Disneyland Brings Back its Shows…but NOT Annual Passes
This past week, diehard fans of the Happiest Place on Earth somehow received the best possible news along with the worst.
I’m afraid you must take the good with the bad in today’s update.
Nighttime Presentations Are Back!
A few weeks ago, Disneyland officials announced the impending return of three nighttime presentations.
One of them, Fantasmic!, wouldn’t arrive until Memorial Day Weekend. The others were set to return this past weekend, which they did!
Yes, Disneyland Forever is once again entertaining guests. Here’s a video of the 2022 version:
As a reminder, Imagineers created this show to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Disneyland.
Guests liked Disneyland Forever so much that this fireworks show returned briefly in 2019. As near as I can tell, Disney hasn’t changed anything about it for 2022.
The same statement doesn’t apply to the other returning nighttime presentation.
Yes, the Main Street Electrical Parade has made its triumphant return at Disneyland, its original home.
In 1972, the managers of Disney’s first theme park expressed jealousy over the Electrical Water Pageant and wanted an illumination show of their own.
The rest is theme park history, as the Main Street Electrical Parade has entertained guests on both coasts for 50 years now.
Obviously, the show hasn’t operated that whole time, but it will celebrate its 50th birthday on June 17th.
Park officials didn’t rely on history this time, though. The 2022 version of the parade includes an updated, more inclusive final float. It’s still To Honor America, just not the one you remember.
Here’s a video of the modernized Main Street Electrical Parade:
As you can see, it’s still the same Main Street Electrical Parade that has given you so many warm memories over the years.
The difference is that the final float now includes characters from Encanto, Coco, and Moana. Then, the parade ends with a stunning tribute to It’s a Small World. Well done, Disney!
The Annual Pass Debacle Continues
Please remember how happy you are about the Main Street Electrical Parade as I inform you about the Magic Key program.
You may recall that Disney, in its infinite wisdom, created a new kind of annual pass at Disneyland last year.
This new system, the Magic Key, worked just like the old annual passes, only with fewer benefits.
Also, Disneyland maintained the Park Pass requirement even for annual passholders.
So, that caused some issues with the language of the program, which suggested that annual passholders wouldn’t experience any blockout dates.
Disney’s legal team apparently decided there was some legal exposure, as they suddenly listed the top two tiers of Magic Key as “sold out.”
Here was the company’s explanation:
“Due to the popularity of the new Magic Key program and in order to deliver a great guest experience for all guests, the Believe Key is sold out at this time. The Enchant Key and Imagine Key – the other Magic Key types – remain on sale at this time.”
As a reminder, this happened just before Thanksgiving. Those two tiers, the Believe Key and Dream Key, remain sold out to this day.
Now, Disneyland has informed some understandably perplexed guests that they will not be able to renew their annual passes.
So, those annual pass sellouts apply to future purchases as well. Disney is obviously thinning the herd here by preventing guests from renewing.
You shouldn’t be surprised if Disneyland allows all its current Dream Key and Believe Key annual passes to expire.
Afterward, the company will probably bring back those tiers with more carefully worded language about what annual passholders should expect.
As a reminder, there’s a class action lawsuit regarding the Magic Key debacle.
I believe that much of what we’re witnessing here stems from that legal matter.
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