Know Before You Go (Online): Our Helpful Hints For Purchasing Your Disneyland Resort Magic Key on Jan. 10th

The time has come – Disneyland Resort is once again selling the highly-coveted Magic Keys, which provide year-round admission to both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. They go on sale once again, starting tomorrow, January 10th, 2024 on the official Disneyland Website. Since their launch, Magic Keys have been a hot ticket item, and have been known to sell out within hours of going on sale.

UPDATE: As Magic Key sales resume again today (March 5th, 2024), here are more details on the new Notify Me option.

Previously (January 2024):

The Magic Key program provides reservation-based admission to one or both Disneyland Resort theme parks and  feature a variety of admission opportunities, pricing options, experiences, and savings on food, beverages and merchandise. For review, there are different tiers of Magic Keys that will be for sale, and all will be available when they go on sale tomorrow, January 10th, no earlier than 9:00 AM, Pacific Time.

Getting In

Obviously, you’re going to want to sign in to your Disney account BEFORE visiting the Magic Key sales page. We’re well versed in Disney systems like this, and it’s highly suggested that if you were previously signed in to your Disney account, it may help to sign out and then sign in again before attempting to purchase.

You can enter the virtual waiting room to purchase on Wednesday, January 10, 2024, No Earlier than 8:45 AM Pacific Time

Enter the waiting room to purchase a Magic Key pass via the “Purchase Magic Key Passes” link on the Magic Key page. When you arrive in the waiting room for the sale, no earlier than 8:45 AM Pacific Time, you will be automatically added to the queue. Sales will begin no earlier than 9:00 AM Pacific Time.

With the high demand for these passes, the quantity of passes and pass types available for upgrade or purchase may be limited or unavailable from time to time or at any given time, and updates to pass availability are typically displayed on the waiting room page. As with other high-demand events, entry to the waiting room does not guarantee the opportunity to purchase a pass.

We also highly advise not running multiple browser tabs or manually refreshing the page – this may remove you from the waiting room. If you are removed, you will have to re-enter the queue at the back of the line.

Getting Your Magic Key

We highly recommend that before you even get into the virtual waiting room to buy your Magic Key, know what tier of pass you want:

  • Imagine Key $499:
    • ONLY AVAILABLE for Southern California Residents living in zip codes 90000 to 93599 (be sure your address is correct in your Disney account or this pass will not show up as an option for you).
    • Reservation based admission to one or both parks of the Disneyland Resort
    • Can hold TWO park reservations at a time
    • 20% off Disney Genie + Service on days using your pass for admission
    • 10% off select Merchandise
    • 10% off select Dining
    • 25% off standard theme park parking in Toy Story Parking Lot (excluding blockout dates)
    • Blocked out most weekends, summer months, and holidays, you can check the full calendar here
  • Enchant Key $849:
    • Reservation based admission to one or both parks of the Disneyland Resort
    • Can hold FOUR park reservations at a time
    • 20% off Disney Genie + Service on days using your pass for admission
    • 10% off select Merchandise
    • 10% off select Dining
    • 25% off standard theme park parking in Toy Story Parking Lot (excluding blockout dates)
    • Blocked out most weekends, large portions of Summer months, and holiday peak periods. You can check the full calendar here.
  • Believe Key $1249:
    • Reservation based admission to one or both parks of the Disneyland Resort
    • Can hold SIX park reservations at a time
    • 20% off Disney Genie + Service on days using your pass for admission
    • 10% off select Merchandise
    • 10% off select Dining
    • 50% off standard theme park parking in Toy Story Parking Lot, Mickey & Friends Parking Structure, and Pixar Pals parking structure (excluding blockout dates)
    • Blocked on occasional weekends and peak holiday periods. You can check the full calendar here.
  • Inspire Key $1649:
    • Reservation based admission to one or both parks of the Disneyland Resort
    • Can hold SIX park reservations at a time
    • 20% off Disney Genie + Service on days using your pass for admission
    • Unlimited PhotoPass digital photo downloads
    • 20% off select Merchandise
    • 15% off select Dining
    • Standard theme park parking included at Toy Story Parking Lot, Mickey & Friends Parking Structure, and Pixar Pals parking structure (excluding blockout dates)
    • Blocked during Christmas/New Year’s Eve Holiday period. You can check the full calendar here.

