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A guy found an unused $8 Disney World ticket from 1978 and tried to get into the park

He didn't see any expiration date.

via Joel/Flickr and USA Welcome/Flickr

An old Disney World ticket.

Matthew Ablesโ€™ family had a Magic Kingdom coupon book from 1978 sitting in a desk drawer and he thought it was 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 video with over 9 million views.

โ€œWhich 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,โ€ he continued.

So, he flew to Orlando, Florida, to see if it would work.

@matthewables

I tried getting into Disney World using a 46 year old ticket #disneyworld #disney #themepark #funny #fyp

Upon arriving at a ticket booth at the Magic Kingdom, Matthew got nervous because the woman who worked there began "aggressively" stamping โ€œVOIDโ€ on his coupon book and then left. Luckily, she returned with a yellow ticket he could use to get into the park.

Itโ€™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 isnโ€™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 on 2.3.24

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Heroes

Disney's plastic straw ban kind of sucks. Here are 4 better ideas.

The Walt Disney Company is the latest company to hop on the plastic straw-free bandwagon.

Joining Starbucks and Marriott, Disney has said it will eliminate plastic straws, stirrers, and cups in its theme parks, cruise ships, and stores. The company said it will start phasing out the products by mid-2019 and expects to save 175 million straws and 13 million stirrers every year.

But here's the thing: There are major drawbacks to a total plastic straw ban.

First of all, straws don't really account for a large percentage of plastic waste. There are other items that cause way more harm to the environment: fishing nets, shopping bags, bottle caps, balloons, cigarette butts, and food wrappers, just to name a few.

But more importantly, it's actually critically important for disabled people to have access to single-use, flexible plastic straws. (Read why here.)

For a company that's known to foster inclusivity, accessibility, and creative imagination, a total plastic straw ban is a pretty tactless move โ€” especially since there's so much else Disney can do.

Some consider Disney's decision to ban straws hypocritical considering that some water rollercoasters at its theme parks offer plastic bags for riders to put their personal belongings in.

There are plenty of other impactful ways Disney can reduce plastic waste without negatively affecting disabled people.

1. There's no reason to ban plastic straws completely when Disney could just cut down on their use.

The company could order fewer straws and instead of handing them out to every customer by default, provide straws to those who ask for them.

2. There are many things Disney could ban instead of straws.

Many of the other plastic items found at Disney theme parks are far more harmful to the environment than single-use straws. Instead of straws, Disney could ban plastic utensils โ€” one of the most common items found in California landfills โ€” from their establishments and replace them with alternatives that are either reusable or compostable.

3. Disney could set up lockers instead of handing out plastic bags for riders to stash their personal belongings in.

Disney recently announced that Ziploc is the new official sponsor of Splash Mountain, which can seat up to 1,500 riders per hour, as well as Epcot's Kidcot Fun Stops. That's a lot of bags โ€” and a lot of harm to the ocean. Plastic bags are also a land hazard because they can take up to 1,000 years to degrade in a landfill.

4. Disney could halt the production and/or sales of balloons.

Balloon litter has tripled in the past three years, according to Balloon Blows, a nonprofit dedicated to balloon reduction. While some states have already introduced laws that prevent people from releasing balloons in the air, it's not a law that's easy to enforce. That's why one of the most effective ways Disney can help curb balloon littering is by simply refusing to sell them.

Make no mistake: Disney is taking commendable steps toward becoming a more environmentally conscious company.

But we can all work together to clean and save our planet without harming people in our own communities.

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We're all weeping over a sweet video of Mickey Mouse telling 2 kids they're being adopted.

Being a foster parent is undoubtedly one of the hardest jobs on the planet.

It's also one of the most important, with some 400,000 kids currently in foster care in the United States. Children come to them from a variety of heartbreaking and stressful situations, and it's the foster parents' job to provide not only food and shelter, but love and parental guidance.

Then, if the time comes for the children to be adopted, foster parents sometimes have to let them go. Unless they decide the children's forever home should be with them.

When the foster parents of 12-year-old Janielle and 10-year-old Elijah Gilmour decided to adopt the pair, they wanted to make it a moment to remember.

