Magic Key Program

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Thanks for all the info!

One interesting point - this was Saturday, right? Because neither park ever showed any reservations available for Magic Keys yesterday. So I’m curious about how you made that reservation - was it on the app?

My understanding (now that I'm reading more posts about it) is that there are two queues for making reservations. There is a queue for hotel guests and regular tickets, and a separate queue for Magic Key passes (I hadn't really been following ). When I made the reservation I still had regular tickets, and only DCA was available. When I was upgrading the cast member at the booth told me that I probably wouldn't be able to get back to the parks. I didn't understand at the time, but in retrospect it was probably because there was no availability for Magic Keys. I was lucky that the ticket also transferred the reservation. She also told me that at the end of the week they opened up reservations, and since it was Saturday my ticket MIGHT take the reservation. After I upgraded she helped me check on my phone, and my reservation had my new Dream Pass number on it. Another note of interest. I had a 1-day/1-park ticket, but with the pass I could now park hop, so I went into Disneyland and got in since it now after 1pm.

 

[brightlined]

I was lucky that the ticket also transferred the reservation.

If they worked out that quirk, that would be fantastic. A couple of years ago, I upgraded at the park to a Flex pass, and my existing FPs (made with the original ticket) suddenly wouldn't scan. When it finally occurred to me what was happening, I remembered that I had a screenshot of my original ticket, and was able to use that. (Wondering if that might be a workaround if the reservation doesn't transfer for some reason.)

 

[gelatoni fan]

I tried and was unable to enter using my Annual Pass card.
Has anyone paid the $20 for a physical card yet? What do they look like?

 

[GenGen22]

I tried and was unable to enter using my Annual Pass card.
Has anyone paid the $20 for a physical card yet? What do they look like?

I saw a picture of the paper card and it's the same as a regular ticket. I wouldn't waste your money on it imo.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Here's my experience upgrading my ticket yesterday. I had two unused valid tickets - one 1-day/1-park and one 1-day hopper tickets. I also had a gift card, Disney Visa Rewards, and a $25 car parking voucher that I wanted to use for my Magic Key Dream pass.

I made a reservation yesterday morning, and the only availability was for DCA, so I made one for DCA.

I had to go to the park to use my ticket before upgrading it, so I went to the Toy Story parking lot and took a shuttle to the parks. I hadn't parked there in a long time, so the shuttle loading zone and restrooms were new to me. Got to DCA around 12:30pm, and found out that I didn't finish the reservation process so there was no reservation for me. The cast members were super helpful, and there were still reservations available so they helped me make a reservation and scanned me in to the park. Once in, I tried to upgrade my ticket since that was the main purpose for going. There were no options to use my gift card or Disney Visa Rewards, so I went to the ticket booths. I stood in line about 20 minutes or so and when I got to the ticket booth the cast member processed my payments for me.

• Used my gift card
• Used my Disney Visa Rewards / I scanned the card through the reader
• Paid the balance with my Disney Visa

What I could not use:

• My other unused park ticket. Since I had used the 1-day/1-park ticket she told me I could switch to the hopper and apply more $ to the Magic Key, but I declined
• The parking cost (this is different than what we were able to do with annual passes when renewing)

So, I have this other unused valid ticket. The CM said that I could get a refund on it, but I want to gift it to my brother and treat him to a day at Disneyland/DCA. He hasn't been since around 2009. I'm on hold right now to talk to a CM on the phone to see if I can change the name on the ticket to my brother or get a refund because he's going to use it to upgrade to an Imagine or Enchant Magic Key. I'll edit this post with my findings.

UPDATE: I was able to transfer the 1-day hopper to my brother, and it now has his name. I could not get a refund, so looks like the CM at the booth would have been doing something special (magical moment?) if she had refunded my ticket. So, if you have two tickets, better to use the higher value one towards your Magic Key and give the other one to someone, or save it for next year's renewal. You don't have to lose it. Even if the ticket expires you can use the value of the ticket to a future Magic Key pass, just need to enter the park so you can upgrade it (I'd go to the booth, though).

