Magic Key Program

[Malcon10t]

I’m glad they suspended the dream key. They really need to decide how many dream keys they want to sell versus how many reservations slots they’re going to allocate to those Dream keys.

I have found it incredibly aggravating from the start that there is lots of park capacity available, but they arbitrarily limit the amount of keyholders that can go into the park. The Dream key is a ticket that is good every day, but they can arbitrarily decide that sometimes it’s not good? Hopefully this is the beginning of undoing that.

I really think that is wishful thinking. I think they are working on finding a balance between the two, but they will keep buckets, and when the key buckets are full, that will be it til it gets closer to the date and they move from ticket buckets to key buckets.

 

[MonocularVision]

Disney REALLY also needs to just allow same day reservation cancellations. I don't know why they are being so stubborn about this. Those are spots that other key holders will HAPPILY pick up.

I keep hearing that MK holders are picking up tons of “speculation” or “just in case” reservations now because things are going so fast. Wouldn’t decreasing the flexibility help? Aka, you only get X cancellations period so you stop folks from tying up the calendar unnecessarily?

 

[Dory92130]

As reviewed before; Dream key really underpriced compared to Tier 2 Believe key. All those addition high volume weeks and saturdays made a lot of sense for people (including ALL out of towners) jump to the Dream key level -- really just 2-4 days more visiting paid for the difference (not including the additional perks).

I would see Disney to try to Keep It Simple. Raise the price, give on-site hotel stays length of stay reservations without count. If they change the # of reservations, really would start making people angry on 'changing benefits' thing vs just increasing pricing.

One good thing from announcement -- Trams COMING BACK -- 2022.

 

[SL6827]

So the Dream Key had no block out dates, yet it does have block out dates. I would be irate to have bought such and not be able to get in, but day tickets could get in. That's is messed up!!!

 

[DLgal]

I keep hearing that MK holders are picking up tons of “speculation” or “just in case” reservations now because things are going so fast. Wouldn’t decreasing the flexibility help? Aka, you only get X cancellations period so you stop folks from tying up the calendar unnecessarily?

No. Not allowing same day cancellations and penalizing for cancellations is too rigid. Real life happens and especially when you don't want sick people at the parks, you need to allow same day cancellations and thus, same day reservation opportunities.

What they COULD do is simply pull the reservation calendar for MK WAY back and only allow booking 2 weeks in advance, maximum. This 60 day window is too long. Leave that for the day ticket guests and hotel guests. So, in terms of that, I agree that they need to make the booking window for MK holders LESS open.

I'd even welcome a 7 day advance booking window. This way people will only book when they can really commit to it.

 

[DLgal]

So the Dream Key had no block out dates, yet it does have block out dates. I would be irate to have bought such and not be able to get in, but day tickets could get in. That's is messed up!!!

It really is. It should be that if there are day ticket reservations available, Dream keys can come. By advertising "no black out dates" I suspect Disney may be in some legal hot water as it appears to be a bait and switch.

 

[StormyCA]

I thought Disney made a big 'to do' about not having a 'cap' on any of the passes. Well, wouldn't be the first time they went back on their word.

The Dream Key has been a fiasco. Underpriced, oversold, and people making 'panic' reservations causing days/weekends to be blocked out. TBH, it wouldn't surprised me if it wasn't brought back at all. They'd let the current Dreamers keep their passes, probably even renew them for a few years. Isn't that what they did with the (IIRC) So Cal Select? First they stopped selling them, then a few years later they stopped renewing them for the 'grandfathered' pass holders.

I wonder if they're having the same problem with Incredi-Key reservations at WDW as they are at DL with the Dream Key. Same basic pass, no blockouts.

 

[DLgal]

I thought Disney made a big 'to do' about not having a 'cap' on any of the passes. Well, wouldn't be the first time they went back on their word.

The Dream Key has been a fiasco. Underpriced, oversold, and people making 'panic' reservations causing days/weekends to be blocked out. TBH, it wouldn't surprised me if it wasn't brought back at all. They'd let the current Dreamers keep their passes, probably even renew them for a few years. Isn't that what they did with the (IIRC) So Cal Select? First they stopped selling them, then a few years later they stopped renewing them for the 'grandfathered' pass holders.

I wonder if they're having the same problem with Incredi-Key reservations at WDW as they are at DL with the Dream Key. Same basic pass, no blockouts.

They explicitly stated that passes are limited in availability from the beginning.

My take is that they will eliminate all the other tiers and keep JUST the Dream key, but bump the price up to $2000. That would solve this whole problem. If they don't do that, expect the other tiers to become weekday passes only. This entire fiasco revolves around weekend availability.

