There’s been a LOT of news about Disney annual passes lately!
Sleeping Beauty Castle
Not only did Disney World officially confirm that annual passes will go on sale again before the 50th anniversary celebrations begin on October 1st, but we got more details on Disneyland’s brand new annual pass program. We already know when the new passes will go on sale, the pricing for each level, how to use the new system, and more, but there are still SO. MANY. QUESTIONS.
Well, that’s why we’re here! Let’s take a look at some of the biggest questions about the brand new pass system at Disneyland.
How does the cost of Magic Key passes compare to pre-pandemic prices?
One of the biggest changes we’ve seen is pricing when you compare the new Magic Key pass to the previous Disneyland Annual Passport. Pre-pandemic prices ranged from $419 to $2,199, but now passes range from $399 to $1,399.
©Disney
Previously, the Disneyland Annual Passports had six options — the Disney Premier Passport ($2,199), Disney Signature Plus Passport ($1,449), Disney Signature Passport ($1,199), Disney Deluxe Passport ($829), Disney Flex Passport ($649), and the Disney Southern California Select Passport ($419).
it’s a small world
Now, there are fewer options with the Magic Key pass including the Dream Key for $1,399, the Believe Key for $949, the Enchant Key for $649, Imagine Key (which is only for Southern California residents) for $399.
©Disney
Something to note is that there is no equivalent to the Disney Premier Passport, which allowed entry to both Disney World and Disneyland. Although there are not as many pass options, the prices are lower than the previous annual passes.
What perks are missing from previous annual passes?
As annual pass programs continue to change, so do the perks! The Magic Key passes are missing some perks from the previous annual pass program, however there are a couple of new perks that come with the new system.
You’ll get a new magnet!
New perks include the Magic Key Holder months which feature special offerings exclusively for Magic Key passholders, and the Magic Key Portal on the Disneyland app. A few perks, however, have been removed from the new Magic Key system.
©Disney
Some levels of the previous Disneyland Annual Passports included MaxPass for digital FASTPASS booking, but this perk has been removed as MaxPass remains unavailable at Disneyland Resort. Disney PhotoPass downloads are also no longer included in any pass. Although these perks were included for upper level passes before, MaxPass could be added for an additional fee to any of the passes. When MaxPass returns, we’ll have to see if Disneyland adds this perk back to the upper level Magic Key passes.
Reservations will be necessary — what are the pros and cons of this?
The Disneyland theme parks currently require park pass reservations, and the Magic Key passes are no exception. The theme park reservation system has not announced an end date and reservations can currently be made through December 2021 for Disneyland and through January 2023 for Disney World. The amount of Disneyland park reservations you can have at one time varies depending on the type of pass you have, but what are the pros and cons of requiring reservations?
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Starting with the positive, you are guaranteed entry to a park when you have a reservation. There is no chance that you could be turned away at the gate because you have reserved your slot for the day. That’s really the only pro for guests, but it’s a big one! It also makes it a lot easier for Disney to manage the number of people in the parks each day.
Disney California Adventure Entrance
The biggest con about this process is that the parks may fill up before you are even able to make a reservation. Keyholders are able to make 2 to 6 reservations depending on the level of their pass, so that may restrict guests from being able to book all of the days that they’re planning to visit the parks. Since other Keyholders will share blockout dates, it may be harder to book park reservations for dates that are NOT blocked off. It is also an ADDITIONAL planning step to a trip that could take a lot of planning already.
Are blackout dates more or less restrictive than before?
Blackout dates (AKA dates guests are blocked from visiting the park) are about the same for Southern California Key and the highest level, no blackout key. Both of the middle keys appear to be more restrictive than the 2019 annual pass system, which also may account for some of the price difference.
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Blackout dates for the Disneyland Annual Passports from 2019 looked pretty similar with Signature Plus at 0 days, Signature at roughly 16 days, Deluxe for roughly 110 days, and SoCal Select for roughly 220 days.
Matterhorn
Like we mentioned above, the Magic Key has significantly more blackout dates for the middle levels — the Dream Key has 0 days, the Believe Key has roughly 50 days, the Enchant Key has roughly 150 days, and the Imagine Key has roughly 220 days.
More blockout dates ©Disney
If you are grabbing a new pass and go for the Dream Key or the Imagine Key, you can expect the blackout dates to be about the same. If you want to upgrade to a higher level, you’ll pay less than before to go to a middle-level pass, but you’ll have more blackout dates than you would have in 2019.
How should you go about deciding if these new passes are right for you?
This answer honestly has not changed much even with a new annual pass system! Regular Disneyland tickets are PRICEY, so if you are planning to visit the parks multiple times per year, the Magic Key might be right for you. Something to keep in mind is that some levels are equal to a few days of Standard Admission, so by the time you add the price for a Parkhopper (if that’s something you’re interested in) and the discounts, a Magic Key pass might start to make sense for a frequent visitor.
