Entrance to the Magic Kingdom was less than five bucks (which may have sounded like a lot at the time, considering you couldn't ride most of the rides!). However, instead of purchasing one ticket for admission to all of the rides in the park, you paid an admission price, but then had to buy individual tickets, or books of coupons, to ride an attraction. On opening day, 1971, an adult's 7-Ride Coupon Book cost just $4.75, and each attraction ticket cost anywhere from 25 to 50 cents.

The tickets ranged from A through E, with an "E-Ticket" being for the best attractions. Each attraction, with the exception of a few that were free (believe it or not), required a different ticket, with E-Tickets being reserved for the best attractions in the park, such as Space Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Haunted Mansion. Over the years, certain attractions could even be "demoted," having their required ticket drop from a "D" to a "C" for example.

An early "E-Ticket"

Today, however, the E-Ticket lives on... sort of. For guests who are staying "on property," Walt Disney World introduced "E-Ride" nights. On certain nights of the week, the Magic Kingdom closes to the general public at a certain time On-property guests who purchased (of course) a wristband, can stay in the park for three extra hours and ride some of the "big ticket" rides (like Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and the Haunted Mansion) after everyone else has left. You may even find some characters wandering the park, and food services stay open late as well. It's a GREAT way to hit the most popular rides with little or no wait, and you gotta love that feeling of being in the park "after hours!"