Attraction Focus

Have you been to Ripley’s Believe It or Not? We can get in free with a guest with our Fun Partners card. Take advantage of a visit here so when you sell to your guests, you can tell them all about it. This is a walk-through experience that takes anywhere from a hour to a hour and a half. Located on IDrive within walking distance of the Orlando Eye, your guests can enjoy sights that will dazzle and confuse them. Something that interested me while going is that they have a piece of the Berlin wall inside! Families and couples alike would enjoy a visit here. Try adding on the IDrive Experience while selling your tickets to Ripleys!

 

WALT DISNEY WORLD

With the new year comes new attractions! Floating mountains and bio luminescent plants can only mean one thing. We finally get to dive into Pandora with the world of Avatar opening in the summer at Animal Kingdom. Satu’li Canteen will be the main restaurant in Pandora. Guests will be able to experience two excursions that will truly push adventure to the next level. First, the family friendly Na’vi River Journey will send guests down a sacred river hidden within a bio luminescent rain forest. Their journey will end in an unforgettable encounter with a Na’vi Shaman, a figure who has a deep connection to the life force of Pandora. And second, the Avatar Flight of Passage excursion will offer the jaw-dropping experience of riding on a Banshee over the world of Pandora. Hopefully we will also get to see Rivers of Light in the summer as well.

Typhoon Lagoon is opening a new raft ride that will be the lengthiest ride in all their water parks called Miss Fortune Falls. This ride will open in the spring.

Regular ticket prices start January 4th, with Value season starting January 17-February 17. Rides closed: Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom) 1/3/17- 2/13/2017 and Liberty Square Riverboat (Magic Kingdom) 1/3/2017- 1/12/2017.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

New year, new attractions (AND WATER PARK!). Volcano Bay opens June 1st. Race Through New York with Jimmy Fallon opens in the spring. This will be a virtual reality ride with celebrity cameos all taking place in New York City. January 27-29 the park will host their annual Harry Potter Celebration which is INCLUDED with park admission.

Regular season for ticket prices start January 4th-17th, with Value season starting January 18-February 17.

SEAWORLD and LEGOLAND

Kraken will become a virtual reality coaster (Florida’s only one!) which is sure to be both scary and fun. In the summer, guests will get to see Electric Ocean which is an end of day show with bio luminescent lighting. Legoland’s LEGO NINJAGO World, a new immersive land opening January 12, 2017, features an interactive dark ride where guests can blast fire, lightning and ice with their hands. In addition, LEGOLAND Beach Retreat opens mid-2017.

TYPHOON LAGOON

Reminder that Typhoon Lagoon is closed 12/24/2016- 3/11/2017. Shark Reef has closed permanently. Blizzard Beach is open.

SPORTS EVENTS
Jan. 4 Orlando Magic vs. Atlanta Hawks. Jan. 5 Tennis Challenge (Amway). Jan. 6 Orlando Magic vs. Houston Rockets. *Call your leader on duty to purchase.

Employee Notes:

Orlando Balloon Rides is offering a GREAT holiday special. They have reduced their price to $145 for Adults and $80 Children from now until January 6th. This is almost $100 off the Adult price for the weekend rate! As an incentive, they are offering the AGS Team member who sells the most (minimum of 5) a free ride for you and a guest! Let’s suggest this to ALL our guests as a special memory to be made. SELL AWAY!

ITICKET POS USERS: ITicket has reset the server to implement some fixes on the system, so everyone should be back up and running without the “freezing” or glitches. If you are still experiencing problems or slow times, please e-mail support@iticketpos.com and let them know the problem along with your site code (the number at the top of your receipts).

Happy Anniversary to Steve M.12/31 (1 year)!

Happy Birthday to Valerie G (1/1), Yamilee (1/6) and Jenna (1/6)!

After Christmas, It’s New Years Celebrating!

Your guests want something fun to do at New Years! Here are a few suggestions, depending on who you are selling to.

Couples

• NYE at The Whiskey. Champagne toast, balloon drop with giveaways, passed hors d’oeuvres and live music with Sound Theory. *Don’t forget to give your coupon referral.
• Orlando Balloon Rides SPECIAL HOLIDAY PROMO. Recommend to families too!
• Hard Rock Live Dec. 30th Classic Albums Live. Dec. 31st Epic Evolve: The Decades Show. *Call your leader on duty to help purchase!
• House of Blues Dec. 30th Corey Smith, Dec. 31st Sevendust. Shows start at 8. *Call your leader on duty to help purchase!

