Magic Key Program

[Mathmagicland]

Are we sure about that? I would think that having a hotel stay would give me to two buckets to pull from for the duration of the hotel stay?

Yes, because I have a hotel/DVC reservation for October and when I tried to make a hotel park reservation with my MK I got a message that I needed to get s ticket first. It does not recognize MKs with a hotel reservation. When I had a hotel reservation and regular ticket back in May, it let me pull from the hotel bucket.

 

[Mathmagicland]

So who does pull from the hotel bucket?

Back in April, I used regular tickets for DL Day 1 (re-opening) and pulled from the hotel bucket even though my reservation was for a DVC stay the following week.

As with your prior experience, and mine, the hotel bucket is only for
those with regular ticket media in their accounts, not any Magic Keys. I don’t understand why California is different from Florida, which allows both length of stay reservatios and also allows AP reservations out of their hotel bucket and outside of any pass reservation limits.

 

[truetink]

As with your prior experience, and mine, the hotel bucket is only for
those with regular ticket media in their accounts, not any Magic Keys. I don’t understand why California is different from Florida, which allows both length of stay reservatios and also allows AP reservations out of their hotel bucket and outside of any pass reservation limits.

Yes, this a million times over!

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Well… that escalated quickly…

*edited with a different picture that clarifies that this is the AP calendar. 10/31 is cut off but also booked.

 

[mel2014]

Well… that escalated quickly…
View attachment 608459

I'm really not understanding the point of the Hotel Guest "bucket". It's not accessible to Magic Key holders and it seems to consistently have less availability than the regular ticket bucket (there are only two completely reserved park hopper days in October right now). Why does it exist?

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I'm really not understanding the point of the Hotel Guest "bucket". It's not accessible to Magic Key holders and it seems to consistently have less availability than the regular ticket bucket (there are only two completely reserved park hopper days in October right now). Why does it exist?

That’s the AP bucket; I should have clarified since the picture has the (not selected) hotel bucket button showing.

The hotel bucket is fine:

 

[bwvBound]

I don’t understand why California is different from Florida, which allows both length of stay reservatios and also allows AP reservations out of their hotel bucket and outside of any pass reservation limits.

AGREED! Yes, yes, yes.

If [Magic Key is valid for a given date] and the [park has not reached 100% occupancy] and the [Magic Key guest is staying at a Disney Hotel] ... then the guest should be allowed to secure a theme park reservation!!

 

[Bigmace]

Well… that escalated quickly…
View attachment 608501
*edited with a different picture that clarifies that this is the AP calendar. 10/31 is cut off but also booked.

Glad we decided to buy our magic keys last week and book the 15th. We were going to wait right until the trip started as before it didn't seem to a problem if you wanted to book reservations a couple days in advance. Doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

 

[cruisehopeful]

AGREED! Yes, yes, yes.

If [Magic Key is valid for a given date] and the [park has not reached 100% occupancy] and the [Magic Key guest is staying at a Disney Hotel] ... then the guest should be allowed to secure a theme park reservation!!

Looks like something worth submitting feedback about.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Well… that escalated quickly…
View attachment 608501
*edited with a different picture that clarifies that this is the AP calendar. 10/31 is cut off but also booked.

At this rate October will be completely sold out in a few more days.

 

[cruisehopeful]

At this rate October will be completely sold out in a few more days.

Seems to be very fluid right now. I just saw Saturday October 2 open for DCA. I guess we all need to check several times per day if we want a certain day.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Some data on how fluid the "sold out" days are:

This morning at 8:50am, 9/30 (tomorrow) was available for DCA.
At 9:10, Wednesday 10/6 was open for DL.
At 9:42, this Saturday and Sunday (10/2 and 10/3) were open for DCA (still are).
At 9:48, DCA was back for 9/30 and DL was open for Tuesday 10/5.

It's not at all the same as days being wide open - but if you have a specific date you're going for, and you have the ability/inclination to check frequently, you can probably score it.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I have an upgrade question. Theoretically, if my son and I were to use two three-day park hoppers to enter the parks on a Saturday, would I then be able to upgrade them both to Magic Keys the following week if my son were not with me on the second visit?

