Magic Key Program

[Califgirl]

one thing I did find out this morning is that there are going to be 2 separate date availability lists...one to general public so people with tickets and the other to key holders.....if you are a keyholder, you can only book dates off the keyholder availability list....this is where I think the clicker is to going to be because they are going to curtail the amount of keyholders allowed into the park at any given day....although APs were awesome, I did feel for many years that too many people had them and even if 1000 people came straggling in for a couple hours at a time, DL especially is so small and it made crowds at times unbearable...this may very well allow the powers who be to control that a little better which in turn may allow everyone to have a better time...just my thoughts

Whether it's public or not, I believe this will be how Disney will control AP attendance. I think it may trigger from how many park reservations a Key holder has within 90 days. If you have too many they may not allow your account to book for a certain period, and you may never no why. I think it would be much more transparent if they have separate calendars, like they do for WDW, so they may go that way. But still it will be a way of controlling attendance. Remember, the fine print said that having a Key did not guarantee a park reservation.

 

[Califgirl]

Curious about this as well. We’d love to get a Magic Key but don’t want to lose any booking advantage we’d get as hotel guests and regular ticket holders.

The precedent is how WDW does it. There Hotel guests get the advantage and can book the length of stay with no restrictions. WDW APs not staying on site can hold park reservations for 3 days I believe. They each have their own calendar to check to see if park reservations are available. Hotel guest calendars have more open days when it's busy than the AP calendars show.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Whether it's public or not, I believe this will be how Disney will control AP attendance. I think it may trigger from how many park reservations a Key holder has within 90 days. If you have too many they may not allow your account to book for a certain period, and you may never no why. I think it would be much more transparent if they have separate calendars, like they do for WDW, so they may go that way. But still it will be a way of controlling attendance. Remember, the fine print said that having a Key did not guarantee a park reservation.

I think blocking reservations on an individual basis based on past usage is way, way beyond what Disney would want to do and is a borderline paranoid thought. This is something akin to a Las Vegas casino banning an individual for winning, except not telling them, and having two muscular security guards walk them outside.

Oh not to mention, a PR nightmare. People will share their "personal blockout dates" with the media, and there would be grounds for a lawsuit because the advertising material clearly states X reservations in 90 days. Yeah, not happening.

 

[Castillo Mom]

Has anyone gotten an answer on whether you can upgrade from single day tickets and still qualify for the payment plan?

 

[PirateBrigade]

The precedent is how WDW does it. There Hotel guests get the advantage and can book the length of stay with no restrictions. WDW APs not staying on site can hold park reservations for 3 days I believe. They each have their own calendar to check to see if park reservations are available. Hotel guest calendars have more open days when it's busy than the AP calendars show.

That is the current situation at DLR. Hotel guests have a separate bucket. It's possible/likely the Magic Key/AP program will have a separate bucket, but no one has seen evidence of it... only one post above from a member who "read about it this morning."

 

[Bigmace]

What I'm curious about is, as an out of state guest who wont have a Magic Key, will this have a negative impact my ability to make a reservation? I assume if there's a pie of tickets for the day, and some variation of 1/3rd of them going to Dream Key holders, 1/3rd going to the rest of the Key passes, and 1/3rd going to daily ticket holders. I'm glad for the new program but I haven't heard a reaction from the day ticket point of view.

Ticketed guests should get priority over passholders. Thats how its been at WDW.

 

[Califgirl]

I think blocking reservations on an individual basis based on past usage is way, way beyond what Disney would want to do and is a borderline paranoid thought. This is something akin to a Las Vegas casino banning an individual for winning, except not telling them, and having two muscular security guards walk them outside.

Oh not to mention, a PR nightmare. People will share their "personal blockout dates" with the media, and there would be grounds for a lawsuit because the advertising material clearly states X reservations in 90 days. Yeah, not happening.

You're probably right. But when I looked at Key offerings, they were so similar to what we had that I had to think about what was different enough to help them control attendance. That would be the park reservations. The easiest way would be to have different availability charts for the different types of guests. But my devious mind built in a use parameter. You're right it will never happen, Disney IT would never get it to work.

 

[DisSurfer878]

I mean, it will be the special cardstock like all tickets, but yeah, not exactly a highly durable product.

Considering that we had to get our plastic APs replaced periodically because the bar code would rub off from being put in and out of my pocket all day… I can’t imagine these would last long in my life.

