Magic Key sales are back, 3/5/2024!

[Love Tink]

So by your logic, when they didn’t limit annual passes for years, Disneyland was a hellscape where everyone was miserable. No, that’s obviously not true.

It’s that whole favorable mix thing, and their obsessive need for the reservation system.. it has nothing to do with an enjoyable experience.

It’s crazy, is what it is. I’m not getting one, because I live in Chicago, and the cost, as someone above says, doesn’t make sense. I had one a few years ago (I lived in Los Angeles at the time)and I’m glad I don’t have to deal with the queue just for a chance to give them money nowadays, or even worse, have to wait months for the privilege of giving Disney money.

Um, it's not "my logic." It's their expressed reasoning when they explained why they were limiting the pass sales.

Because, you know, there's a couple important variables you didn't account for in your simplistic description: the increased demand for annual pass sales by locals this century, and the large increase in park attendance this century (about 5 million more in annual attendance in 2020 vs. 2000, an average of about 14,000 people a day.)

Which is where their "obsessive" need for a park reservation system came in, because annual passes were oversold. Why else would they do it? Just to irritate people I guess. Maybe you're right, and the the whole restructuring was Disney making an important business decision just to be "crazy."

 

[Steven G]

Park reservation system was created, and made sense during Covid. It had nothing to do with annual passes, until Disney realized they could use it to benefit themselves.

If you don’t think people hate the reservation system, and are reducing or not going at all to Disney, you need to listen. It may or may not be affecting Disney financially.

There are reasons for the way magic keys are sold and the reservation system, I just don’t think that the customers happiness or their experience has much, if anything to do with them. They may claim it does though.


As far as increased attendance, I haven’t seen that myself, so I will take your word.

 

[HIRyeDVC]

Even at current prices, MKs are an incredible deal for locals that can go multiple times a year, compared to individual or multi-day passes. And I use the term “locals”, very loosely. (Probably everyone west of Utah). Park reservations are something I could live with not being a local who only visit once a year. I just wish Disney provided some kind of alternative, like a 10-15 day pass we can use in a calendar year. I honestly think a lot of would-be MK purchasers would buy that instead if it was more economical. It would also prevent locals from feeling like they need to go all the time to justify the MK purchase, making the parks less crowded? I’m just speculating.

 

[LKing]

I like the idea of a 10-15 day pass. However, speaking as a local with an Inspire MK, I don't feel that I need to go all the time to justify the purchase. I go all of the time because I enjoy being at the parks. I don't go all day. I sometimes go on rides. I enjoy the music, the artists, the ambiance. And it is a great place to get my steps in. Someone in another thread called me undesirable. So be it.

 

[Peachy0118]

Anyone in line today for a pass?
We bought our first magic keys when they went on sale in January so I am curious how quickly they will go this time...

 

[LKing]

Anyone in line today for a pass?
We bought our first magic keys when they went on sale in January so I am curious how quickly they will go this time...

I'm wondering the same thing. I think, after what happened in January, there will be many who have moved on - maybe bought passes for Knotts or USH instead. These are people who probably waited in the queue for hours before being told that passes were sold out. Who wants to do that again?

 

[brightlined]

Park reservation system was created, and made sense during Covid. It had nothing to do with annual passes, until Disney realized they could use it to benefit themselves.

The park reservation system was in development before COVID - that's how WDW was able to implement it right away. Disney knew that demand occasionally outstripped supply. Unfortunately, the only recourse they had then was to close the park on days that they exceeded capacity, which was bad for both Disney and for the guests. It was inevitable that they would eventually have to restrict guest access somehow.

It does not matter if people hate it. It does not matter if you hate it. Complaining about it here isn't going to change Disney's mind on its existence. It solved a problem that they knew was coming, and it helps them manage capacity and staffing.

It’s crazy, is what it is. I’m not getting one, because I live in Chicago, and the cost, as someone above says, doesn’t make sense. I had one a few years ago (I lived in Los Angeles at the time)and I’m glad I don’t have to deal with the queue just for a chance to give them money nowadays, or even worse, have to wait months for the privilege of giving Disney money.