 

[Kender]

No. Not allowing same day cancellations and penalizing for cancellations is too rigid. Real life happens and especially when you don't want sick people at the parks, you need to allow same day cancellations and thus, same day reservation opportunities.

What they COULD do is simply pull the reservation calendar for MK WAY back and only allow booking 2 weeks in advance, maximum. This 60 day window is too long. Leave that for the day ticket guests and hotel guests. So, in terms of that, I agree that they need to make the booking window for MK holders LESS open.

I'd even welcome a 7 day advance booking window. This way people will only book when they can really commit to it.

It's worse than a 60 day window. It's a 90 day window for pass reservations. I wish it was even just a 60 day window at this point.

 

[StormyCA]

You might be right. Maybe I interpreted it as 'limited but don't worry, there are plenty enough to go around'. Personally, I don't think they had a pre-determined 'cut off number' before things went south like they have..

I don't know what would happen if they went to one 'all you can eat' pass. I remember awhile ago they revamped the passes to add more blockout days & increased the prices at the same time and were stunned at the number of people who upgraded to the no blockout pass as opposed to the number they thought would opt for a lower priced pass with blockouts. I can't remember if that was when they changed the Deluxe pass to have more blockouts or when they started the Flex.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

It's worse than a 60 day window. It's a 90 day window for pass reservations. I wish it was even just a 60 day window at this point.

As an out-of-towner who would like to take advantage of having a dream pass and visiting multiple times a year, I think I would be happier with a 30 day or 60 day reservation window and a limit of 5 reservations to be held at once for the dream key and 3 reservations for the believe. Don't really know if that would fix anything though. Also, I feel another way they messed this whole thing up was by letting dream key and believe key holders both hold 6 reservations at a time. Clearly that was too many. I don't really know what the right number would be, but I feel that believe keys should have been allowed fewer reservations at a time than the more premium priced dream key.

 

[Kender]

As an out-of-towner who would like to take advantage of having a dream pass and visiting multiple times a year, I think I would be happier with a 30 day or 60 day reservation window and a limit of 5 reservations to be held at once for the dream key and 3 reservations for the believe. Don't really know if that would fix anything though. Also, I feel another way they messed this whole thing up was by letting dream key and believe key holders both hold 6 reservations at a time. Clearly that was too many. I don't really know what the right number would be, but I feel that believe keys should have been allowed fewer reservations at a time than the more premium priced dream key.

I'm not local either. The 90 day window meant two of my three usual trips at the end of the year were cancelled to prioritize my favorite of the three because all three of those are usually at least 5 days.

My trips average 3-5 days each throughout the year. Sometimes even more. So I would hate if I had any less than 6 reservations. At least with 6 I might be able to reserve two of my shorter trips that are within 90 days of each other without much issue.

30 says would be fine with me. I would not want fewer reservations, though.

I'm worried about what the 90 day reservation window will mean at renewal time

 

[MonocularVision]

No. Not allowing same day cancellations and penalizing for cancellations is too rigid. Real life happens and especially when you don't want sick people at the parks, you need to allow same day cancellations and thus, same day reservation opportunities.

Then give folks 5 cancellations? 10? Seems like you could bump the number up to deal with life getting in the way

What they COULD do is simply pull the reservation calendar for MK WAY back and only allow booking 2 weeks in advance, maximum. This 60 day window is too long. Leave that for the day ticket guests and hotel guests. So, in terms of that, I agree that they need to make the booking window for MK holders LESS open.

I'd even welcome a 7 day advance booking window. This way people will only book when they can really commit to it.

Doesn’t shortening the time window make the problem worse? If you had a 7 day window with Dream key folks having 6 reservations at a time why wouldn’t they just keep 6 of the 7 days reserved on a rolling basis?

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Doesn’t shortening the time window make the problem worse? If you had a 7 day window with Dream key folks having 6 reservations at a time why wouldn’t they just keep 6 of the 7 days reserved on a rolling basis?

My thinking too. Shortening the window and leaving the number of reservations the same won't solve anything either. In one of my posts further up, I mentioned that I could live with a shorter window (7 days is way too short but maybe 30 or 60 days would be doable), but I also noted that the number of reservations one can hold at a time probably needs to go down if we shorten the window.

 

[PirateBrigade]

Disneyland’s loyal fan base has grown increasingly furious over the apparent prioritization of daily ticket buyers over annual passholders.

I mean...I thought it was obvious from the very beginning

 

[gelatoni fan]

I'm not local either. The 90 day window meant two of my three usual trips at the end of the year were cancelled to prioritize my favorite of the three because all three of those are usually at least 5 days.