I almost always used my physical AP anywhere I could (park entry, discounts, Maxpass), so I’m actually disappointed by this. I’m often taking photos/videos with my phone, so it’s a hassle to get back and forth to tickets on there, and 75% of the time I’m just with my kiddo so there’s no other adult to pull up the tickets.

It’s not a huge deal or anything, but it’s kind of a bummer (and weird) that they aren’t offering plastic cards if you have to go to the ticket booth and pay for them anyway…

This really has me thinking about fastpass.

Mice Chat (I think) posted recently they had removed the kiosks outside of Guardians where you would "pull" a fastpass. Now I know for awhile the paper you get is only a reminder and the fastpass is actually on your ticket, similar to a DAS return time.

Them not giving out actually "passes" for "pass holders" makes me think 1 of 2 possibilities.

1. Maxpass will be the only fastpass and so there will no longer be a "need" for paper tickets.

or

2. If some sort of kiosk exists for "free" fastpass, it will be replaced with a kiosk where you scan the barcode in your phone similar to the slot you put your phone into to scan for maxpass on rides.

 

[Kender]

100% agree with this. $30 parking will be a reality soon...

In addition to the max pass which has been mentioned in this thread, I'm surprised there was no mention of Photo pass as a possible perk/ add on. Seems like that would have been an easy thing to throw in for the top tier 'Keys' (still trying not to say 'passes'!).

Why not? Disney themselves have been calling them passes on official social media outlets they operate.

 

[Kingtide]

As a Southern Californian who wants the occasional weekend visit, the Enchant looks like something my family would consider - but it’s irritating that 2.5 consecutive months are blocked out.

I wish there was a “weekday evening access” option offered during summer. It doesn’t feel like an “annual pass” if it only works 9.5 months of the year.

 

[KTownRaider]

Has anyone gotten an answer on whether you can upgrade from single day tickets and still qualify for the payment plan?

From the T&Cs, I don't think you can:

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.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

It doesn’t feel like an “annual pass” if it only works 9.5 months of the year.

To be fair, it is not called an annual pass anymore.

 

[Castillo Mom]

From the T&Cs, I don't think you can:

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.

I read that but there’s conflicting info out there. I sent a message in chat last night, still awaiting response. Historically, upgrade and payment plan was allowed if it was from single/multi day tickets, but not if upgrading from AP to higher level AP.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Yeah, all that talk about "reimagining" the program to give guests the ability to "customize based on what is most important to them." What happened to all that? I expected an a la carte menu of add ons, priced separately. Clearly, they ditched that plan real quick.

I agree. I’ll take the Believe pass with no parking and 15% (or 20) discount on merch and food, please…

 

[FabDisneyFan]

Excellent info in this thread, thank you all.

 

[Snap Crackle Pop]

I did think about getting the Believe pass, but I don't think it would be worth it because I wouldn't want to have to always pay for parking. I do think the Dream pass though makes the most sense for me.. I really want to see if they ever do a MaxPass option to add on (I would consider getting it) I do like the fact that we can use our phones instead of having the physical card because I always tended to lose my AP (before I realized we could add it to our phones too..) and continued to replace it before I realized I didn't need to.

 

[WonkaKid]

Not to be mean as everyone has unique financial circumstances, but from a pure finance perspective, because the payment plan is interest free, there is no reason to make anything less than the minimum down payment.

Agreed. From a financial POV, it makes perfect sense to take what’s essentially free money. However, there’s also something to be said for the peace of mind of having minimal or even zero debt. Personally, I’m not a fan of debt (I suspect few people truly are). I carry very little of it myself and aim never to do so in the future. I like to have things paid off all at once. The idea of monthly payments also makes me the tiniest bit uneasy. I never had a car note and I got out of credit card debt long, long ago. It’s a nice feeling .

 

[Kingtide]

To be fair, it is not called an annual pass anymore.

That’s why I put it in quotes - because I knew someone would point that out.

It’s a pass that valid for 1 year past date of first use.

Based on duration of validity I’m comfortable calling it a (lower case) annual pass. It’s an annual pass with a different corporate branding and benefits than the former program.

 

[WonkaKid]

Why not? Disney themselves have been calling them passes on official social media outlets they operate.

I will always refer to whatever annual park ticket they offer as an annual pass .

 

[WonkaKid]

For the sake of clarity, the image below is a joke ,