Why I Regret Buying The Disneyland Magic Key Annual Pass - My Opinion & Problems With The New System
My Thoughts on The Disneyland Magic Key
Transcript
0:04
welcome everyone adame
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here
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has a recording of this thursday
0:07
september 23rd 2021
0:11
the water is parlaying over these rocks
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on the first of the two fountains that
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you approach
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walking up to the anaheim
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convention center here in anaheim
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california it is nice it is about 5 pm
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75 degrees
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overcast you can call this overcast a
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slight hue of clouds
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in the air
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you can see the sun is um it's it's
0:40
really not permeating
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too much because it is shielded
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by that cloud formation right there take
0:47
a look at that
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a little walking talk if you will
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that i am inviting you
0:56
to join me
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shall you
1:01
wearing these sunglasses i noticed
1:03
a few people were chiming in
1:05
about these sunglasses have another pair
1:08
that i've been wearing for a while but i
1:10
also have these
1:11
and i recall i thought they were in
1:13
florida they weren't there
1:14
they're here in my socal home spot
1:18
and i saw them i usually have them on a
1:20
little counter
1:21
i have this
1:22
it caught like a skull
1:24
and the glasses are like on
1:27
mr skeleton's noggin and i noticed i
1:30
said oh wow i need to wear those
1:32
my mom gave me these
1:34
last christmas maybe the christmas
1:36
before what are the christmases
1:39
nonetheless a gift for my mom you would
1:41
wear
1:42
sunglasses your mother would give you
1:44
too so
1:46
don't knock them
1:47
i think they're pretty stylish
1:50
pretty nice right
1:52
my hat is a little bit i'm going to talk
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about the
1:55
dream key the magic key the key
2:00
not to the city but the key
2:02
to the magic at disneyland
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here in anaheim walt's original magic
2:07
kingdom oh i have some thoughts
2:10
i will preface this
2:12
by saying i am not one to normally
2:14
complain
2:19
about
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theme parks
2:20
disney i usually keep
2:23
keep everything
2:24
at a kind of a upper level try to keep
2:26
everything positive
2:28
but i think in this case i should tell
2:30
you my thoughts and my
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why the magic key
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which used to be called an annual pass
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they have adjusted a few things
2:42
why it does not work for me and why i am
2:44
having regrets
2:46
on purchasing it why i
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wish upon a star
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as if you know tinkerbell or jiminy
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cricket would say
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should not have gotten it for me
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personally these are my personal
3:00
thoughts on
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the newly revealed annual pass called
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the magic key i got the upper echelon
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tier which was 1
3:10
39
3:12
1400
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i also will add in a little asterisk
3:16
there because i had a five-day ticket
3:19
that i paid just about 380 400 dollars
3:22
for
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so i utilized that without scanning in
3:25
for my first day i had that from months
3:27
before and applied that to the 1400 so
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in reality
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a couple weeks ago when i got the magic
3:34
key i only paid about
3:36
one thousand fifty dollars eleven
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hundred dollars but total
3:40
it added up to the 13.99 which would it
3:43
be if you were thinking about
3:46
going and purchasing that is what you
3:49
a family member a friend
3:51
would be purchasing it take a look at
3:52
the fountain here
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so people just kind of
3:56
relaxing in front of it it feels so
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dang good
4:00
out here
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oh let's walk and talk and just
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just walk around talk about this now
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there are lesser price passes you can
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get like the enhanced no the enchant key
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pass for 6.49 but that has many blackout
4:16
days and you have to pay to park
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or
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for 949
4:22
you can get the believe pass which still
4:25
does have a couple blackout days
4:28
but this might include parking
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you know i don't yeah i think this
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includes parking
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don't quote me on that you can scan
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through it at your own discretion and
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then this one here
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the
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1399
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what i assumed well i use that word
4:47
lightly
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would get me in every single day but you
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see up here it says reservation based
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admission
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reservation based
4:58
that's what you got to look for it
5:00
really does seem appropriate to be
5:01
strolling this way because
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in d20s when d23 happened the last one
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what was that about two years ago or so
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a massive line going down here a cube
5:12
developed
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and myself and many friends
5:16
acquaintances
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kindred spirits if you will we all
5:21
slept on the floor starting at like 2
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a.m well not slept but just kind of
5:24
relax on the concrete of this this room
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all the way down here at the end waiting
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for the parks panel
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i have had a hard time
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with this magic key getting into the
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park now i am basing this
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on
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me having an annual pass which they have
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changed the name of the annual pass in
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florida
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mine has kind of been grandfathered up
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because i already had it
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i've had an annual pass for many years i
5:50
had the coast to coast they got rid of
5:52
the coast to coast
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but because i had that
