Introducing Magic Key 2.0

Disney today announced a revamp of the beleaguered Magic Key program, the replacement rolled out in 2021 for the former Annual Passport program. Disney is not officially calling this Magic Key 2.0, but we note that some of the files the company shared to explain the new program bear that designation. This is definitely a reboot of the program, and seems intended to reset expectations among some of Disneyland's most loyal—and vocal—visitors.

First, the date you're all waiting for: August 18. That is the day existing Magic Key holders can renew their expired or soon-to-expire passes, and either upgrade or downgrade to any of the four available tiers. Renewals will open no earlier than 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 18, and passholders can renew 30 days prior to the expiration of their pass. More on this below.

Like the earlier iteration, Magic Key 2.0 offers four access levels with corresponding price points, including a new top-tier "Inspire" Key, which replaces the Dream Key. All four of the Magic Keys are reservation-based, and it's unlikely we'll see an end to that anytime soon. Disney says, "Reservations have proven to be a great tool for spreading visitation for all of our guests across the yearly calendar, significantly helping to deliver a great guest experience."

Inspire Key

Price: $1,599, or $133.25 per month after down-payment. ($200 increase over Dream Key)

Details

• NEW – Blocked out December 21 to January 1 each year.
• Can hold 6 reservations at a time
• 20% merchandise discount
• 15% food & beverage discount
• Parking included (excludes blockout dates)
• NEW – Unlimited Disney PhotoPass digital downloads
• NEW – 20% off Disney Genie+ service

That's right, 2022 marks the end of the all-access annual passport at any price level. This new pass is blocked out during Disney's busiest holiday season dates, so Magic Key holders who wish to visit Christmas week will need to purchase standard theme park tickets. These are the only blackout dates for this pass.

There's been a lot of online speculation that the delay in opening Magic Key renewals has to do with a lawsuit brought by a Dream Key holder, alleging that the company used deceptive marketing practices when it began selling the new passes. At issue is whether Disney falsely initially advertised the Dream Key as having no blockout dates, while still limiting the number of Dream Key holders who could make a theme park reservation on any given day.

The new Magic Key terms and conditions tackle that topic head-on, and there should be no doubt in any customer's mind where they stand before renewing their pass. Here's the passage that spells it out:

Park reservations for Magic Key holders are limited in number and subject to the availability of park reservations allocated to Magic Key passes as determined by Disney, applicable Magic Key pass blockout dates, and theme park capacity. A Magic Key pass does not guarantee park entry, even on dates when a Magic Key pass is not blocked out. Magic Key holders, regardless of their Magic Key pass type, are not entitled to any or all reservations Disney makes available to others.

In other words, Magic Key reservations are limited, you're not guaranteed to get one, and you don't get to complain about what anyone else gets, no matter how much you paid.

Let's look at the other Magic Key levels. The updated blockout calendar was not available at press time, but a Disney spokesperson told us it's comparable to the prior pass year. We'll post the link when we get it.

Believe Key

Price: $1099, or $91.59 per month after down-payment. ($150 increase)

Details

• Can hold 6 reservations at a time
• 10% merchandise discount
• 10% food & beverage discount
• 50% parking discount
• NEW – Unlimited Disney PhotoPass digital downloads
• NEW – 20% off Disney Genie+ service

Enchant Key

Price: $699, or $58.25 per month after down-payment. ($50 increase)

Details

• Can hold 4 reservations at a time
• 10% merchandise discount
• 10% food & beverage discount
• NEW – 25% off parking in the Toy Story lots
• NEW – 20% off Disney Genie+ service

Imagine Key – Exclusive to Southern California Residents

Price: $449, or $37.42 per month after down-payment. ($50 increase)

Details

• Can hold 2 reservations at a time
• 10% merchandise discount
• 10% food & beverage discount
• NEW – 25% off parking in the Toy Story lots
• NEW – 20% off Disney Genie+ service

Magic Key benefits

Disney's messaging is all about the strong demand and great benefits of the Magic Key program. The new parking discount is a welcome addition, as is the return of PhotoPass downloads to the higher-tier passes, which had that benefit under the previous program. There have also been some fun photo opportunities and backdrops, and Disney's announcement promises more to come.

Many of the other benefits are really just additional revenue sources for Disney, from the Magic Key Terrace to all the special merchandise and popcorn buckets, and the touted early access to buy tickets to hard ticket events.

Renewals

Starting Thursday, August 18, Magic Key holders can renew 30 days prior to the expiration of their pass, but we want to note a few points in the Magic Key Terms and Conditions.

