Disney’s Magic Key might just unlock crowd control

Disneyland’s new Magic Key annual pass program makes clear that reservations won’t be going away anytime soon at the Disneyland Resort.

Other local theme parks have been dropping their reservation requirements now that the state is no longer limiting capacities due to the pandemic. But Disneyland’s capacity challenge wasn’t just the result of state restrictions. Strong demand filled Disneyland to overflowing before the pandemic, and fans continue to crowd the parks since they have reopened.

The ongoing demand led Disneyland to “sunset” its annual pass program this year, before the parks reopened. Now the resort is reviving its pass program and adding a reservation requirement for all pass tiers.

That makes Disneyland’s new Magic Key essentially a four-tier version of the Disney Flex pass that the resort had introduced in 2019. Of all the options that Disneyland reportedly considered for its new annual pass program, Magic Key is perhaps the simplest concept. No convoluted Disney Vacation Club-style points system. No rewards program that makes people buy a lot of high-priced daily tickets to get any benefits. No openended membership program that raises fears of impossible-to-break gym contracts.

But can Magic Key avoid the problems that the old annual pass program created? Only if Disneyland holds fast to reservations.

Disneyland is actually charging less for some Magic Key passes than it did for its old annual passes before the parks closed in March 2020. So the resort is not using pricing as its strategy to keep fans from overwhelming the parks. Instead, Disneyland is using what is essentially an old-fashioned first-come, first-served system. Want to visit? Make a reservation. Want a reservation? Better go online and get yours before everyone else does.

With a 90-day booking window and a limit on the number of reservations any “Magic Key holder” can have at once, there should be plenty of opportunity to get a reservation, even though procrastinators might have to settle for less popular dates. But that’s the point.

All of Disneyland’s various ticket schemes over the past several years have been designed to even the load on the parks by encouraging people to come on traditionally less crowded dates. But there’s only so much Disney can do to influence crowd levels using soft tactics such as pricing and block-out dates. To manage its crowds, Disney needed the hard cap that a reservation system provides.

Now it is up to Disneyland’s managers not to undercut that system by allowing reservations on any given date to rise past to the point where the parks become uncomfortable again. Say what you will about pandemic restrictions, but I enjoyed walking through Disneyland without people pushed up against both shoulders and a stroller bumping my heels.

If Magic Key can allow Disneyland fans to return to the parks for a reasonable price without having to endure miserable crowd levels, then it really will be a Disney fan’s wish come true.