How to unlock disabled phone without deleting the data? This is an old phone that I'm trying to retrieve old text messages.

See this Apple tip-->If you forgot the passcode for your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, or your device is disabled - Apple Support As the article explains, if you have previously synced the phone with iTunes on your computer it can make a backup of your phone before resetting it that can be later restored. If you have never synced the phone with iTunes there is no way to recover data on the phone.