Disney World Let A Girl In With A Ticket From 1994

In case you don't know how expensive Disney Land/Disney World tickets are, I only go when someone else pays for my ticket (or if a friend has an extra one on hand from work — #JustLosAngelesThings). Which is why hearing that a girl got into Disney World with a ticket from 1994 comes as such a genuine surprise. I know that Disney cares about creating a magical experience, but like any business, they also gotta make money. It seems, though, that in this case, the magic intervened.

To be fair, technically, Chelsea Herline's parents paid for a four day Park Hopper Pass back in 1994 when Chelsea was only five years old. The first three days were spent running around and taking in the sights, but the last day didn't pan out as well. Chelsea got sick and wasn't able to join her family in the festivities. Luckily, her parents were smart enough to keep Chelsea's pass for 22 years! She didn't think that the park would let her use it after all this time, but brought it with her just in case. After Chelsea presented it to security, she was delighted to learn that it could still be redeemed. Not bad, Disney World!

It must have been so nice to reunite with all of the characters she saw when she was younger. This time, as a full-fledged adult. Makes me look twice at the fine print of any purchase. Just imagine how many treasures we are all sitting on because we have failed to read over the terms and agreements carefully! So dig up those old passes and give them a once over, you might just be able to go to an expensive theme park for free. (Or at least for the pre-inflation 1994 price.)

That's Chelsea in the above picture at age 27 (on the left) and five (on the right). Clearly, her family had an awesome time in Disney World, based off my own knowledge of the park and her expression in the photo. Below is the actual pass that she used in 1994 on her family trip, and brought back to Disney World 22 years later.

I don't know much about four day passes, so seeing that her little picture was on the ticket put a smile on my face. It looks like she even signed it herself! That's a pretty meaningful interaction.

I was so inspired by Chelsea's story that I wanted to share a photo from my first time at Disney Land as a full grown adult.

I never got to go when I was younger, but that didn't stop me from sobbing when the fireworks lit up the castle on Main Street. Dreams really DO come true at Disney, guys!

Images: Getty Images; Courtesy of Dasha Fayvinova