Disneyland's 70th Anniversary celebration has already kicked off at the Happiest Place on Earth, but the park's actual anniversary won't be here until July 17! Have you grabbed your ticket to magic and fun at Disneyland yet? If so, be sure to check out our top seven reasons to visit Disneyland right now here.
For such a big milestone, we wanted to create a special piece of jewelry that would bring us back to the 1950's when Disneyland first came to be. In case you missed it, Josie & I are big Disney History fans! (We even have a Disney History Podcast -- Carousel Project Podcast.)
Kait & Josie in Walt's Apartment at DisneylandWhile a one-day ticket to Disneyland can cost you between $100-200 today, admission was much cheaper when the Happiest Place on Earth first opened its gates in 1955. In fact, adults could visit Disneyland Park for $1 way back when! One thing most don't realize though, is that your $1 only got you in the gate. You'd still need to buy additional tickets to ride Disneyland attractions. This system seemed to work great for Disneyland, but in an effort to help guests spend less time in line and more time enjoying the park offerings, they created a new way to sell tickets.
Disneyland Ticket Books
Image: D23Starting on October 11, 1955, tickets were available in the form of a ticket book, and could be purchased for $2.50. In Disneyland's opening year, their ticket books offered A-C tickets, depending on the attraction's level of excitement. By 1956, Disneyland would add a "D" ticket to the book, and eventually in 1959, we would see the addition of the "E" ticket! Have you ever heard the phrase "E Ticket Attraction" when someone is referring to a thrill ride in the Disney Parks? These ticket books are where that phrasing originated.
Curious which Disneyland attractions fell where on the A-E Ticket scale? Some A Ticket Attractions included: the Street Car on Main Street U.S.A., the 20,000 Leagues Exhibit in Tomorrowland, and the carousel in Fantasyland. B Ticket Attraction examples were Dumbo the Flying Elephant and Mad Tea Party in Fantasyland. C Ticket Attractions were the most thrilling and exciting, so Jungle Cruise in Adventureland and Peter Pan's Flight in Fantasyland made this list.
Image: D23With the added tier of D Tickets, Jungle Cruise was upgraded to a D Ticket attraction. In 1959, Disneyland added three major attractions to the park -- all in one day, actually! These exciting additions gave Disneyland a reason to add the E Ticket status to their current Ticket Books. For those wondering, the Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Submarine Voyage, and the Monorail all opened together on June 14, 1959! (I covered this iconic attraction opening day in my On This Day in Disney History series a few years ago.)
From there, the term "E" Ticket would become a part of American lexicon to signify major thrills. According to D23, Astronaut Sally Ride referred to her first trip to space as "a real 'E' Ticket ride!" To this day, when a new, thrilling attraction opens in the parks you'll usually hear the term "E" Ticket thrown around.
This same ticket book system would be used in both Magic Kingdom in 1971 and Tokyo Disneyland in 1983 when they opened decades later. While the US parks would do away with the ticket system in 1982, Tokyo Disneyland would continue using tickets until 2001!
Ticket To Magic
To take Disney fans back in time to the 1950's, we created our Ticket To Magic Necklace. Inspired by Disneyland's original passport to many wonderful adventures, this special design is a ticket book that features the park's opening year, A-E "tickets," and of course the iconic castle! Ticket To Magic is available in gold and silver, with plenty of time to purchase it before Disneyland's 70th Anniversary on July 17, 2025. Like all of our designs, it's made with hypoallergenic, stainless steel which means you can enjoy this piece for many Disneyland milestones to come!
If Disneyland is your land, you may be interested in our Ticket To Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Fantasy Bundle, which features our new Ticket To Magic necklace and our Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Fantasy necklace at a discounted bundle price! These are the perfect necklaces to add a little magic to any look -- in or out of the parks.
Since Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World technically opened with ticket books in 1971, we're pretty tempted to create a 1971 Ticket To Magic eventually. Let us know if you'd like to see this piece from us!
Ticket To Magic
$38.00
This ticket book is your passport to many wonderful adventures. 70 years of magic is cause for celebration! To mark this monumental occasion, we’re taking it back to opening day, when coveted ticket books were your key to riding the… read more
Remnants of Disneyland Ticket Books' Past
While a ticket into Disneyland has included unlimited attractions for more than four decades now, you can still find nods and remnants to this old version of the ticket system in the parks today! There are still a few Disneyland ticket booths still standing within the parks. Most are in Fantasyland and are just old remnants disguised as decorative theming within the land, but many decades ago excited Disneyland goers would visit these booths to purchase more tickets to enjoy their park day! It can be fun to point out little facts and trivia like this to friends and family when visiting Disneyland, so be sure to keep your eye out for them around the park.
This mushroom near the Alice in Wonderland attraction? Yep, old ticket booth! Have you been able to spot any others around Disneyland? One of our favorite Disneyland remnants hidden in plain sight is the base on the Monsanto House of the Future -- but that's another Disney History rabbit hole for another blog post! (You can hear us yap about it on our podcast here, though.)
After almost seven decades as a top vacation destination and bucket list item, Disneyland is still just as magical as it was on its opening day. While we've seen many changes in attractions, theming, restaurants, and shops, the vision and magic of Walt's original park still remains. If you are obsessed with Disney History like us and decide to shop our new Ticket To Magic design, don't forget to use code "SPINNING10" to save at checkout!
Ticket To Magic
$38.00
This ticket book is your passport to many wonderful adventures. 70 years of magic is cause for celebration! To mark this monumental occasion, we’re taking it back to opening day, when coveted ticket books were your key to riding the… read more
Did you know about Disneyland's Ticket Books?
