E ticket lineup

[Disney_Dad]

When I first visited Disneyland in Summer 1981 the attraction ticket system (A-E) was in its final year and the current system of general admission (then called a passport) was just being introduced. In the guidebook the following attractions were listed as E tickets:

Jungle Cruise
Tiki Room
Pirates
Mansion
Country Bears
Big Thunder
IASW
Matterhorn
Submarine Voyage
Monorail
Space Mountain

America Sings was still open, but although it had been an E ticket in previous years (and rightly so) in 1981 it was listed as a D ticket.

So my question is: if the ticket system was still operating today, which attractions do you think would qualify as E tickets in the DL resort? In making your selection please place yourself in the shoes of a tourist who knows nothing of the history of the park and has not yet developed a sentimental or nostalgic attachment to anything there. This person has come to the park expecting to be blown away by the experience simply based upon its reputation.

Let me know your opinion as to which attractions (not shows or parades) in both DL and DCA qualify. After I've received a few responses I'll post my own list.

[Blurr]

Off the top of my head:

Disneyland
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
Splash Mountain
Rise of the Resistance
Smuggler's Run (I think this is realistic knowing that attraction tickets could change later on and this is how I think Disney would letter grade this when pushing the new land)
Star Tours
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage (going off the same logic as Submarine Voyage and it's upkeep costs)

DCA
Soarin'
Grizzly River Run
Incredicoaster
Toy Story Midway Mania!
Radiator Springs Racers
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission BREAKOUT!
Frozen - Live at the Hyperion

I made these decisions putting my own persona bias aside and trying to think realistically about how today's Disney would want to price each attraction's ticket.

Edit: I also forgot to mention, my list is all "newcomer" (post 1981) E tickets. All previous E tickets would retain their status, as well.

[laferney Road kid]

BTMRR
NBC
POC
Indy
Space mountain
Matterhorn

folks just don't like getting wet on splash.

DCA
RSR at night

[Bob Weaver]

Storybook Land Canal Boats could be, if they added a loop.

[Jesser-pie]

Blurr has a great list. If shows like Tiki Room count towards an E-ticket, I might add the prime F! viewing areas.

[Disney_Dad]

Thank you all for your responses.
For me the attractions that make the E ticket grade right now are:

DL

Indy
Pirates
Mansion
Splash
Rise
Big Thunder
Star Tours
Space

DCA

Guardians
Racers

Note that four of the eleven E tickets from 1981 are still in my list as they were amazing in the first place and have benefited from significant enhancements in the last four decades.

At DL Matterhorn would be included if it had a more immersive queue and smoother track. Smugglers Run would be too if the engineer experience were somehow enhanced.

At DCA Soarin', Grizzly, Incredicoaster and Midway Mania aren't quite up there for me as they're insufficiently immersive. DCA is a young park and has plenty of time to catch up. Hopefully the Avengers attraction will make the grade.

Anyway, it's all subjective and these are just my opinions, so feel free to disagree.

[Starcade]

I now for many and in pop culture E-ticket often means a thrill ride though I believe Walt's version of an E-ticket was a ride that went beyond a typical dark ride, train or spinner and that would be a more cherished ride and therefore tickets were more scarce for these attractions. Also there needs to be rides left for A-D tickets so not all the big rides will qualify...

Taking both of those theories and compositing them I would put it like this...

DL
- Space Mountain
- Splash Mountain
- Thunder Mountain
- POTC
- Indy
- R o t R
- Matterhorn

DCA
- Soarin
- Encredicoaster
- RSR
- GotG

[Tomorrowland_1967]

DL
- Jungle Cruise
- Indy
- PotC
- HM
- Splash Mountain
- RotR
- Smugglers Run
- Big Thunder
- iasw
- Matterhorn
- Space Mountain
- Nemo Submarine Voyage

DCA
- RSR
- GRR
- Soarin
- Incredicoaster

[Mr Wiggins]

As an historical baseline, here's a link to a chart of all the Disneyland ticket book rides from October 1955 to 1982. "E" tickets were introduced in 1959.

[C. Andrew Nelson]

My list would be...

