Since the 1950s, the phrase E Ticket (or E ticket ride) has referred to an unusually interesting, thrilling or expensive experience. It derives from the tickets used at Disneyland and Walt Disney World theme parks until 1982. Formally, Disney called them coupons, but they were commonly referred to as tickets, as they were generally purchased in ticket books (with admission). The tickets came in different denominations, from A through E, with E tickets being the most expensive and reserved for the newest, most expensive or popular rides and attractions.

Park-goers could purchase tickets individually or in booklets that included tickets of each denomination. Booklets tended to have more high-level (D and E) tickets than lower-level (A and B) tickets, and might contain, for example, a park admission ticket, one A ticket, one B ticket, two C tickets, three D tickets, and three E tickets. Visitors tended to leave the park with unused A and B tickets, not because they had received large numbers of them, but because the A and B rides were less common and less popular.

The parks no longer use this method of selling tickets — instead, all rides are included with admission. However, the phrase continues to be used, having long-since passed into the lexicon of popular culture. In 1983, astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, famously described the experience of a Space Shuttle launch by saying: "Ever been to Disneyland? ...That was definitely an E ticket!"

Disney still informally uses the term "E ticket" to refer to its best attractions, even to those opened after the coupon system was replaced. Among the most notable attractions often referred to as E tickets where visitors never actually used an E ticket are Splash Mountain, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and Soarin' Over California.

From 1997 to 2004 , Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom had hard ticket events called E-Ride Nights, where a limited number of resort guests (usually 5000) would be allowed to purchase special tickets that allowed them to stay in the park and ride some of the rides (typically those which had been, or would have been, E-ticket rides) for an extra three hours after the park closed to other guests. E-Ride Nights have now been replaced with evening Extra Magic Hours, which are free for all resort guests.

The Fastpass system is currently used to give out timed tickets that allow users quicker entry to popular rides that, historically, would usually have taken an E ticket.

In 2007, Disneyland brought back the term "Disney's eTicket" for marketing its new Print at Home ticket option; this usage is a pun on the abbreviation for electronic ticket and the classic Disney usage of the term "E ticket".

The Disneyland Hotel's concierge lounge is named the E-Ticket Club, and features historic photos and posters from Disneyland's E-ticket attractions.