 

[scoobdoo]

I saw a picture of the paper card and it's the same as a regular ticket. I wouldn't waste your money on it imo.

So they now charge $20 for a card and it's a paper card not plastic like the old AP?

 

[Skyegirl1999]

So they now charge $20 for a card and it's a paper card not plastic like the old AP?

Yes, although people who are getting their Magic Keys at the ticket booths currently are getting the paper (ticket) one for free.

I’m tempted to ask for one and see if they’ll give it to me for free. Maybe if I see a short ticket booth wait sometime soon… I have a laminator and would strongly prefer not to use my phone for tickets because I am usually taking photos and video as we enter the parks.

 

[colormegreen]

So they now charge $20 for a card and it's a paper card not plastic like the old AP?

Basically yes. I saw a picture on Facebook and they reported it was card stock. The picture looks identical to a ticket, the front has a character and the back has the barcode and it does say Magic Key. But same material basically.

 

[scoobdoo]

Basically yes. I saw a picture on Facebook and they reported it was card stock. The picture looks identical to a ticket, the front has a character and the back has the barcode and it does say Magic Key. But same material basically.

So cheap, DIS, so cheap...I'd consider the upcharge for a plastic card but this is beyond belief.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

So they now charge $20 for a card and it's a paper card not plastic like the old AP?

Here is the ticket I got at the booth when I upgraded. It's card stock.

 

[MonocularVision]

I was looking into the APIs powering the Magic Key Access Calendar and noticed something interesting. It appears that the response is designed to allow for the future expansion of time slots. At the top level is a list of calendar availabilities but then there's a separate key that contains something titled "availabilities" with another value called "slots":

    {
      "date": "2021-09-01",
      "facilityId": "DLR_CA",
      "slots": [
        {
          "name": "DAILY",
          "entryStartTime": "00:00",
          "slotIds": {
            "enchant-key-pass": "DLR_CA_AP_DAILY"
          },
          "available": true,
          "blocked": false,
          "unavailableReason": "NONE",
          "overflow": false
        }
      ]
    }

So here is the entry for California Adventure for September 1st. The slots key is an array indicating it can hold more than one value. Notice there's a "DAILY" value with an "entryStartTime" indicating that more "slots" could be added for a given day.

Fascinating.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

So cheap, DIS, so cheap...I'd consider the upcharge for a plastic card but this is beyond belief.

It was announced this way from the beginning - it’s actually listed in the OP of this thread. It’s referenced as a “digital pass” in the official terms and conditions.

 

[Skyegirl1999]

I was looking into the APIs powering the Magic Key Access Calendar and noticed something interesting. It appears that the response is designed to allow for the future expansion of time slots. At the top level is a list of calendar availabilities but then there's a separate key that contains something titled "availabilities" with another value called "slots":

    {
      "date": "2021-09-01",
      "facilityId": "DLR_CA",
      "slots": [
        {
          "name": "DAILY",
          "entryStartTime": "00:00",
          "slotIds": {
            "enchant-key-pass": "DLR_CA_AP_DAILY"
          },
          "available": true,
          "blocked": false,
          "unavailableReason": "NONE",
          "overflow": false
        }
      ]
    }

So here is the entry for California Adventure for September 1st. The slots key is an array indicating it can hold more than one value. Notice there's a "DAILY" value with an "entryStartTime" indicating that more "slots" could be added for a given day.

Fascinating.

It would be great if there was a way to allow for different morning and evening slots. There are definitely different subsets of APs who show up at rope drop and leave by lunch, or who just come for the evening entertainment… I’m just not sure how the logistics would work for kicking out the morning people.

 

[colormegreen]

So cheap, DIS, so cheap...I'd consider the upcharge for a plastic card but this is beyond belief.

Oh I agree. I wouldn’t mind paying $20 for a plastic card. But not for what they are offering. Maybe $5 because I want a physical one for emergencies…but I will be printing from home.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Oh I agree. I wouldn’t mind paying $20 for a plastic card. But not for what they are offering. Maybe $5 because I want a physical one for emergencies…but I will be printing from home.

