Magic Key Program

[ValW]

Interesting "No-Show Policy"

 

[Mulan's Ma]

I wonder if I can use the ticket I am already holding for November towards the new pass.

 

[Epicnemesis]

There IS a monthly payment.

Where did you see this?

 

[Shadowrado]

Monthly payments survived too

 

[midnight star]

Where did you see this?

Parks blog update, it’s for California residents

 

[shoegal9]

Will they make the "reservation bucket" for the key holders so small that it is difficult to get a reservation and thus cannot be used like the old AP system?

 

[nursemelis374]

Surprised at monthly payments remaining but super excited otherwise! We will be getting Dream passes for our family and hopefully enjoy the less crowded weekend and summer days we did pre-pandemic!

My only concern is if you get it and then its impossible to get resersvations, what happens?

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

The tiers are reasonable but coupled with the blackout calendars they really are not. Sigh. I don't know if I can even afford to do this for myself and two kids since my older one is in school and needs weekends, and my younger one would by default need weekends. Which leaves me around $4K for a year

 

[Shadowrado]

And Disneyworld AP will resume

 

[Christin82]

Surprised at monthly payments remaining but super excited otherwise! We will be getting Dream passes for our family and hopefully enjoy the less crowded weekend and summer days we did pre-pandemic!

My only concern is if you get it and then its impossible to get resersvations, what happens?

I was worried about that with the Flex pass, but it was never an issue. We were always able to get reservations as long as we booked them as soon as the dates became available.

 

[PirateBrigade]

I'm reading the bolded part over and over again:

Magic Key holders who have a park reservation for both theme parks may cross over and switch between parks on the same day beginning at 1:00 PM. Please check the Park Hours calendar and the Disneyland app for the most up-to-date Park Hopper hours, as they could start earlier at a later date, depending on the day and park. Magic Key holders who have a park reservation for both parks must enter the first park as designated in their park reservation prior to visiting the other park. At this time, a park reservation is not required after visiting the first park; however, reservation requirements are subject to change. Please note that the ability to visit the other park will be subject to that park’s capacity limitations.

I don't get the bold part, don't you have to reserve both theme parks in order to park hop? So why does the bold part say "park reservation not required after visiting the first park?"

 

[dieumeye]

Well, it’s not terrible, I guess. If they were aiming for “how can we offer a little less and charge a little more without making everyone super angry” then they NAILED it, at least for me.

-MaxPass?! No FP benefits at all? I bet once MP/FP comes back into play it’ll be available as an “add on” to the passes.

-The key for me is reservation availability. If it’s relatively easy to get reservations up to a few days in advance, then fine. But if it’s a bloodbath on a 90 day rolling basis as each new day is released, that’s going to be terrible.

-I hope the 1pm park hopper restriction eventually goes away once things settle in. There’s language hinting at that in the fine print, so I have my fingers crossed.

 

[DisSurfer878]

Where did you see this?

It's for CA residents only.

 

[WonkaKid]

Is this amazing? No. Is it devastating? No. I expected they’d offer fewer options for more $$. I thought a Dream tier equivalent would run around $1,600. In fact, I told friends that if it were any less than that, I’d be content. And I am. To the extent that’s possible these days ;-). I’ll buy the Dream Key on Aug 25. But I’ll insist on calling it an AP .

 

[Bigmace]

I'm reading the bolded part over and over again:

Magic Key holders who have a park reservation for both theme parks may cross over and switch between parks on the same day beginning at 1:00 PM. Please check the Park Hours calendar and the Disneyland app for the most up-to-date Park Hopper hours, as they could start earlier at a later date, depending on the day and park. Magic Key holders who have a park reservation for both parks must enter the first park as designated in their park reservation prior to visiting the other park. At this time, a park reservation is not required after visiting the first park; however, reservation requirements are subject to change. Please note that the ability to visit the other park will be subject to that park’s capacity limitations.

I don't get the bold part, don't you have to reserve both theme parks in order to park hop? So why does the bold part say "park reservation not required after visiting the first park?"

You make a reservation for you morning park and then in the afternoon you can park hop back and fourth.

 

[laugard]

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.

The Flex was significantly more open as far as weekends. It was available nearly year-round except around Christmas/New Year's and spring break. The Flex worked great for me, but if I get a new pass, am thinking it will have to be one of the top two tiers to get around the blocked weekends. (Which I'm sure Disney is counting on from weekend visiting local-but-not-OC-local passholders like me haha.)

 

[PirateBrigade]

-The key for me is reservation availability. If it’s relatively easy to get reservations up to a few days in advance, then fine. But if it’s a bloodbath on a 90 day rolling basis as each new day is released, that’s going to be terrible.

I agree -- I'm used to the DVC bloodbath that occurs at the 7 month mark, I hope this isn't the case.

IIRC -- when flex pass came out, the ability to make reservations was really easy and I really did not need to get up early to do it... but as time went on and the uptake of the passes was higher, it became more and more challenging to pick up reservations.

My backup plan was always to upgrade to a deluxe pass which provided an unrestricted entry, but my fear is I'm able to reserve the Saturday of a weekend trip, but not the Sunday... and I have no recourse anymore (upgrading to the highest level won't get you in because it's the reservation that limits you). Granted, I'll have a 90 day advance notice that we can't get in the parks.

 

[SarahWI]

The key for me is reservation availability. If it’s relatively easy to get reservations up to a few days in advance, then fine. But if it’s a bloodbath on a 90 day rolling basis as each new day is released, that’s going to be terrible.

Where did you see 90 days? I’m making myself nuts trying to find how far out the Key lets you book - is it 90? Or 120 like other tickets?

 

[MonocularVision]

Weekends are too important for us as out-of-staters and the Believe Key is a bit much for this family of six with how often we might choose to go. I miss the old Flex Pass but I can understand where they are coming from.

 

[MATTERHORN]

So much for no more AP's. These are simply AP's with reservations. Happy for the folks who live local and missed the passes. Sad for the out-of-town tourists who pay a fortune to visit and end up with a miserable experience due to overcrowded parks. I have zero doubt that Disney will allow reservations at numbers that make the park miserable again. Crowding isn't nearly as big of a deal if you visit many times a year. But if it is your once a year, or once in a lifetime visit, it can greatly diminish the experience and make the visit not worth the cost.

Typical Disney. Promise an improved experience for everyone, but cave when you decide the money is too tempting. Again, I am happy for the locals, but really disappointed to see Disney returning to old ways after stating on multiple occasions (including to shareholders) that it wouldn't. I wish it had found more of a balance (like annual ticket books).

When things start to return to pre-covid crowds, our family will look for different experiences. It won't be a huge loss for Disney, as there is always another family willing to take our place, apparently. Its a big world out there and there are more and more great options available for the prices Disney charges anyways. We will return from time to time for nostalgic reasons, but it won't be the frequent visits of years past.

Your other option is to plan your trip at a time when the two lowest are completely blocked!