Disneyland Park
Keep an eye on those blockout dates when choosing a pass. If it is very important for you to visit the parks on major holidays or during the summer, make sure you choose a pass that won’t block you out of those times. Out-of-town visitors might be better off purchasing regular tickets to guarantee entry on the days you want.
Disneyland!
Overall, the Magic Key can be the right financial option if you would spend more in a year paying the standard ticket prices to visit the parks. It’s a great way to save money if you visit the parks very frequently! If you are not going to be visiting enough to make the Magic Key cheaper than what you would pay for tickets, skip it!
We hope this helped those of you that had these questions about the Magic Key passes at Disneyland! As more details are released about the new system, we’ll continue to keep you in the loop on the latest updates.
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Are you excited about the new Magic Key pass at Disneyland? Let us know in the comments!
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I’m curious if you can put more money down to lower the monthly payment. The old AP’s you could, but it’s Disney, and things always change. I don’t want a $300 payment monthly for 3 of us and I can put more down up front, is it an option?
If I don’t live in California, will I be able to finance or choose the monthly payments for the Magic Key?
I have tried to contact Disney with a couple of questions of my own but haven’t had a response.
Can you buy the Magic Key in person on August 25th or online only? If you can in person, do you have to wait until 10am also?
Can you use your parking discount on days you don’t have a reservation?
Can you use your Magic Key food, merchandise, and parking discount before you activate your pass (which is done by using the free parking or entering a park)? I know using the discounted parking will not activate your pass, only the free parking does, but it isn’t clear if all discounts work.
Anyone have answers to these?
Hi! What about the parking perks? I don’t know how Disneyland in California was before, but I see that only the extremely expensive $1,399.00 highest tier pass includes fully free parking. If they wind up doing something similar for Disney World in Florida, that would be terrible. If you went just 20 days for the year to Disney World and they didn’t include parking, that’s another $500 in parking, above the cost of the pass! If you went more than 40 days, you’re looking at over a thousand dollars in parking.
A question I am wondering if you could ask – if someone buys one of the keys, and they later add that option to the keys, would someone be able to upgrade their key?
Max pass and photo pass worked so well with the pass last time, I would love to add those on.
Randi, I’ll check with one of our Disneyland reporters.
Kristee, it doesn’t look like that’s an option, but you may want to inquire directly with Disney.
Alisha, I don’t know if you’ll be able to purchase a Magic Key in person; I’ll see if we can look into that. The official language from Disney regarding parking does not specify that you need a reservation to a Park in order to use the discount; the fine print I see says “Parking benefit is valid for parking, or for discounted parking, for one (1) standard vehicle only at pay-on-entry lots at the Disneyland Resort.” I’ll see about the discounts, too. I don’t think Disney has released info that specific at this point.
Kevin, to my knowledge Disneyland hasn’t released that info specifically. I’ll drop the question for our team and see if we can find out.
Randi, our reporter tells me that so far there’s no word on whether these will be available as add-ons. We would expect yes, since they’ve been available in the past, but there’s been no word from Disney on this topic. We will keep our eyes and ears peeled and update when we know more.
Will I be able to add parking to a lower cost key?
Hello I’ve been reading up on the magic keys and I believe I came across something saying that the parking benefit would only be available when your pass isn’t blocked out. However, dream key has no blackout dates so I think the believe key would be the only one affected but, I would double check.
Christy, Disneyland hasn’t offered information on any potential add-ons, so we will have to wait and see on this.
I have tickets purchased for the end of Oct. I got them before Magic Key was announced. Like the older days, will I be able to use those to instead upgrade to a Magic Key?
Everyone that is comparing the new program to old annual pass is forgetting the Flex Pass. It was $649, only had roughly 2 weeks of blockout days around Christmas, was available to anyone, but required advance reservations. This was the ideal pass for me. Now, for that same price, there are way too many blockout dates.
Shannon, it sounds like Magic Keys can be upgraded from another Magic Key, but I’m not sure Disney has confirmed the ability to upgrade from tickets. I’d give Disneyland a call to confirm.
Does anyone know how this works with a group of friends or family?
If my sister has the dream pass, and i have the imagine pass for example
she would be limited to 2 reservation days at a time.
i can hold up to 4 reservation days at a time.. if our tickets are linked can i still reserve 4 days at a time? ( assuming they arent blacked out and we can both go.. the question is can i hold 4 reservation dates for my group if they have a lower tier pass?
Sean, we expect that the system would somehow differentiate, so you’d be able to make four reservations while the others could only make two. You may want to give Disneyland a call to see if they can advise on this because we’re not 100% sure.
Does the magic key act like a fast pass and we don’t have to wait in line for the rides?
Holli, no. Magic Key is Disneyland’s version of an Annual Pass.
My daughter purchased the Imagine Key for her and her children. She is now thinking about upgrading all of their passes to Dream Key. Can she do payments on the upgrade? The Imagine Keys are paid in full.
TIA
Hello I was wondering if you need to buy a key for each person, for example ,my wife and I? Or can I get her in with my key?
Hi Jesse! The Magic Key passes are individual so you would both need your own.