Another 1955 Ticket Plan Flyer
I have another ticket plan flyer from ye olden days of 1955. A very good year. I'm sorry to tell you that it could cost you up to $2.50 to enter the park if you are an adult. I've never seen such prices!
Here's more general information for those who were not yet used to the Disney Way of Doing Stuff.
"Uh, Major, you musta been drinking shoe polish, because you already shared this flyer with us!". So mean. This is actually a different flyer altogether, though admittedly very similar. I've placed the two side by side, with the first shared example on the left, and the new one on the right. It's all about the same, though I noticed the addition of the Phantom Boats under the "Your choice of any 2" heading on the version to the left - which I suppose means that the example I shared before is actually the newer version.
Here's the backs of both, again, with the first shared example on the left, etc. There are some minor differences between the two. I think it's interesting that you could buy a "Ticket Plan" once inside the park, but the admission ticket would be removed, and the admission cost would be deducted. And the ticket taker would punch a hole in your bowler hat.
Anything from 1955 is pretty cool in my book, but you might find these to be a bit too samey-samey. Wait until you see my six different 1956 ticket plan flyers!
13 comments:
Major-
There's certainly no doubt about "rides" at Disneyland-! I find it interesting these flyers never mention the Tickets by name: 'A', 'B', or 'C' . I guess that would be telling tales out of school.
Thanks, Major.
In 1955 I would've been 2 years old, and it would cost only $1.50 for my admission to the Park. Of course, it would've been pretty much a waste for me to experience Disneyland at age two. I don't know how Chuck can remember his trip to the Park at that age... he isn't human. Mrs. Chuck would probably agree. Later on, didn't they allow kids under two to get in free?
3 rides (rides, not attractions, as Nanook noted) from column 'A', 3 from column 'B', and 2 from column 'C'. (Do you also get a fortune cookie with the book?) Almost everybody is gonna want to go on at least 6 of those column 'A' rides. Which means yer gonna have to buy some more individual tickets in addition to the money-saving Ticket Plan book. I think Disney was counting on that..
I'm licking my chops for those six 1956 flyers! ;-p Thanks, Major.
Rides...yes, I am unsure if the public of 1955 would understand the new Walt Disney creation of "rides and attractions"....so: they were all rides: thanks Disneyland Marketing 1955. 2.50 is about $30.00 today. Seems that the inflation doesn't add up, but the 17M to build the entire park with land is 201.5M today. So: a park with how many rides and attractions in 1955 compared to how many rides and attractions in 2025....would have to do more analysis on this to truly understand the variance and inflation rates as it relates to a much more (technically) sophisticated Park. I was going to buy a ticket for Othello on Broadway which was $995.00 for rear orchestra on a Monday night. Standing room in London was 5 Pounds at the Globe. "Perspective". (Note : I passed on the Othello tickets)...Back to 1955: I do like the simplicity of these old flyers, and they capture a time of history, before Disneyland became so very very legendary. It makes sense that the "Club 55" employees that I would talk to in 1980 wouldn't really think much about it being "amazing" or "historic"....most of them communicated that they were flying by the seat of their pants making things up as they went along. I would think that anything from a 1955 Disneyland today would be museum or "road show" worthy. If I was in charge, I would bring a road show to "important markets"....with these type of artifacts...and illustrate the cultural shift of the immersive entertainment experience that was created in a more innocent time: blending the shifts of thinking from the 1950's into the turbulent 60's and beyond. "We'll always have Disneyland." Thanks Major.
Major, this is PhD thesis material right here.
Bu, you are right and I’m making the same point. Both economic analysis and social development of the theme park phenomenon would make fascinating reading. We could add in the rampant inflation of construction costs, driven both by economics and the dramatic increase in complexity of building codes, as there is no possible way that even the 1955 Park limits could be built for $201.5 M in today’s dollars. Remember Wookie World was touted at a billion (with a “B”) dollars construction cost.
Also, I’m glad that Mrs G is in charge of buying Broadway tickets and she never tells me what they cost.
Thanks Major, I’m of the edge of my for those ‘56 flyers.
