Parents angry about potential Holiday Express ticket scalpers after event sells out

Legions of bleary-eyed parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles woke up before dawn Tuesday morning to secure the hottest ticket in town at the moment - entry into the Holiday Express, Pullen Park's incredibly popular Christmas event.

By 6 a.m., 30 minutes after tickets went on sale, all 15,450 tickets for the Holiday Express were sold out, according to the city. That's faster than last year when most tickets were gone within 45 minutes or so after they went on sale.

This year's event runs Dec. 6 to Dec. 9 and Dec. 11 to Dec.16 at the park near downtown Raleigh. The annual event includes rides on the park's carousel and kiddie train, visits with Santa, crafts and other holiday activities.

For many families, the Holiday Express is a Christmas tradition - along with their efforts to ensure they secure the $11 tickets for it.

A few complained that the 10-ticket per household limit is too high, noting that some Holiday Express ticket buyers end up selling their tickets online for a profit.

At least one person on Go Ask Mom's Facebook page claimed he and his wife had purchased a total of 40 tickets this morning to later sell online. He wrote that he was able to sell the Holiday Express tickets that he purchased last year for $35 a piece. "Looking to cash in huge this year," he wrote on Facebook.

After angry parents complained, the man later claimed in a second comment that some who missed out on purchasing the tickets were offering him $40 a piece for the $11 tickets. The comments have since been deleted.

City officials, however, are working with Eventbrite to determine if anybody has gone over the 10-ticket per household limit.

"We are working with Eventbrite to review Holiday Express ticket purchases," Kellee Beach, marketing communications administrator for the city's parks department, said in an email. "We allow the purchase of 10 tickets per household and will resolve any instances where the limit was exceeded."

As of 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Beach said they had yet to find any issues. If any tickets do become available, she said, they would be available for sale.

"We are reviewing the purchases and have not yet found confirmed duplicates in a household," she write in an email. "Any refunds or cancellations would be immediately available on Eventbrite."

Some were able to score all of the tickets they needed within the 10 ticket limit per order. Some had to switch their train departure times and dates. Others were out of luck.

"No problem here," wrote one. "Had our date ready to go and got it with no problem."

Wrote another: "I'll give it a C+. I had the date pulled up and at 5:30 I clicked in. Nothing. I had to go back 6 times before they showed for sale at 5:31. Then I had to try 5 different times before I actually got one that was available. It kept letting me select a time saying there were 85/65/50 or so tickets but then it would say unavailable. Finally found a time that would work."

It was like whack-a-mole, wrote another. "No luck."

And some just don't understand the hype.

"Not trying to sound harsh, but I think the whole thing is kinda crazy," wrote one parent. "I can take my family other places, and I think the whole 'I got the tickets!!' is kinda part of the hype."

Securing staff and volunteers already is a challenge. It takes 65 staff members and volunteers to run the event each night.

The event blocks access to Pullen Park from the general public. Pullen Park is actually closed each day of the Holiday Express to control entry into the event and to protect the amenities, equipment and activity stations that are part of it. More Holiday Express nights means more days the general public can't come and play at at the public park.

What's more, officials have said, Pullen Park isn't the only facility that shuts down to the general public during the Holiday Express. Pullen Aquatics Center and Pullen Community Center also close early each evening of the Holiday Express to accommodate the event. In 2018, it is worth noting that Pullen Aquatics Center is closed to the public through the fall for a major overhaul. But groups and clubs that meet at Pullen Community Center must meet at other locations across the city during the event.