DISNEY TICKET BOOKS
The year is 1971, and you are bursting with excitement as you head to the brand-new Walt Disney World Resort for the first time. You’re ready to see the sights, taste the treats, and ride the rides. But what attractions are you riding, and how much is this day actually going to cost you? Let’s dig into the math of a trip to Disney World in 1971.
Upon opening, Magic Kingdom offered 28 ticketed attractions. Disney, helpfully, offered a range of ticket books and packages for these attractions. You could purchase tickets from your resort hotel, at the Transportation and Ticket Center, from information kiosks within the lands at Magic Kingdom, and in advance of your trip as part of travel vacation packages through companies such as Eastern Airlines. Savvy guests could lower costs with various package deals, but that’s too many variables to crunch; instead, let’s focus on the standard list prices in 1971.
You could opt to pay the $3.50 admission fee and then pick up your ride tickets piecemeal; individual ride tickets cost between $0.10 and $0.90 depending on their letter (A through E Tickets) — but the math wouldn’t be in your favor. Your best bet was to look for the 11 Adventures ticket book. It contained 1 A, 1 B, 2 C, 3 D, and 4 E Tickets and your park admission for only $5.75. For those doing the inflation math, $5.75 in October 1971 is roughly $43.25 in today’s dollars.
Of course, you’d still have to supplement some single tickets to hit every ride, but this book was a great deal and offered enough tickets to give guests a good sense of everything Magic Kingdom had to offer. If you wanted to do it all, you’d need an additional $6.70 worth of individual ticket purchases. Not counting any food or souvenirs, a full day at Magic Kingdom came out to $12.45 — I hope you brought your cash or travelers checks. Adjusted for inflation, that 1971 bill is going to be slightly less than $94.
While ticket books are a thing of the past, phased out officially in 1982, the phrase “E Ticket” still indicates the marquee attractions at Walt Disney World and other Disney Parks. The ticket books are now popular collectors items among Disney die-hards and have served as design inspiration for numerous pins, notebooks, and fridge magnets (like the ones pictured here).