The harsh reality of the Magic Key era has arrived with some annual passholders who paid top dollar for unlimited access finding themselves locked out of Disneyland on the first two weekends of the new program.
Dream Key and Believe Key passholders reservations “sold out” for the first two weekends of the new Magic Key program on Aug. 28 and 29 and Sept. 4 and 5.
SEE ALSO: 7 things you need to know before you buy the new Disneyland Magic Key annual pass
The new Magic Key annual passes went on sale Aug. 25 with prices ranging from $399 to $1,399. Disneyland ended its former four-decade-old annual pass program in January during the extended coronavirus closures of the parks.
At times over the past 24 hours, Disneyland’s dynamic Magic Key calendar has shown “no reservations available” for Sept. 4 and 5. At times on Monday, Aug. 30, Dream keyholders could make reservations for Disney California Adventure on Sept. 4 and Disneyland on Sept. 5 while Believe keyholders could access both parks on Sept. 4 and neither park on Sept. 5. Next weekend was sold out for all keyholders as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 30 — but that could change.
Keyholders are encouraged to check back regularly to the Magic Key calendars as reservation inventory availability can change, according to Disneyland officials. Disneyland and Disney California Adventure have plenty of Magic Key reservation inventory available in the days, weeks and months ahead, according to Disneyland officials.
SEE ALSO: Will Disneyland sell out of Magic Key annual passes?
It’s not surprising that reservations sold out on the first weekend after Magic Key went on sale based on the pent-up demand from former annual passholders. Many of last weekend’s reservations appeared to be snapped up at the last moment by keyholders looking to break in their new passes.
The on-again, off-again sold out status of Magic Key reservations for the upcoming weekend likely has to do with the launch of Halloween Time decor and entertainment that officially kicks off on Friday, Sept. 3 and the three-day Labor Day holiday weekend.
New keyholders scooped up all available reservations for last weekend within days of the launch of the new Magic Key program, according to MiceChat. Next weekend’s reservations are currently sold out as well — although availability can change on a moment’s notice. Imagine Keys were blocked out for Aug. 28 and 29 and Imagine and Enchant Keys are blocked out for Sept. 4 and 5.
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The certainty of blockout dates under the former annual pass system has given way to the uncertainty of unavailable reservations in the new Magic Key era.
Disneyland’s “black box” approach to reservation availability means keyholders have no way of knowing how many reservations are left, no warning when dates will sell out and no idea which days will be unavailable next.
Top-tier keyholders are quickly finding out they’ve paid for access they can’t use.
“The first and second weekends of Dream Magic Key at Disneyland (were) already ‘blocked out’ if you didn’t decide to get a reservation ahead of time,” Twitter user Hastin from Santa Ana wrote on Monday, Aug. 30 at 7 a.m. when all reservations were unavailable. “This system might be a hellscape in a few months. A fine needle to thread with how much people pay and how they expect to go.”
Sold out reservations on Sept. 4 and 5 mean $1,399 Dream Key and $949 Believe Key passholders have the same level of access as the blocked out $649 Enchant Key and $399 Imagine Key passholders.
SEE ALSO: Magic Key vs. Flex Pass: How the new and old Disneyland annual passes compare
Disneyland tested the waters of an advance reservation annual pass system with the launch of the top-rated Flex Pass in May 2019.
It took months before Flex reservations became unavailable after the launch of the pass. By comparison, Magic Key reservations were gone within days for the first two weekends — a testament to the volume of new passes sold.
Keyholders are quickly getting the message that they will have to plan ahead if they want to visit the parks on weekends, holidays and popular seasonal dates — no more waiting until the last minute to plan a visit. Less popular weekdays are still available for last-minute Magic Key reservations.
That could all change as Disneyland sells more Magic Keys in the coming days, weeks, months and years. Competition for Magic Key reservations will continue to grow increasingly fierce with every new annual pass Disneyland sells.
“It appears that weekends and holidays may be difficult to obtain and even more so as more and more folks sign up for Magic Key,” according to MiceChat. “We now live in an age of all-things-Disney needing to be planned weeks or months in advance.”
Reservation limits over the past weekend kept crowd levels and attraction wait times manageable at Disneyland and DCA despite Magic Key access being fully booked, according to MiceChat.
SEE ALSO: How will Disneyland determine reservation capacity limits for Magic Key annual passes?
The Anaheim theme park has the ability to cut off Magic Key sales, but has not indicated if and when that could happen. Disneyland is offering a free swag box for keyholders who buy their pass in the first 66 days — in honor of Disneyland’s 66th anniversary.
How can passholders avoid sold out dates? Expect keyholders to begin squatting on reservation dates that may appeal to them in the future — if they are not doing that already.
Dream and Believe keyholders can hold up to six reservations at a time. Enchant keyholders can have up to four reservations and Imagine keyholders can have two.
Magic Key passholders are required to cancel reservations by 11:59 p.m. the night before their visit. Three no shows in a 90-day period puts a 30-day hold on new reservations. There is no limit on the number of cancellations allowed per keyholder.
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Disneyland’s new Magic Key program could lead to a new squat-and-release strategy where keyholders book the maximum number of reservations allowable and cancel them on a rolling basis at the last moment.
That means keyholders could start seeing reservations free up each night between 11 p.m. and 11:59 p.m. as squatters cancel tomorrow’s bookings en masse in the eleventh hour. Date squatting could have the potential to make Magic Key reservations even harder to come by.
So far, Disneyland has not set up a waiting list for keyholders who want to visit on sold-out dates or a push alert system to notify keyholders when reservations reopen for previously unavailable dates.
This post first appeared on ocregister.com
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