I tried to use a 46-year-old ticket to enter Disney World - here's what happened

A TikToker managed to gain entry to Disney World's Magic Kingdom using a 46-year-old ticket.

Matthew Ables used the ticket this past January, after a family member bought it in 1978 for $8.

Today, tickets start at $109 per day, plus tax. More often than not, a visit will cost at least $150.

Kept as a keepsake, the dusty voucher proved enough to enter the hallowed House of Mouse - and Ables recorded the process for all to see.

At one point, he bills the creased piece of paper as an inflation 'by-pass', as price hikes at Disney's parks have seen its profits surge. This comes in despite a slump in visitors seen after the pandemic, when the parks closed its doors for months.

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'I realized it had never been used and there is no expiration date,' he says in the clip, which has more than 18million views.

'I was getting nervous there because she started aggressively stamping "void" all over the ticket booklet and then left,' he adds of the moment of truth between him and a ticket vendors

But the employee returns with a yellow pass to the park, granting him admission.

The pass, like the ones available today, allowed him access for the day, during which he flaunted the almost-free trip.

'I can’t believe this actually worked,' the influencer exclaims in disbelief.

The video goes on to show Ables enjoying an up-close view of the park's iconic castle, as well as a glow-in-the dark roller coaster.

At one point, he zooms in on a kiosk that shows the price we would've paid if he used a current ticket- well into the hundreds for those aged 10 and up.

The TikToker - who continues to pull similar stunts on social media - clearly fits into that sample-set. He flew from his home all the way to Orlando to pull off the stunt.

After closing for a year during the pandemic, Disney World implemented a host of changes to its preeminent park, nixing free perks and ramping up prices,   

This has caused the cost of a visit to not only Disney World, but places like Disney Land as well, to rise dramatically.

Visitor numbers at the park have plunged by 17 percent the year after the pandemic - a year where the profit Disney made on each guest coincidentally increased by 17 percent in a year, helping turbocharge profits. 

The firm's share price plunged by more than a third due in large part to controversies over Disney opposing Florida's so-called Don't Say Gay bill, as well as movies such as Lightyear branded as woke.

But takings at its theme parks - traditionally the most profitable part of Disney's business - remain in very rude health.  

Disney made a whopping $7.4 billion from its parks for the most recent quarter of the 2022 financial year - up 70 per cent from a year earlier, when it was recovering from COVID shutdowns.

Profits also surged to an impressive $2.2 billion for that quarter - a huge leap from the $356 million recorded for the same quarter 12 months previously, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

 In March, longtime Disney fan Jake Williams slammed the park as being 'anti-consumer,' noting the removal of some of the once-complimentary services adds hundreds of dollars to a family's day at the park.

Like Ables, Jake also visited the Magic Kingdom to document his experience, how much it costs for two people to visit the park - showing how the happiest place on earth is also becoming the most unaffordable.

He cited a whopping 44 per cent price increase since 2017, after visiting park for the day.

'I got a discounted rate at $249 a night but that really turned out to be $280 a night with tax so to start,' he said of their room. which he labeled 'pretty nice' and in a good location.

The pair began their Disney day at the dining hall in the resort.

'We both got the bounty platter which was pretty good,' he shared. 'The platter is $22.79 per person and that came out to an okay $27.24 with tax.'

From there, they were able to take Disney's complimentary bus transportation from the resorts - but the park had reformatted the price tier of their annual passes system since the last time Jake visited.

'[They] bumped up the prices for both the passes and regular day tickets,' he explained. 'We chose to do the classic Park Magic Kingdom which also happens to be the most expensive Park unlike days of the past Disney, it now has variable pricing for each park depending on when you're going.'

A visit to the Magic Kingdom with full access will typically $154 per person, almost $50 more than the cheaper version.