Magic Key Program

[mkm1998]

This is really quite maddening because this detail is a make or break for us.

Yeah, same here. I would get the reason why, but I would probably decide not to get a key if I'd have to wait last to book a reservation. Next trip is Dec 6 & 7th. They are both available on the cheapest Key Tier, so was looking at getting it, but not sure it's worth it if I have to wait that extra month. I know alternative would be to book regular tickets and then upgrade when we are there, but then we'd miss out on the initial goodies they are giving out to early adopters

 

[SarahWI]

I see your DVC avatar -- I'm hoping the hotel guest bucket stays the same for future Magic Key/AP holders, it would be a bummer to book 11 months ahead and get locked out of the parks.

Yeah. We don’t own at Cali but are using points to stay there in January. I am hoping that Key holders are treated like WDW AP holders where the booking limit goes away if you are staying on site. It just hasn’t been explicitly stated by DL though. We are going in January and if we are going to get hoppers we need to decide by early September to get park reservations.

Yeah, same here. I would get the reason why, but I would probably decide not to get a key if I'd have to wait last to book a reservation. Next trip is Dec 6 & 7th. They are both available on the cheapest Key Tier, so was looking at getting it, but not sure it's worth it if I have to wait that extra month. I know alternative would be to book regular tickets and then upgrade when we are there, but then we'd miss out on the initial goodies they are giving out to early adopters

I suspect non holiday weekends and weeks we’d be fine waiting to day 90 if we had the Dream Key but we are coming from Wisconsin to spend 7 days at DL and would be beyond upset if we would get locked out of park reservations because Key Holders book at day 90 vs day 120. We may end up upgrading when we get there but would be out some cash (plan now is 5 day hopper and 2 day hopper to cover the 7 park days) and miss out as you said on the early adopter goodies. I would really really like to see something official from DL on this. I sent an email yesterday but am not holding my breath on any sort of meaningful response.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Yeah. We don’t own at Cali but are using points to stay there in January. I am hoping that Key holders are treated like WDW AP holders where the booking limit goes away if you are staying on site. It just hasn’t been explicitly stated by DL though. We are going in January and if we are going to get hoppers we need to decide by early September to get park reservations.

The timing works for you, then. On August 25, the early adopters will know and post here what the window looks like (assuming we don't hear before then from Disney) so you can decide by September whether to buy tickets or a pass.

If you have no interim trips before January, consider buying tickets then upgrading when you get here? That way, you guarantee your DVC stay and get a pass in the end. You'd miss out on discounts for the first part of your trip, though (unless you have blue card discounts already).

 

[SarahWI]

The timing works for you, then. On August 25, the early adopters will know and post here what the window looks like (assuming we don't hear before then from Disney) so you can decide by September whether to buy tickets or a pass.

If you have no interim trips before January, consider buying tickets then upgrading when you get here? That way, you guarantee your DVC stay and get a pass in the end. You'd miss out on discounts for the first part of your trip, though (unless you have blue card discounts already).

I’m hoping its a big enough window of time to get a good gauge on other people’s experiences. Regarding the discounts, we have a blue card but the Dream Key offers slightly better discounts. Honestly our biggest draw to getting the Dream Key is having an excuse to hit up DL twice in 2022!!! I’ll keep watching here and hope for updates from folks after 8/25!!

 

[TsWade2]

Not quite what I hope for, but it wasn't that bad. I just need to convince my parents.

 

[snakeyp23]

I am wondering, does anyone know the big differences here? Previously I was an AP at the lowest tier, and it seems the lowest tier here matches up pretty well. Is it all about reservation? Because I always had to make a reservation to use my pass anyways. What is the difference here? Genuinely asking.

 

[Epicnemesis]

I am wondering, does anyone know the big differences here? Previously I was an AP at the lowest tier, and it seems the lowest tier here matches up pretty well. Is it all about reservation? Because I always had to make a reservation to use my pass anyways. What is the difference here? Genuinely asking.

Blackout dates are more prevalent and reservations are a thing. The top and bottom tiers are the least changed.

 

[sjmac42]

Blackout dates are more prevalent and reservations are a thing. The top and bottom tiers are the least changed.

Plus no PhotoPass. Be interesting to see what the MaxPass add on will cost and what form it will take (tiered?) when it’s eventually offered.

 

[DizneyMommy]

Someone posted on Instagram that there’s no physical “pass” included with these - you can pay $20 at the ticket booth for a “paper pass.”

That’s interesting in terms of using them for discounts; you’ll have to be able to pull them up on your phone easily all day…

I was just reading the T&C and saw this at the very end. So how does that work with FP’s when/if they return? I can’t stick my phone in a FP machine.

Also, Disneyland has always insisted they can’t scan a phone for a discount and it drove me nuts. You can scan it for admission, scan it for a FP return, why can’t they scan it for the discount?? I guess they resolved that one!

 

[dina444444]

I was just reading the T&C and saw this at the very end. So how does that work with FP’s when/if they return? I can’t stick my phone in a FP machine.

Also, Disneyland has always insisted they can’t scan a phone for a discount and it drove me nuts. You can scan it for admission, scan it for a FP return, why can’t they scan it for the discount?? I guess they resolved that one!