JG
*seat
JG
Note that 1B in the time of Wookie would be 100M in 1955. For basically a couple of "rides" ..... (starting thesis)
@ JG-
When EPCOT opened in 1982, it was touted to cost $1B back then - about $3.3B today..
These ticket flyers shows 1955 as copyright, but it mentions that it's open Monday, Feb. 13 and closed, Tuesday Feb. 14 which would've been in 1956. (Disneyland wasn't open yet in Feb 1955) So, was this is Ticket Flyer released in 1956? Or did they just plan that far in advance? I would assume these flyers would be updated and printed every week. Just curious.
I do love this ephemera. Thanks, Major.
Nanook, I’m not sure when the word “rides” became so despised, but in 1955 it was still OK! I do wonder why the A-B-C tickets are not mentioned, is it possible that these are from before the familiar tickets were used?
JB, my niece first went to Disneyland when she was 8, and she barely remembers a thing about it (except for the general impression that she had fun). A 2 year old? Fuggetaboutit! Chuck is of course a cyborg, and his positronic implants give him a photographic recollection of everything he has ever experienced. It’s hard to not think of a menu from a Chinese restaurant, and in fact I have to wonder if that was the inspiration for this system? I’m trying to figure out how to deal with those 6 flyers, a few are different enough, but it’s another case of very similar items.
Bu, I do get that Disneyland offers much more than it did in 1955, and that costs for everything have gone way up. Still, paying $170 (or more) per person for a single day is a bitter pill to swallow. It’s up to individual to decide if the cost is “worth it”. I’d guess that there is probably nearly double the number of “rides and attractions” offered today - we’ve all seen photos of the park in the first year or two, and areas can look pretty sparse (though I wish I could have seen it like that!). Good grief, I had no idea that a ticket for a Broadway show - even a *good* seat - would run nearly $1,000. And “Othello”? Spoiler alert: he and his friends vanquish the bad guy and fly away in a magical car. Or is that “Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang”? I always get them confused. I’m a huge fan of early Disneyland paper items, and have a new-ish friend who has made me aware of just how many items I am missing! There is one type of flyer that started in 1965 and continued into the 1970s, they say “Two Wonderful Ways to Enjoy Disneyland…” on them. I have over 70 versions! And I know there are plenty that I don’t have. I’m sure that in 1955, Disneyland was “just a job”. Perhaps more fun (at times) than the average job, but still hard work and long days. I’ve been surprised at how some of these 1955 ticket plan flyers often don’t fetch high prices, I’m sure I got both of mine for somewhere in the $30 range.
JG, I’ll have to leave it to you (or some other smart person) to do that economic analysis. I’ve got cartoons to watch! It seems like it would be very complex, with so many factors to consider. Not only could the 1955-style park not be built for $200-ishM, it would not be done in one year. Wookie World, for all of its flaws, is visually impressive, it does immerse you in a place that is completely different from the rest of Disneyland. I like it, but wish there was more than two rides (one that I am “meh” about). Maybe someday they’ll build that third ride that was originally planned.
JG, ha ha, “What is he on the edge of?? I need to know!”.
Bu, the public would have lost its collective mind if Walt had spent $100M in 1955! Even the $17 million was considered crazy.
Nanook, I’m not sure I ever knew that EPCOT originally cost $1B. It was a huge and impressive project for its time.
K. Martinez, my assumption is that the flyer that mentions the February dates was probably released late in 1955. I don’t believe that they printed up new flyers weekly in those early days, though as far as I am aware, starting in around 1965, they did start to print up flyers at least monthly, and by the late 1960s and into the 70s, they definitely did print new examples every week - there are many styles of brochure in which I am attempting to get as many weeks as I can!
Bu, I like your idea of a "road show" showcasing the differences, and changes, from 1955 Disneyland and American culture in general, to today's Park and culture. That would be an interesting experience.
Major, "Chuck is of course a cyborg". I've suspected as much, all along.
Yes, and with a much simpler set of codes and standards. Years back, I came up with the concept of the "Asymptotic Building Code" where the value of construction-in-place approaches zero as a limit as the complexity of the codes approaches Infinity on the Y-Axis. Every code cycle, more stringent rules come into force, there appears to be no end of things that need to be illegal.
JG
Major, might be “Galaxy’s Edge”…
Yes
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