Families

• Coca Cola Orlando Eye. The observation wheel is open for an extra hour for those who wish to ring in the New Year up above Orlando. Last boarding takes place at 12:30am on New Year’s Eve. (Couples would like this, too! They would just have to share their ride with another group.) Madam Tussands is throwing a holiday party as well. This is a great opportunity to sell the IDrive Experience ticket!
• Sleuth Mystery Dinner Show is having a party including noisemakers and champagne. Call for reservations (407) 363-1985.
• Busch Gardens has a New Years Celebration that is included with park admission. Ring in the new year with a park-wide countdown and spectacular fireworks show in Gwazi Park. With the park open until 1 a.m., your guests can make the first hour in 2017 a thrilling one!

WALT DISNEY WORLD – NEW YEARS & Closed Attractions

This is one if not THE busiest day of the year at all of the theme parks. Magic Kingdom and Epcot have both been known to close early due to being at capacity. LET YOUR GUESTS KNOW to get there EARLY because they risk the chance of not getting in. Magic Kingdom has a 360 degrees fireworks display that is amazing to see. Epcot is party central with DJs and laser light shows in World Showcase and a great fireworks display.

REMEMBER: Keep selling PEAK price tickets for any one day until Jan. 3rd. We should be giving the guests as much information as we have, so pass out the Fastpass instructions and times guides. Disney has informed us that they’ve lifted the Florida Resident Block Out Dates over Christmas. If you have any Florida Residents asking, we CAN activate the Exchange Tickets for the 3 and 4 Day Florida Residents. Rides closed: The monorail is under refurbishment and may have modified service or routes. You should check on the day of travel the best option to use. Kali River Rapids (Animal Kingdom) 1/3/17- 2/13/2017 and Liberty Square Riverboat (Magic Kingdom) 1/3/2017- 1/12/2017.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS – NEW YEARS

Universal Studios’ City Walk is throwing a huge New Years Eve bash. While selling your (Park 2 Park?) tickets, let them know about the event. Once purchased they can enjoy an LED show, gourmet dinner, dancing, midnight champagne toast and of course FIREWORKS. They can purchase their tickets online or at the Guest Services areas in the parks.

TYPHOON LAGOON

Reminder that Typhoon Lagoon is closed 12/24/2016- 3/11/2017. Shark Reef has closed permanently. Blizzard Beach is now open.

SPORTS EVENTS
Orlando Magic Games: Friday, December 23 vs LA Lakers
Time: 7:00pm Tier: FOUR
Monday, December 26 vs Memphis Grizzlies
Time: 7:00pm Tier: FOUR
Wednesday, December 28 vs Charlotte Hornets
Time: 7:00pm Tier: FOUR

Dec. 31st at Camping World Stadium LSU vs. Louisville.

Employee Notes:

CONVENTION TICKETS. These tickets are only to be sold to customers that are attending a meeting or convention. This can be at the hotel or one of the other convention/meeting facilities in the area. As a rule of thumb, convention tickets should never ever exceed 50% of you multi-day Disney sales (unless there is a huge citywide in town). If this ticket gets abused AGS will discontinue selling it. ATTENDANCE. From now until the end of the year it is very important that you get to work on time. Some of the parks are going to start opening at 8am and guests want to get there before the crowds do. Our peak time at the desk will be the first hour, so plan to get to work early. This week and next week only, try to get to work by 6:30am. If you get to work and clock in at 6:30am you will be paid from that time.
If you collect over 1,000 in cash, email or phone you manager immediately so we can swing by and pull the cash from your location.

Happy Anniversary to Steve M. on 12/23 (1 year)!

Happy Birthday to Caroline L. 12/26 and Debby D. 12/29!

 

Happy New Year everyone! Please be safe driving home if you are working New Years Eve. Leave early to make it on time for your shifts both New Years Eve and Day. Wishing you all a very prosperous 2017!

Busy Season has arrived!

Have a line? Pass out our All Guest Services magazines. Acknowledgement goes a LONG way with guests, so a simple “Hi there, I’ll be with you shortly” will be great! Pass out stickers to children (some adults like them too!) and SMILE. Giving your guests as much information as quickly as you can will get you through your busy moments. Park maps and times guides as well as your coupon packages will keep your guests satisfied. Are you aware of the peak season dates? Disney and Universal share the same peak season of December 21-January 3rd. Cirque is blocked out for gifting December 21-January 2nd and the kids half off tickets end today (Dec. 16). If your guests are heading to the theme parks, its good to know which rides they will not get to experience due to refurbishment. Over at Islands of Adventure, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is closed until the 18th. Magic Kingdom’s Stitch’s Great Escape is currently closed, but can open as the park gets busier. Seaworld’s Journey to Atlantis is closed until March and Antarctica (ride) is currently only open on weekends.

