Magic Key Program

[starry_solo]

I wonder how much after 1 pm Pacific Time the announcement will come out.

 

[PirateBrigade]

I wonder how much after 1 pm Pacific Time the announcement will come out.

I think closer to 3-3:30pm pacific, marketing will be late but it’ll be done before they leave the office.

 

[SeaDis]

"Not before 1 PM PT" is worth noting. That is when the stock market closes. This is obviously a big announcement with material impact. I think the big headlines drop right at/after the close, then they are free to do the media creampuff stuff.

 

[DLgal]

"Not before 1 PM PT" is worth noting. That is when the stock market closes. This is obviously a big announcement with material impact. I think the big headlines drop right at/after the close, then they are free to do the media creampuff stuff.

Good observation.

 

[brightlined]

Perhaps the bolded section answers why you didn't get this email. It was directed to "Legacy Passholders" which is a term specific to those with active/valid APs at the point when Disney chose to cancel the AP program ... long, long into the shutdown.

Not that it matters - I also did not get the email, and I'm a confirmed Legacy Passholder.

In my case, I activated a WDW AP voucher this May, and noticed that all of my passholder-related emails at both parks stopped showing up about a week later. (This is my second round of "stopped getting the emails", after a three-year blank spot in the mid-10s.)

 

[PirateBrigade]

"Not before 1 PM PT" is worth noting. That is when the stock market closes. This is obviously a big announcement with material impact. I think the big headlines drop right at/after the close, then they are free to do the media creampuff stuff.

ooh I didn’t even think of after market news drop

ETA: I realized I got this email twice, probably because I had one email for my pass and another email for my daughter’s pass.

 

[dieumeye]

I love how the email says “all the details” will be revealed tomorrow. I expect it to be more like “basic info” with many questions remaining!

 

[Evita_W]

Something’s bugging me: does it actually say anywhere that this Magic Key program is going to be the replacement membership program for APs? The email calls it a “new offering” but doesn’t say it’s the new membership program.

Maybe it’s just a new FastPass/MaxPass system and they are just announcing it to legacy pass holders first since they’re the “biggest fans”.

Just thinking out loud. Gotta have something to ponder for the next 24 hours!

The park blog apparently did.

 

[PirateBrigade]

I just caught that it’s still DST so 1pm PST isn’t even a real time/time zone right now, hahah

 

[Caleb P]

I think payment plans will be there.

Disney needs the constant flow of money. If these new "Passes" are too expensive people won't buy them. There is a reason why the California 3 day pass was brought out and extended for ALL of Cali. They could not sell out the days and with borders and other restrictions still in effect, they were not able to bring in the people from out of state enough to move the needle.

I thought the general consensus was that Disney opted to "sunset" the AP program because it had become too accessible, particularly with payment plans. The parks were overcrowded with locals who didn't spend. The whole idea was to reduce their numbers and open space for vacationers with a much higher average guest spend. Taking away payment plans would be the first way to do that.

 

[AndrewC]

-Merch Discounts
-Food Discounts
-Unlimited Parking
-MaxPass + PhotoPass
-Possibly extended booking window


Those die hard locals can get all the discounts they love, but you’ve got to feed the machine it’s admission ticket price, lol

I do kinda think it might actually be a pre-purchase of more tickets… but you could so easily just modify the web site to allow like up to 30 days at the park for increased discounts and then use the reservation system. Not sure you would need a new program for that or especially buy into it.

I would really like to see some sort of AP program come back that was somewhat affordable (under $1000, ideally in the $700 range) that could appeal to out of state people. I was all excited for the FlexPass and going maybe 3 times a year (one week long vacation and then maybe two quick 3 day weekend like trips) heading down from WA state… and then the world went to heck. Nine to eleven days in the park probably would have been the max I could cram into the FlexPass, but coming out of state each day I would be doing lunch and dinner in the parks and possibly on-site hotel (PP?) if I could find promos for under $300/night. All those things would drive park revenue…

 

[cruisehopeful]

Keys sound like buying a block of tickets and maybe parking ahead of time. Originally when they said they would have membership offerings, I was thinking it would be nice if we could buy a certain # of visits that could be used over the course of a year. Personally, I found the email annoying. I don't need to be told that I will eventually be told some mystery information.

 

[sjmac42]

Personally I think the keys moniker may refer to how many park reservations you can hold at once. I’ve always thought any new AP type program would have an element of that. The more the program costs, the more reservations you can hold at one time (2, 3, 4?). There may also be an element of holding more than one FP at a time the more you pay but that’s less likely. I definitely think the chances of MaxPass/FastPass been exclusive to “Keys Members” are zero and affordable is really a thing of the past.
Like everyone else I have plenty of other theories but we shall soon see . . . .

 

[DLgal]

Disney is calling it a PASS

From the Disneyland Legacy Passholder Twitter feed:

 

[SherylLC]

OMG, I'm excited/nervous...announce it already!

 

[Rich M]

The fact that in the "before times" people would use APs for their teens as a way to drop them off to "hang out with friends" unsupervised, like a mall food court. The lower tier APs were cheap enough to make that commonplace, along with just people coming to "hang out" but not actually spend any money.

So basically like a Six Flags or Knotts Berry Farm style. Got it. So you would prefer a more expensive price to push out the local crowd that just wants to hang out at their local theme park because its Disney and should be more exclusive for people destination vacation?

 

[Bigmace]

So basically like a Six Flags or Knotts Berry Farm style. Got it. So you would prefer a more expensive price to push out the local crowd that just wants to hang out at their local theme park because its Disney and should be more exclusive for people destination vacation?

I know that's what Disney wants Disneyland to be. They want to squeeze every dollar they can out of the park.

 

[GoingSince1990]

So basically like a Six Flags or Knotts Berry Farm style. Got it. So you would prefer a more expensive price to push out the local crowd that just wants to hang out at their local theme park because its Disney and should be more exclusive for people destination vacation?

That sounds to be exactly what the Disney bean-counters want. Teens with cheap SoCal APs roaming around, maybe buying an occasional soda or snack, or tourists with full-price tickets buying T-shirts, souvenirs, and sit-down dinners? Tough choice….

 

[MonocularVision]

So basically like a Six Flags or Knotts Berry Farm style. Got it. So you would prefer a more expensive price to push out the local crowd that just wants to hang out at their local theme park because its Disney and should be more exclusive for people destination vacation?

That’s exactly what I am hoping for. I can appreciate the fact that folks like going to Disneyland regularly. I am an out-of-stater and have owned APs several times in the past. But Disneyland has got to do something about the overcrowding. It isn’t sustainable and it makes the park a lot less appealing.

 

[DLgal]

So basically like a Six Flags or Knotts Berry Farm style. Got it. So you would prefer a more expensive price to push out the local crowd that just wants to hang out at their local theme park because its Disney and should be more exclusive for people destination vacation?

It's not what *I* want, it's what DISNEY wants. They want people with deep pockets who are going to come for the rides but ALSO spend $$$.

To be clear, this is my family. We spend $$$ while there. Probably too much. We have already spent $8500 at the DLR since May, on just 7 park days. Our average daily spend IN the parks on food,, drinks and merch was $300. Then we spent on tickets (four 2 day hoppers and then four 5 day hoppers plus another 1 day hopper) and a 3 night stay at the Grand at rack rate. And we will be buying whatever pass gets us the most benefits.

We live 15 minutes away so it's not a vacation destination for us and I don't think it should only be looked at as that, but locals who want to go whenever they want need to pay the piper for that ability, IMO.