I’ve had a number of requests to post more pictures of the early years of Walt Disney World. Unfortunately, I’ve already blogged any that show a difference between then and now. So last night I dug through some of the Disneyana I’ve collected over the years. I’m hoping these scraps might help appease the voracious appetite you all have for things Disney.
As many of you know, I worked at Disneyland from 1971 to 1980. During this time, cast members were given lots of free tickets to Disneyland and Walt Disney World. This first ticket is one such item. In the early years, transportation from the TTC to the Magic Kingdom was not free. It required a separate ticket. If you notice, the price was $1.50. Also notice, “Motor Trams” were one of the options.
Attached to this Transportation ticket was an admission ticket to the Magic Kingdom. It has no date printed on it, so I can’t pinpoint a time, but the cost of entry was $2.25.
I know your first thought is this is incredibly cheap. But you have to remember, all this ticket did was grant you admission into the park. If you wanted to ride on something, you needed an A thru E ticket. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of these tickets for Disney World, but I do have a complementary ticket book that contained five multi-use tickets.
These tickets were not designated A thru E. Each ticket was good on ANY attraction in the Magic Kingdom. In other words, all of them were “E” tickets. Believe me, this was like gold back in the early years.
On the inside, back cover of the ticket book was a list of all the rides and attractions of the day.
This next bit of memorabilia centers around bus transportation. Dated 1989, this handout informed guests how to read the color coded pennants displayed on the front of each bus. Each destination had its own color or design. This was a complicated system that thankfully, didn’t last too long.
In later years, Disney started handing out elaborate sheets with a grid. First you would determine your current location from the left side of the sheet. Then you would search for your ultimate destination across the top of the page. Where the two lines intersected gave you what modes of transportation were needed to get you there. Once again, this sheet does not have a date on it, but on the reverse side it notes the Coronado Springs as a future project, opening in 1997. So I’m guessing this was 1995 or 1996.
Sorry, in order to fit this into the webpage, I had to shrink it beyond readability. The actual size was 15″x11″. But I think you can get the idea of its use.
For a very comprehensive Step Back in Time regarding Walt Disney World tickets, see Jack Marshall’s Ticket History pages on AllEars!
I totally remember that color coded bus system! I had forgotten about it until you wrote about it. Thanks!
I have a picture of me as a 7 year old with pigtails at Disney. My mother had tied my ticket to my pigtail so I didn’t lose it!
Hi Jack:
This was a fun blog to read! After reading this, my sister came over for the weekend and we went through our “Disney boxes” that have all our papers from years past.
The fun thing was, we found one of the transportation grids. It was so interesting to really study it now!
One question though, instead of Bus it says HUB on ours. What was that all about? Why doesn’t it just say Bus? I’m confused!
Thanks for keeping us so informed!
Answer: After studying my map, I finally decided Disney used the term HUB to describe the areas where buses pick-up and drop-off guests at Epcot, the Studio, Downtown Disney, and the water parks. But as to why they used the term HUB rather than BUS is a mystery to me.
Hello I was just reading the list of attractions on the ticket book and it brought memories of when I was a little girl and we did the Flight To The Moon. I remember asking my mom if it was going to be a long flight and if we would be back in time for dinner. Now I was only 4 or 5 years old at the time so a flight to the moon I knew was going to be long and I wanted to make sure we would all be back by dinner time. So my mom assured me that we would be back in time for dinner and not to worry. And the bus list also brings back memories as well looking for the right color flag on the bus as we called it. I just love your blogs Jack keep up the great work.
Comment: I went to Disneyland for the first time in 1957 — I was five years old. They have an attraction there called “Storybook Land Canal Boats.” The ride begins with your boat sailing into Monstro’s mouth. It took a lot of cajoling from my parents to get me on that ride as I was sure I was going to be eaten and never seen again.
Jack
You mentioned the “Motor Trams”, but what were they. Were they similar to the parking lot trams now? And what route would they take to the Magic Kingdom?
Answer: Yes, the “Motor Trams” were the same as the parking lot trams. Before the bus terminal was built at the Magic Kingdom, parking lot trams would occasionally be used during peak times or if the monorail broke down. The trams used the same road that travels underneath the water-bridge and in front of the Contemporary Resort and dropped guest off in the general vicinity of what now is bus parking.
At a Disneyana convention one year I heard “old timers” tells stories about the early years of Walt Disney World and trams getting stuck underneath the water-bridge because they didn’t have the power to make it back up the hill.
Dear Jack,
I was reading the list of attractions on the back of the ticket book you posted when I saw “Flight to the Moon”. My first visit to the Magic Kingdom was in 1987 and I thought I remembered this ride as “Mission to Mars”. Did this attraction start as “Flight to the Moon” and then switch to “Mission to Mars”?
Answer: At both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom, this voyage into space started with the moon as its destination. But as with so many attractions in Tomorrowland, this ride quickly became out of date and needed to be retooled. Along with some other improvements, Mars was substituted as the new destination.
That MK ticket was on sale from October 1972 through May of 1973. It, combined with the transportation ticket, was the basis for the General Admission price being set at $3.75 during that time frame.
Another point of nostalgia: Did you know that the reason why they each carry a price was because the transportation ticket was available for sale separately through the 1970’s?
The transportation ticket charge of $1.50 (which had never changed from opening day) was incorporated into the ticket price when WDW changed from the A-E books of tickets to Passports in 1980 and the separate transportation tickets were banished into the history books.
During 1980, the transportation charge completely vanished. But in 1981, a disclaimer was added to the back of the Passports that said:
“Walt Disney World Co. collects $1.50 transportation charge for this ticket as agent for WED Transportation Systems, Inc.”
That disclaimer, with the price eventually omitted, remained on WDW tickets until 1995 when Disney was in their second year of the short-lived digital photos on every World Hopper ticket phase.