Ticket sales for 2024 Bright Nights event plagued by hours-long waits [Video]

Families faced frustratingly long waits Friday trying to score tickets to the upcoming Bright Nights holiday train in Stanley Park, as a massive influx of would-be buyers overwhelmed the ticketing website.

Some upset social media users said they entered the queue before ticket sales began at 12 p.m., but were still waiting for a chance to complete their purchase more than four hours later.

“Ugh, we’ve been in the queue since 11:30,” wrote X user Cathie Gee, shortly before 4 p.m. “At one point it said we only had a 10-minute wait, but it’s been hours.”

Demand for the popular event has skyrocketed since the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation announced the train was returning last year, following a string of outages related to mechanical issues and the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the 41,000 tickets made available for the 2023 Bright Nights event – offered first in a batch of …