Of all the changes that have happened at Disneyland due to the global pandemic, the biggest was the ending of the Annual Passport system. After initially being put on hold, all APs were simply cancelled. Eventually, after the park reopened, Annual Passports were replaced with a new program called Magic Keys. While the Magic Key program was largely similar, it has seen a series of bumps in the road, including a lawsuit, and now another big change has taken place, as Magic Keys are entirely unavailable.
There are three tiers of Magic Key that were originally made available to most guests, with the major differences being which dates were blocked out, and how many park reservations the guest could hold at one time. The top of the line pass, the Dream Key, that had no block out dates, was taken off the market a few months ago, but now both the Believe Key and Enchant Key are now also listed on the Disneyland website as “unavailable.”
To say the least it is interesting to see an Annual Pass program where people cannot buy annual passes. There was no indication that there would be a limit on the number of passes sold, but it seems the decision has been made to, at the very least, put a pause on such sales.
How The Magic Key Lawsuit Fits In
One has to wonder if the current Magic Key lawsuit, which Disney has tried to get dismissed already, is related, directly or indirectly, to the decision to stop selling Magic Keys. The lawsuit was brought by a Magic Key owner in California who was frustrated that, while she had purchased the Key with no blockout dates, was finding herself unable to get into Disneyland Resort due to a lack of available park reservations. This, despite the fact that reservations were still available to people buying standard park tickets.
If the lawsuit ends up being decided against Disney, that could potentially cause significant changes in the Magic Key program, and so Disneyland Resort may be making the preemptive call to halt selling the Keys until this issue is resolved. That way there aren’t as many Magic Key holders as there might be, that will need to be dealt with.
The Lawsuit May Not Be Directly To Blame
On the other hand, the decision to stop selling Magic Keys may simply be part of Disney Parks’ stated goals of making the park experience better for everybody. Disney has claimed that the reservation system is being kept around in order to better manage the number of guests in the parks on any given day. Limiting the number of people with Magic Keys could simply be part of that, as it means there will be fewer people with the passes trying to get in at any one time.
The fact is that Annual Passes have also been difficult to come by at Walt Disney World. There are no pending lawsuits there, which means the lawsuit may not be the direct cause of this decision.
In the end, this decision may ultimately have the same result that those filing the lawsuit clearly want. With fewer Magic Keys in the world, the odds of getting a reservation with one go up. At this point, most of the people who really wanted a Magic Key probably have it, though there will certainly be some who will want one in the future, and whether they’ll have that chance remains to be seen.
