WEBSITE VIEWS FROM SEATS AT ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

[alison]

Am I right in thinking there's nowhere on the ROH website where you can currently check the view from each seat?

[SugarPlum2000]

The last time I was booking, when you clicked on the seat that you would like to book it came up with a few images of the view from that seat. This may have changed though since then as it was a couple of months ago 

 

I just checked and this does still seem to be the case  

Edited December 9, 2019 by SugarPlum2000
Added to reply

[RuthE]

2 minutes ago, SugarPlum2000 said:

The last time I was booking, when you clicked on the seat that you would like to book it came up with a few images of the view from that seat. This may have changed though since then as it was a couple of months ago 

 

I just checked and this does still seem to be the case  

 

Indeed, but if what you want is the view from a seat for a production that's not yet on sale, I think the only way to do it is to find a random on-sale performance for which the seat in question has not yet sold.

[zxDaveM]

9 minutes ago, SugarPlum2000 said:

The last time I was booking, when you clicked on the seat that you would like to book it came up with a few images of the view from that seat. This may have changed though since then as it was a couple of months ago 

 

I just checked and this does still seem to be the case  

 

but only on seats not yet sold - I don't think you can check the view of your own seat for example, if you've already bought it

[JNC]

@alison perhaps you could contact ROH customer services to see if they could make some sort of permanent webpage where you could view the view from each individual seat - it would be helpful to look at to prepare what seats to buy, as well as a general reference. I'm sure it would be appreciated by more people than ROH might expect and if they have the resource of all those pictures why not? 

[alison]

  

8 minutes ago, RuthE said:

 

Indeed, but if what you want is the view from a seat for a production that's not yet on sale, I think the only way to do it is to find a random on-sale performance for which the seat in question has not yet sold.

 

Which is only fine as long as the seat hasn't sold, which is never likely to be the situation for the ones I was thinking of.

Edited December 9, 2019 by alison
For clarity, as several intervening posts had appeared

[alison]

Just now, JNC said:

@alison perhaps you could contact ROH customer services to see if they could make some sort of permanent webpage where you could view the view from each individual seat - it would be helpful to look at to prepare what seats to buy, as well as a general reference. I'm sure it would be appreciated by more people than ROH might expect and if they have the resource of all those pictures why not? 

 

They do - but there appears to be no access to it these days, unfortunately, hence my question.

[JNC]

Just now, alison said:

 

They do - but there appears to be no access to it these days, unfortunately, hence my question.

 

It may still be worth getting in touch to ask them to reinstate it - especially if this is something they did before. 

 

I agree it would be a useful thing to have! 

[Lizbie1]

This post of Saodan's might be of use: 

 

[alison]

Excellent, Lizbie, thank you.  I'll copy it here for posterity:

 

  

On ‎14‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 21:40, Saodan said:

 

Technically, you can access the image for any seat, but its tricky. 

 

http://d33ex4wp0jsts.cloudfront.net/venues/main-stage/level-g-orchestra-stalls-gc/h-27-stage-view-1280x853.jpg

http://d33ex4wp0jsts.cloudfront.net/venues/main-stage/level-3-balcony-3a/a-12-stage-view-1280x853.jpg

http://d33ex4wp0jsts.cloudfront.net/venues/main-stage/level-6-upper-amphitheatre-6f/s-62-stage-view-1280x853.jpg

 

If you look closely at the links you will see that they each contains 4 pieces of information pointing to the seat, separated by hyphens: level, area of the house, door number, and seat number. (This is the information on the tickets these days). The image for each seat has a unique url like this, meaning you can change this information to point to the seat you want. But, if one piece of information is wrong or drop a hyphen, you get nothing.

 

So, if you open the link I posted for thewinelake and change c-29 to c-30 in the address bar and hit enter, the image will shift along one. Change it to b-30 and you will move forward a row. Change it to b-70 and you will get nothing, because you have moved into a different part of the auditorium. To see the image for b-70, you also need to change the door number from 1a to 1d. You can also change stage-view to position-view if you want to see the seat itself. 

 

To find the unique url of a seat that hasn't been booked yet, all you need to do is open the seat view image through the seating plan, right click the image and select ‘open in new tab’ or ‘view image’ depending on your browser. This will open the image full screen, with the unique url in the address bar. 

 

I will normally, find an unbooked seat near the one I want to view, get the unique url, and then change the seat number. That way you don't have to worry too much about doors and levels. 

 

Does that make any sense? It would be great if they could just bring back a seating plan with all seats accessible so we don't have to finagle the website! 

 

Also needs to be stressed that the URL is case-sensitive

[Lizbie1]

BTW - thanks to Saodan not only for cracking the code but using the word "finagle", which is how I managed to find the post!

[bridiem]

No idea what 'finagle' means, but great work by Holmes and Watson! 😊

[Lizbie1]

5 minutes ago, bridiem said:

No idea what 'finagle' means, but great work by Holmes and Watson! 😊

 

Please don't all start using it or my job will be more difficult next time I have to dig these instructions up!

[bangorballetboy]

12 minutes ago, bridiem said:

No idea what 'finagle' means, but great work by Holmes and Watson! 😊

 

Reminds me of when we were doing an amateur production of Chicago in the early 1990s (well before google came on the scene) and the (wonderful) actress playing Mama Morton asked me what a finagle was!  ("throw 'em a fake and a finagle, they'll never know you're just a bagel")

[Saodan]

It's good to know I've made an impression!

[bubblebuddy]

Does anyone know how to access the views that used to be available when booking tickets at ROH?

[bubblebuddy]

I have just had this message from the ROH, answering my question:

 

Many thanks for getting in touch and for your support of the Royal Opera House as we emerge from this most difficult time for the arts. It is greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately, the link on the website enabling the seat view photos had to be disabled due to a glitch on the webpage. 

Alongside our new purchase path on the website, the seat view is making a welcome return and will be rolled out over the coming weeks with the new checkout. 

Please accept our apologies for this temporary inconvenience.

[Bluebird]

1 hour ago, bubblebuddy said:

Does anyone know how to access the views that used to be available when booking tickets at ROH?

 

Saodan's method helps but you have to know which level the seat is on and which door is used to access it:

 

[Guest oncnp]

3 minutes ago, Bluebird said:

 

Saodan's method helps but you have to know which level the seat is on and which door is used to access it:

 

 

Thank you! Worked like a charm.

[San Perregrino]

here's the way i do it:

 

go to an event that is not yet onsale e.g. RBS Summer Performance

click on: "See casts, dates & prices"

click on: " View seat map for pricing details"

when you get the pop-up "ROH says: Tickets for this event are not currently on sale", click on OK

you can then click on any seat and see the view of the stage, the seat itself and/or any Further Details e.g restricted view, tall seat, bench, standing place etc

 

Bingo! 🙂

"www.ROH.org.uk, the website that keeps on giving ;-)"

Edited April 27, 2022 by PeterS