Disneyland halts sales of all new Magic Key annual passes – Orange County Register

The on-again and off-again sale of Disneyland annual passes is once again on hold following a $9.5 million settlement in a class action lawsuit over “deceptive” Magic Key blockout dates.

Disneyland has paused new sales of the top-priced Inspire Key annual pass — meaning none of the four Magic Key tiers is currently available for purchase.

SEE ALSO: How to get your Disneyland Magic Key class action settlement

The $1,599 Inspire Key, $1,099 Believe Key, $699 Enchant Key and $449 Imagine Key are now available for renewal only during the month before expiration, according to the Disneyland website.

Newspaper Ads Canyon Crest CA

The pause in sales of new Disneyland annual passes coincides with the Anaheim theme park’s settlement of a Magic Key class action lawsuit.

Disney has agreed to settle a federal lawsuit filed in California alleging that annual passholders who purchased the $1,399 Dream Key in 2021 were unable to make theme park reservations at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure despite the promise of “no blockout dates.”

SEE ALSO: Disneyland replaces ‘Fantasmic’ with new nighttime projection show

Disneyland killed its original decades-old annual pass program during the COVID-19 pandemic and unveiled the new Magic Key replacement in August 2021. Within a few months, the Magic Key tiers began selling out. The class action lawsuit was filed in November 2021.

Disneyland resumed Magic Key sales in August 2022 with the $1,599 Inspire Key effectively replacing the $1,399 Dream Key. The higher price came with blockout dates during the two weeks at Christmas and New Year’s.

The timing of the earlier sales meant many of the Disneyland annual passes needed to be renewed this August — with tiers selling out over the past month or so. The Inspire Key became the fourth and final Magic Key tier to finally sell out this year.

SEE ALSO: Disneyland to reopen Adventureland Treehouse this fall after 2-year refurbishment

The post-lawsuit version of the Magic Key annual pass program comes with new terms and conditions to explicitly spell out theme park capacity restrictions.

“Disney allocates daily park reservations among passes and daily theme park tickets and therefore makes available to those passholders eligible to make reservations for a particular day only a portion of the total park reservation capacity,” according to the Magic Key terms and conditions. “A pass therefore does not guarantee park entry, even on dates when a pass is not blocked out and even when a theme park is not at capacity.”

SEE ALSO: Disneyland’s subtle and understated Tiana’s Palace makeover puts the spotlight on the food

The terms and conditions make clear that Disneyland determines the number of reservations available to passholders.

“On any given date, park reservations may still be available for theme park tickets even though park reservations allocated to the passes are fully reserved,” according to the Magic Key terms and conditions. “Since Magic Key park reservations are available on a first-come, first-serve basis, it may also be difficult or not possible at times for passholders to get park reservations for certain dates.”

To prevent similar litigation, a clause in the Magic Key contract requires keyholders to waive the right to file a class-action lawsuit.