"A 'renewal' is the purchase of another year (or specified period of the Pass if different than a year) of Pass benefits before the expiration date of a currently existing and valid Pass."

Note the phrase before the expiration date of a currently existing and valid Pass. This is no 30-day grace period here. If your pass expires August 26, you can't renew it on August 27, or September 1, or September 24. If you plan to renew your Magic Key, make sure you do it as soon as you are eligible.

"The value of any separate ticket media may not be used toward the renewal of an existing Pass."

If you've been holding on to an unused ticket hoping to apply it to your renewal, that's not going to happen this time around.

"Pass types are limited in quantity, and not all Pass types may be available at any given time."

Your current Magic Key type may not be available when it's your turn to renew, especially if you waited a bit to purchase or activate your Magic Key last year. In that case, you can choose from whatever passes are available at that time.

Magic Key holders whose passes have already expired during this communication delay can also renew prior to August 31 by calling (714) 781-7277. These are most commonly people who upgraded a partially used multi-day park ticket to a Magic Key, and thus had the activation date of their Magic Key backdated to the first use of the ticket. Disney has confirmed that those Magic Keys will be handled on a case-by-case basis, and their new expiration date will be reset to match their renewal date. Again, you have only until August 31 to renew a Magic Key in this situation, so don't wait.

New Magic Key sales

Disney says they are focusing now on renewals of existing Magic Key holders, and have no information about when or if sales of new passes may resume.

I'm going to go a step further and predict that not only will Disney not offer new Magic Keys anytime soon, but it's likely renewals will also be greatly limited. My reason is based in Disney's Q3 earnings report for the quarter ending July 3, 2022. Disney's domestic theme park division pulled in some great numbers, reporting revenues of $5.4 billion, and operating income of $1.7 billion. The results were explained thusly:

"Guest spending growth was due to an increase in average per capita ticket revenue and higher average daily hotel room rates. The increase in average per capita ticket revenue was due to the introduction of Genie+ and Lightning Lane in the first quarter of the current fiscal year and a reduced impact from promotions at Walt Disney World Resort, partially offset by an unfavorable attendance mix at Disneyland Resort."

It took mere moments for the Internet to latch onto the "unfavorable attendance mix" comment, and within a day an entire cottage industry had sprung up on Etsy, with sellers offering shirts, stickers, mugs and more bearing the unfortunate word choice.

All snark aside, it's clear Disney executives feel the California resort has too many Magic Key holders taking up too many theme park reservations, and they're looking for a way to push the reset button. With a year of data in hand, I think Disney has a new understanding of how many Magic Key holders they want, and they're way above that number now. Magic Key 2.0 an effort to "right-size" the Magic Key holder population through a combination of higher prices and new "benefits" that generate additional revenue. They'll get some of us to spend more money and they'll get some of us to drop our Magic Keys entirely, hopefully creating a more favorable attendance mix.

Converting would-be Magic Key holders to day guests

Disney may not sell you a Magic Key, but that doesn't mean they don't want you to visit. One document reads, "In addition to Magic Key renewals, guests can select from regular daily tickets, multi-day tickets, hard ticket events, or seasonal ticket offers available at various times throughout the year. You pick what works great for you, and we’ll bring the magic! "

As an alternative to Magic Keys, Disney did the math and points out that a 5-day, one-park-per-day ticket costs less than $76 per day, compared to $90 per visit if someone with an Imagine Key visited five times. The company provided similar examples using single-day tickets and the California resident offer currently available.

What these comparisons fail to acknowledge is that 5-day ticket has to be used up within the span of 13 days, where someone with an Imagine key can spread out their visits over a year. Magic Keys include park hopping, which otherwise adds $60 to the California ticket, bringing it to $309. When an Imagine key is $450 and includes food and merchandise discounts, it's no wonder locals would opt for the annual pass instead of seasonal promotional tickets.

I've long said that Disney would do well offering a "ticket book" of park admissions in lieu of an annual pass, and the combination of the tiered pricing system for single-day tickets and the capabilities of the reservation system make it more feasible than ever before. What about a 10-admission booklet, with one "Tier 6" day and a mix of tickets for Tiers 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1? Customers would have a year to use them, unused tickets would go to the bottom of the junk drawer with your old "A" tickets. Something like that could meet the need of the local who likes to go to Disneyland five times a year—but not five days in a row.

We'll update this article as we get any additional information, and if there's a question you have about the Magic Key 2.0, be sure to drop me an email or reach out via Twitter or Facebook.

[Edited: We originally reported the renewal window as 60 days. We have corrected this to 30 days.]