After several months of unease, Disneyland has finally announced that Magic Key (previously known throughout the world as Annual) Passes will be available to renew on August 18th. There were some changes to all of the passes offered. In this post, we’ll share the details on when and how to renew the Magic Key Passes as well as the changes made to the system, before diving into a little bit of commentary on the subject.

Let’s start with the details on how to renew the pass for those eligible. As mentioned, the renewals will be available beginning on August 18th. There will be no new passes for sale at this time so do not let the pass lapse before deciding to renew. For those that have had their Magic Keys expire before August 18th, call the resort August 18-31 to have the pass renewed. It does appear that any renewal will be able to upgrade or downgrade to their pass of choice.

A virtual queue system will be in place on the website for guests to renew at 9 AM beginning on the 18th. This will likely take hours so grab a delicious pastry, tell the boss to not worry about the second screen you have up and stay calm.

Here are the details on each pass, starting with the cheapest:

Imagine Key

$449 (was $399)

Only available for Southern California Residents living in zip codes 90000 to 93599

• Reservation-based admission to one or both theme parks select days of the year
• Hold up to 2 theme park reservations at a time
• 20% off the purchase of Disney Genie+ service (subject to limited availability) on days when you use your pass for park admission.
• Up to 10% off select merchandise
• Up to 10% off select dining
• 25% off standard theme park parking at the Toy Story Parking Area, excluding blockout dates

Enchant Key

$699 (was $649)

• Reservation-based admission to one or both theme parks select days of the year
• Hold up to 4 theme park reservations at a time
• 20% off the purchase of Disney Genie+ service (subject to limited availability) on days when you use your pass for park admission.
• Up to 10% off select merchandise
• Up to 10% off select dining
• 25% off standard theme park parking at the Toy Story Parking Area, excluding blockout dates

Believe Key

$1,099 (was $949)

• Reservation-based admission to one or both theme parks select days of the year
• Hold up to 6 theme park reservations at a time
• 20% off the purchase of Disney Genie+ service (subject to limited availability) on days when you use your pass for park admission.
• Up to 10% off select merchandise
• Up to 10% off select dining
• Coming Soon – Unlimited Disney PhotoPass digital photo downloads
• 50% off standard theme park parking, excluding blockout dates

Inspire Key (previously Dream Key)

$1,699 (was $1,499)

• Reservation-based admission to one or both theme parks most days of the year
• Hold up to 6 theme park reservations at a time
• 20% off the purchase of Disney Genie+ service (subject to limited availability) on days when you use your pass for park admission.
• Coming Soon – Unlimited Disney PhotoPass digital photo downloads***
• Up to 20% off select merchandiseϯ
• Up to 15% off select diningϯ
• Standard theme park parking included

As for specific blockout dates, you can click here to see calendars. If you’re not into clicking on things then (maybe the internet isn’t for you?) here’s a brief layout:

• The Inspire Key has no blockout dates aside from December 21-January 1.
• The Believe Key follows suit but with a few more holiday weekends blocked off as well as a few random Saturdays.
• The Enchant Key sees a good amount of weekends blocked out, probably half of them, including most holidays. It also sees weeks blocked out around Christmas and Spring Break. From early June to mid-August is all blocked out.
• Finally, the Imagine Key is largely blocked out on weekends, holidays and summers.

What I recommend largely depends on where you live and how flexible your work or schooling is. Being local, the Enchant Key has been the right choice for us. We can come and go from the park at will. Being blocked out for the summer wasn’t ideal but even after buying a 2 day ticket when some friends came to town left it significantly cheaper than the next step up.

For those out of state, the Believe and Inspire Keys might be more appealing. They don’t have as many blockout dates to plan your trips to Anaheim around. Is it worth for spending an extra $500+ to have that flexibility? I’m not sure.

As for the price hikes, I can’t say I’m surprised. I don’t see the higher ups in Disney really valuing the most loyal theme parkgoers at the moment, considering a few of the recent comments coming out of the earnings call. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Enchant Key option only going up by $50.

That said, seeing the highest tiered key go up by $200 while adding blockout dates is a tough pill to swallow. $1,699 for a pass is almost 10 times cheaper than any other theme park entity’s annual pass in Southern California. Yes, Disneyland is a superior product to all of those and there’s not much debating that but the price is absurd.

With Disneyland Resort still not running at full capacity due to staffing issues, capping annual passholder attendance makes sense. I do hope they do away with the reservation system in the future but I doubt that will happen, at least for a while. I also wish they change the name of Magic Key but that’s just getting whiney 😉

Overall, I’m excited to get news of Magic Key renewals! The price hikes are a way of life at this point and, while that doesn’t make them right or make me feel valued as a consumer, they are predictable.

If you have questions about Magic Key renewals or anything else Disney Parks related, leave us a comment below! Planning a trip to Disneyland? Check out our planning guide to help you out along the way. If you enjoy what you’re reading here on Wandering in Disney please subscribe to the blog and like our Facebook page. You can find both of those on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!