Disneyland has announced it will open up Magic Key renewals this week, but with a new Key and new block out dates for all passes.
Sales of new passes are still suspended at this time.
Renewals
Disneyland says renewals will open this week on Thursday, August 18, no earlier than 9am PT.
A virtual queue system will be used to process all online renewals.
If wihin the 30-day renewal window, the Key holder can upgrade or downgrade to another tier. Outside the 30-day window, no changes to can be made to the Magic Key tier unless new passes become available for sale again. At that time, upgrades outside the 30-day renewal window will be allowed.
A Price Increase
With news of the renewals comes a price increase on the Magic Keys.
- The lowest tier, the Imagine Key, has increased from $399 to $449.
- The next tier, the Enchant Key, has increased from $649 to $699.
- The third tier, the Believe Key, has increased from $949 to $1099.
There are still 0% APR monthly payment plans for all tiers for renewing California residents.
New to all Keys is a 20% discount on purchasing Disney Genie+ on the day of visit after entering one of the parks.
A Change in Top Key
At this time, the former top tier Magic Key, the Dream Key, is not being offered for renewal.
In its place is the new Inspire Key, which is priced at $1599 annually. In comparison, the Dream Key was priced at $1399 annually.
The other major change between the Inspire Key and the Dream Key is that the Inspire Key will now have block-out dates.
Here is a graphic showing the break down of Magic Key prices with the benefits. Worth noting is the upcoming benefit of an unlimited Disney PhotoPass for the top two tiers is negated by the fact that an unlimited PhotoPass comes with any Disney Genie+ purchases.
Block-Out Dates
Yes, even the top Magic Key tier will now be subject to block-out dates. Not a single Key will have 365 day access anymore.
The Inspire Key is blocked out December 21, 2022 through January 1, 2023, so even if you pay $1599 for the Key, you still can’t enjoy the holidays in either park without paying more money for single or multi-day tickets.
With the Believe Key, new block-outs include that holiday time period, plus Thanksgiving weekend, and most Saturdays starting in October.
The Enchant Key takes all of those block-out dates, and adds all of Thanksgiving week, Labor Day weekend, plus most Saturdays and Sundays from October on.
And the lowest tier, the Imagine Key, is basically only available Mondays through Thursdays, except for holidays through the end of 2022.
Calendars for 2023 aren’t up yet, but here’s the 2022 block-out calendars to consider when deciding to renew:
New Terms
Disneyland updated the official Magic Key terms and says park reservations for Key holders will be limited in number and subject to the availability of park reservations allocated to all Keys.
They also said these passes can become unavailable at any time, so certain passes may not be available for renewal at some point in the future.
Also worth reading in the terms is the new part about a class action waiver that says:
“YOU AND DISNEY (DEFINED FOR PURPOSES OF THIS BINDING ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER TO MEAN WALT DISNEY PARKS AND RESORTS U.S., INC. AND ALL OF ITS AFFILIATES) EACH AGREE THAT ANY DISPUTE OR CLAIM RELATING IN ANY WAY TO YOUR DISNEYLAND RESORT MAGIC KEY WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING ARBITRATION, WITH THE SOLE EXCEPTION OF CLAIMS THAT QUALIFY FOR SMALL CLAIMS COURT AS SET FORTH BELOW.
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU AND DISNEY ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT (WITH THE SOLE EXCEPTION OF CLAIMS THAT QUALIFY FOR SMALL CLAIMS COURT AS SET FORTH BELOW) AND THE RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL. YOU AND DISNEY ALSO AGREE THAT ANY AND ALL DISPUTES MUST BE BROUGHT IN THE PARTIES’ INDIVIDUAL CAPACITIES. YOU AND DISNEY THEREFORE AGREE TO WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO LITIGATE OR ARBITRATE ANY CLAIMS AS A CLASS ACTION OR OTHER REPRESENTATIVE OR COLLECTIVE ACTION.”
All-caps is verbatim from the terms section:
More Information
The Magic Key system was implemented in August 2021 as a replacement for the annual passes that existed prior to the pandemic closure in 2020. By November, several tiers of Keys were sold out and no longer available.
Disneyland suspended all pass sales and renewals earlier this summer pending this reorganization of the program.
For more information, including a further breakdown on Key tiers, visit Disneyland.com.
Are you a Magic Key holder? How do you feel about all of the changes? Let us know in the comments!