They took them to Disney World, where Mickey Mouse himself offered to deliver the news.

In a moving video posted to Facebook, Courtney Gilmour (the kids' foster mom) captured the incredible moment Janielle and Elijah learned the exact day their foster parents of over three years would become a part of their permanent, forever family.

(Skip to around the 3:10 mark to get to the good stuff: Mickey directs the kids' eyes to a sign that shows them their official adoption date. Also, bring Kleenex.)

Disney offered a special meet and greet with Mickey so he could let them know their adoption date. The kids had no idea any of this was happening. They just thought they were getting their books signed. This went better than we had hoped. They were beyond shocked and we were beyond emotional. We were very lucky to have Aunt Vicki there to film it! *side note* have tissues when watching PURE DISNEY MAGIC! #adoption #Disney Tom Gilmour Vicki Marz

Posted by Courtney Gilmour on Thursday, July 6, 2017

The kids already knew they were being adopted, but being able to put a date on it somehow made the whole thing finally feel real.

"They were beyond shocked and we were beyond emotional," Gilmour wrote.

GIF via Courtney Gilmour/Facebook.

She told ABC News, "It was something they desperately wanted โ€” closure on the adoption date," adding that the whole idea was conceived over Twitter, of all places, after the couple posted a hashtagged photo and Disney responded.

The video has since gone viral, and over 2 million people are, well, totally weeping over it.

"My heart is full of happiness and my eyes are full of tears," reads one of the top comments on Gilmour's post.

Same, dude. Same.

Best of luck to Elijah and Janielle as they join their new family, and congratulations to the Gilmours on an important job done well.

More

Watch this Disneyland visitor's joy when Captain America joins him in sign language.

Making the park experience more accessible to people who use ASL has been a long-term goal.

A viral video of Captain America having a sign language conversation with a Disneyland guest is melting hearts across the internet.

One of the sweetest moments I've ever seen. Quit making me fall in love with you. ๐Ÿ’œ

A post shared by jade (@xoxogossipjew) on

The video โ€” originally posted June 29, 2016, by a woman named Jade Wilson โ€” shows a guest telling Captain America that he's from Boston, and Cap responding by saying that he's working on his American Sign Language skills, but is a bit of a slow learner.

The exchange was exactly the type of heartwarming, magical experience Disney aims to deliver.

Since 2010, Disney has worked to make its parks more friendly and accessible to deaf people.

For those who communicate via ASL (not all deaf or hard-of-hearing people do), it can make their trip to the park even better.

In 2016, Disney even produced a video highlighting one family's trip to Florida's Disney World with their daughter, Shaylee, who uses ASL to communicate. As if meeting Tinkerbell wasn't exciting enough, Shaylee was ecstatic when Tink introduced herself in sign language.

[rebelmouse-image 19530889 dam="1" original_size="450x222" caption="GIF from Disney Parks/YouTube." expand=1]GIF from Disney Parks/YouTube.

Disney's decision to create an inclusive experience for guests with disabilities isn't just the right thing to do, it's good for their bottom line.

Businesses have long argued that increased accommodations for customers with disability come at an excessive or unnecessary cost. The response to the Captain America video shows how wrong that thinking is.

Creating an experience that accommodates the needs of all isn't an unnecessary expense. It's a good investment.

Disability advocate David Perry explains via email:

"The response to Captain America doing ASL shows that committing to accessibility pays off, not just in serving customers with disabilities โ€” though that's most important โ€” but also in making people just generally feel welcome. My son, who has Down syndrome, doesn't need sign language. But knowing that Captain America is out there makes me feel more confident that Disneyland will meet his needs too."

Every Disney guest deserves the opportunity to have the same sort of magical experience at the parks, and access for people with disabilities shouldn't be treated as some sort of bonus. Stories like these are a powerful reminder that doing the right thing can pay off, and that's why it's so important to share them when we see them.

Way to go, Cap.

[rebelmouse-image 19530890 dam="1" original_size="500x500" caption="GIF from Marvel Entertainment/YouTube." expand=1]GIF from Marvel Entertainment/YouTube.

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