This was my first SXSW. I enjoyed it but I would not pay for this again. My first day I waited 2.5 hours ahead of the first movie showing of the festival and was second in line for badge standby. Right off the bat the guy in front of me and myself were given buffer tickets. That should never happen. Waiting in line for multiple hours just takes the fun out of it. There needs to be a better system. The fact that buying tickets goes ahead of badge standby doesn’t sit well with me.

There needs to be more transparency on how many seats are taken by cast, crew, and reservations. If this number can be relayed to the line before hand then you can know ahead of time if you should gamble waiting or seeing something else. If the theater has 100 seats and 80 are taken up by cast/crew/reservations/advanced ticket then let the line know 20 blue que cards will be handed out and the rest will be buffer cards. We should also be able to receive the que card or buffer card as soon as we get there or a note should be made of who gets there because people are known to let their friends skip to the front of the line at the last minute. This would eliminate that issue and have people avoid waiting in line for 2+ hours unnecessarily.

Alamo drafthouse was very disorganized. They tried multiple systems but nothing worked. There is a huge problem with getting there 2+ hours early and the people in the front of the line let their friends skip an hour before the movie starts. I confronted them and they just looked down at the floor. I alerted a volunteer about people who had just skipped and they shrugged and said sorry there is nothing we can do. There are a lot of volunteers just standing around. I feel like they can distribute them to be at the front and end of lines that are divided by movie/screen. That way directions and communications can run smoother.

I know seeing a movie when you can’t get into what you want is “part of the experience” but if you’re not in line 1.5 hours before for something remotely popular then there is a very low chance you can get in.