Disneyland Resuming Magic Key Sales in January 2024!
Disney has announced the resumption of Magic Key Annual Passes for Disneyland and California Adventure in January 2024! This post covers pricing, dates, details, past precedent, and everything else you might want to know.
As a quick recap, Disneyland Resort has resumed sales of Magic Keys several times in the last year–but it’s usually just ‘select’ tiers of Annual Passes. Around this time last year, sales briefly resumed without notice, and there was instantly a flood of demand and a virtual queue to access the sales page with a wait time measured in hours.
A few months later, Disneyland again resumed Magic Key sales. Within 5 days, AP sales had once again been paused on the Believe, Enchant and Imagine Keys. Even though those tiers sold out, demand was noticeably lower with the virtual queue not being nearly as bad. Most significantly, sales of the Inspire Key weren’t paused until last September–the longest duration of availability for any Magic Key since APs returned. Since then, all tiers of Magic Keys have been sold out and “available for renewal only.”
Despite being sold out, this didn’t stop Disneyland from increasing prices of Annual Passes during the recent round of that at the start of the new fiscal year. Here’s a breakdown of current 2024 prices vs. 2023 costs:
- Inspire Magic Key: $1649 (was $1599)
- Believe Magic Key: $1249 (was $1099)
- Enchant Magic Key: $849 (was $699)
- Imagine Magic Key: $499 (was $449)
Those will be the prices for each tier of the Magic Key when Disneyland Annual Pass sales once again resume on January 10, 2024!
The Magic Key virtual queue waiting room is NOW OPEN. You can join here: disneyland.disney.go.com/passes
All 4 Magic Key Annual Pass types will be available for purchase starting on January 10, 2024. As always, they are subject to selling out and there’s likely to be a lengthy virtual queue when AP sales resume.
For everything else you need to know about Disneyland’s Annual Passholder program before you purchase, see our comprehensive Guide to Disneyland Magic Key Annual Pass: 2024 Prices, Perks, Blockout Dates & Discounts.
For reference, we predicted in When Will Disneyland Resume Magic Key Annual Pass Sales? that sales would restart on January 15, 2024. So we were off by 5 days. But we also thought that Disneyland would want to wait until after the Disneyland Half Marathon, rather than resuming right after Los Angeles and Orange County schools go back into session from winter break.
Restarting Magic Key sales on January 10, 2024 means one of two things: that Disneyland is eager to sell more Magic Keys and doesn’t really care about the runDisney race and how it’ll impact crowds, or that internal forecasts aren’t really calling for the Disneyland Half Marathon to move the needle all that much. It could be a mix of both.
Regardless, we’re not the least bit surprised to see Magic Key sales resume in early 2024. Due to California’s slower reopening than Florida, pent-up demand at Disneyland has lagged Walt Disney World. But if the latter is any indication, Disneyland is likewise going to hit a wall in early 2024, and will need to pull its own “levers” to entice back locals and tourists. Resuming Magic Key sales and offering more AP appreciation is probably one way of achieving that.
To that point about pent-up demand, we also previously said there’s a “good chance” that the next time Magic Key sales resumed would be the last time. Stated differently, that Annual Passes won’t sell out in January 2024.
For reference here, Walt Disney World (finally) resumed Annual Passes last spring right as pent-up demand was dying down. Despite a warning that APs would sell out the day of release, that still has not happened. There was a multi-hour virtual queue to purchase and the system crashed once or twice on day one, but Annual Passes have been available ever since. So that’s kind of the basis for our thinking when it comes to AP sales in a post-pent-up demand environment.
With that said, we did crouch our prediction with the words “good chance.” Disneyland is very different from Walt Disney World, with a more massive local fanbase and huge population centers (with lots of disposable income) in LA and OC (and beyond). So I wouldn’t necessarily put money on Magic Keys staying available perpetually just because it happened in Florida. I am pretty confident that they’ll be perpetually available by the end of this year, but perhaps not this go-round. After all, several tiers of Magic Keys have not been available for purchase since last spring. That’s a long time!
Given the lengthy virtual queue and how quickly sales were paused before, you should absolutely join the virtual queue ASAP once it goes live. All of the predictions and speculation above are fun in theory, but that’s what I’d actually do if I didn’t already have a Magic Key.
In reality, how long Magic Key sales will continue is anyone’s guess. The downside of trying to buy on January 10, 2024 is that you might be in a virtual queue for 8-10 hours versus ~15 minutes if you instead wait until the following morning at 6 am. The downside of waiting until then is that sales may have already concluded.
The rational side of me says that there’s no way Magic Keys will sell out on January 10, 2024 and that it would be so much simpler and less stressful to simply purchase in the wee hours of January 11. That would mean way less friction and wasted time, taking a matter of minutes rather than hours.
But then there’s the emotional side of me who isn’t that much of a gambler. That side would win out, and I’d find myself in a 4+ hour virtual queue along with every other Disney fan not willing to take the risk.
As for theories as to why Magic Key sales keep being paused for so long, one is that the company is embracing the “Disney Vault” strategy of creating demand through scarcity, or rather, perceived scarcity. It’s possible that Disneyland has survey data showing a high dissatisfaction rating among Magic Key purchasers and low intent to renew.
That wouldn’t be the least bit surprising, especially with the difficulty some APs have reported in securing reservations. However, if these same fans believe they might not be able to simply purchase passes at their leisure down the road, they might err on the side of caution and renew when their time comes.
In our view, the biggest factor is most likely demand. Disneyland theme park reservations have been hard to book for months, with many dates–even in what should be the off-season filling up far in advance. Availability is definitely getting better, but part of that is probably due to the fact that the most popular Magic Keys have only been sold intermittently for the last year.
