Disneyland considered eliminating its annual pass program in a move former Disney CEO Bob Chapek knew would have been unpopular with the Anaheim theme park’s most loyal customers.
“We understood we would get blasted if I attempted to eliminate annual passes altogether, so I moved to shift the math,” Chapek writes in his new book “Behind the Castle Walls.”
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Shifting the math meant focusing more on free-spending vacation travelers who stayed on property in Disney hotels and less on budget-conscious annual passholders who dropped in for just a few hours after work or school.
“The passholder experience was a fantastic deal for the passholder, but a terrible one for Disney and its more vacation-oriented guests,” Chapek wrote.
Chapek became Disney parks chairman in 2015 before being named CEO of the company in February 2020.
A month later, the COVID-19 pandemic closed Disneyland and Disney California Adventure for more than a year.
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While the parks were still closed, Disneyland canceled its decades-old annual pass program in January 2021.
“The pressure from the passholder not to change the status quo was enormous,” Chapek wrote in his book.
Disneyland reopened in April 2021 with limited capacity and pandemic restrictions.
The new Magic Key program was introduced in August 2021 as a replacement to Disneyland’s annual pass program with higher prices, more restrictions and limited access.
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Disneyland’s 1.1 million passholders blamed Chapek for the changes to the program, which led to widespread outrage and public backlash.
“What seemed like a straightforward solution to me provoked predictable reactions ranging from unease to outrage among passholders,” Chapek wrote. “In particular, the passholders felt the changes did not fit their personal interests and deemed them unfair.”
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A class-action lawsuit filed in November 2021 alleged Disneyland misled and deceived Magic Keyholders by artificially limiting capacity and restricting reservations despite the promise of “no blockout dates.” The $9.5 million class action lawsuit was settled in 2024.
(Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Chapek cemented his role as a Disney villain in the eyes of Disneyland passholders when he called them “unfavorable” guests during a quarterly earnings call in August 2022.
“The fact remains that some customers generated more revenue than others,” Chapek wrote in his book. “Not that I didn’t appreciate the passion and enthusiasm the passholders had for Disney.”
Chapek was fired in November 2022 and replaced by former Disney CEO Bob Iger.