My trips average 3-5 days each throughout the year. Sometimes even more. So I would hate if I had any less than 6 reservations. At least with 6 I might be able to reserve two of my shorter trips that are within 90 days of each other without much issue.

30 says would be fine with me. I would not want fewer reservations, though.

I'm worried about what the 90 day reservation window will mean at renewal time

I had been saying this exact thing since before the keys launched. The 90 day reservation window with 4 or 6 reservations is too long of a period with too few reservations. Once enough people got passes, this nightmare situation where everybody needs to get reservations 90 days in advance will play out and then people will discover they don't have enough reservations to cover their visits. Between the longer reservation window and removal of "good to go" days, the Dream Key seems worse than the Flex Pass. The only surprise to me is how blatantly Disney is punishing keyholders with the reservation calendar compared to tickets. I thought they would at least try a little harder to not upset people who spend the most at the parks (on a per year, not per day basis).

I'm basically doing the same thing as you. One of my friends asked if I wanted to go to Disneyland in early February but since I already have a January and a late February trip planned, I told her no. I've been actively telling my friends to not go to Disneyland because I don't have enough reservations to cover all the dates. That leads to less food spending at Disney from me, and fewer ticket sales from my friends and family.

My guess is that just before renewal time, they will open up reservations massively to Magic Keys. That way, when it comes time for everybody to renew, they will have forgotten this chaos and think Disney fixed the problem. Then Halloween and Christmas will come and Disney will severely limit reservations again.

Then give folks 5 cancellations? 10? Seems like you could bump the number up to deal with life getting in the way



Doesn’t shortening the time window make the problem worse? If you had a 7 day window with Dream key folks having 6 reservations at a time why wouldn’t they just keep 6 of the 7 days reserved on a rolling basis?

Because it is annoying to constantly log in and cancel reservations you don't want to use. Additionally, people will not feel pressured to book up dates months away with just the slight chance of going.

Hong Kong Disneyland originally had a 7 day window and one reservation at a time. After a couple weeks of fully booked days, it settled down. Now there is no reservation limit and no penalty for "no shows". You'd think this would lead to no reservation availability but dates sell out very rarely because very few people bother to log in to book dates they don't plan to go. With the "no show" penalty for Disneyland, it means that every time you book a day that you don't plan to go, you take a risk of forgetting to cancel. So the annoyance of constantly remembering to log in every few days to cancel will put people off from excessive bookings.

Part of the thing with the artificial shortage created by Disney is that frequent visitors will prioritize going to the parks on days they can spend more time in the parks (likely weekends) and avoid going on days they can only spend part of the day. So for some keyholders, instead of going Monday through Thursday after work to get on all their favorite rides with short waits spread out over several days, the limits push them to going on a weekend and do all of them on the same day with long wait times.

Everything said, I don't think a 7 day window would work for Disneyland but a 14 or 30 day window could alleviate a lot of frustration. The initial few weeks may be rough as the pent up demand finally has a chance to let itself out but I think it'll settle down into something more acceptable.

 

[PirateBrigade]

I had been saying this exact thing since before the keys launched. The 90 day reservation window with 4 or 6 reservations is too long of a period with too few reservations. Once enough people got passes, this nightmare situation where everybody needs to get reservations 90 days in advance will play out and then people will discover they don't have enough reservations to cover their visits. Between the longer reservation window and removal of "good to go" days, the Dream Key seems worse than the Flex Pass. The only surprise to me is how blatantly Disney is punishing keyholders with the reservation calendar compared to tickets. I thought they would at least try a little harder to not upset people who spend the most at the parks (on a per year, not per day basis).

Now I'm kind of debating even getting an AP at all... this might just accelerate our move to go once a year, twice, tops. I don't want to spend $1000 and worry about reservations.

I think cutting off AP1 sales will accelerate AP2-4 sales, worsening the availability problem in the near-term.

 

[Dory92130]

-Shorten the time to 30 days
-On site hotel stays can reserve those days (and if cancel reservation, lose theme park reservation) and does NOT count toward limited #s
-Limit to 2-4 days unless on-site stays.

That'll bump onsite spend and alleviate travel MK holders (and locals for staycations).

 

[TsWade2]

I guess I can't get the Dream Key anytime soon, and I'm very upset about it. I mean, sure, Believe Key maybe the only option, but it's still not fair that I can't get the Dream Key. Life is so unfair!

 

[By-Tor and Snow Pup]

Dream Key holder here: If it were up to me the whole annual pass thing would be gone. It was so nice during that window when passes were gone. No passes, no Genie.... every time you buy a ticket it means something. Passes have been problematic for a long time.