Disneyland made big news last week when it announced the highly-anticipated replacement for its long-running Annual Passport program. The new program, dubbed Magic Key, is strikingly similar to the old program, save for a few key modifications that may prove to be a dealbreaker for Keyholders in the long-term. In today’s Dateline Disneyland, we’ll take a look at those changes to Disneyland’s annual pass system along with how the Disneyland experience continues to evolve as they prepare for a busy Halloween and new way of celebrating the holiday season.
It’s good to be back after a couple months away, with my last visit to the parks being over Avengers Campus opening weekend. There’s a lot to see. Let’s get started!
Magic Key arrives to unlock Disneyland for Passholders
Last Tuesday, Disneyland announced the new Magic Key program, the highly-anticipated replacement for Disneyland’s long-running Annual Passport program. Disneyland famously canceled all of its Annual Passes at the start of 2021 as the global health crisis raged on and the California lockdown continued and left hundreds of thousands of Southern California locals wondering if they’d have to adjust to a Disneyland-free post-quarantine life. Disneyland opened in April without Annual Passports, CEO Bob Chapek promised a replacement “loyalty program” by the end of 2021.
The new Magic Key program comes a bit earlier than anyone expected. On top of an early announcement, the new program also bears a striking resemblance to the discontinued Annual Passport program, just with a few notable tweaks. The similarities between the two, ranging from pass levels to prices, are undeniable. The similarities are especially notable since Disneyland’s initial goal was to craft an all-new loyalty program with various levels of discounted multi-day ticket options and features available at additional cost.
Somewhere along the line they must have gotten cold feet on something completely new. Ultimately, the end result is more or less a rebranding of the former Annual Passport program with the added caveat that all pass levels must now reserve the days they plan to visit. Each level gets a different number of available days to visit, can hold different numbers of reservations at a single time, a mix of merchandise and food discounts, parking privileges, and more. Magic Key sounds new, but this is really just more versions of the Disneyland Flex Pass, with different levels of park availability.
After months of expecting the worst, the new program might seem too good to be true for many Disneyland fans. With prices largely the same as before, former Passholders can now sign up for something that looks pretty similar to their old Annual Pass and go merrily on their way, as long as they’re okay reserving the days they wish to visit up to 90 days in advance. Of course, time will tell if the new program really is too good to be true. The implementation of a reservation system means Disneyland can dynamically adjust how many users of each Magic Key level can enter the parks on any given day.
The top-tier new pass is the Dream Key, which can technically visit on any day of the year? Well, that might not mean much depending on just how much availability Disneyland allots to your Magic Key level on any given day. The number of top-level Dream Key holders allowed to make reservations on any given day vs. the number of mid-range Enchant Key holders allowed to make reservations could be wildly different and vary day-to-day — and Magic Keyholders won’t know any difference. That is, nobody will know the difference unless the Magic Key program balloons out of control like the Annual Passport program did and it becomes wildly difficult for large numbers of Keyholders to actually be able to book the days they want.
It’ll be interesting to see how the new Magic Key system works over the coming months and years. Early adopters might have a good experience with the new pass program at first but as the program grows, satisfaction levels could potentially plummet depending on how many Keyholders Disney lets into the system and into the parks, especially during peak seasons. If this might seem like a disaster waiting to happen, consider that Disney’s rush to debut a new pass program may have come out of a need to keep attendance consistent as the company enters its next fiscal year in October. This will be the company’s first new, post-lockdown fiscal year.
Attendance and crowd levels in the parks have been varying dramatically day-to-day as the summer comes to a close. In the past, Annual Passholders would fill in the gaps during slower days but with no Passholders, Disney has been relying on tourists paying for full-price tickets and hoping locals would lean in on a discounted 3-day California resident ticket. But with Knott’s offering season passes for only a hundred dollars and Universal Studios Hollywood offering its top-tier annual pass for only $250 (including parking!), Disney’s 3-day ticket deal (which costs the same amount as Universal’s annual pass) appears to have been a failed experiment. With many Californians still recovering from the economic fallout of the global health crisis and Orange County schools beginning their school year this week, expecting Disneyland’s locals to continue buying expensive day tickets and spend money on specialty food and merchandise may have simply been a pipe dream for Bob Chapek.
