Should Disneyland end pass program Magic Key for good?
Does Disneyland really need an annual pass program anyway?
In case you missed it, Disneyland has stopped selling its new Magic Key annual passes. Disneyland started the Magic Key program last August after “sunsetting” its longtime annual pass program in January 2020, when the parks were closed due to the pandemic.
Magic Key has divided Disneyland fans since its debut. Its requirement that passholders make a reservation to use their pass for each visit has frustrated many users. Some even have sued Disney, claiming that the resort is prioritizing daily ticketholders over Magic Key holders when assigning reservations.
Disneyland offered four types of Magic Key passes, each with different levels of access to the parks. The resort stopped selling two of the four types of passes late last year before closing sales of the final two
The Mad Tea Party ride at Disneyland overflows with customers even without annual pass programs.
types last month.
Stopping sales of new Magic Key passes should limit the demand for Magic Key reservation spots. But it does so at the cost of locking out other Disneyland fans who might have wanted a pass, including those who held off buying right away because of the continuing pandemic. One reader on ThemeParkInsider.com offered a sarcastic suggestion that Disneyland now could start selling access to a waiting list for Magic Key passes to keep making money from those fans.
Requiring reservations has helped Disneyland address the worst of its crowding problems, but if resort executives had hoped that Magic Key also would allow Disneyland to maintain the goodwill of
its most loyal guests, the program seems to be coming up short.
The financial argument for annual passes has been that they help fill the park, especially on weekdays during the school year. Indeed, Disneyland’s attendance seemed lower in the months that it did not offer annual passes last summer. But Disneyland also had not brought back its full lineup of live entertainment and other attractions last summer, either. It was not running trams to the parking garages. The emerging delta variant surge of the coronavirus kept many tourists at home. Disneyland’s promise of a replacement for its annual pass program also kept some loyal fans on the sidelines, awaiting the debut of what became
Magic Key.
If Disneyland gave up and opted not to allow current Magic Key holders to renew, would park attendance fall? That’s the big question. I suspect Disneyland could fill its parks on just single and multiday tickets if passes were off the table, especially if the resort expanded seasonal ticket discounts to locals whenever it needed a boost. Selling discounted multiday tickets with a longer expiration date, perhaps up to a year, might provide another alternative to annual passes.
The enduring loyalty over the years of so many passholders, living here in the media capital of the world, has helped make “Disneyland” perhaps the most famous name in tourism. Obviously, Disneyland does not want to put that legacy at risk, as it might by completely eliminating annual passes. But at this point, continuing with them might be the bigger gamble.