Magic Key upgrade strategy help needed

[disneyland addict13]

My family and I are going to the parks November 6-11 (Veteran's Day weekend). Due to school/work obligations, these are the only dates we can go. I have an Inspire Key (tier 1) but the rest of them have Believe Keys (tier 2), so they'll be blocked out on the 7th, 8th, and 9th. They want to upgrade to Imagine Keys, but we're coming from out of state and wouldn't be able to upgrade until we arrive to the parks on the 6th. At that point, I'm assuming that park reservations for the weekend will be unavailable and we'll be out of luck. My thought is that we can buy park hoppers for them now as a back-up with reservations for those days. Then, when we arrive, if park reservations do happen to be available for them to book on their newly upgraded Inspire Keys (edit: I accidentally said Imagine before), we won't need to use the park hoppers and they can be saved for a future trip. I'm trying to wrap my head around the logistics and have a few questions.

1) Is my logic sound? Is this the best way to guarantee that we can all enter the parks on those dates?
2) Can the park hoppers be applied to the cost of upgrading their Believe Keys to Inspire Keys? Or can they only be applied to the purchase of a brand new Magic Key?
3) Another consideration is that we're staying at the Grand Californian. I've heard there is a separate bucket of park reservations available for hotel guests - a) is that true, and b) does anyone have experience with what last minute availability is like for those reservations?

 

[Bruno33]

#3 is the relevant info. (Also, you mean Inspire Keys, right?)

I don’t think there’s ever been a day that the hotel bucket runs out of reservations. That COULD change, so I guess it depends if you’re willing to take a slight gamble.

 

[disneyland addict13]

#3 is the relevant info. (Also, you mean Inspire Keys, right?)

I don’t think there’s ever been a day that the hotel bucket runs out of reservations. That COULD change, so I guess it depends if you’re willing to take a slight gamble.

Yes, I meant Inspire! The names trip me up all the time.

That's super helpful, thank you. I think we would be willing to take the gamble based on that. Is there a way to view the hotel bucket reservation availability?

 

[Bruno33]

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/av...egments=ticket,ph,ap,resort&defaultSegment=ap

Click “Hotel Guests.” Supposedly there was one time it wasn’t available due to a tech glitch and someone went to the desk and got reservations anyway, but I don’t remember details. That had to have been a couple of years ago.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Book through your hotel reservation. Open the hotel reservation, click on make theme park reservation. You will be able to book the dates that you are staying in the hotel.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

My family and I are going to the parks November 6-11 (Veteran's Day weekend). Due to school/work obligations, these are the only dates we can go. I have an Inspire Key (tier 1) but the rest of them have Believe Keys (tier 2), so they'll be blocked out on the 7th, 8th, and 9th. They want to upgrade to Imagine Keys, but we're coming from out of state and wouldn't be able to upgrade until we arrive to the parks on the 6th. At that point, I'm assuming that park reservations for the weekend will be unavailable and we'll be out of luck. My thought is that we can buy park hoppers for them now as a back-up with reservations for those days. Then, when we arrive, if park reservations do happen to be available for them to book on their newly upgraded Inspire Keys (edit: I accidentally said Imagine before), we won't need to use the park hoppers and they can be saved for a future trip. I'm trying to wrap my head around the logistics and have a few questions.

1) Is my logic sound? Is this the best way to guarantee that we can all enter the parks on those dates?
2) Can the park hoppers be applied to the cost of upgrading their Believe Keys to Inspire Keys? Or can they only be applied to the purchase of a brand new Magic Key?
3) Another consideration is that we're staying at the Grand Californian. I've heard there is a separate bucket of park reservations available for hotel guests - a) is that true, and b) does anyone have experience with what last minute availability is like for those reservations?

I am guessing from your concern that these Magic Keys are so far wholly unused. If that is the case, then, yes, that is a problem that you have to upgrade only in person at the ticket booths. Even though the Inspire Key is currently available for sale and upgrade, there is no guarantee that it will still be available on the dates that you visit. Yes, buying 3-day tickets and making reservations will ensure that your group can get into the parks on the blocked out days, but ticket value cannot be used toward upgrading or renewing Magic Keys because Disneyland will not combine ticket media. The hotels do have their own reservation bucket and users here on the board have only rarely reported difficulty securing a desired short-notice park reservation.

 

[irlandaise]

Yes, buying 3-day tickets and making reservations will ensure that your group can get into the parks on the blocked out days, but ticket value cannot be used toward upgrading or renewing Magic Keys because Disneyland will not combine ticket media.

Ouch. So maybe @disneyland addict13 should buy the 3-day tickets from a reseller that offers refunds with a small restocking fee, so that if her family members can upgrade their APs, she can return the unused 3-day tickets?

 

[OneTrackMind]

We decided to add an extra day a couple of years ago when staying at the GCH. We didn’t have a key, just a regular ticket. There was no availability online, even as a hotel guest. I went to the front desk about 6 in the morning and the cast member made the reservations with absolutely no problem at all. She said there is always room for hotel guests. I know what people are told can change from time to time, but this was so easy - no manager or anything, just “of course”.
Good luck!

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

The plan relies much less on whether reservations will be available (since you’re staying on site) and much more on whether the Inspire Key will be available to upgrade.

I would need to look it up but I feel like all keys were frozen last year starting from when the Christmas holidays started up until after New Year’s.