The Disneyland Resort in Anaheim California has finally announced it’s replacement for the Annual Pass Program, and it’s called Magic Key. Starting August 25th, guests can purchase any type of Magic Key Pass.

According to the Disney Parks Blog:

“We are pleased to introduce the Magic Key program, a new, guest-centric offering that will deliver choice, flexibility and value for park admission, special access to unique experiences, valuable saving opportunities and so much more. There will be four options of Magic Key passes, to provide our guests and their families with choices that fit various needs and lifestyle preferences for how they wish to visit the Disneyland Resort.”

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At first glance, this seems like a pretty great step up in terms of options and price. Also, only allowing CA residence the ability to have Monthly Payments is great. $19 a month (or $399 total) to get the lowest tier is pretty great. But, did you get a chance to peek at the block out dates. Below are the Block Out Dates for all four passes.

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In our opinion, the Imagine Key is absolutely worthless. Unless you can ONLY go to the parks on weekdays, then this would be your choice. With about only 167 days available and no weekends, the Imagine Key seems to be a major step down from the previous lowest tier pass at Disneyland. Additionally, you can only hold 2 days of reservations at a time. This also doesn’t take into account how many reservations will be allowed per day. The next tier up would be the Enchant Key with about 252 days open, which is a significant difference. But it does have a good jump in price from $399 to $649 (or $40 per month). This also gets you the ability to have 4 Theme Park Reservations at a time. The next tier up is the Believe Key! This pass is $949 (or $65 a month), it has 317 days available out of the year, allows 6 Theme Park Reservations and gets you a 50% discount on parking. And of course the highest tier pass, The Dream Key, has ZERO block out dates at a price of $1,399 (or $102 per month). Also, the Dream Key is the only option that comes with parking. Each respective Key has discounts around the park from 10%-20% off select merchandise and dining.

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So clearly, there are some major differences between the previous AP Program and the new Magic Key Program at Disneyland. The Disney Parks Blog also mentioned that everything will be accessible through the Disneyland app and have made it easy to access the calendars to make reservations.

Lastly, Disney is celebrating the debut of these passes with some extra perks for the first people who purchase Magic Key Passes.

“For a limited time, we will celebrate the charter members that become Magic Key holders within the first 66 days (as we celebrate 66 years of Disneyland Resort). These guests will receive a special welcome package that will include unique items such as a premium branded pin, celebratory button, magnet, and more! Plus, Magic Key holders who enter Disneyland park will also be celebrated with access to a limited-time experience at Starcade in Tomorrowland (which begins on Sept. 1), where they can enjoy charging stations, a special photo opportunity, and other fun surprises.”

Honestly, I’m excited for everyone to be able to enjoy the parks at all times of the year again. After such a hard year (and by no means are we out of the woods yet), it nice to see these options come back for so many fans to enjoy. Now, whether we decide to opt into this new program is yet to be seen. We might always just snag up the SoCal ticket options while they continue that program. But for those of you who are pumped and ready to go back to Disneyland for date nights and random trips, August 25th cannot come fast enough.

Stay tuned to The Disney Park Blog for more information about this exciting new piece of news for the parks.