Man tried to enter Disney World with a 46-year-old ticket and the staff's response left him surprised

On October 1, 1971, Disney World opened its doors for the first visitors and welcomed them to the world's largest theme park. Since then, the park has grown significantly in size and popularity, with many fascinating add-ons like theme parks, water parks, resorts and shopping areas. In fact, it has become a dream destination for kids all over the world. Last month, a man made a surprising revelation about the theme park. Matthew Ables–who goes by @matthewables on TikTok–expressed his astonishment when his 46-year-old entry ticket was accepted at Disney World. While many knew about it already, some were as amazed about this information as Ables.

Ables is a popular content creator who finds and talks about "weird things" on the internet and in real life. In this video, he decided to check if the vintage Disney World ticket he found was valid. He began by saying that he tried entering the Disney World with a 46-year-old ticket, which was originally worth $8. "It's been collecting dust since before I was born and I always assumed that it was just an old family keepsake till I realized that it's never been used," said Ables. What caught his attention was that this ticket had no expiration date, which gave him a strange idea to go ahead and test it out.

"This 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," said Ables. Cut to the next scene, he was flying to Orlando, Florida, where the incredibly grand theme park was situated. On reaching the park, Ables reached out to the employee at the ticket counter, saying that he had a ticket to the Magic Kingdom, which was from 1978. As the employee was checking the ticket, Ables said he felt quite nervous about their response. "She started aggressively stamping void all over the ticket booklet and then left," said Ables and then added, "But she did come back with this yellow pass, which supposedly is good to get into the park."

Ables was amazed that the old memoir turned out to be fruitful after more than four decades. "I can't believe that actually worked," he said as he entered the entertainment-filled theme park. Ables revealed the current cost of the Magic Kingdom, which is $164 for children above 10 years and $159 for children between 3 to 9 years. So, as Ables said, it is indeed over 20 times the cost of the vintage ticket and he saved more than $150. This viral video garnered nearly 12 million views and more than 4000 users commented. Ables also mentioned in the comments section that unfortunately, he couldn't get the vintage ticket back as the park employees kept it.

"My whole childhood, my parents used old tickets they had. It’s always been so cool they still accept them," commented @justfloatnaround. "I was a ticket seller (vacation planner) at Disney World. It was almost a full day of training on how to exchange and void legacy tickets. But they are not something everyone sees in the booth. It would have been the highlight of my day to finally use that training," wrote @afilmfatale. "The way my jaw dropped when she stamped that treasure. Oh my God," wrote @shticktokk.

You can follow Matthew Ables (@matthewables) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on February 7, 2024. It has since been updated.