Before the closures, the Tomorrowland FPs were consolidated in front of the theatre and it scanned your barcode to book. You didn’t stick it in the machine. My guess is when fps return it will likely be in a max pass only format. The return machines already scanned your ticket anyways.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Before the closures, the Tomorrowland FPs were consolidated in front of the theatre and it scanned your barcode to book. You didn’t stick it in the machine. My guess is when fps return it will likely be in a max pass only format. The return machines already scanned your ticket anyways.

Aren’t there reports of FP paper machines being removed? Not sure if that was systematic or isolated cases.

But I agree, it’ll be cheaper to leave it as a function on the phone (like BG and VQ) and they can utilize those spaces for…I dunno…another churro stand.

 

[whoever]

I see your DVC avatar -- I'm hoping the hotel guest bucket stays the same for future Magic Key/AP holders, it would be a bummer to book 11 months ahead and get locked out of the parks.

If they see people canceling CRAZY lucrative reservations because of lack of park reservations, that will quickly change. There should be ZERO restrictions for someone staying at a DLR hotel.

 

[DLgal]

I was just reading the T&C and saw this at the very end. So how does that work with FP’s when/if they return? I can’t stick my phone in a FP machine.

Also, Disneyland has always insisted they can’t scan a phone for a discount and it drove me nuts. You can scan it for admission, scan it for a FP return, why can’t they scan it for the discount?? I guess they resolved that one!

You can use your phone for everything now. We've never used our paper tickets since we've gone back to the parks this year. Even DAS, they scan your phone, and the Fastpass issue/return machines have been able to read phone barcodes for a long time (pre pandemic).

They have also had no problems scanning our Legacy Barcode for AP discounts. In fact, they won't accept the physical AP for discounts right now at all.

 

[DisSurfer878]

Aren’t there reports of FP paper machines being removed? Not sure if that was systematic or isolated cases.

But I agree, it’ll be cheaper to leave it as a function on the phone (like BG and VQ) and they can utilize those spaces for…I dunno…another churro stand.

I did see on Mice Chat the one across from gaurdians was removed in the last couple of weeks.

though I still do speculate they could be putting in different machines that just scan your phone instead of inserting a ticket

 

[Ryan120420]

I was just reading the T&C and saw this at the very end. So how does that work with FP’s when/if they return? I can’t stick my phone in a FP machine.

Also, Disneyland has always insisted they can’t scan a phone for a discount and it drove me nuts. You can scan it for admission, scan it for a FP return, why can’t they scan it for the discount?? I guess they resolved that one!

Prior to the shutdown Disney was just starting the process of removing FastPass machines in front of attractions and replacing and moving those machines to central locations in each land. The new machines had slots large enough to stick your smartphone inside so it could scan your ticket barcode from the Disneyland app. Tomorrowland attractions were the first to use the new machines.

With paid FastPass now having rolled out in Paris, HongKong, and Shanghai, I doubt any form of free FastPass or even MaxPass returns to Disneyland.

So if you have no intention of buying FastPasses for each atraction you will only need your Ticket or AP for admission into the parks and discounts.

 

[DizMe]

I just got off the phone with a WDTravelcompany rep. I wanted information on what to do for a December reservation. I currently have room + hopper package for GCH. With my package, I can begin making park reservations on Aug 10. I wanted to know when I could book park reservations with a key pass if I purchased one on Aug 25. He checked and confirmed with the higher-ups that the window for the Keys is currently set for 90 days.

I'm trying to decide how likely it would be that I'd be unable to book my 3 days in mid-Dec if I waited until the key pass allowed it. He did tell me that hotel guests get priority for reservations and you get to pull from whichever bucket has availability (whether ticket holder or hotel guest), but I just don't know what Dec is going to look like. I have a couple more trips this fall so I'll need to buy the pass before my Dec trip.

 

[SarahWI]

He checked and confirmed with the higher-ups that the window for the Keys is currently set for 90 days.

Thank you for posting this! The 90 day window may have just made our decision on the Key.

 

[BGinCali]

I just got off the phone with a WDTravelcompany rep. I wanted information on what to do for a December reservation. I currently have room + hopper package for GCH. With my package, I can begin making park reservations on Aug 10. I wanted to know when I could book park reservations with a key pass if I purchased one on Aug 25. He checked and confirmed with the higher-ups that the window for the Keys is currently set for 90 days.

I'm trying to decide how likely it would be that I'd be unable to book my 3 days in mid-Dec if I waited until the key pass allowed it. He did tell me that hotel guests get priority for reservations and you get to pull from whichever bucket has availability (whether ticket holder or hotel guest), but I just don't know what Dec is going to look like. I have a couple more trips this fall so I'll need to buy the pass before my Dec trip.

Thanks so much for reporting your communications with the rep. The 90 days makes me uncomfortable/nervous. It seems they might be basing the size of the Key reservation pool in part on how ticket holders (and hotel guests) fill up slots for 30 days…makes this unknown Key reservation experience that much more unsettling near term until we see it action over a period of time.

 

[colormegreen]

Question on actual card, it will be a physical card, right? I am all for using my electronics for certain things, but do not want to use it for dining or any other type of discounts.

 

[JWelch62]

Question on actual card, it will be a physical card, right? I am all for using my electronics for certain things, but do not want to use it for dining or any other type of discounts.

There is no physical card by default. You can get one, but you may have to pay $20 for it.