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On Magic Key Renewal Day, Disney Fans Don’t Feel Appreciated by the Disney Company and Chapek


Today is the day that current Magic Key holders were able to renew their Annual Passes. You would think that it would make it a joyous occasion… but unfortunately, if you look at the Twittersphere, you’ll see that there’s more anger directed towards Disney than you’d expect.

While I’m super excited that my husband and I were able to renew our Magic Key passes to continue visiting Disneyland throughout there year, the common theme among APs are that Disney and its CEO Bob “Paycheck” Chapek simply no longer appreciate the Annual Passholders.

"Disney is making this whole Magic Key renewal process a literal nightmare. I know they’re begrudgingly letting us renew our passes but damn this is a bit much. Just say you hate passholders already Disney." @KimistryFK

"I’m only going to renew my Magic Key because I know that Chapek doesn’t want me to." @pacifickay

"It’s @disneyland magic key renewal day & I just wanna say I hate it here. I want Bob Chapek fired" @emmetran7

"Not stressing over the Magic Key renewal news today because I realized in 2019 that I was part of the…" @ItsCupcakex

The Motley Fool, a site dedicate to investors and the Stock Market, took a look at the response from Disney’s base:

“Appreciation is a theme that is front and center these days. In a CNBC interview last week, CEO Bob Chapek irked some Disneyland regulars while taking a victory lap over his company's blowout earnings. He referred to an "unfavorable" attendance mix at Disneyland, as revenue per guest wasn't as robust as it was a year ago when there were no annual pass holders as the California parks reopened during the fiscal third quarter. He's not wrong in terms of per-capita revenue, but it was a poor choice of words.”


The thing that Mr Chapek is doing is looking at how much APs are spending each visit, and he’s realizing that we don’t spend as much money as those coming with single-day tickets. Why is that? Often times single ticket attendees are visiting from out-of-town and are buying all of their meals and souvenirs, while APs are the locals, so they don’t need to spend as much.


However, the other factor might be the skyrocketing prices to purchase the APs. When I got my first annual pass, it was $350 for the largest one without blockout dates. Now it’s $1600… AND it has blockout dates.


With that significant jump in pricing, it leaves the locals with less expendable money to spend on souvenirs and food. This is why it’s important to see each guest as more than just a dollar sign, understanding that the more value you bring, the more money we’ll spend.


Meanwhile, while the Disney fans that are buying the Magic Keys aren’t the happiest, Disney and Bob Chapek are like:


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