Got off the call today and then a question for you all hit me!
The 'problem' we have is that two of our perf groups only have 1 performance in each. General Admission and a Temporary Exhibit. The minimum in the perf group is 1 and the max is 1.
On TNEW, the visitor getting the package, has to still 'select' each one of the single performances in the package...even though they are mandatory (max and min of 1).
Does anyone have a creative solution to this? We have submitted an enhancement request for TNEW, that a package with only 1 option and a 1 min and 1 max be auto-added to the package cart; however, in the meantime, we are curious if anyone else has faced this?
Thanks in advance! (Posted here because I know GA is MZA specific...but will post elsewhere if no one has this issue ha!)
PS: If anyone wants to also submit the enhancement, the more the merrier! ;) ;)
We don't use packages at GAI. Which we could help!
Unfortunately, Shedd does not use TNEW!
Did you guys do the SOAP to REST API conversion yet?
We here at Mystic had similar troubles with packages through TNEW. We don't have version 7 (we will upgrade soon), but our workaround ended up being to steer away from packages altogether. Customers were frustrated with the interface, and our staff had to explain the process over and over to guests over the phone.
Our General Admission ticket, our 4D theater, and our Boomerang Island exhibit are all different seasons/performances, and we bundle them for a discounted rate called a Value Ticket (during the summer it includes Boomerang Island, during the other seasons it only holds General Admission and 4D). The 4D theater has price zones for each available time slot of the show each day.
Within the GA perfs (the more expensive portion of the total Value Ticket cost, and the perfs toward which the NSCAN devices are pointed) are price types called "Value Ticket Adult/Child/Senior", which we adjust to reflect the different components offered that time of year. These price types are available through TNEW in addition to the default "General Admission Adult/Child/Senior" price types. We've adjusted the PAHs for these Value Tickets to include copy indicating the different components. The BOCA ticket designs for Value Tickets also direct guests to pick a show-time for the 4D theater at the box office itself.
Additionally, the Boomerang Island/4D performances have price types within them labelled "Value Redeem", which the cashiers select, and stamp the BOCA-printed Value Tickets as redeemed at each location.This way, the guest still gets each location/component, and pays the same rate, but the Value Ticket purchase path on the website is far simpler. On-site it does require printing out of comp tickets for each needed showtime of our 4D theater (Boomerang Island we don't have showtimes for, so the cashiers simply stamp the Value Tickets when guests enter the exhibit). To summarize - the guests pick one price type from the GA perf through TNEW, the PAH for which says "This includes 4D and Boomerang Island and General Admission". The barcodes naturally scan through into the GA performance for total attendance for the day. Then, at each component performance of the value ticket (4D theater or Boomerang Island), our staff choose the $0 "Value Redeem" price type and stamp the Value Tickets themselves. At the 4D theater, the staff will pick the time slot that the guest requests, and print out the Value Redeem ticket.
It requires a bit of setup, but honestly it's easier than setting up packages for every day, and having to walk customers through the process through TNEW. Apologies if this post was a bit long-winded, but that's how Mystic has side-stepped package difficulties. Let me know if I can help in any way!
Thanks! Super interesting. I don't think it would quite work here as we have 'optional' items...so our pricing changes based on what items are chosen. I had looked into doing something similiar using pricing rules, but then the customer would be getting 3,4,5 tickets per person so that we could get all the scanning tracked, so we avoided that as well.
Glad to know we aren't the only ones that are struggling with the online purchase path for packages. We just launched about a month ago, and have had purchases (no complaints yet), but we know that it is a lot of extra clicks compared to most purchase paths we have seen, so trying to clean it up.