If you had known.... Way back when....

[SandrA9810]

When disney first opened and tickets were sold for a buck each (or something cheap like that). If you had known then what ticket prices would be like just 30yrs down the road, would you have stock piled hundreds of tickets?

Especially considering that those tickets would never expire. Of course it would only get you into the Magic Kingdom...

 

[Sleepy]

Not sure how that would work since you paid for admission to get into the park and from there, you had to buy books of tickets giving you access to a one time ride on a specific attraction. Maybe I am looking at this from the wrong angle or thinking back too far.

I remember visiting Disney 30 years ago and I was lucky my parents were able to afford us 2 days. We ate sandwiches back at the hotel in the afternoon and ate nothing in the parks. It was just as expensive then as it is now. I think about the cost of an annual pass 10 years ago and look at it today. wow, if only I could have bought a stack of them back then. Nope, impossible. Didn't have the money. They were too expensive. I was lucky to afford what we bought.

 

[tink2dw]

My Parents' Always said Disneyland was too expensive and the took us to Storybookland, or an oily beach with big black globs of oil instead of buying me the colored dried Star fish from Fisherman's Wharf. [I know, I know!! We left without even a rock!]

It wasn't till I had a 4yr old that we made it to WDW due to an airline strike that made the fare cheaper than going to DL!! Thats when I got hooked on Disney parks!!

But I have always gotten my Disney Passes cheaper through AAA.

 

[Bearvet]

I don't know exact details, but friends of my DFIL bought lifetime passes many many years ago. They can still use them today - in any park and they are hoppers. They also get DFIL in free too. I've posted about these here before but there isn't much info about them. I'd love to talk to DFIL's friends to get the scoop!

 

[MrsPete]

No, if you compare "back then" dollars to "today" dollars, I think the cost is probably still equivalent.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

The tickets they sold when WDW first opened were the A, B, C, D, E. tickets.

Those are different and can't be traded in for todays tickets.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

years ago when they sold the lifetime tix, Sure I would have loved to hop on that deal. I wouldn't be greedy though, Just buy what my family needed plus a few for friends.

 

[mykidsand_i]

Yeah, lifetime tickets would be nice at 'years ago' prices!!! BUT, like a pp said, their 'dollar or two' back then was about what we pay now. Back then a movie cost my great grandpa 5 cents and his parents could hardly afford that. A 'rich' person back then had about $1,000-$2,000...unlike today it's almost got to be millions
(not thousand(s)).

The idea of it is kind of cool though...I would love a cheap lifetime pass for my family!

 

[branv]

Heck, I wish I'd stockpiled them six years ago on our first trip as a couple. Then, park hoppers were included and you didn't have to pay for non-expiration. In 2004 I paid $230 for a 5-day, that same ticket today would cost me $353 (once you add the PH and non-exp). That's about a 55% increase. I'd say that WAY outpaces the usual cost of living increases...well..except for maybe gasoline

 

[deerhart]

DOes anyone know what year the tickets started to expire?

 

[CoP Luv]

The last time we went as a family, my mom brought tickets that from one of our first trips (in 1985 or 1991 - don't know which). They were still cardboard paper that had to be punched. The CM at the turnstile had no idea what to do with it since it didn't have a magnetic stripe on them!

 

[meghanlea]

when we went when i was younger they were paper tickets that were stamped the date on them. they also had hoppers on them and they never expired. my g-ma had about 6 of them that all had a day left and when she moved 8 years ago she threw them out b/c there is only 3 of us grandkids and none of us had kids yet. Of course im the only one with kids now, and when she did it i had no clue as i had "strayed" away from my family to be with a guy. so that meant i "strayed" away from EVERYTHING. oh well can't live in the past just be lucky that i know enough about codes, etc to be able to take my kids like she took us so they can build their own memories.

 

[MarilIncredible]

The last time we went as a family, my mom brought tickets that from one of our first trips (in 1985 or 1991 - don't know which). They were still cardboard paper that had to be punched. The CM at the turnstile had no idea what to do with it since it didn't have a magnetic stripe on them!

I don't remember tickets that had to be punched, but we exchanged a bunch of tickets that had blank spaces for date stamps, tickets from the mid 1980s to early 1990s.



I realized I didn't answer the OP's question! I don't know if I would have bought a bunch of tickets. The present versus future value conundrum - I am not so sure tying up the money in tickets I may or may not use for years to come would have been the best investment choice back then. When I was in college, money for beer and CDs was more important than amusement park tickets for a place 700+ miles away to which I had no real plans to return.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

if I had a chance to buy a life time ticket for my kids now, I'd do it in a heartbeat. And I might buy an extra one for each of them so when they have a spouse, they could still go.

 

[squirrel]

I wonder how much those lifetime passes cost.

I also wonder what they would cost now with inflation. Would I even be able to afford one?

 

[runwad]

I remember my neighbor thinking of the lifetime passes for her kids i think mid 90's??? and it was around $250 and that was like I never thought we'd even go once let alone twice.