Most of you have heard the very sad news that Rick Piesko Jr., the son of our owners, suffered a massive heart attack on Wednesday night and passed away. Some of you that have been with us for a long time will remember that Rick worked for AGS for a few years and he was a very funny, generous, and kind person. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Piesko family during this time. As soon as the funeral arrangements are made, we will let you know. Some of you have expressed an interest in sending a card to them, so here is their address: Rick and Linda Piesko, 7342 Harlie St., Orlando, FL 32819.
BE READY FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 29TH! WE WILL CONTINUE PRINTING OUR CURRENT TICKETS THROUGH SUNDAY, OCTOBER 28TH. EFFECTIVE MONDAY, OCTOBER 29TH, we will begin selling the date based tickets. Here is a recap of what we learned:
Tickets with NO CHANGES – TIMESHARE, MEETING AND CONVENTION, PROMOTIONAL TICKETS. All of these tickets will continue with the current entitlements and be valid 14 days with the first date of use. The guest will NOT have to choose a start date. The Promotional tickets are any “for a limited time only” tickets that we sell in market only. The 2 and 3 Day Base tickets with Free Hopping will start up again on October 29th. These tickets will continue to have a 14 day usage period and if purchased and not used, will expire on 12/31/19.
Tickets with CHANGES – “Magic Your Way” will no longer be advertised and the tickets will now be known as “Disney Theme Park” tickets.
There will NO LONGER be a difference on the One Day tickets between Magic Kingdom and Non-Magic Kingdom. All one day tickets will be priced the same and can be used for any park.
The One Day Hopper Plus ticket will now have only ONE Fun Visit. Currently it has two. The number of Fun Visits on all HOPPER PLUS tickets will now match the number of visits for the four main theme parks.
We will be selling two types of tickets:
FLEX tickets will allow the guest to purchase tickets the way we are currently selling them. They will not be tied to picking a start date for their tickets and the valid use period will be 14 days with the first date of use. Any unused tickets will expire on 12/31 of the following year. These tickets will be priced higher than date based tickets, but will allow for more commissions.
DATE BASED TICKETS WITH A “VALID USE PERIOD” will require the guest to “pick a start date” and the ticket must be used in it’s entirety within a specified period. Here are the number of “Valid Use Days” for each type of ticket:
2 & 3 Day Tickets – TWO ADDITIONAL DAYS
4, 5, 6, & 7 Day Tickets – THREE ADDITIONAL DAYS
8, 9, & 10 Day Tickets – FOUR ADDITIONAL DAYS
Any “Hopper PLUS” tickets will add ONE ADDITIONAL DAY. For example, if a guest purchases a 3 Day Base ticket, they will have a total of 5 days (3 + 2) to use all portions of the ticket. If a guest purchase a 4 Day Hopper PLUS ticket, they will have a total of 8 days (4 + 3 + 1) to use all portions of the ticket. What will you be needing to ask your guest? What type of ticket are they interested in? Start with the FLEX ticket first explaining how it gives them the most flexibility. They are not tied to a particular start date and they have a full 14 days to use all portions of the ticket. Try to get them to upgrade to add the “Hopper” and “Hopper PLUS” options. Explain how the Hopper is a great option to have to give additional flexibility in case one park is too crowded, or if it rains. The PLUS option is great because they will have an equal number of visits to Typhoon Lagoon, Blizzard Beach, Fantasia Gardens Mini-golf, Winter/Summerland Mini-golf and Oak Trail Golf Course as the number of days they have to use in the 4 main parks. Ask how many days they would like to visit the 4 major parks. Then, and only then if the guest says they saw something cheaper online, should you go into talking about the date based tickets. Ask “What day would you like to start visiting the 4 major parks?” Go into the POS system and enter that date and it will give you the price. Every location should also have the laminated “Admission Price Reference Guide” for the 1 Day and 2 Day Disney tickets. You can quote these prices INCLUDING TAXES to the guest for the dates chosen. These are minimum prices and you cannot go below them when doing a price match. Remember, for a 1 Day Ticket, the guest MUST use them on that date – THEY ARE DATE SPECIFIC! If they try to go a different date, EVEN IF IT’S AT THE SAME PRICE, THE TICKET WILL NOT WORK. It is a DATE BASED TICKET so the ticket MUST be used on the date chosen. Take a “Times and Information” brochure and using a highlighter, BOX THE “VALID USE DATES” SO THE GUEST IS PERFECTLY CLEAR ON HOW LONG THEY HAVE TO USE THE TICKETS. This will be EXTREMELY IMPORTANT so the guest can’t come back with tickets that they tried to use AFTER the expiration date. If a guest wants to make any changes BEFORE the start date, they can do it on the “My Disney Experience” App or web page. AFTER the start date, WE can change it as long as the ticket was not used. Once the ticket is used, they will need to go to ANY ticket window at any of the parks or Guest Relations at Disney Springs. Remember, this will not be effective for us until October 29th. All current tickets will still be printed and sold through October 28th. Please reach out to your Team Leads or Managers for further questions.
