My family used to visit the Stanley Park Ghost Train every year and always  found in convenient to be able to purchase same-day tickets on site and then just line up and hop on for the delightful ride. It was super convenient to be able to do this because you never knew what the weather would be like, so being able to purchase tickets the morning of the same evening train was great! The last time people were able to do this was in 2019 before the pandemic hit...

This year is the first year the Ghost train has been back and running, but we were in for a very rude awakening when operations changed to online only advance bookings, eliminating same-day and in-person ticket sales and basically selling out the whole event in ONE time slot at the end of September in a few hours!  

This new practice of online only is unfair on many levels even though staff of the Stanley Park rail say that they have moved to the online system to "enhance the customer experience" which has not been the case at all. For one, not everyone uses technology or pays for things online, especially seniors, many who delight in taking their grandchildren to this event. Another reason is that people can get sick, and if a person gets the flue and has purchased a ticket on a particular day, the ticket is non-refundable, but the biggest reason why this current method is unfair is the mere fact that one cannot predict the WEATHER!!  One of the staff members at the train told me the decision to have online only sales was not "weather related at all" which makes no sense at all. All they seem to be concerned about is that their new system works better for "operations" - But what about the public? Why not take the public into consideration and not just their precious "operations:?

So people essentially panic purchased tickets because there was no possibility to book a day or two in advance as opposed to having to purchase weeks ahead making it impossible to know what the weather was going to be like. Unfortunately people who had tickets for October 19 and 20 were out of luck because the train was cancelled due to the atmospheric river. Even though the customers were refunded, they will not have a chance at all to come back this year since they do not even allow empty seats to be filled, of which I observed a handful, when the weather was dry and mild. 

The policy of not being allowed to fill empty seats is just lacking in common sense and is very frustrating, leaving many to experience disappointment at the gates.
The Halloween Ghost Train and Christmas Train in Stanley Park are iconic parts of our Vancouver culture that are cherished by thousands and attract over 200,000 visitors annually. Moving to advanced online purchases, while partly a response to increased demand, has unfortunately excluded those spontaneous visitors, new explorers, and the ones without access to online booking.
Through this petition, we seek to urge the Stanley Park Railway staff and the Park Board to reinstate same-day and in-person ticket sales for the Halloween Ghost Train and Christmas Train events, thus remaining accessible to everyone. Additionally, we ask them to change the rules about not allowing empty seats to be filled. Find a way to make it possible to fill the empty seats by allowing spontaneous visitors!

We urge the Stanley Park Rail and the Park Board to reinstate Same-day or day before online purchases so that people can better plan more spontaneously  and not have to deal with inclement weather and cancellations. We also ask them to reinstate in person ticketing like they still do during the summertime when, most ironically, the weather is mostly dry, for this time of year when it is impossible to predict the forecast less than three days in advance at best!  If they insist on having the tickets purchased online only, then we URGE them to at least make it so people can only purchase tickets a day or two in advance, similar to how the outdoor pool tickets are purchased. Lastly, we IMPLORE them to allow empty seats to be filled either by cash or credit card on-site purchase at the gates.