September 26, 2008: Walt Disney World Tickets in 1973

[Werner Weiss]

It's the summer of 1973. You're visiting Walt Disney World. You need to decide what Ticket Books to buy.

Link to Walt Disney World Tickets in 1973 at Yesterland

Please discuss it here. What are your observations?

[aduecey]

I wish they still had ticket books! I can just imagine all the money I would save by just paying a low entrance fee and slowly milking a ticket book. Instead I have to put up alot of money up front for an AP the I don't use nearly enough in rides or entrance to justify.

[Swisskapolka]

My one trip to DisneyWorld was in July 1973 -- I still have a copy of the park guide you show. I have the ticket book folders too; maybe even an "A" ticket or two. I was 8 at the time and can clearly remember the big family discussion of how to "spend" our E tickets.

We live in Northern CA and had been to Disneyland a couple of years earlier, and so what I also remember is the Florida heat and my parents comparisons of the two parks. I also remember kind of an unfinished feel, Small World without the grand facade of Disneyland for example. I don't know what's there now of course.

Beginning when I was 10 my family went to Disneyland at least every other summer and one of my biggest disappointments is that sometime while I was at college in a big purge of my closet, I threw out all the old free guidebooks to the park that I'd saved over the years! What fun it would be to look through them and see all the changes now!

[KENfromOC]

One more interesting tid-bit that many folks don't remember: Disneyalnd and WDW Magic Kingdom attraction tickets were interchangable! That's right! Suppose you live in the Disneyland area and you amassed (for some reason) lots of extra Disneyland tickets and were planning a vacation to Disney World. Take the Disneyland tickets with you and use them there!

I actually did this on my first visit in 1978. I was a summer-casual Disneyland cast member (ending my employment in early Sept.). I had many Disneyland attraction tickets left over so when I went to Disney World I got in free because I still had my Disneyland ID and then only bought extra tickets as I needed them! Great!

A little side note: Disneyland got all pissy on me because my dept. had scheduled me through the end of Sept., but I already had a new job at the Hotel (still owned by Wrather) because my casual-termination dates was originally the day after Labor Day. So, knowing that I was going to Disney World soon I kept my ID. They were not happy and put a letter in my file (horrors!!!) and said if I didn't turn in my ID in a timely manner I couldn't work there for 10 years! (double-horros!). I still have that ID!

=)

[danyoung]

I remember the ticket books from DL fondly, but overall I'm glad they're gone. I remember the distribution in a 15-ticket book - 1 A, 2 B, 3 C, 4 D, and 5 E. And those E tickets sure went fast, didn't the? You could buy more tickets from booths throughout the park. These tickets were generic - didn't have any letter on them. You could use them for any ride, but of course you only got your money's worth if you used them for E-ticket attractions!

[triesch]

You know what jumped out at me? Did you notice the small, unassuming "50 Happy Years" logo at the bottom left of the guide? Today, that would have been the main focus of the cover, not to mention the marketing brouhaha over it. My, how times have changed!

-Jon