Then you can laminate it and have a waterproof pass

 

[Cupcaker]

I think I know the answer, but thought I should ask anyways. I’ll be staying at the DLR hotel next weekend and am contemplating getting a key. I understand that you have to make reservations for visits, but if you buy it that day are you allowed to enter the parks? Similar to the previous AP where you are able to enter the parks the day of purchase even if it was a blackout day? The key I’m looking at is blacked out for next weekend.

 

[gelatoni fan]

I think I know the answer, but thought I should ask anyways. I’ll be staying at the DLR hotel next weekend and am contemplating getting a key. I understand that you have to make reservations for visits, but if you buy it that day are you allowed to enter the parks? Similar to the previous AP where you are able to enter the parks the day of purchase even if it was a blackout day? The key I’m looking at is blacked out for next weekend.

I don't think so. I have both bought and upgraded Annual Passes on blockout days at the ticket booths. When I bought a Flex Pass on a day when there were no more reservations, the person at the ticket counter went to the back room to get a special print out that I had to show when entering the park with my pass. The problem is that they are not selling Magic Keys at the ticket booths so I don't see how they would do this for you.

The best thing to do would be to buy a ticket and then upgrade it to a Magic Key but you may be blocked from re-entering the parks after you upgrade. Make sure to print out your ticket before upgrading because people are reporting that you may be able to re-enter the parks using that and the ticket may disappear from your app after you've upgraded. I don't know if you'll be able to get your Magic Key discounts on that day but I was able to get AP discounts on the day I upgraded my Socal Select Pass to a Socal Pass to enter even though both passes were blocked out.

 

[Epicnemesis]

2. Our Magic Keys disappeared from my account earlier, so it wouldn't let me make any reservations. But it showed me my existing reservations, which are linked to those passes! I had to go back and find the confirmation email and pull up the printable tickets to get the bar codes, re-link them, and then I could make new rezzies.

Happened to me too. We linked them to my wife’s account so I just rekindled it from there…but you would think if they were forcing digital cards on everyone it would work on a fundamental not disappearing level.

Also since the passes were linked to my account, she doesn’t get discounts on mobile orders so now we are going to have to find a way to connect hers to her account.

 

[Gaugersaurus]

Does anyone have any experiences with making a larger down payment? My parents are looking at getting passes but want to be able to have a lower monthly payment. My thought is they could buy tickets and upgrade but that's a lot of extra steps assuming the ticket booths would be able to accept larger down payments like they did in the past.

 

[gensym]

If you can, please report back on how your upgrade went. Am in a similar spot with unused tickets. Was hoping to upgrade online today, but I guess that's not even an option anywhere (online or in person/booth).

Hi - We upgraded in the park yesterday (Sunday, 8/29). The upgrade went smoothly with a couple weird notes:

- I had purchased all the tickets for 6 people which includes my parents. My mom also had the tickets for her and my dad on her phone, but I used my phone to scan everyone in at the gate. My mom was unable to see the upgrade button on her phone after we entered the park. She also wanted to upgrade for her and my dad, so she had to use my phone as a separate transaction. Once she did so, the Magic Key for her and my dad showed up on her phone.

- I wanted to upgrade my family to different levels (my wife to Dream for the parking, the rest of us to Believe) - I had to do so in 2 separate transactions.

- After we left the park to go to Downtown Disney for a bit, when we went to reenter DCA, the Magic Key no longer showed up on my phone!. Fortunately, they were all on my wife's phone, so we used that to enter, and then I used the "link pass" functionality to get them all back on my phone. They're still there, but that was a disturbing glitch. I made sure to take screenshots of all the passes so that if it happens again, hopefully I can use those to get them back.

-With my tickets (before the upgrade), I had a reservation for Sunday, 9/6. Unfortunately, that date is currently sold out for MK members. That reservation still shows up under "my reservations". In other words, it doesn't appear to have been canceled. However, I assume that it won't work to enter the parks because it's linked my tickets rather than my MK membership.


Also worth noting that the parks were pretty quiet. A lot of rides were walk-on. I think the longest wait we had was 30 minutes for Indiana Jones. (RSR had a longer projected wait time, but we didn't ride that). Downtown Disney felt busier than the parks.