This Viral TikTok Proves Why You Should Never Throw Away Your Vintage Disney Tickets

Have you ever been rifling through old drawers or looking at keepsakes and come across a vintage, no-expiration Disney ticket? Your first thought may be to save them for a scrapbook or add them to your box of Disney memorabilia. After all, these serve as charming reminders of your time spent at the Happiest Place on Earth. But one thing many Disney goers don't know is that these vintage tickets may be your chance at a free day at the parks.

@matthewables

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

♬ original sound – Matthew Ables

Disney visitors have been figuring out sneaky ways to save on Disney tickets since the park opened, and this option, while it requires a bit of luck, is probably one of the more impressive ways to skip out on Disney Park admission fees. TikTok user @matthewables recorded his experience redeeming an unused Disney ticket from 1978 for free admission at the park. He was skeptical whether these out-of-date tickets would be honored, but he ultimately received a converted ticket that allowed him entry into the park. However, this "hack" is no secret. Disney has accepted vintage tickets for years, as long as they fit under certain criteria.

In order to enter the park on a vintage ticket, it will need to be both unused and unexpired. Redeem your ticket at guest services upon arrival to gain access to the park. For any confusion regarding the validity of your tickets, it's best to call Disney's Existing Tickets line directly at (407) 934-7639 to clear up any concerns you may have.

Until the early 2000s, Disney tickets were automatically issued without an expiration date. When Disney decided to forgo no-expiration tickets in 2004, they instead offered a non-expiration option for an extra fee. Come 2015, no-expiration tickets were completely phased out by Disney. However, the park still honors unused tickets that have not expired as a full ticket valid for entry into the park. For unused tickets that have expired, Disney will allow you to apply the value of the ticket at the time of purchase to a new ticket. So if your expired but unused tickets were worth $75, you could get $75 off of the purchase of a new ticket.

This Disney World ticket perk is typically found in multi-day tickets that haven't used all of the allotted days yet. For example, blogger Leslie Harvey at Trips with Tykes discovered tickets in her home from the 1990s. Each pass was a 4-day ticket, but only three days of the pass had been marked off, leaving her with one extra day valid on each pass. She notes that this was a common money-saving trick used in the days of non-expiring tickets: Savvy guests would buy multi-day passes containing more days than they needed, knowing they could use the remainders on their next trip, because it was less expensive per day than buying a new single-day pass in the future. 

Let's be honest, a deal this good is bound to have some caveats. Disney's non-transferable ticket policy applies to vintage tickets as much as it applies to any other ticket. If you try to enter the park with a multi-day park ticket that already has some days marked off, then only the person who initially redeemed the ticket will be allowed to enter again with that ticket. However, some older Disney tickets don't have the user's name listed on the ticket, so there may be some flexibility when it comes to those. More recent tickets issued in the 2000s typically have the user's name on the card, which makes it less likely for you to outfox the guest relations workers.

Another unfortunate catch to cashing in these vintage tickets is having to hand over your tickets when you redeem them at guest relations. Unfortunately, you can't get the best of both worlds with old Disney tickets; you either keep them as a souvenir or cash them in for another day at Disney. While it's a tough decision for sentimental Disney lovers, nothing beats a free day in the parks.