MICKEY’S NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY (MNSSHP)
There are only a few nights remaining for MNSSHP – 10/26, 10/28, and 10/30. October 31st is already SOLD OUT. We are still giving a $20 bonus for every 10 tickets sold in a pay period to all teams EXCEPT the Vistana Team, so let’s really push for these last few nights! Also, make sure you make your guests who purchase Day Passes to Magic Kingdom that that park closes at 6 pm on these nights.
HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS
The remaining dates for us to sell for HHN are 10/28, 10/30, 10/31 and 11/1. Yes, our tickets ARE valid for 10/31. Make sure your guests know that they are paying the same prices as 1 night, but they are getting an extra night free for any of these dates. Obviously if your guest buys a ticket for 11/1, they will not be able to do 2 nights. For those of you on the Vistana Team, you will receive a $20 bonus for every 10 tickets sold during each 2 week pay period.
SEA WORLD / DISCOVERY COVE
The promotion for the Sea World/Aquatica combo for Weekdays has ended. However, we are STILL selling the Sea World Weekday tickets indefinitely. These tickets are NO LONGER available at the gate or online, so we have an advantage by selling these! Make sure you suggest them to every guest – especially if they are looking at a lower cost option. The Sea World SPOOKTACULAR finishes up the weekend, Saturday, 10/27 and Sunday 10/28. Kids are welcome to dress up and there are special Trick or Treat stations throughout the park. This is included with any REGULAR admission ticket. 
From now through 12/31, Discovery Cove is offering a FREE DOLPHIN SWIM with every Day Resort purchase. When printing this, make sure you select the “Discovery Cove Only” on the first EZ Ticket page, and then “Day Resort with Dolphin Swim”. These will be priced the same as the Day Resort admission.
LEGOLAND
Do you know that single day Legoland tickets offer you the HIGHEST commissions of any one day theme park sale? We should really be suggesting this to our guests, especially those with small children. And don’t forget that you can book the free shuttle that leaves every day at 9 am from behind the Orlando Eye. Remember, “Brick or Treat” continues this Saturday and Sunday, as well as on Wednesday, 10/31. This event offers special Trick or Treat stations throughout the park as well as a special Fireworks display. And this is included with regular admission.
UPCOMING SPORTING EVENTS
Orlando Magic – 10/30 vs Sacramento Kings – Tier 7; 11/2 vs Los Angeles Clippers – Tier 7; 11/5 vs Cleveland Cavaliers – Tier 6; 11/7 vs Detroit Pistons – Tier 7; 11/9 vs Washington Wizards – Tier 6. For Premier Team, call in the order to the Orlando Magic and give the guest a voucher to pick up their tickets at Will Call. For all other Teams, call your Lead or Manager and they will book the tickets for you and put the actual tickets in Drop Box.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 11/11, 1 pm vs Washington Redskins. Call your Team Manager to book these seats for you. Like Orlando City, you will need to make sure your guest has a smart phone and an e-mail address. They have paperless entry so the guest will have to bring the tickets up on their phone.
EMPLOYEE NOTES:
Happy Birthday to Delza H. on 11/6, Caitlyn W. on 11/3, and Linda Piesko on 10/31! Congratulations to Kelci B. for 8 years on 10/28, Mariela G. for 1 year on 11/2, Mahvash J. for 13 years on 10/31, Lauren M. for 2 years on 11/1, Veronica R. for 3 years on 11/2, Mariandrea S. for 1 year on 11/6, Andrea Romero for 10 years on 11/2, and Rick Schiebel for 28 years on 10/29!