Hi Paula,
Thanks for reaching out! I’d be happy to help you with this.
First, you do need Event Tickets in order to use Event Tickets Plus. Sorry for the misinformation there! The good news is that you can download this plugin for free!
I did a quick test using Divi, Woo, Event Tickets, and Event Tickets Plus and wasn’t able to recreate the issue of attributes not being loaded. Could you please send me a link or screenshot of where this is occurring?
Regarding getting tickets set up, it sounds like your best option would be to install the free Events Calendar plugin, which will let you create events that you can then easily add tickets to. You can collect attendee info using custom fieldsets, which would be the alternative to using variations with a product. Tickets will still show up in your cart like products.
If this sounds like a good option to you, I would be happy to help you in getting it set up the way you’d like. If not, please let me know, and I can help with another solution!
Thanks,
Jennifer