Another look at E tickets, star of Magic Kingdom booklets
In the beginning, there were E tickets, and they were good.
When Walt Disney World opened in 1971, it adopted the ticket strategy used at Disneyland. Coupon books with ride tickets were purchased, and they were weighted. An A ticket was low on thrills; B tickets a little more so. That went up through E tickets for attractions that were most in demand, such as Haunted Mansion.
It was kind of an early Genie system, only with paper instead of an app.
These days those booklets are more likely to turn up memorialized on Disney merchandise than in your pocket.
For this week’s Disney World at 50 adventure, we went to the Orange County Regional History Center, which has old Magic Kingdom tickets in its archives.
The museum gets Disney-oriented donations, but not regularly, said Whitney Broadaway, collection manager.
“People tend to want to keep their Disney stuff,” she said.
“We have spikes. We’ve gotten several because of Disney’s 50th, we put a call out for donations,” Broadaway said. “Every once in a while someone will pop up with something really cool.”
For this ticket hunt, Broadaway presented folders from three separate donations over the years. They were full of mystery. Just because the same person brought the materials in doesn’t mean they were from the same day … or year. They were sometimes mixed in with unrelated Central Florida matter such as citrus crate labels or Cypress Gardens memorabilia, Broadaway said.
The old tickets tend not to have a year printed on them, not even for copyright purposes. Broadaway said she runs into that a lot with printed material. One can take their Disney knowledge and narrow it down.
For instance, if Space Mountain is listed as an E ticket option, the packet has to be from 1975 or later because that’s when the Tomorrowland coaster opened. A booklet that lists Snow White’s Adventure is older than one that says Snow White’s Scary Adventure, the name the now-gone attraction adopted in 1983.
The fine type is entertaining with vintage names printed such as Grand Prix Raceway and General Joe Potter Riverboat. The prices are jaw-dropping too.
The history center collection includes some booklets for $3. And some are referred to as tickets for adults, children or “juniors,” a level no longer used at Disney World.
The last bit of tiny type on one booklet in the collection reads, “May your stay be a pleasant one and may you return and visit us again soon.”
Also in the collection are some “Magic Key Coupons,” a late 1970s development that allowed folks to ride any attraction, whether it be A or E. Nowadays, the Magic Key name is used for the tiered admission that was instituted at Disneyland after it got rid of annual passes.
The general public is allowed to look at the history center’s collection, including the vintage Disney World tickets.
“Anything in our collection that’s not currently on display, we love to pull it out for people,” Broadaway said. Advance notice is required.
“We’re not like a lockdown situation. There are some things in our collection that we need a little bit more time to go get,” she said. Some items are kept in storage away from the downtown Orlando museum.
The circa 1971 tickets may get harder to find. They were goners by the time Epcot opened in 1982. Today’s admission may come in the form of plastic annual passes or MagicBands.
Broadaway expects she’ll get MagicBands as donations, eventually. That will have its own challenge.
“That rubber does not hold up — not even in the archive,” she said. “Not excited about that.”
Disney World at 50 series
Read the Orlando Sentinel’s “Disney World at 50 series — a year’s worth of stories leading up to the 50th anniversary of the historic opening of Walt Disney World on Oct. 1, 1971. Find stories, photos and videos at OrlandoSen tinel.com/wdw50.
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