WALT DISNEY WORLD – HOLIDAY OFFERINGS

Of course the theme parks all have something great going on for holiday celebrating. If your guests want the Disney experience but do not wish to purchase Mickey’s Very Merry tickets, talk up the other parks’ Christmas offerings. Every year, Epcot hosts the Candlelight Processional on the stage in America’s pavilion with celebrity hosts in the evenings with normally three showings. This is the first year Epcot is also offering holiday food and drinks to coincide with different cultures at six different booths (think Food and Wine on a much smaller scale). Since the Osborne lights are no more, Hollywood Studios has a new holiday projection show on the Chinese Theater called “Jingle Bell Jingle Bam!” which includes lasers, fireworks, and “snow”.  The show is at 6:45 on nights where the park closes at 7, but please advise your guests to get there early for a good spot.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS – HOLIDAY OFFERINGS

Universal Studios kicks off their holiday celebrations on December 3^rd, which includes the Macy’s Holiday Parade and Grinchmas. For some added entertainment, recommend Mannheim Steamroller, who perform Christmas classics on the stage in front of Rip Ride Rockit. Event Dates: December 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, and 18. Show time for each concert date is 7:00pm.

SEAWORLD & Legoland – HOLIDAY OFFERINGS

Seaworld’s Christmas Celebration runs until December 31^st. Meet Rudolph and Santa then go see the Winter Wonderland on Ice! Some of the shows will have a Christmas theme including Shamu Christmas Miracles, Elmo’s Christmas Wish, and Clyde and Seamore’s Countdown to Christmas. Legoland’s Christmas Bricktacular is going on now until Dec. 30th.
WET N WILD CLOSED WED & THURS
Wet ‘n Wild is CLOSED Wednesdays and Thursdays through 12/22, and then will be open through 12/31 at which time they will close permanently.

DISNEY FLORIDA RESIDENT TICKETS
Florida Resident’s blocked out December 15th-January 2nd. Please keep this in mind when selling tickets. Again, we can now activate EXCHANGE tickets for 3 or 4 Days for Florida Residents and you RECEIVE COMMISSIONS! A few key points: They must be QUALIFIED as Florida Residents – all ADULTS must have a valid Florida ID; they have 6 months from the first date of use to use all days on their tickets; they must be aware of the Block-Out dates – 12/15/16 – 1/2/17, 4/8/17 – 4/21/17, 6/5/17 – 8/10/17; try to add Hopping or the Water Park Fun & More options to increase your commissions; and you MUST swipe the FLORIDA RESIDENT DTI SHELLS (68 for Adults and 69 for Kids) and these must be exchanged to get the actual tickets at ANY ticket window. All Adults will be required to show their ID’s when exchanging the tickets.

BLIZZARD BEACH CLOSED TILL 12/25
When selling ANY Disney ticket that includes a Water Park, make sure you are telling your guests that ONLY Typhoon Lagoon is OPEN. Blizzard Beach is closed and will re-open 12/25, at which time Typhoon Lagoon will close.

ORLANDO MAGIC
The Orlando Magic have a few home games this week on December 18^th (against the Raptors), Dec. 23rd (against the Lakers) and Dec. 26th (against the Memphis Grizzlies). Encourage your guests to root for our home team and research which areas get you the best commission. For every 10 tickets you sell, you earn $25!

UPCOMING EVENTS IN ORLANDO

 As the weeks start to pick up, you might get guests who want to avoid the theme parks all together but still have a fun time. Like Rick said last week, now is the time to brush up on those experiences you have yet to sell. Kennedy Space Center has a special event on December 22^nd “Holidays in Space”. They project images onto the side of the Saturn 1B rocket in the Rocket Garden. Features include custom animation blended with historic footage of actual launches, a time-lapse video of the International Space Station and a glimpse of a future Mars habitat. The Holidays in Space show takes place December 22, 2016 through January 1, 2017, with the exception of December 25. If your guests go, remind them parking is $10. Orlando Balloon Rides is GREAT commissions for us and a GREAT morning spent for your guests. Although the ride itself can last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes, the memories made will last a lifetime. Your guests will for sure thank you when they see you next!

Employee Notes:

Happy Belated Birthday to Maria Del Carmen 12/11, Lucy L 12/13, Ariel 12/14, Mona 12/15, Armando 12/15 and Belated Anniversary to Valerie (6 years).

This week we celebrate Armando who has been with the company for 20 YEARS (12/17)!! Thank you for all you do for us.

Happy Birthday to Humberto 12/17, Jon F. 12/21, and Krystal 12/23. Happy Anniversary to Brian A. 12/19 (5 years).