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switched over to the annual pass in
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florida a while back and then early into
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2021 i was able
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to purchase an annual pass even though
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very few others could not because i was
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to use the term
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grandfathered in
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and i'm going to explain the differences
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between
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florida's
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quote unquote annual pass
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and this one out here which is way more
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complex way more difficult
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way more confusing and a lot more
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difficult to take that key
6:30
and get in see a key
6:32
i think they call it the magic key
6:34
because if i pulled out a key
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and put it in this
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if it's a if
6:40
if they don't want the door open
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it's locked
6:44
where an annual pass grants me access to
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get in no matter what i can pass all
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shall pass
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but a key
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sometimes
6:54
does not open the door also should
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probably preface this also by saying i'm
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pretty grateful to be able to go to any
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disney park i am thankful that i am
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allowed to step foot through the gates
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at any time whether i purchase a ticket
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whether i have some kind of version of
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an ap
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it is not it is not my right
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to go in there i didn't i i do not have
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something
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you know shining down on me saying hey
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you are allowed to be here all the time
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so anytime i am granted access to go to
7:23
some of my favorite places i look at
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that as a blessing
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however it is uh it is quite
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discouraging that's the only word i can
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think of
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to not be able to go when you want to go
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once again from my perspective
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the way my life works is very impulsive
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sometimes i'll do things during the day
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and before in the olden days
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which i know we're not in the olden days
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you could just go whenever you could
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walk up scan the car hey i'm an ap walk
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in
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it's not like that anymore it's totally
8:00
not like that anymore now you have to
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book a reservation either on the west
8:03
coast here or in florida
8:06
on the east coast understood have no
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issues with that
8:10
whatsoever that seems like that makes a
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lot of sense i can understand
8:15
the basis of all that
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the problem is
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you can rarely impulsively go
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to disneyland the west coast
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disney parks
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on a whim on short notice you have to
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plan it out
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a week maybe two weeks
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heck maybe three weeks
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in advance i'll show you what i am
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referring to
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on the app
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when you just kind of look up to see if
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there's any reservations available and
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i'll show as of today after logging in
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with the dream key
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with the magic key no blackout days
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this is the calendar
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as a recording of this thursday
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september 23rd you can see it has that
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little slash through there
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that little little crossed out
9:06
also if i wanted to try to go tomorrow
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no such luck if i want to try to go
9:10
saturday
9:11
sorry if i wanted to go sunday leading
9:14
up nope and if i wanted to go monday
9:16
well let me put a little another little
9:18
asterisk on this
9:19
the reason the 27th for me is kind of x
9:23
and slashed out there because i did
9:25
manage to get a reservation that day
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planning in advance
9:29
on going on the 27th i have a disneyland
9:32
resi
9:33
because
9:35
immediately following that in the day
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the day or two following that i will be
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boarding a plane and going to florida
9:42
for walt disney world's 50th anniversary
9:45
at magic kingdom i have procured a
9:47
reservation there which i which i i had
9:51
to do that a year ago i've had that
9:52
reservation in tow for a year i'm not
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talking about that though but that's why
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the 27th when i log in is not showing
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that might be available or may not
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however if i wanted to go any of these
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other days including tonight if i wanted
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to stroll over there right now
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there is no way in heck
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i am getting into dca or disneyland
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tonight on the 23rd
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only a very small
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i don't call it a miracle but a very
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small chance
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i could get in and i'll tell you how
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that will happen and why it most likely
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won't happen i was informed by a cast
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member the other night
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when i went up and asked a few questions
