Easter egg roll tickets hard to get online

WASHINGTON - People are lining up online to get free tickets to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, but they may find getting the tickets difficult.

Ticket distribution started Thursday on the White House Web site.

WTOP listeners have been trying to get tickets online, only to find the site crashes. The site has crashed numerous times on WTOP, as well.

Sometimes when you go to the site you get a browser that says the Web page cannot be displayed. Other times you make it past the ticket waiting room to a page that lets you select a time. From that page you get another failed browser.

At other times, you get to the page to select a time but no times are available. You're advised to check back later.

"I keep trying to access the White House ticket site, and I look at a lot of blank pages," says Gigi Davison of Bowie, Md.

"For every time I try, there are no tickets available. They tell me to try back later, so I just keep trying back later."

The White House Web site does say that "Tickets will be available at various times throughout the day."

WTOP has called a White House spokesman about the matter, but the calls have yet to be returned.

"This is a big mess," says Ray Sharma of Gaithersburg, one of the people who's been trying to get tickets. "I'm trying to get the tickets for my grandkids."

No tickets will be distributed this year on the Ellipse. The White House made the change so more children from around the country will have a chance to attend.

While Davison is frustrated she has not been able to get tickets for her 5-year-old son Dominic Fiester, Davison does put the experience in perspective.

"In previous years people were sleeping outside in the cold and not getting tickets. I guess I prefer to sit in my office and not get tickets, if that's what's going to happen," she says.

The egg roll will be April 13.

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