New “Key To Disneyland” interactive experience coming May 16th

[LKing]

Each lock station has a special effect. It has bubbles or shows some sort of animation. There are lines because people want to film the special effect at each station. The same for the MB interactive stations. People are recording the sound and what happens. That's not a bad thing. It means people are having fun.

I think the powers that be underestimated the popularity of the key. I think they thought the bubble wands would sell more than they are.

 

[BrianL]

I have to admit, the more I see about it, the more I really do like it. It's still maybe a tad large. Should I find myself at DL this summer, I might be tempted by the dang thing!

 

[Tinkaboo]

Thank goodness I have no FOMO on this thing....what do you do with it after you get home??? Plus that'll eat up valuable suitcase space

 

[BrianL]

Thank goodness I have no FOMO on this thing....what do you do with it after you get home??? Plus that'll eat up valuable suitcase space

That is a good question. I'd probably hang it on the wall or in a shadowbox or something. Does it recharge? It'd be great if you could just set it to have all lights on.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

I wonder if it can be reset? My Boss wants me to pick her up one next week. I have no interest in the pin but my son would have fun with the stations, so if it could be reset after that would be cool.

 

[LKing]

Stitch got in on the action!

 

[supercarrie]

We picked up a Key on Saturday and spent a couple hours on Saturday and Sunday milling around the park and stopping at the lock stations. We have a couple more stations to go before we finish (trying to drag this purchase out as long as possible!) So far, the Galaxy's Edge station has been our favorite.

My 8 year old son has had a ton of fun with it so far. There have been lines at each of the stations but they move quickly, maybe 5-10 mins tops. My guess is these will die down quickly once the initial hype wears off. I actually thought the size was a bit smaller than I expected after hearing people complain - it fit into my tote bag just fine. The security CM and DVC CMs all wanted to look at it on Saturday and hear about the lock stations, as none of them had seen the key or stations in person yet.

I used my Inspire Key discount and a $20 Disney gift card (picked up from my AMEX business gold monthly credit) to bring the cost down to a more reasonable $30.

I wish they had an option to "reload" the key with a new pin. I foresee a lot of people buying multiple to get the pins and all that plastic waste...yikes. I also see my 8 year old begging me for more keys over the next 15 months.

 

[BrianL]

We picked up a Key on Saturday and spent a couple hours on Saturday and Sunday milling around the park and stopping at the lock stations. We have a couple more stations to go before we finish (trying to drag this purchase out as long as possible!) So far, the Galaxy's Edge station has been our favorite.

My 8 year old son has had a ton of fun with it so far. There have been lines at each of the stations but they move quickly, maybe 5-10 mins tops. My guess is these will die down quickly once the initial hype wears off. I actually thought the size was a bit smaller than I expected after hearing people complain - it fit into my tote bag just fine. The security CM and DVC CMs all wanted to look at it on Saturday and hear about the lock stations, as none of them had seen the key or stations in person yet.

I used my Inspire Key discount and a $20 Disney gift card (picked up from my AMEX business gold monthly credit) to bring the cost down to a more reasonable $30.

I wish they had an option to "reload" the key with a new pin. I foresee a lot of people buying multiple to get the pins and all that plastic waste...yikes. I also see my 8 year old begging me for more keys over the next 15 months.

Sounds fun! Can you tell me, does it take batteries (what kind?) or is it rechargeable? Just curious.

 

[StartedByAMouse]

Sounds fun! Can you tell me, does it take batteries (what kind?) or is it rechargeable? Just curious.

Not rechargeable. Looks like it takes 3 AA batteries, which are included with the purchase.

My wife loves doing all the little scavenger hunts they do at Disneyland (Easter eggs, pumpkins, etc.) so I knew this would be right up her alley. She had a blast doing it. My daughter took a turn at New Orleans Square since she's a saxophone player who loves jazz and I did the one in Galaxy's Edge since I'm a big Star Wars fan. We did it all in one night.

I find the Disneyland App a little overwhelming so maybe there's a logical place where it's located that I can't readily find, but if you use the search function and type in 'Key to Disneyland' you'll get the full description of the event and the ability to find the stations on a map, which is helpful. Even though I knew where the portals were from the description, we passed the one up in Galaxy's Edge so it was helpful to see our little locator icon in relation to the portal.

One note is that we missed getting into Toontown before it closed down for the fireworks so we milled around for awhile until it reopened. When we were going back over to do that station, we found that there was one available right outside of the Disneyland Railroad station, which was available while Toontown was closed. Not sure if they only bring it out during the closure but wish we had known about it instead of waiting around to do the one near Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.

I'm not sure if it was mentioned earlier in the thread but make sure the key is "on" before inserting it into the keyhole. It will still activate the bubbles and music without doing so but your key won't have the icon light up otherwise. Found that out by accident when the key auto shutdown after too long of inactivity.

I hope that they are able to keep the bubble solution restocked at all of the stations throughout the event and that the activations continue to work as well. There's more than one at each station so its fun to watch others and see what animations or sounds they get too.

We didn't do it for the pin but it was cute how it was available in the key after the final portal at the front of the park. We got the Pooh honeypot, which was probably our least favorite design, but it was still cute.