It’s also not as if Disneyland is setting aside availability for buyers of regular tickets and the parks are going mostly empty despite the lack of AP reservations. To the contrary, our consistent experience at Disneyland for the last year has been higher than normal ‘feels like’ crowds and congestion.
Diminished reservation availability has been exacerbated by the fact that Disneyland still is operating below 100% capacity. It’s not as bad as it was 2 years ago, but some shows are still dark, not all atmospheric entertainment is back, and not every venue in the park (dining, in particular) is fully efficient due to staffing shortages.
This is mostly “invisible” to guests and may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things–but it’s actually reducing attendance limits by a meaningful amount. Suffice to say, the self-imposed limitations on attendance impact Magic Key sales, as Disneyland would (understandably) rather prioritize regular ticket buyers who spend more per visit.
Ultimately, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with Magic Key pass purchases going forward. Will there be another virtual queue lasting well into the evening ? Or, have many locals gotten their Disney “fix” (or were most able to purchase APs when they were on sale last year)? Will the higher prices result in a significant number of people being priced out, or is there an insatiable desire for all things Disney among locals? Will former Magic Key Passholders take a wait and see approach, or will the ‘Disney Vault’ perceived scarcity strategy spike sales even further?
As we’ve said in countless posts, it’s still our belief that things aren’t too far from normalizing. (You might call it wishful–or delusional–thinking!) At some point, pent-up demand fizzles out, inflation on necessities influences discretionary spending, and the stimulus money plus what people saved during the pandemic is going to be depleted. Perhaps Disney is anticipating–or already seeing–the same, and that explains the return of Magic Keys.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!
Your Thoughts
What do you think about the Magic Key sales resuming? Will you buying an Annual Pass or not? If so, which one? If not, why not? Thoughts on the price increases, blockout dates, or anything else? Have you had difficulty making Disneyland park reservations? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Today was unbelievably disheartening. I tried getting in the queue at 8:45 am but received error messages until finally getting into the virtual line at 9:38 am. EIGHT hours later the progress bar was down to ONE minute remaining before my time to purchase when the notice popped up that Inspire, Believe, and Enchant were sold out!!! This was my first time ever trying to buy a Magic Key even though I live and breathe Disneyland. I guess I’ll be buying that Summer 3 day ticket again this year unless they open up Key sales again before June. Just an incredibly frustrating experience. Do better Disney!
I’d expect sales to open up again in mid-April.
The way they just stopped all sales at the exact same time…right as the workday ended…seems fairly intentional. Like that was the plan all along, and it wasn’t that all 3 of those APs sold out at the *exact* same time. That would be quite the coincidence!
I wonder if you can still apply your ticket to the pass. We just went on 1/7/24.
Thank you for your info. Is it possible to purchase the passes at the park tomorrow?
Tom, thank you for your articles, they have saved me a lot of time and money over the past few years. I’m excited to try to get a Magic Key on the 10th, do you have any tips or tricks? Anything that would help to get a leg up on getting into the virtual queue ASAP. I have never attempted to buy an AP, or attend an after hours party, so these virtual queues are new to me. Like a previous commenter, I will be at work and will only have my phone for access. Any information on what time to start refreshing to attempt would be appreciated. Thanks again.
Do you think you can upgrade partially or fully unused SoCal ticket deal tickets to an AP?
They didn’t allow the So Cal ticket conversion last go around but I would check. You can message them right through your app.
Tom, Thank you for all you do to give us Disney fans quality information! Do you have a Get Away Today Promo Code for 2024 for Disneyland Park Ticket purchases? Thank you!
I’ll be at work when the passes go on sale, so I’ll be limited to being in the queue on my phone rather than my work computer (darn ethics rules!). Do you know whether I’ll be kicked out of the queue if my phone screen goes dark? I won’t be able to spend hours staring at my phone.
“Do you know whether I’ll be kicked out of the queue if my phone screen goes dark?”
In the past, this has never been a problem. I can’t imagine Disney changing the virtual queue provider they use (it was just used for Free Dining this week at WDW), so you should be fine!
These prices are just too much. I was thinking about it last year and figured I need to go three times to pay for the pass. With the “maybe issues” about booking a reservation with AP passes, I will just go when I want and use Get Away Today. I’m sure Disney will sell out because there are so many people around Disneyland that can easily go many times a year. I just wonder what the ceiling is for these AP prices. At what point will people say, “Hey, no way I am spending thousands to go Disneyland”.
They may have already; Inspire Magic Key’s price has only increased by 3%. I’d have assumed that anyone willing to pay to go to Disneyland during the busiest and most expensive times of the year would be more willing to spend more, but Disney feels otherwise.
I dunno, we went to Disneyland for first time this past August. Unfortunately it was during a heat wave so we didn’t get as much park time as we would of liked but did get a lot of Grand Californian time so lose/win? Lol
My wife wants to go back this June but IM scared it will be too crowded.. maybe I convince her with early august
I have a 5-day ticket expiring on Jan 12th and I’ve been anxiously awaiting being able to upgrade it to a Magic Key. Huzzah! Guessing I need to do that over the phone, so it’ll be a long day no matter what.
In recent times, the only way to upgrade unused tickets to an annual pass (when available) were in person. Not sure what the rule will be this go around, but just a heads up.
Thanks, Tink! I have done this kind of upgrade over the phone since reopening, but I’ll confirm ahead of time that it can be done so I don’t waste my time!
Tink for the win. It’s correct that wholly unused tickets (expired or not) cannot be upgraded via the app or phone; must go to a booth. Huge drag! Now I have to decide if I want to buy outright or not… Darn this scarcity creating demand! It’s diabolical.