This is just a quick idea of the differences of each of the Magic Keys, for more detailed information, be sure to check out the official Magic Key page at the Disneyland Website.

Paying For Your Magic Key / CA Resident Monthly Payments

California Residents have the added flexibility of being able to purchase their Magic Keys and make monthly payments. However, if you are a California Resident and would like to use this option, you must make sure that your Disney account (which you need in order to purchase and use a Magic Key pass) has a California address on file BEFORE accessing. From there, any available monthly payment options will automatically be visible for Magic Key passes. Please note: The credit card being used for monthly payments must also have a California billing address.

If paying in full for a new Magic Key, you’ll also have the option to use a Disney Gift Card as a method of payment online for a new pass. It should also be noted that only ONE gift card can be used per transaction. So, if you have multiple gift cards, be sure to combine them ahead of purchasing a Magic Key. You can do that at the official Disney Gift Card website. Disney Gift Cards can not be used as payment for Magic Key renewals, or monthly payments.

One Person Per Party

Getting a Magic Key for more than yourself? Make sure only one person in your party is logging in to make the purchase. Magic Keys are non-refundable and non-transferrable. If more than one person in your group snags them for everyone, then you may have more Magic Keys than you need with no options to get your sizable amount of money back. The person doing the purchasing should have all the information they need on hand and at the ready. Each Magic Key pass must be assigned to someone at the time of purchase (max. 10 passes) and may not be reassigned after purchase. What info will you need?

  • First and last name
  • Date of birth
  • Address
  • Phone number (Guests 18 years of age and older)
  • Email (Guests 18 years of age and older)

Upgrading One-Day or Multi-Day Tickets

Going to Disneyland Resort and thinking, “gosh, I’d like to make this a regular thing?” Well, If you have a valid and eligible Disneyland Resort theme park ticket and decide you’d like a Magic Key pass to continue enjoying the parks again and again throughout the year, you can apply the price paid for your ticket towards the purchase price of an available Magic Key pass (subject to restrictions).

Eligible Disneyland Resort theme park tickets may be upgraded by following these simple steps via the Disneyland app:

  • Visit the Tickets and Passes screen and link your ticket to your Disney account.
  • One-day tickets – upgrade by midnight on the day of your visit to the Disneyland Resort.
  • Multi-day tickets – upgrade by midnight on or before the last valid day of your ticket.

Upgrading A Current Magic Key

Passes may be upgraded at the Disneyland Resort ticket booth only, while passes are available for sale. The current Magic Key pass may be upgraded to an available higher pass type for the remainder of its pass year. The difference in purchase price between the 2 passes must be paid in full at the time of upgrade. The expiration date of the Magic Key pass will not change. As this can only be done at the Disneyland Resort ticket booths, you might experience a queue while waiting to upgrade to a higher tier with the new availability.

Good Luck Everybody and happy Disneyland Resort Park Hopping with your new Magic Key! Just remember to make those park reservations after you get your pass on the Disneyland App, as Magic Key admission has a limited allotment and there will likely be quite a few new Magic Key holders eager to get into the Happiest Place on Earth! Need help with those reservations or any other kind of bookings? Be sure to reach out to our friends at Mouse Fan Travel for all your travel needs!

Laughing Place recommends MouseFanTravel.com for all your Disneyland Resort travel planning
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Tony Betti
Originally from California where he studied a dying artform (hand-drawn animation), Tony has spent most of his adult life in the theme parks of Orlando. When he’s not writing for LP, he’s usually watching and studying something animated or arguing about “the good ole’ days” at the parks.