I know a lot of people are surprised at the high price. Is it worth it? Not sure everyone would think so but it was an enjoyable little thing. The key with all the sounds and lights is pretty cool. We had fun with it for sure!

 

[disneychrista]

One note is that we missed getting into Toontown before it closed down for the fireworks so we milled around for awhile until it reopened. When we were going back over to do that station, we found that there was one available right outside of the Disneyland Railroad station, which was available while Toontown was closed. Not sure if they only bring it out during the closure but wish we had known about it instead of waiting around to do the one near Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.

I saw a video of someone doing the Key and the Toontown station Key was there when while Toontown was open but it didn't add the Toontown Icon to the key. and it did in fact work.

 

[BrianL]

Not rechargeable. Looks like it takes 3 AA batteries, which are included with the purchase.

Okay, cool - thanks for that info.

 

[Pluto468]

Not rechargeable. Looks like it takes 3 AA batteries, which are included with the purchase.

My wife loves doing all the little scavenger hunts they do at Disneyland (Easter eggs, pumpkins, etc.) so I knew this would be right up her alley. She had a blast doing it. My daughter took a turn at New Orleans Square since she's a saxophone player who loves jazz and I did the one in Galaxy's Edge since I'm a big Star Wars fan. We did it all in one night.

I find the Disneyland App a little overwhelming so maybe there's a logical place where it's located that I can't readily find, but if you use the search function and type in 'Key to Disneyland' you'll get the full description of the event and the ability to find the stations on a map, which is helpful. Even though I knew where the portals were from the description, we passed the one up in Galaxy's Edge so it was helpful to see our little locator icon in relation to the portal.

One note is that we missed getting into Toontown before it closed down for the fireworks so we milled around for awhile until it reopened. When we were going back over to do that station, we found that there was one available right outside of the Disneyland Railroad station, which was available while Toontown was closed. Not sure if they only bring it out during the closure but wish we had known about it instead of waiting around to do the one near Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.

I'm not sure if it was mentioned earlier in the thread but make sure the key is "on" before inserting it into the keyhole. It will still activate the bubbles and music without doing so but your key won't have the icon light up otherwise. Found that out by accident when the key auto shutdown after too long of inactivity.

I hope that they are able to keep the bubble solution restocked at all of the stations throughout the event and that the activations continue to work as well. There's more than one at each station so its fun to watch others and see what animations or sounds they get too.

We didn't do it for the pin but it was cute how it was available in the key after the final portal at the front of the park. We got the Pooh honeypot, which was probably our least favorite design, but it was still cute.

I know a lot of people are surprised at the high price. Is it worth it? Not sure everyone would think so but it was an enjoyable little thing. The key with all the sounds and lights is pretty cool. We had fun with it for sure!

Thanks for the detailed description. I wasn't going to get one but I like the idea of using as a family activity. My 14 yo already thinks it sounds like fun! We've also been looking for ways to not be so ride-focused on our next trip and this sounds great for that.

 

[LKing]

One note is that we missed getting into Toontown before it closed down for the fireworks so we milled around for awhile until it reopened. When we were going back over to do that station, we found that there was one available right outside of the Disneyland Railroad station, which was available while Toontown was closed. Not sure if they only bring it out during the closure but wish we had known about it instead of waiting around to do the one near Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin.

I didn't do the key, but saw the lock station outside of Toontown Station earlier in the day. People were lined up inserting their keys. I assume it worked. @disneychrista maybe the person you saw didn't have their key turned on.

 

[disneychrista]

I didn't do the key, but saw the lock station outside of Toontown Station earlier in the day. People were lined up inserting their keys. I assume it worked. @disneychrista maybe the person you saw didn't have their key turned on.

Out of curiosity I re-watched the video. The Train station did add the icon, it was the one in Toontown proper that didn't because they already had it. They thought that the Train Station was the one for Fantasyland. I edited my original post to avoid confusion.

I know in the video they mentioned there was confusion over whether it was 9 key stations or 10. I guess the answer is 10 stations but only nine icons.

 

[LKing]

Out of curiosity I re-watched the video. The Train station did add the icon, it was the one in Toontown proper that didn't because they already had it. They thought that the Train Station was the one for Fantasyland. I edited my original post to avoid confusion.

I know in the video they mentioned there was confusion over whether it was 9 key stations or 10. I guess the answer is 10 stations but only nine icons.

There are two stations at the front of the park (final stop) as well - one next to each tunnel.

 

[disneychrista]

There are two stations at the front of the park (final stop) as well - one next to each tunnel.

Interesting I guess all the videos I have seen only go out the right tunnel. Because that is the only one I've seen.

 

[LKing]

Interesting I guess all the videos I have seen only go out the right tunnel. Because that is the only one I've seen.

When you say "go out the right tunnel" do you mean exiting near City Hall? If so, the final station is on your left as you exit the tunnel.

The other station is if you are exiting by Disneyana. It is also on your left (just past the map stand) after you pass under the tunnel.

 

[disneychrista]

When you say "go out the right tunnel" do you mean exiting near City Hall? If so, the final station is on your left as you exit the tunnel.

The other station is if you are exiting by Disneyana. It is also on your left (just past the map stand) after you pass under the tunnel.

Yes, the tunnel by City Hall.