Hey, guys, since you're all here waiting to buy Taylor Swift tickets - I'm really upset about how hard it is to get Taylor Swift tickets, but I also need to tell you that I have no intention of going to a Taylor Swift show. Thank you for reading, I hope it was helpful.

 

[brightlined]

Holy crap. No queue - took me straight to purchase.

https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/

(I'm not buying today - just wanted to see how things were faring.)


(EDIT 9:42am: they did finally activate the queue - I guess that was an error.)

 

[starlite_]

Someone gift me $1650 so I can buy one

 

[CoachBeard]

I'm still miffed that the only one with parking included is the most expensive. I remember back in the day they all came with it. The last time I had the Enchant Key about halfway thru they at least gave us 25% off parking but that's still $22.50, probably more now.

I'm an idiot and will probably still buy it again today if able. I won't be making a WDW trip for a couple of years and I live 90 min away from DLR so... I have a Universal pass and have used it twice. I went a week ago and was just bored after 3 hours. But, DLR.... I don't mind driving sometimes 2 hours to get down there, grab some food and a drink and just hang out for a day. I need my fix.

 

[Steven G]

The park reservation system was in development before COVID - that's how WDW was able to implement it right away. Disney knew that demand occasionally outstripped supply. Unfortunately, the only recourse they had then was to close the park on days that they exceeded capacity, which was bad for both Disney and for the guests. It was inevitable that they would eventually have to restrict guest access somehow.

It does not matter if people hate it. It does not matter if you hate it. Complaining about it here isn't going to change Disney's mind on its existence. It solved a problem that they knew was coming, and it helps them manage capacity and staffing.


Hey, guys, since you're all here waiting to buy Taylor Swift tickets - I'm really upset about how hard it is to get Taylor Swift tickets, but I also need to tell you that I have no intention of going to a Taylor Swift show. Thank you for reading, I hope it was helpful.

I’m curious how you know that the reservation system was in development before. I have never heard anyone claim that. If you have a source for that, I’d be interested in looking at that.

Almost all theme parks after reopening implemented a reservation system, so are you saying they all were in development as well at those parks?

Why is closing the park at capacity bad for Disney? They have to turn away guests either way. I agree it’s bad for the guests that are in the park, but so is the reservation system.

No other theme park currently has a reservation system for regular day guests, even disney world, so it’s obviously recognized that the benefits to the company are far outweighed by the disadvantages. Disneyland can get away with it, because it’s disneyland.

 

[Steven G]

By the way I found this, which seems to go opposite to your claim, yes it’s for disneyworld but I think the statement there about covid equally applies to disneyland.

https://plandisney.disney.go.com/qu...-away-reservations-january-family-may-548041/

 

[HIRyeDVC]

I’m curious how you know that the reservation system was in development before. I have never heard anyone claim that. If you have a source for that, I’d be interested in looking at that.

Almost all theme parks after reopening implemented a reservation system, so are you saying they all were in development as well at those parks?

Why is closing the park at capacity bad for Disney? They have to turn away guests either way. I agree it’s bad for the guests that are in the park, but so is the reservation system.

No other theme park currently has a reservation system for regular day guests, even disney world, so it’s obviously recognized that the benefits to the company are far outweighed by the disadvantages. Disneyland can get away with it, because it’s disneyland.

Not sure how far the reservation system goes back but I remember having to do it before the pandemic with the flex pass

 

[Disney0010]

We had let our MK’s lapse after we moved from So Cal to Vegas. We found out that we missed them so I purchased the Believe Keys this morning. Went very quickly.

 

[Katiebird]

Park reservation system was created, and made sense during Covid. It had nothing to do with annual passes, until Disney realized they could use it to benefit themselves.

If you don’t think people hate the reservation system, and are reducing or not going at all to Disney, you need to listen. It may or may not be affecting Disney financially.

There are reasons for the way magic keys are sold and the reservation system, I just don’t think that the customers happiness or their experience has much, if anything to do with them. They may claim it does though.


As far as increased attendance, I haven’t seen that myself, so I will take your word.

