Disneyland to announce Magic Key AP Replacement
Disneyland sent an email on Monday, Aug. 2 to Legacy Passholders with the subject line ‘The Wait is Nearly Over’ alerting former annual passholders that a new offering will be announced on Tuesday, Aug. 3
Disneyland plans to roll out a new Magic Key replacement for its Annual Passport that was killed amid concerns that demand by the million fans using the membership program could overwhelm Disney’s capacity-constrained Anaheim theme parks once coronavirus closures ended.
“As one of our biggest fans, we wanted to make sure you were the first to know about this new offering,” according to the email to Legacy Passholders. “We are thrilled about this coming announcement and we encourage you to stay tuned because all the details will be revealed tomorrow no earlier than 1 p.m. PST.”
The cancellation of the nearly four decade-old AP program in January sent shockwaves through the loyal corps of passholders.
“I know that sunsetting the Annual Passport program will be disappointing to many of our passholders who are just as anxious as we are to reopen our gates and welcome guests back when the time is right,” Disneyland resort president Ken Potrock said in a letter to passholders in January. “But we are also very excited about what’s ahead. We plan to use this time while we remain closed to develop new membership offerings that will utilize consumer insights to deliver choice, flexibility and value for our biggest fans.”
Disneyland bestowed the fan base with a “Legacy Passholders” title and offered new perks while the park developed the new membership replacement.
Disneyland surveyed passholders in January to determine the most popular option combinations and price points for the new membership program.
Membership prices in the surveys ranged from $399 to $1,399 — in line with 2019 prices for Disneyland annual passes. In 2020, the Southern California Select pass rose to $419 while the Signature Plus pass climbed to $1,449.
The surveys revealed some new options that included advance reservation requirements, booking window ranges, anytime reservations, blockout day tickets and dedicated passholder entrances.
The surveys, along with extensive qualitative research, offered consumer insights to help inform the development of future Disneyland membership offerings designed to deliver choice, flexibility and value, according to Disney officials.
Disneyland officials won’t say how many people had annual passes, but theme park industry observers have estimated the number to be 1 million. Annual passholders comprised an estimated 50% of Disneyland resort attendance, according to UBS financial analysts.
