Alamo Blog

Hello 2011 Fantastic Fest badgeholders!

Yesterday we posted the ticketing language for this years festival and got a LOT of feedback from you, the badgeholders, on the process and your desires to have online ticketing available to everyone.
Some of you may remember from last year that we had a rather major ticketing explosion on the first day of the Festival. As a result of that, we have been working to find a solution that would suit everyone and avoid any explosions.

There have been some developments in this area and after hearing all of your feedback yesterday we have decided to roll the dice and try and let everyone have online access. The new additions to the system we have in place have not yet been tested since there is no other time of year that we have 1500 people all jumping online at basically the same time.

Here is the plan:

1. Today you will receive an email with your badge number (this is also located on your badge under the barcode) you will need this number to use the online system.
2. Tomorrow, Wednesday the 21st, VIP badgeholders will have access to Thursdays tickets online from 9:00am to 5:00pm CST.
3. Tomorrow, Wednesday the 21st, all badgeholders will have access to Thursdays tickets online from 6:00pm to 10:00pm CST.

* please note these times are ONLY for Wednesday- see below for more information*

Here is how online works:

1. Go online to: tix.fantasticfest.com
2. On that page, there will be a link to the virtual queue for ticketing. Click the link.
3. Once you click the virtual queue link you will then be placed in line to get to the actual ticketing page. This is the new development mentioned previously.
4. Once it is your turn it will ask you to type in your loyalty number (the one we emailed to you. You can also find this number under the barcode on your badge if you have picked up your badge)
5. Pick one screening per time slot. ALL SELECTIONS ARE FINAL
6. Your boarding passes are now reserved and you know that you are guaranteed a seat for those films.

What happens if it explodes?

If the system cannot handle the volume of people on it and decides to crash we will have to void out all but the VIP tickets. If this happens we will update the FF website, twitter, and facebook so keep an eye out around 10:00pm on Wednesday the 21st for this notification.  If this happens all non-VIP badgeholders will no longer have reservations for Thursday and will have to come on site on Thursday the 22nd to get their boarding passes 2 hours prior to the first film of the day.

Additionally, the ticketing language that is currently online and the hours for the ticketing will remain the same and only VIP’s will have online access throughout the Festival.

If it works…

If the system does not crash and all goes well, online ticketing will be available to all badgeholders throughout the Festival. The functionality of it will be the same but the hours will change. Here are the hours for the rest of the festival ONLY if it works.

• VIP badgeholders will be able to reserve tickets online starting at 12:00PM noon (CST) for the next day’s tickets.
• All other badgeholders will be able to reserve tickets online starting 2 hours prior to the first show of the day for same day tickets only.

Please be patient with us. We want to provide the best possible service to everyone and are taking a risk in trying out online for everyone. If it doesn’t work at least we know we tried. Keep an eye on our website for more updates.