Disney was playing with a reservation system even before covid. I can’t remember what the pass level was called, but it was a mid tier AP with reasonable black out dates but required reservations. Of course it was cheaper than now, but it was also five years ago.

 

[brightlined]

I’m curious how you know that the reservation system was in development before. I have never heard anyone claim that. If you have a source for that, I’d be interested in looking at that.

It was talked about at the time. People wondered how they were able to implement the plan so quickly at WDW - the insiders said it had been in the works for a while. The Flex pass was the test drive.

Almost all theme parks after reopening implemented a reservation system, so are you saying they all were in development as well at those parks?

Nope, I'm not saying that. Why would you even suggest that I was saying that? I never mentioned the other parks.

Why is closing the park at capacity bad for Disney? They have to turn away guests either way. I agree it’s bad for the guests that are in the park, but so is the reservation system.

Because when people pay for parking, then find out at the gate that they can't get in, it's bad. When it happens, it's not one or two people not getting in, it's dozens - all angry that they wasted their time and money. Far better for everyone involved to stop them before they get there.

No other theme park currently has a reservation system for regular day guests, even disney world, so it’s obviously recognized that the benefits to the company are far outweighed by the disadvantages. Disneyland can get away with it, because it’s disneyland.

The whole "WDW doesn't have park reservations" is absolute nonsense repeated by people who have no idea what they're talking about. It's PR from Disney and nothing more.

When you buy a day ticket at WDW, you have to choose the date range you will be attending. That is itself a form of park reservation. You can't just buy a 2-day ticket and walk into the park any day you want. (Also, if you have a old 2-day ticket like that, you still have to make a park reservation.) If you can't make it the days of your purchase, you have to go back and re-purchase the ticket for the days you want to go - and pay the difference if the new days are more expensive then the days you were originally planning to go. It's only marginally less inconvenient than Disneyland's system, and you might still not be able to go on your preferred day if it's sold out.


EDIT (just to save me bumping the thread by responding again):

By the way I found this, which seems to go opposite to your claim, yes it’s for disneyworld but I think the statement there about covid equally applies to disneyland.

https://plandisney.disney.go.com/qu...-away-reservations-january-family-may-548041/

Let me just spell this out a little further, since you're doing research to respond rather than working from experience.

The critical phrase there is "for date-based tickets". As I said above, those tickets include a de-facto park reservation.

WDW also sells day tickets through their convention website. Those day tickets are not date-based tickets. You can buy one of those today, and you still have to make a park reservation. I can confirm this because I bought one of those tickets on January 15th and used it on January 17th (after "park reservations ended" on January 9th), and I had to make a park reservation to use it.

 

[CoachBeard]

We had let our MK’s lapse after we moved from So Cal to Vegas. We found out that we missed them so I purchased the Believe Keys this morning. Went very quickly.

i've been waiting just over an hour and it says 25 min left in the queue.

 

[Disney0010]

It may have picked up after we purchased but I jumped online first thing at 8:45. Already started making reservations……

i've been waiting just over an hour and it says 25 min left in the queue.

 

[meeshy1342]

I entered the waiting room at about 8:50 and made it through the queue in a little over an hour. I didn't purchase, I was doing a dry-run of the "email back" to see how the new queue system worked since I plan to try for OBB tickets this year. The queue did move quickly, and the email saying it was almost my turn to purchase arrived in my inbox when the countdown timer had about 3 minutes left, so all of that seemed to work well. I know others found the system worked well for the SW after-dark event recently, but the real test I think will be OBB since that is such an in-demand event.

 

[Steven G]

Ok, the flex pass was using a similar reservation system. Fair point.


when you said that Disney implemented the reservation system so quickly, and were able to do so because they were thinking about it, I countered that almost all theme parks also created their own reservation system about as quickly.

The pandemic created a need and requirement for a reservation system for all parks if they wanted to reopen. All theme parks created their own system quickly. It wasn’t something that really needed to be thought of previously.


Also, let’s be honest here, Disneyland didn’t reach capacity more than once or twice a year, where they were forced to turn away guests. Turning away guests is bad, but there was a good reason. The reservation system had nothing to do with park capacity, it’s to control the type of guests, and maintain cast member numbers/staffing.