 

[mel2014]

I have an upgrade question. Theoretically, if my son and I were to use two three-day park hoppers to enter the parks on a Saturday, would I then be able to upgrade them both to Magic Keys the following week if my son were not with me on the second visit?

I think as long as you are doing it in the app and not at a ticket booth, you can do it any time after the first use until expiration of the ticket, regardless of where you are at the time. The "upgrade" option appeared in the app for me as soon as we scanned in the first day. It would only be an issue if for some reason you had to go to the ticket booths, in which case they are very adamant that all ticket holders have to be present for no apparent good reason since you can both buy and upgrade in the app without ever verifying the existence/identity of the person you are buying for (the couple in front of us had to run to Starbucks to grab their teens and were not happy about it; I knew from past experience that they would be required to be there, so kept my impatient and tired waiting on a nearby planter until the brief period their presence was required).

 

[deejdigsdis]

I have an upgrade question. Theoretically, if my son and I were to use two three-day park hoppers to enter the parks on a Saturday, would I then be able to upgrade them both to Magic Keys the following week if my son were not with me on the second visit?

I agree with the previous poster. As long as the upgrade option in the app is working properly, it doesn't matter where you are. I used 3 days of my 5 day Park Hopper, went back home, upgraded a couple days later while sitting on my couch out of state.

 

[wowsmom]

3. Many people who had Magic Keys weren't actually booking all their reservations because they didn't need to. But once there was a "run" on dates, they started using all their available reservation inventory. Anecdotally, this applies to a lot of the Dream holders I know (Including us! I only had four days reserved a week ago. I now have all six booked.) Basically, over the past week, Magic Key reservations became the equivalent of March 2020 toilet paper, and so people are now hoarding as much as possible rather than just having enough on hand for a couple of weeks.

I also think this is what's happening. I've been seeing a lot of people on social media talking about how October is "selling out", so I think people are rushing to book reservations, just in case they might want to go.

 

[BriannaRuth]

If I have regular Park Hoppers that include a Saturday (block out date for MK), I have to wait until at least Sunday after my Saturday res to upgrade, correct? This is driving me crazy, having to wait to upgrade while watching the availability run out. I keep worrying that if I wait, I might lose the ability to even buy regular tickets for my dates (I have hoppers through the October 5 of today but need two more days). And it looks like being a hotel guest isn't going to help, either. Ugh.

 

[dina444444]

If I have regular Park Hoppers that include a Saturday (block out date for MK), I have to wait until at least Sunday after my Saturday res to upgrade, correct? This is driving me crazy, having to wait to upgrade while watching the availability run out. I keep worrying that if I wait, I might lose the ability to even buy regular tickets for my dates (I have hoppers through the October 5 of today but need two more days). And it looks like being a hotel guest isn't going to help, either. Ugh.

Correct.

 

[Dory92130]

The Flexpass didn't have this significant amount of blockout issue. I believe allowing 90days AND 4+ reservation days coupled with the curtailed capacity at this time really making an impact.

It will be interesting to see how things open up on Thursday and Fridays as the weekend approaches and people dropping off reservations.

We have both Oct 2 and 9 weekends booked and probably will drop 2 of those 4 days.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I think as long as you are doing it in the app and not at a ticket booth, you can do it any time after the first use until expiration of the ticket, regardless of where you are at the time. The "upgrade" option appeared in the app for me as soon as we scanned in the first day. It would only be an issue if for some reason you had to go to the ticket booths, in which case they are very adamant that all ticket holders have to be present for no apparent good reason since you can both buy and upgrade in the app without ever verifying the existence/identity of the person you are buying for (the couple in front of us had to run to Starbucks to grab their teens and were not happy about it; I knew from past experience that they would be required to be there, so kept my impatient and tired waiting on a nearby planter until the brief period their presence was required).

Hmmmm… so I will need to go to the ticket booth since I want to apply a gift card and a rewards card to the deposit. Could be problematic so thank you for the heads up. Maybe I’ll just straight up upgrade my son’s ticket through the app (does it allow you to set up a payment plan through the app?) and then just visit the booth for my own Magic Key.

This is all hypothetical anyway as I can’t see myself actually upgrading to Magic Keys if there is no weekend availability for the next few months, then with Christmas blackouts . Might just wait until after the new year.