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My last trip to Fla. was a few years back, but I remember there were signs all over I75 advertising discounted tickets and tickets in exchange for time share promotions. The signs were usually smaller/ not with pictures- very simple signs. I remember wondering at the time, how they could sell the tickets at such a reduced rate.

The only reduced rates I found were from Triple A. Florida residents get a small break certain times of the year. May 15, I took my nine yr old grandson to Universal studios, it was 115.00 to get in there for the two of us. Of course the place was practically empty with that admission fee so we had a great time.

Beyond Belief said:

I just recently had a conversation with a tourist wanting directions to a town just off the turnpike where he had heard he could get tickets for 25.00. I have never seen or heard of anything like that, except as you said, as an incentive provided by a timeshare group. I have lived here for 35 years, mostly dealing with tourists.

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Yee Haw Junction has advertised discount theme park tickets for years. I have found the best deals, if you are a Florida resident is the Fla resident specials usually offered 3 or 4 times a year. I used to have a discount card that offered a special rate but it was never as low as the Fla resident rate.