How to Make the Most of Disneyland Magic Key Annual Passes

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Learn how to make the most of Disneyland Magic Key annual passes with these hacks! Family trips to Disney are even better with these travel tips.

How to take awesome Disneyland family photos
Best Secret Disneyland Tips and Hacks
How to take awesome Disneyland family photos

I could talk about Disneyland forever, y’all. You know my history with the parks — I worked there as a dancer in college, and ever since have had Annual Passports on and off over the many years.

This year we had Annual Passes for our whole family, and I have to say it was the most fun I’ve had there yet.

The kids are at the perfect age and we’ve really figured out how to make the most of Disneyland Magic Key Annual Passes. So I wanted to pass on those tricks!

And if you’re Disney-bound any time soon, you’re definitely going to want to look at our other posts with all of the secrets and hacks I learned when I was a parades cast member at Disneyland:

But if you really want to get the good info, you don’t want to miss my free Disneyland Resort Guide, below! It’s filled with some of my very best insider tips to help you plan your most magical trip ever. Sign up below.

How to Make the Most of Disneyland Annual Passes

Before You Buy a Disneyland Magic Key, Make Sure it Makes Sense

Some of what goes into buying a Disneyland Magic Key Annual Passport is just plain math. In other words, you have to be sure that you’ll come to the parks enough times to break even on the cost.

Aside from that, we always make sure to factor in the associated costs that come along with it — hotels if you’re from out of town, food, and so on.

Disneyland Magic Key holders or Annual Passholders (also called APs) also get a few discounts on food and merchandise, so you can factor that in to your math.

Note the Blackout Days and the Reservation limits

If you’re purchasing a Magic Key, do your math first and make sure that you are able to do on the days when they’re not blacked out!

The various levels of Disneyland Magic keys have different blackout days, from almost all weekends and holidays (including summer) to none at all.

Also! Note that the more expensive the Magic Key, the more reservations you can hold at once.

So if you like to reserve your days in the parks in a large batch you might want to consider a higher level key.

Follow Exclusive Disneyland Annual Passholder Social Feeds

After you purchase, I highly recommend joining the Disneyland Magic Key group on Facebook.

It’s a great source of information to keep track of all of the special events and perks that they offer to the Magic Key or AP community.

Best Secret Disneyland Tips and Hacks

Take Advantage of the Perks

And speaking of those perks, use them!

There are actually a ton of events and fun freebies or discounts that pop up for Magic Key (or what used to be known as Annual Passholders) holders, but sometimes they’re not very widely publicized everywhere.

So when the opportunity arises, go for it.

There are everything from special movie screenings, to free pins or other merch, to early or discounted registration for events like the Halloween party or runDisney, to discounted events in Downtown Disney.

There’s also an AP Corner where you can find merch that’s exclusive to Annual Passholders.

Again, I can’t say enough how much the Facebook group can keep you updated to really make the most of Disneyland Magic Keys!

Use the Disneyland App

This is my top recommendation for all Disneyland visitors, but it’s even better for Magic Key holders. You can sync your pass to the app, and it helps keep track of everything tied to your ticketing.

You can actually use it (with photo id) to get into the park if your pass is linked, so you don’t have to carry your pass with you.

Certain tiers of Magic Keys actually come with MaxPass, which is a huge help — you can download all of the PhotoPass pictures that you take in the park, and reserve FastPass tickets through the app without having to run across the park to get physical FastPasses.

On top of all that, the app shows current wait times for rides and has guides to all of the dining and entertainment in the park. And my favorite feature is the Mobile Food Ordering!

You can order your food on the app and it’ll be ready when you get to your restaurant of choice.

Sometimes they even have Magic Key perk (like a button or something similar) if you use the Mobile Ordering.

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Always Ask for the Discount

I mean, I think that’s probably a lesson for just about anything, right? 😉 But seriously! Magic Keyholders get discounts at a ton of restaurants, lots of merchandise, and even guided tours.

Some special events have discounts as well (like the Oogie Boogie Bash). So be sure to check before you make a purchase whether there’s an AP discount!

Go For Half Days

This one mostly applies to SoCal residents, but it’s a great way to maximize a Disneyland Magic Key! When you think of heading to the parks, usually you operate under the assumption that you’ll need a full day to do it.

But if you’re a Keyholder, you can go for just a half day or a few hours and you really start to maximize the usage of the AP.

We don’t live in SoCal any more, but we almost always tack on a half day in the parks at the end of our trip to get the most out of it.

Then, once the kids are tired out and it’s midday, we hop in the car for the 5 hour drive home.

Will We Renew Our Disneyland magic Keys?

We’re coming up to the end of our Annual Passport year, so we’re currently deciding whether to renew!

With Henry heading into TK, our travel schedule will probably be somewhat diminished so we’re weighing the pros and cons.

But if we do renew, we’ll definitely be using all of these tricks to make the most of our Disneyland Magic Keys!

What other questions do you have about the Magic Key program? Leave a comment and let me know! xoxo

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