White House to Totally Ruin Christmas?

Tickets to Christmas Tree Lighting to be distributed via online lottery

By CARISSA DIMARGO

Updated 12:18 PM EDT, Thu, Oct 29, 2009

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Hope you're feeling lucky. Admission to Dec. 3's National Christmas Tree Lighting will be granted via lottery for the first time this year -- but if the Easter brouhaha is anything to judge by, it ain't gonna be a Silent Night.

Tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll were also available online -- but the site had seized up by 9 a.m. on day one. Many people either couldn't get onto the site at all, while others were thwarted when the site bumped them out partway through the ticket-ordering process.

We're hoping that the National Park Service doesn't have similar problems with its ticket giveaway. The new online lottery (located at www.thenationaltree.org) opens at 12:01 a.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 4 and closes at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6.

The (free, but limited) goods: 2,800 ticketed seats and 7,000 standing-room tickets. The SRO tickets are new this year, according to the NPS. Those without computer access (obviously, not you) can call 877-444-6777.

Get your clicking finger ready. Come Nov. 4, fill up the coffee pot and chain yourself to your laptop.

First Published: Oct 28, 2009 2:08 PM EDT

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OLDEST | RECENT

{"totSize":9,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_67004842","adminTags":null,"views":710,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"White House to Totally Ruin Christmas?","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2584801,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"28 Oct 2009 19:40:04 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":9,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1146762","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Your christmas will be ruined if you are not there. How sad you are. lol"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_67004842","adminTags":null,"views":710,"createdBy":12478239,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"White House to Totally Ruin Christmas?","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2584801,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"28 Oct 2009 21:12:10 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":9,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"FedUpChris","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1147451","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"more contol.... is anyone surprised. "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_67004842","adminTags":null,"views":710,"createdBy":9403797,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"White House to Totally Ruin Christmas?","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2584801,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"28 Oct 2009 21:19:29 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":9,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"AHA1","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1147501","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Instead of cronyism or nepotism we finally have a democratic process on the chance of being chosen to attend a holiday festival celebrating the birth of Christ along with other religious ceremony's. So my question would be; What possesses a reporter like CARISSA DIMARGO to pre-judge any event on a perceived precedent of past post-judged views? Could it be a stereotypical ploy to appease his/her prejudices or a conceived plot to press other peoples buttons. Either way we might never know because in this day-of-age, one only needs a high school diploma to be hired as a wanna-be columnist."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_67004842","adminTags":null,"views":710,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"White House to Totally Ruin Christmas?","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2584801,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"28 Oct 2009 22:48:02 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":9,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1147963","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"While it is nice to open the event up to people outside the Washington, DC area, I feel that the process could be greatly improved. Sitting in front of your computer screen hitting refresh every 5 seconds for 7 hours (or more!) is terribly inefficient. If the White House follows the Easter Egg Hunt model, tickets will be released on an unannounced schedule, and if you happen to check the site at just the right moment, you MIGHT have a chance to get tickets. Or, you might get stuck trying to check-out. How about just submitting your name and the # of tickets you would like? A drawing could be held on X date, and you would be notified if you were a lucky recipient of tickets. I guess it's too late for the White House to go that route this year, but I hope they would consider it in the future. "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_67004842","adminTags":null,"views":710,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"White House to Totally Ruin Christmas?","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2584801,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"28 Oct 2009 23:28:25 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":9,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1148142","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"People, we live in the internet age, use it. If it was up to people like you we would never have left the old country. lol"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_67004842","adminTags":null,"views":710,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"White House to Totally Ruin Christmas?","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2584801,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"29 Oct 2009 03:04:50 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":9,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1149129","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"People, people!!!!! Please!!!!!! If you research this event further, you will find out that you are not going to be sitting at your computer for hours & hours trying to get tickets this time. From November 4th - 6th, you will be able to apply online at www.thenationaltree.org or call the number listed above to enter your name into the lottery. Then, on November 9th, you will then be able to check the status of your request online or through the call center. If you get selected, the tickets will be mailed out to you by November 15th. Ok?! Does everyone understand now?! "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_67004842","adminTags":null,"views":710,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"White House to Totally Ruin Christmas?","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2584801,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"29 Oct 2009 05:07:49 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":9,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1149462","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Get tickets online. Why is this a story. "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_67004842","adminTags":null,"views":710,"createdBy":10544512,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"White House to Totally Ruin Christmas?","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2584801,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"29 Oct 2009 13:22:31 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":9,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"DuchessII","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1150552","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"So it's better to camp outside all night trying to get tickets for White House events?? Consider me among those who prefer the "dark ages" (pre internet) , but when every business there is seems to want to force people to use their websites to buy stuff as well as pay their bills, I find it hard to believe that you Blackberry, laptop carrying and cell phones glued to your ears folks would object to the Christmas Tree lighting ticket distribution method. "},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_67004842","adminTags":null,"views":710,"createdBy":13957761,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"White House to Totally Ruin Christmas?","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2584801,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"29 Oct 2009 14:30:35 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":9,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"Fenderbass","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1151053","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I agree if your Christmas is ruined by not being able to watch someone flip the switch on a tree you need some serious hobbies."}],"error":"","totPages":1}

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