Matthew Ables’ family had a Magic Kingdom coupon book from 1978 sitting in a desk drawer. He thought it was just an old souvenir.
“It’s been collecting dust since before I was born and I always assumed it was an old family keepsake until I realized that it’s never been used and there’s no expiration date,” he said while inspecting the ticket book with a magnifying glass, in a TikTok with over 9 million views.
“Which means I’ve either found the golden ticket here, or I’m delusional thinking that the Mouse is going to let me use it to get inside nearly half a century later,” he continued.
So, he flew to Orlando, Florida to see if it would work. As you do.
Upon arriving at a ticket booth at the Magic Kingdom, Matthew got nervous because the woman who worked there began “aggressively” stamping “VOID” on his coupon book and then left. Luckily, she returned with a yellow ticket he could use to get into the park.
It’s fantastic that Disney honored the ticket even though it was 46 years old. Especially because today, that would have cost $164, which shows that Disney World prices have risen much, much higher than inflation.
If ticket prices rose with inflation, it would only cost $37.64 to get into the Magic Kingdom in 2024.
Some of the commenters on the video noted that people showing up with extremely old tickets isn’t uncommon at Disney parks. “I used to work Magic Kingdom Guest Relations. This exact scenario would happen a few times a week!” Allison wrote.
This article originally appeared February.
