| The term "E
ticket" is so much a part of the American lexicon that
astronaut Sally Ride even used it to describe her first ride in
the space shuttle.
But if you aren't from the Golden
State, or don't have parents who visited Disneyland in the early
years, the term may be unfamiliar. In today's electronic world,
it's easy to confuse an E ticket - as in, "That was an
E-ticket ride!" - with an e-ticket, as in "Your e-ticket
will arrive by e-mail."
The E ticket with a capital
"E" exists only in memory now, but the designation once
used for Disneyland's most thrilling rides has found a lasting
place in American culture.
Contrary to what many Disney fans
believe, however, E tickets did not exist during the parks' first
few years.
"When the park opened in July
1955, you bought an admission ticket at the front gate, and every
attraction had a ticket booth beside it," explains Dave
Smith, director of the Disney Archive in Burbank.
"Guests complained not only
about having to stand in line twice, but that everything was too
expensive," he said. "Probably it was partly
psychological, because people found themselves having to reach
into their pockets for money so many times a day."
Marketing gurus took note; ticket
books were introduced in October 1955.
Those first-generation booklets
contained eight ride coupons and cost $2.50. Coupons labeled A
(10-cent value), B (25 cents) and C (35 and 50 cents) could be
used for any attraction listed under the respective categories.
The Jungle Cruise and Autopia, for example, were C-ticket
attractions, while a Fire Wagon ride down Main Street required an
A ticket.
In June 1956, ticket books were
reconfigured to contain 10 coupons instead of eight, and the D
category was added.
"The reason for the additional
tickets was that the park had added a great many new attractions
and felt they were offering more value. And to distinguish that,
they developed more-elaborate books," said Smith.
The coveted E coupon didn't come
along for three more years.
Within months of its introduction
in the summer of 1959, the term "E-ticket ride" had
tipped into the California vernacular to mean the ultimate in
thrills.
"It didn't take long, because
people realized when they got the books that all the best
attractions were the E tickets," said Smith. "You wanted
to use them first - and sometimes you ran out and bought more.
When all the E tickets were used up, guests would go on to the D
and C tickets. Often they would have A tickets left over at the
end of the day."
Disney World in Florida, which
opened in 1971, also adopted the ticket-book system for a time, as
did Tokyo Disneyland.
The U.S. parks began offering the
choice of a ticket book or an all-inclusive "Passport"
in the summer of 1981. A year later, ticket books in California
and Florida were relegated to the realm of yesteryear, though the
Tokyo park kept them in play awhile longer.
Today only the verbal E ticket
survives, and the term "E-ticket ride" lives on as an
expression passed from generation to generation.
Disneyland E-ticket attractions,
1959-1982
America Sings
Big Thunder railway
Columbia sailing ship (became a D
ticket)
Country Bear Jamboree
Enchanted Tiki Room
Flying Saucers
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
(became a special ticket)
Haunted Mansion
It's a Small World
Jungle Cruise
Mark Twain Riverboat (became a D
ticket)
Matterhorn Bobsleds
Mine Train Through Nature's
Wonderland (became a D ticket)
Monorail
Pack Mules Through Nature's
Wonderland
Pirates of the Caribbean
Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad
Space Mountain
Submarine Voyage |