Let’s compare a couple days from the weekend to illustrate how crowd levels dropped off over the weekend. On Friday, Boarding Groups for the wildly popular Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure attractions sold out instantly, both in their 7 a.m. morning and 12 p.m. afternoon lotteries. On Sunday, however, guests could still claim boarding passes for both attractions nearly three hours after their 12 p.m. afternoon lottery opened up:
A pretty notable difference in crowd levels and demand just two days apart. Disney would have seen the writing on the wall weeks ago when Sunday’s theme park reservations weren’t hitting their projections. With local kids returning to school as soon as this week in some districts, there will likely be a notable drop in attendance. But those special 3-day California tickets are still valid through the end of September, so there could still be some surges before the Magic Key program unlocks on the 25th of August.
Below, compare Friday’s mid-afternoon wait times with Sunday’s mid-afternoon waits. Dumbo the Flying Elephant had a 40-minute wait Friday vs. a 15 minute wait on Sunday afternoon. Space Mountain‘s Friday afternoon wait was 55 minutes vs. 30 minutes on Sunday. In Disney California Adventure, Soarin’ and Guardians of the Galaxy both had 45 minute waits Friday afternoon but only 20 and 25-minute waits, respectively, around the same time on Sunday.
Regardless of whether or not Disneyland’s hurried Magic Key announcement was borne out of necessity or not, the new program will surely benefit Team Disney Anaheim in a variety of ways. Reservations will allow Disneyland to more accurately track the patterns of passholders and having full control of how many passholders can be in the park on any given day will let Disney more accurately disperse Passholders across the calendar; restricting them on days that have higher full-price ticket sales and opening the floodgates on days that need an attendance boost. The new Magic Key system will be 100% digital and integrated into the Disneyland app, so no more plastic cards needed to get in or get your discounts — your Magic Key will live on your phone and you’ll book your reservations, scan in, get your discounts, and everything else within the app.
Making Magic Key so heavily reliant on the Disneyland app also gives Team Disney Anaheim the ability to more easily push up-charge features onto passholders. For example, Disney’s new pay-per-use version of Fastpass, named Premier Access, now in use at Shanghai Disneyland and Disneyland Paris is expected to eventually make its way to Disneyland. Magic Key users will likely be able to purchase new Premier Access passes directly on their phones after they’ve made a theme park reservation or even while they’re in the park. With geo-targeting and dynamic pricing, Disneyland could easily offer Magic Keyholders already in the park a discounted Big Thunder Mountain Railroad Premier Access ticket if the ride is posting short wait times on a slow afternoon in the middle of February. Other up-charges Disney will be able to push directly to Magic Keyholders via the app include special-ticket events, notifications for exclusive specialty food and merchandise, and more. While nothing is yet confirmed, all of these hypothetical up-charge scenarios are easy possibilities for Disney. Get ready for the constant up-sell.
Disneyland Paris Paid Skip-The-Line “Premier Access” Goes Live
Magic Key is now officially announced and fully detailed. The new pass program is set to debut August 25. Passes will be effective immediately and guests buying Magic Keys within the first 66 days will receive a special charter member gift set. So, is the gamble worth it? Are you willing to sign up for a new Magic Key and run the risk of not being able to easily book your theme park visits? Are you ready for Premier Access up-sells? Or will you be waiting to see how Magic Key works for others before jumping on board?
For in-depth coverage, pricing, and information on the new Magic Key program, don’t miss Dusty Sage’s article from last week’s announcement:
UPDATED: Everything You Need To Know About Disneyland’s New “Magic Key” Pass Program
Park Hopping rules are here to stay
Disneyland has confirmed that theme park reservations are here to stay for all guests, and now we know that Disneyland will be keeping its current Park Hopping rules indefinitely as well. Currently, guests with Park Hopper tickets have to schedule which theme park they want to start their day at and cannot jump over to the other theme park until 1 p.m.
The Magic Key announcement made it clear that Keyholders will also be required to adhere to the 1 p.m. Park Hopping rules.
The fine print in the Magic Key announcement notes that Park Hopping times may change at a future date. So we may still see this rule change in the future, even if it means Park Hopping can start earlier in the day, for example, at 11 a.m. instead of 1 p.m. For now, it appears the benefit Disney’s management and ops teams found in being able to more efficiently spread out crowds in the parks with delayed Park Hopping times is too great for them to let go of. Make no mistake: while park reservations and Park Hopping restrictions were initially implemented due to public health guidelines, Disney is holding onto them now because they’ve found the data they’ve accumulated from these things is very valuable. How does delayed Park Hopping times affect your Disneyland experience? Are you a fan of the new rules or do you think it’s a bad policy for the guests paying for the privilege of park-hopping?
Holiday Happenings
Haunted Mansion Holiday is returning for its 20th season on September 3rd. In celebration, this year’s gingerbread house will include a touch of all the previous houses.
