Magic Key Program

[avalon451]

Okay official terminology, tickets can be upgrade to the new pass:

"UPGRADES: A Guest wishing to upgrade to a Pass from another form of eligible Disneyland® Resort theme park admission media must upgrade on the same day in which the original form of theme park admission media is valid, and must choose a Pass of equal or greater value than the retail price of the original theme park admission media when it was purchased. The difference in prices must be paid in full at the time of the upgrade. If an upgrade to a Pass is made from a multi-day ticket, the Pass will be backdated to begin on the first day that such ticket was used; if an upgrade to a Pass is made from a lower level Pass, the new Pass will have the same expiration date as the original Pass. Each guest wishing to upgrade their theme park admission media to a Pass must be present at the time of the upgrade transaction. Fully used, or partially used and expired, theme park admission media, complimentary ticket media, special event ticket media and ticket media stating its ineligibility for an upgrade may not be upgraded to a Pass. Upgrades are subject to Pass availability. Downgrades are not allowed. "

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/magic-key-terms-conditions/

So... when I go in September with my 3-day parkhoppers, I'll need to upgrade at the ticket booths? My ADHD brain is having trouble comprehending the fine print.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Interesting "No-Show Policy"
View attachment 594376

Is there no ability to cancel?

 

[StormyCA]

I seem to remember with the old program a few years back when one of the passes (Deluxe?) suddenly increased the number of blockouts by a lot so there was a mad rush of people upgrading to the higher 2 tiers. The result was a load of people getting passes with less blocked days thereby increasing their days in the park and thus contributing to more crowding. Wonder if the same thing is going to happen again with the 'Flex' crowd upgrading to the Believe or Dream Key.

NOTE: I'm not criticizing people who upgraded and then visited more. They were perfectly entitled to do so and to use the pass according to Disney's rules. If it contributed to overcrowding that's Disney fault, not the Passholder.

 

[mkm1998]

So I have a trip in December coming up. They are on days that are available on the lowest tier, so thinking about getting that tier for me and my wife. Someone else is coming that will just be getting a regular 2-day park ticket. Will I be able to make a reservation for all of them at the same time? Will I be able to try for boarding passes with the entire group?

 

[gpjacobs]

What I want to know – and Disney will likely never disclose – is the number of Keys/passes they plan to sell. I can see this being a big win for Disney if the total number is much lower than pre-pandemic levels. It will help crowding but keep local/frequent visitors happy.

Also, this only works if Keyholders have little to no issues reserving dates. I wonder if there are buckets on the backend ... X number of Keyholder tickets per day + X number of general admission ticket reservations = total capacity.

 

[DLgal]

Is there no ability to cancel?

You can cancel, just as you can now.

 

[ValW]

Is there no ability to cancel?

You can cancel up to 11:59 pm the day prior to your reservation.

 

[DIS Fan from IL]

So, basically the 'old' AP program but with reservations?

I don't really see any difference in the Dream vs Sig+ and the Believe vs Sig as far as availability and blocked periods for the Believe. The Enchant calendar looks a bit like the flex calendar as far as blocking but I never really paid that much attention to it TBH.

I don't think it's really going to change crowding all that much.

That's the way it looks to me. I was hoping for more help with crowding, but I guess not.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I was at the beach with no service, but this is basically APs with reservations, at a higher price point.

I mean, that’s fine? But I really thought with all of their surveys and messaging, something even slightly different would be happening?

 

[Epicnemesis]

Ugh we’re East coasters and our trip begins on 8/25. How screwed are we from a crowd perspective? I imagine everyone and their mother will flood to the parks on those first few days

Well the perk of the reservation system is that there is a crowd ceiling. So the 25th will be no more busy than your average fully reserved day at the park. ( I’m assuming there will just me more days that hit the reservation cap.)

 

[Rich M]

Just saw that part that if you buy with in the first 66 days you get some nice Disney Swag.

 

[dieumeye]

Very similar thoughts here. When I saw the pricing I realized they "wanted" to avoid the implication of gouging. But then I remembered how fast these prices went up, every year, just in the last 5-7 years. Pushing over 10% pops at times, if I recall. They can adjust these very quickly (up or down) as it gets traction.

Also the real control is in the buckets. They can adjust them at-will with a few clicks. And they will count on the higher tiers to soak up capacity when needed (and I'm sure they will!). This is already happening at WDW.

I hope this goes a long way toward managing those crowd surges that can really spoil a day (or evening) unexpectedly.

Regarding reservations:

Anecdotally, lack of APs seems to have made the evenings less crowded, since you don’t have people popping over to the park just for a short visit. Reservations might continue to reduce spur of the moment visits, but I bet people will still book reservations even if they only plan to be there in the evening, for example.

I wonder if, in a weird way, this will have a positive impact on crowds. Since now an AP holder will need to make a reservation for the entire day, even if they are only planning on stopping by for dinner and a quick walk around the park in the evening.

Actually, I bet that’ll be the NEW thing everyone complains about. APs “eating up” all the reservations even though they are just popping in for a short visit! “They are using up all the reservations so now the days are booked and I can’t go because some entitled local made a reservation just so they could run in and pick up a churro!!!”

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Three no-shows is pretty generous, honestly.

What keeps a Dream holder from just booking every single weekend “just in case” and then releasing them the day before, but then sometimes you’re not sure so you just maybe no-show…

I mean, ultimately that will lead to a lot of calendar movement, which is potentially not the worst thing, but… yeah…

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Regarding reservations:

Anecdotally, lack of APs seems to have made the evenings less crowded, since you don’t have people popping over to the park just for a short visit. Reservations might continue to reduce spur of the moment visits, but I bet people will still book reservations even if they only plan to be there in the evening, for example.

I wonder if, in a weird way, this will have a positive impact on crowds. Since now an AP holder will need to make a reservation for the entire day, even if they are only planning on stopping by for dinner and a quick walk around the park in the evening.

Actually, I bet that’ll be the NEW thing everyone complains about. APs “eating up” all the reservations even though they are just popping in for a short visit! “They are using up all the reservations so now the days are booked and I can’t go because some entitled local made a reservation just so they could run in and pick up a churro!!!”

1000% this will be the case.

 

[vacay77]

Does anyone know what the blackout days are? My family and I are going to DL this October, then next June so I’m thinking it’s worth it to upgrade. But I want to make sure our dates in June aren’t on the blackout calendar.

edited to add - I found the calendar

 

[Skyegirl1999]

Well the perk of the reservation system is that there is a crowd ceiling. So the 25th will be no more busy than your average fully reserved day at the park. ( I’m assuming there will just me more days that hit the reservation cap.)

Yes, but also the 25th probably wouldn’t have hit the reservation cap previously…

 

[Katiegrose]

And Disneyworld AP will resume

Thank you for this screenshot! I had read it on blogs but I trust Disney official more! I was just about to purchase DL and WDW passes before the shutdown so it has been a long year. But I did get 4 trips in....

 

[Skyegirl1999]

ALSO my daughter has a 1/2 day first day of school the 25th and we’ve always gone to DL after (did DD last year), and now I have choices to make because we’ll still have a CA resident ticket left then… hmmm…

 

[DLgal]

So, does anyone know if the year clock starts on the purchase date or on the first day you visit a park?

 

[smartlabelprint]

So, does anyone know if the year clock starts on the purchase date or on the first day you visit a park?

I read first date you visit. But if you don’t start it before one year it expires and you can only use the value to pay for a new pass at the higher price.