On
May 2, 2008
Phyllis from CO
Asked
Note: This answer was provided prior to the change to planDisney and may still contain references to Disney Parks Moms Panel.
Experiences, policies, pricing and other offerings are subject to change and may have changed since the date of this answer.
“
Hi I have been reading the panel about every night for the last 2-3 weeks. I love it. We are coming for our first trip in June. By your advise I have also read allearsnet.com. I keep seeing things about an e-ticket night. What is that. Again Love the panel”
Phyllis,
The "E-ticket night" or "E-ride night" events at the Magic Kingdom (MK) appear to have been retired. A few years back it was a separate ticket event in the evening at the MK that allowed a limited number of guests to enter the park and enjoy the headliner attractions with minimal wait times.
The closest thing these days to the "e-ticket night" are the current separate ticket events at the MK, like Mickey's Pirate & Princess Party. Admittedly they are only loosely related.
In case anyone wants to know the origin of the term "E-ticket", let me try to explain...
Since the opening of Disneyland in 1955 and WDW in 1972, until 1982, the parks had a unique pricing structure. Instead of a single price to ride all attractions, they used to sell booklets with coupons for different categories of rides. The simplest and/or least popular attractions used the A-coupons, and the most popular attractions required an E-coupon. Over time, as people learned about this coupon pricing strategy they started to refer to popular attractions at amusement/theme parks as "E-ticket" rides.
For those who enjoy Disney history, I have an information guide from my first visit with my dad back in October of 1974, so I can share examples of rides per coupon-type at WDW*:
A-coupon: Horse Car ride on Main Street, Cinderella's Golden Carousel
B-coupon: Main Street Cinema, Dumbo, Mad Tea Party
C-coupon: Swiss Family Treehouse, Snow White's Adventure, Peter Pan's Flight
D-coupon: Walt Disney World Railroad, Skyway (retired), Tom Sawyer Island
E- coupon: Jungle Cruise, Country Bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents, Haunted Mansion, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (retired), It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean
*partial lists, except for E-coupons, which is a complete list
Thanks for the question, and allowing me a chance to reminisce a bit. ;-)