Adding to the celebration is a new merchandise collection debuting September 27 featuring Haunted Mansion Holiday’s anniversary.
Disneyland’s iconic Halloween decorations will return this year as well, along with Halloween Screams fireworks. While over at DCA, Oogie Boogie’s Halloween party will be back, but without World of Color:
Halloween Time & Oogie Boogie Bash Return to the Disneyland Resort September 3rd
But Halloween isn’t the only holiday Disneyland is prepping for. Work is underway to produce Disneyland’s first special-ticket Christmas party for this year. And if all goes well, we should be hearing official news of that very soon.
The Christmas parade, fireworks, and special holiday entertainment may be reserved for special event nights this year, with holiday decor and special treats and merchandise available to all guests throughout the day.
Seasonal Shift: Refurbishments, Closures, and Construction
Around the parks, various refurbishments and construction projects are underway along with some lingering closures. Here’s the latest look at these closures and projects:
Missing Snacks
On Main Street, the churro and popcorn carts in Town Square are missing. The popcorn cart across from City Hall is also gone but its permanent sink is still in place, so we’re guessing this is likely just a refurbishment of the outdoor vending carts.
The churro cart across from Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln is also missing. 
In the evening, balloon vendors and a portable drink cart moved in.
In California Adventure, the popcorn cart in Carthay Circle was closed on Friday. Staffing shortage?
Carnation Cafe (Reopening September 16)
In Disneyland, Carnation Cafe remained closed over the weekend but is now scheduled to reopen September 16th with returning favorites including the restaurant’s ever-popular breakfast offerings as well as lunch and dinner menus. New items will debut when the restaurant reopens including a parmesan-crusted patty melt and short rib with homemade macaroni and cheese.
Haunted Mansion Holiday
Attraction closed for seasonal overlay installation August 16 through September 2.
In New Orleans Square, the Haunted Mansion, which reopened with the park in June with new enhancements and beautifully-refurbished show scenes, will close to install the popular Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay. The seasonal overlay will celebrate its 20th season this year with a special gingerbread house, merchandise, and more.
The Haunted Mansion has been moldering for 52 years today! But you only have a week left to catch the Mansion in regular mode before the goofy holiday stuff moves in. MiceChat’s Mansion maven, Donna Dark Collins, created a special treat for the birthday of this favorite attraction:
Happy Haunts at Home: Haunted Mansion Bride’s Wedding Cake Ice Cream
MiceChat contributor Mike Kindrich shared this video ride-through of the Haunted Mansion from this weekend. Enjoy!
Elsewhere in New Orleans Square, some refurbishment work is underway on the right side of the Pirates of the Caribbean facade, which includes the Disneyland Dream Suite balcony, Royal Street Veranda, Port Royal, and Pieces of Eight.
A look at New Orleans Square work from the sky:
Further back in New Orleans Square, the Le Bat en Rouge shop remains closed but if you’re able to sneak a peek when Cast Members enter or exit the space, you’ll see that it doesn’t look like much is really going on inside. Signage in windows still say that “Something New is Cooking!,” with mentions of gumbo.
Nearby, the gates to the Court of Angels courtyard for Club 33 have their lower panels replaced with printouts. These gates aren’t particularly great-looking on a regular day as they’re made of colored plexiglass and the gates don’t fit the architecture of the space, but the printed flats look even worse. Hopefully they’re replaced soon. 
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Closed for refurbishment September 7 through Fall 2021
Over in Frontierland, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad will close early next month for a refurbishment that will run through the fall.
Sailing Ship Columbia
Closed for refurbishment September 13. Reopening TBD
Over on the Rivers of America, the Sailing Ship Columbia will close September 13 for an indefinite period. The ship typically operates seasonally and with summer winding down and no current timeline for Fantasmic! to return, the ship may just be going dark for the season.
If you’ve never been in the below decks of the Columbia, you really should make a point to explore it if you’re in the park while the Columbia is operating. It’s wonderful, classic Disney edutainment, perfectly executed.
Of course, riding any boat around the Rivers of America is always a treat.
Mickey’s Toon Town
Attractions currently offline: Mickey’s House, Minnie’s House, Goofy’s Playhouse, Donald’s Boat, Chip ‘n Dale Treehouse
Heading into Mickey’s Toon Town, much of the walkway between the Fantasyland Theatre and “it’s a small world” remains behind refurbishment walls.
Inside Toon Town, the land’s dining locations remain closed.
The Toon Up Treats snack stop also remains closed.
On the other side of Toon Town, the character houses remain closed but Mickey and friends continue to wave to guests from their homes and pose for socially-distanced photos.