Disneyland:

Enchanted Tiki Room
Jungle Cruise
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Splash Mountain
Rise of the Resistance
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Matterhorn Bobsleds
It's a Small World
Star Tours
Space Mountain
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

DCA:

Soarin'
Grizzly River Run
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout
Radiator Springs Racers

My Reasoning:

Although many might not think of the Tiki Room as an E ticket these days, I still do. Perhaps I classify it as such out of respect more than anything else. I left off the Monorail which had once been an E ticket because I had never seen it as such. It was always more of a D ticket to me much like the PeopleMover had been.

Over in DCA, I left Incredicoaster off the E ticket list purely for my own selfish reasons. I don't think much of the ride. Not much when it was California Screamin' and not much now (although it is slightly more appealing to me with the Pixar overlay). This ride and that section of DCA leave me kind of cold. It's still the part of the park that reminds me of how Disney (in my opinion) cheaped out and built something I believe Walt would have hated. Be that as it may, I supposed that by virture of it being a large coaster with a bit of theming and an inversion loop it could be an E ticket,...but not on my list.

Having said that, DCA has very few E tickets compared to Disneyland...and I'm okay with that. DCA has a different vibe anyway. I don't mind a park that has mostly C tickets if there is enough atmosphere to make up the difference. Grizzly Peak, Buena Vista Street, and Carsland have that. Hopefully Avengers Campus will too.

Just my 2 cents.

[Eagleman]

As an historical baseline, here's a link to a chart of all the Disneyland ticket book rides from October 1955 to 1982. "E" tickets were introduced in 1959.

"E"ticket came about because

Submarine Voyage-Monorail- and the Matterhorn Bobsleds
The area underwent a major transformation 1959

[Eagleman]

My list would be...

Disneyland:

Enchanted Tiki Room
Jungle Cruise
Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
Pirates of the Caribbean
Haunted Mansion
Splash Mountain
Rise of the Resistance
Millennium Falcon: Smuggler's Run
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Matterhorn Bobsleds
It's a Small World
Star Tours
Space Mountain
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage

DCA:

Soarin'
Grizzly River Run
Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout
Radiator Springs Racers

Just my 2 cents.

I give you 8 cents , now you have a dime
(I like your list)

[Tomorrowland_1967]

As an historical baseline, here's a link to a chart of all the Disneyland ticket book rides from October 1955 to 1982. "E" tickets were introduced in 1959.

That website could use a few updates - he was unsure of Flying Saucers status....

[Tomorrowland_1967]

Going back to my list .... I tried using the universal approach of ....
* Scale
* Scope
* Wow factor
* number of effects
* use of practical sets

The Monorail always baffled me as an E ticket until I read one of the determining factors how Disney asserted ticket value - amount of maintenance the attraction requires. Though Tiki Room was an E ticket and a huge sentimental favourite... it’s pint size feels more like a solid D. And ... this just me, rides that put primary attention on monitors/screens in more ‘intimate’ applications (Star Tours, Midway Mania, and Smugglers Run in the future) a solid D. While Soarin is a mammoth IMAX screen, scents, a ride mechanism that seems to achieve a bigger “wow” factor. I should label Guardians of the Galaxy an E, for its pre show, overall physical size. But I can’t give a ride that’s entirely in one elevator shaft, and the ride less than 2 minutes in the books with rides that achieve double, triple, quadruple that amount of time. And GRR is more like a E minus. If they ever give it a theme with AA bears and other effects like all the other bonafide E tickets, then it gets a stellar rating.

[Eagleman]

What Interesting that SF&D RR which is today Disneyland Railroad was a "E"
Later on it became a "D" attraction....

But is more Interesting

Adventures Through Inner Space
was a Free ride then it became a "C"
(do to lost of sponsor)

[C. Andrew Nelson]

I give you 8 cents , now you have a dime
(I like your list)

Ooh! A thousand more dimes and I can almost pay my way into the park...almost. LOL!

[Eagleman]

Ooh! A thousand more dimes and I can almost pay my way into the park...almost. LOL!

Well in the old days
you could on the

horse-drawn streetcar , one-way on MAIN STREET U.S.A.
lol