Old-Timers Question. A-E Tickets

[RedAngie]

My first trip to the MK was in 1975, when they used those ticket booklets.

Occasionally there are threads asking if someone could wait in line with their party and then skip out right before riding. Does anybody remember how it worked in the old days? Did a CM collect your ticket at the entrance to the ride, or just before boarding?

I know why Disney doesn't have such an admission system anymore, but I think it would be a good idea if they charged a grounds admission of about $20 and let people buy tickets if they just wished to ride a few attractions.

I still have a few leftover A tickets in an envelope somewhere.

Supposedly The Hall of Presidents, It's A Small World, and Country Bears Jamboree were all E tickets way back then!!!

 

[mom2rtk]

They have too many people in the parks already. I wouldn't want them to do anything to encourage having even more bodies in the parks, even if they weren't on the rides.

Would you get to watch parades, shows and fireworks for that cover charge?

 

[DVCcurious]

I think it would be a good idea if they charged a grounds admission of about $20 and let people buy tickets if they just wished to ride a few attractions.

Supposedly The Hall of Presidents, It's A Small World, and Country Bears Jamboree were all E tickets way back then!!!

That ship has sailed. There's no going back. It's just much easier to charge an entrance fee and people can do whatever they want to once they're in the gates than selling tickets for the rides.

The reason those attractions were e-tickets is because of their amazing animatronics. Those animatronics are so good that Disney hasn't touched those attractions in the last 40 years. If they are good enough to be in the park today they were amazing back in the 1970s.

 

[disnut8]

Would you get to watch parades, shows and fireworks for that cover charge?

That's the thing - Disney has way too many "non attraction" things to see and do that a separate admission would be pointless. We've gone and maybe "ridden" two things but filled a day. And that's why I love Disney World.

 

[disnut8]

Occasionally there are threads asking if someone could wait in line with their party and then skip out right before riding. Does anybody remember how it worked in the old days? Did a CM collect your ticket at the entrance to the ride, or just before boarding?

You had to have your ticket taken before you entered the queue. I made my first trip back in 1977 and I remembered all that the first night we went. My parents said we were just going to go over (only Magic Kingdom then), get into the park, get ONE ticket book each for my sister and me and have a look around. We were to just LOOK and not get excited. We were going to go back to Fort Wilderness and the campsite and have dinner there. That was 2:00 PM.

We returned. At 2:00 AM. A total of six ticket books were bought so my sister and I could have two ourselves and then one each for the parents. We ate at Columbia Harbor House, not the dinner that was waiting at the campsite, we saw The Main Street Electrical Parade and were "singing" that as we made our way back to the campsite. That was the day all four of us knew no other place would beat Disney World and none has.

 

[RedAngie]

Oh, I realize and understand that Disney would never go back to the modest gate admission and tickets for rides system. I guess I'm just spending Sunday morning in Fantasyland.

Yes, the $20 admission would include the parade and fireworks, and shows on outdoor stages. Perhaps from a far distance, while prime areas would be an extra cost. Everything else, even the Tiki Birds, would be an additional charge. There would still be a pay-one-price admission for access to all the rides.

(I'd gladly pay an extra $10 for the Tiki Birds! Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet. )

 

[RedAngie]

The reason those attractions were e-tickets is because of their amazing animatronics. Those animatronics are so good that Disney hasn't touched those attractions in the last 40 years. If they are good enough to be in the park today they were amazing back in the 1970s.

I do wonder if they still had the ticket book system, would Country Bears and It's A Small World still be considered E tickets today? Even back in the 70s as a young teen, IASW's dolls seemed kind of low-end. My mother told me we rode IASW at the 1965 NY World's Fair, but I don't remember being there. We also rode Carousel of Progress there too, according to her, and saw an animatronic Abe Lincoln at the Illinois pavilion, the prototype for the Hall of Presidents.

 

[RedAngie]

You had to have your ticket taken before you entered the queue. I made my first trip back in 1977 and I remembered all that the first night we went. My parents said we were just going to go over (only Magic Kingdom then), get into the park, get ONE ticket book each for my sister and me and have a look around. We were to just LOOK and not get excited. We were going to go back to Fort Wilderness and the campsite and have dinner there. That was 2:00 PM.

We returned. At 2:00 AM. A total of six ticket books were bought so my sister and I could have two ourselves and then one each for the parents. We ate at Columbia Harbor House, not the dinner that was waiting at the campsite, we saw The Main Street Electrical Parade and were "singing" that as we made our way back to the campsite. That was the day all four of us knew no other place would beat Disney World and none has.

Thanks. So there was no "free" waiting in the queues with the intent of ducking out later. I wonder how they handled unexpected potty breaks.

I do remember my father buying at least one extra booklet of E tickets to re-ride Space Mountain and the other headliners. We ate at King Stefan's Banquet Hall in Cinderella's Castle. No ADRs back then. You made a walk-up reservation during the day. We didn't eat dinner until something like 845pm. MK was open until 1am; it was Easter week.

 

[lorenae]

Thanks. So there was no "free" waiting in the queues with the intent of ducking out later. I wonder how they handled unexpected potty breaks.

I do remember my father buying at least one extra booklet of E tickets to re-ride Space Mountain and the other headliners. We ate at King Stefan's Banquet Hall in Cinderella's Castle. No ADRs back then. You made a walk-up reservation during the day. We didn't eat dinner until something like 845pm. MK was open until 1am; it was Easter week.

I don't think there were too many unexpected potty breaks- the only long line ever was for Space Mountain, and even that pales by today. Most rides had almost no lines, from what I remember.

 

[mom2rtk]

It's funny but every time I read the title of this thread I think A-E is referring to Anna and Else.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I don't think there were too many unexpected potty breaks- the only long line ever was for Space Mountain, and even that pales by today. Most rides had almost no lines, from what I remember.

Oh I disagree strongly. While SM was the worst, I distinctly recall long lines at the Haunted Mansion and Pirates back that far. I distinctly recall the HM line being over an hour wait.

I think we made sure there were no unexpected potty breaks back then! I do recall being told to hold it until the ride was over, then making a beeline for the nearest restroom. Maybe back then CM's would just remember you if you had an emergency, or give you back a ticket to use.

I also remember thinking the wait for CoP and HoP were long, and having to wait for bathrooms.

There was also a wait for the monorail from the TTC to MK. Back then, we always bought our tickets at the TTC.

We were able to eat in multiple places without any reservations. We always made a trip to the Contemporary, and often ate in Tomorrowland. The main floor of the Contemporary was a classic cafeteria.

 

[RedAngie]

I remember very long lines that first visit as well. Easter week 1975. Space Mountain had recently opened, so we made a beeline for it at rope drop, and it was already 20 minutes. When we re-rode it later, it was probably about 90 minutes or more. And long waits for the Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and probably others, including Carousel of Progress.

I'm sure there were dead periods with very low attendance back then, but not that day we were there.