It’s nice to see the fountains running again — last time I was in the parks, the Toon Town fountains were still off.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
New attraction under construction. Expected to open 2023.
Of course, the big deal in Toon Town is the construction of Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway, the new trackless attraction from Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida. The attraction is expected to open in 2023 and continues to make a big impact in Toon Town.
Below, some great aerial views from earlier last week:
Below, ground-level views of construction from Friday:
The Gag Factory and Five and Dime gift shops are now completely gone, and room has been cleared to make way for the attraction’s new movie theater facade entrance and exit through a re-worked Gag Factory facade.
Tomorrow Never Comes
Over in Tomorrowland, no progress has been made on the Tomorrowland entrance remodel. Seems like the project is still planned, just stalled for now.
Signage on the construction wall still promises a new entrance in the future.
Closeups of that concept art:
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Closed for refurbishment through Winter 2021
Back in Tomorrowland, the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage is closed, with construction walls promising a return in the winter of 2021.
A peek behind the walls shows that the lagoon is still full without any visible work underway…
A look at the Submarine Lagoon from above — it doesn’t seem like too much work is underway. But you can see a long vacuum hose running from the submarine dock toward the Matterhorn. Likely to aid divers in cleaning the lagoon. 
Disneyland Monorail
Attraction currently offline.
The Disneyland Monorail remains closed for the time being. No timeline yet on when it might return. But as cooler fall temperatures arrive later this year, we hope to see them gliding above Disneyland once again.
Star Wars Launch Bay
Attraction reopening soon.
Star Wars Launch Bay remains closed. Disney Visa Card members can partake in a photo op on the side of the building near Autopia.
California Food
In California Adventure, the Bakery Tour has reopened but is only available until 3 p.m. each day. We missed the 3 p.m. cutoff when visiting the park on Friday but are happy to see this small attraction reopen.
Meanwhile, Paradise Garden continues to operate only one of its dining facilities. The Garden Grill serves a menu of small plates leftover from the A Touch of Disney event. The options are limited.
Meanwhile, the large Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta restaurant remains closed. This is a frustrating choice, as the park could use more dining options and pizza and pasta are some of the most popular offerings in the parks.
Not only that, but Paradise Garden has a very spacious and shady seating area that is currently being underutilized while places like Pym’s Test Kitchen and Flo’s V8 Cafe struggle with seating availability. The issue here is more than likely a staffing problem, which Disney continues to struggle with across the resort. Cast Members aren’t returning as expected to some departments while other departments continue to get hit with outbreak scares. For example, the MiceChat team heard from a concerned cast member this week that COVID-19 outbreaks seem to be increasing among cast and that Lamplight Lounge on Pixar Pier is a particular hotspot. So much so that all cast at that location have reportedly been scheduled for on the clock COVID-19 testing this week. Of course, the location remains open to serve guests, which has some cast feeling very uncomfortable, since there has yet to be any public disclosure about the safety status of this (or any) location. Disney’s certainly in a difficult situation, juggling the health of its Cast and Guests during a pandemic while the parks are busy with guests that are looking for things to do and food to eat. It’s a shame to see large foodservice facilities like this one barely being used.
Over in Hollywood Land, the small Fairfax Market snack and drink stand has finally reopened.
Flo’s V8 Cafe
In Cars Land, exterior refurbishment work on Flo’s V8 Cafe continues.
The refurbishment displaces a good portion of the restaurant’s outdoor dining space.
Neon has been replaced on the other side
Painting of the fence around the Cozy Cone Motel lawn has finished and looks nice and fresh!
World of Color
Show currently offline.
World of Color remains dark while work continues on fixing infrastructure and equipment for the show. California Adventure could desperately use something to keep gets later, but with World of Color likely not returning until next year, could we see the return of a nighttime parade here?
Downtown Disney
In Downtown Disney, the WonderGround Gallery got a bit of a facelift inside.
A new photo-op for the Disney Channel’s Magic Bake-Off is now on display in front of the old AMC Theater.
Around the Parks
Let’s wrap up today’s update with some gorgeous summertime views around the Disneyland Resort theme parks.
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Let’s Hear From You!
Alright, that’s all for this week’s Disneyland update. What do you think of the new Magic Key annual pass program? Will you be joining up right away or waiting a while to see how the new program functions? Do you think it’s still worth the price now that you’ll have to make reservations? Let us know your thoughts on the latest Disneyland news in the comments section below!
Thanks for joining me as I filled in for Dusty, who will be back here again next week! Until next time!
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