Don't forget about the classics
Image: Dave Bloggs, Flickr (license)
That takes care of the first eight E ticket rides, leaving us with just three slots left for Disneyland’s tamer, more iconic attractions. On Main Street, U.S.A., it’s a toss-up between Walt’s first human Audio-Animatronic, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and the thing he loved most in the world: steam trains. While both Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and the Disneyland Railroad have laid claim to E ticket billing over the years, the edge goes to the Disneyland Railroad, if only for the unique train stations positioned around the park and the plussed features of the Grand Canyon Diorama, including some truly ferocious dinosaur animatronics locked in a prehistoric battle.
Over in Adventureland, we would be remiss not to add the Jungle Cruise to today’s E ticket. Not only was it a marquee feature when Disneyland opened its gates to the public in 1955, but it immerses guests in natural splendor that’s hard to spot elsewhere in the park – according to Disneyland historian Chris Strodder, it boasts over 700 trees and 40 species of plants from six continents.
That leaves us with one final E ticket attraction: Pirates of the Caribbean. Like several others on this list, Pirates of the Caribbean was once hailed as an E ticket ride, and it’s not difficult to see why. It may not make the grade as a thrill ride (unless you aren’t expecting the initial drop into pirate-infested waters), but the sheer number and complexity of animatronics and the way the ride continues to improve and grow with advanced technology makes it a can’t-miss attraction.
Today's E ticket lineup
Image: HarshLight, Flickr (license)
With a healthy blend of thrill rides and Disney classics, a modern-day E ticket might look something like this:
- Disneyland Railroad
- Jungle Cruise
- Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Haunted Mansion
- Splash Mountain
- Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
- Matterhorn Bobsleds
- Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin
- Space Mountain
- Star Tours – The Adventures Continue
Taking the rate of inflation into account, a modern-day E ticket would come out to… well, just around $4.25 per ticket, or $46.75 to experience all 11 attractions. That’s undoubtedly cheaper than the all-inclusive admission today’s guests have to shell out, but not nearly as good of a bargain – especially for those who want a second (or third) spin on Space Mountain.
What would your ideal E ticket look like? Would you swap out Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for Fantasmic! or the Disneyland Railroad for “it’s a small world”? Sound off in the comments below!
Comments
I would totally swap Railroad for It's a small world! I don't think Railroad would ever make it to this list if the rule wasn't 'at least one ride per land'.
Anyway, I found this article really interesting and I think it would be fun to pick the E tickets of today at other Disney (or even non-Disney) parks, especially those which never had the ABCDE ticket system.
I'd love to read also about the other categories, because everyone talks about the É tickets, but it isn't always obvious what differentiates a B from a C, for example
How about we change the system a bit? I know this sounds utterly insane, seriously, impossible more like, but even if it is, it would probably be incredibly costly, both for Disney itself, and for it's guests. But how's about an e-ticket which would allow you to experience attractions across Disney's entire theme park lineup, connected to a cross-continental, magic band style system that checks each guest in as they arrive.
This would work by you being able to pick an experience from each of the parks, but just one experience.
A potential, guest-picked list, could probably look like:
Matterhorn
Radiator Springs Racers
Flight of Passage
Soarin'
Tower of Terror
Haunted Mansion
Phantom Manor
Ratatouille
Pooh's Honey Hunt
Journey to the Center of the Earth, or possibly Sindbad
and finally Battle for the Sunken Treasure due to Tron coming to wdw in a few years.
Interestingly, I counted back the list, and unbelievably, I did not plan this, but this actually makes 11 attractions!
As for how this would work:
Imagine this impossibility just for some at-home imagineering:
To allow for this ticketing, Disney announces and builds a monorail-style system that connects from country to country. But here's the catch. A guest would have already needed to check in at a theme park first, and the time would strictly be booked for this. So, after spending a while at the park, maybe even going so far as to an entire day, instead of going back to a hotel, villa etc, you go to this new station and bored a sleek, new vehicle that is, somehow, very quiet yet very fast, fast enough to go across country. To make this even more crazy, air traffic control need not worry. It goes underground!
You'd do your rides and then move on, ready for your next timing. Honestly, the more I think about it the more I think it's ridiculous, plus I think it'd be a logistical nightmare to pull off especially when it comes to stuff like resorts with multiple parks, as if the parks aren't busy enough already you'd have people going up and below ground plus it's kind of cruel because while this ticket would give you access to one entire park, after that park day and you take your vehicle, you are then stuck with your remaining experiences being tied to the ticketed options that you picked, and then you wait for the next vehicle and move on to the next park. Plus, it'd probably be exhausting for the guest, not the least due to timezone differences. I would also have no idea on the price of this.