A TikTok user named Matthew Ables wasn’t sure if he would be able to get into Disney World in Orlando, Fla., with a 46-year-old ticket. In a turn some might call magical, the ticket worked.
“I was getting nervous there, because she aggressively started stamping ‘void’ all over the ticket booklet and then left,” he said in a video shot from the front desk of the beloved theme park. “But, she did come back with this yellow pass, which supposedly is good to get into the park.”
Indeed, Ables showed himself using the pass to get inside.
“I can’t believe this actually worked,” he said, before the video showed him walking up to Cinderella’s Castle. As of Thursday, Ables said the ticket was a family keepsake that originally cost $8. It didn’t have an expiration date on it.
According to the Disney World website, day tickets to the park were going for more than $100. The site also confirms that Ables’ experience isn’t a fluke.
“Walt Disney World Resort continues to honor all unexpired theme park tickets with remaining admission days,” it explained. “For dated theme park tickets, you may be able to change the date on your tickets.”
If you’re wondering about Disneyland in California, they have a similar policy.
“If for some reason your wholly unused tickets did expire, the amount paid may be applied towards the purchase of a new theme park ticket as long as the new ticket price is equal or greater than the amount paid for that original ticket. It's a really nice option, especially if your plans had to change,” said its site in 2023.
A report on Ables’ video in The Independent also noted that other app users believed Ables may have been able to sell the ticket. Audacy did a quick Ebay search for Disney World tickets and found a 1989 park ticket going for $7.35, a 1997 “passport” going for $42 and a 1975 brochure going for about $40.