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at the ticket booths
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that the only way that a reservation for
10:38
here on the west coast this does not
10:39
apply to florida can be cancelled can be
10:42
completely
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removed if you would like to say you
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know let's say i had one for tonight and
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something came up i had immediate plans
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there was an emergency i just didn't
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feel like going there was something i
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wanted else i wanted to do or i got ill
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i would not be able
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to get rid of that reservation i would
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have to go to the park
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or be punished
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for not going now from what i'm hearing
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this is hearsay everything else i'm
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giving is factual
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showing it on the on the screen the
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prices and all that from what i am
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hearing there is a cavalcade coming
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through
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got a cavalcade walking through right
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now
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if you do not show up for your
11:23
reservation look at this
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three times in a month and 90 days and
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60 days
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you will be blacked out of being able to
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get any more reservations
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hence
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you have to utilize
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your reservation unlike florida where
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let's say right now i tested this out
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the other evening i can book
11:47
let's say i wanted to book animal
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kingdom or magic kingdom i can book it
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and then 20 minutes like you know what i
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don't feel like going i'll go ahead and
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just omit that and they will let me do
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that they will not let you do that here
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at disneyland so what does that mean
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let's say i had one for this evening and
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i had other plans i would not be able to
12:05
spend the evening
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what was that spend the evening in the
12:08
park there was like a car over there
12:10
making quite a noise
12:12
in the parking structure
12:14
but what would happen is i would have to
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walk over to disneyland either down
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harbor
12:19
or park at the structure
12:22
or park at the parking lot across from
12:24
the convention center here walk down
12:25
harbor or take the bus
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it's a mile walk
12:30
10 to 15 minute walk from the parking
12:33
structure right now the trams are not
12:35
running either you would have to walk
12:37
from the structure
12:38
all the way down to disneyland scan in
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and then leave to go do your plans which
12:45
for me is not that big of a deal i don't
12:46
live a couple miles from the park but
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for someone who lives in let's say they
12:49
live in los angeles they still they live
12:51
out an inland empire anything like that
12:54
they would have to just
12:56
they would pretty much just have to deal
12:58
with it and not
13:00
go utilize their reservation and be
13:02
punished one of those three it might
13:04
even be less than that i probably should
13:05
have looked that up but there is a
13:07
punishment system
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if you start booking reservations and
13:11
cannot go and do not go and fulfill your
13:15
end of the bargain unlike in florida
13:18
you can x out that reservation the day
13:21
of and what happens is
13:23
someone else is fortunate enough
13:26
to keep hitting refresh on their end on
13:28
the app
13:29
and they can now go
13:31
because you can't go that does not apply
13:34
what the heck that makes no sense
13:37
why isn't the system here like it is in
13:45
i don't know just to have a hypothetical
13:48
put yourself in this situation
13:50
you have booked a reservation
13:52
for let's say tomorrow
13:54
something pops up
13:56
you're an hour away
13:58
you say gosh what should i do i've
13:59
already done this twice where an
14:02
emergency happened
14:04
and i cannot go
14:06
i cannot utilize my reservation
14:09
what do you do you would have to drive
14:11
all the way down here
14:13
park either across the lot of the the
14:15
lot over there
14:16
walk down harbor or take the bus you can
14:18
take the bus that that works too
14:20
or park and mickey and friends or pixar
14:23
parking
14:25
walk a mile
14:27
i'm not kidding it's probably three
14:29
quarters of a mile to a mile it's
14:30
probably between three quarters of a
14:31
mile and one mile
14:34
i'm a quick walker
14:36
i walk pretty fast it would take me at
14:38
least
14:39
probably 12 minutes
14:41
maybe 15 at a comfortable walk
14:44
to the park and back no trams running
14:46
right now which is a whole other
14:48
whole other subject which i will not
14:50
get into
14:57
it's confusing
14:57
kind of wish i would have known
14:58
it's my fault
15:00
all on me
15:02
before spending fourteen hundred dollars
15:05
for now now if i would have waited
15:07
down the road when capacity hopefully
15:09
goes up
15:10
which no indication of that and more
15:12
people are let in
15:13
reservations will be a lot easier to get
15:16
won't be so much of an issue but for now
15:18
it is
15:19
it is really
15:22
really stressful again let me stress
15:25
i am grateful
15:26
i am in the
15:28
lower percentile of those who are able
15:30
to go to a theme park on a regular basis
15:33
some have to plan a little bit longer i
15:36
think for those who plan it might be
15:38
a little bit easier but for locals for
15:42
aps former aps
15:44
i am not alone
15:46
in these thoughts there are
15:48
a conglomeration of those who have the
15:50
same
15:51
thought process and just kind of want
15:53
some answers want to know
15:55
why in the heck can't we
15:57
get rid of the reservation day of give
15:59
it to someone else you cannot transfer
16:02
it to anyone else so there are
16:05
dare i say
16:06
hundreds i'm going to say hundreds maybe
16:09
even bordering on high hundreds
16:12
of reservations that probably
16:14
are not utilized for people who have to
16:17
go down scan in then leave in fear of
16:21
whatever
16:22
whatever kind of punishment they will
16:24
get
16:25
of not being able to book reservations
16:26
in the future
16:27
when if they could just simply hit an x
16:30
out
16:31
and that is released
16:33
into the universe into the internet
16:34
universe somebody else can grab it and
16:36
just go like florida does
16:39
i want to know why
16:42
i want to know another scenario
16:45
i would say you know a good percentage
16:47
of folks work
16:49
bankers hours nine to five monday
16:51
through friday
16:56
it's difficult
16:56
to get a reservation on a weekend
16:59
darn near impossible unless you are
17:02
planning
17:03
two weeks out maybe a week out if you're
17:05
lucky
17:06
good luck on let's say
17:08
let's say tonight you got off work five
17:10
pm went home
17:12
took a shower got a little snack i know
17:14
it'd be neat i want to go on mr toad
17:17
i want to go on big thunder mount which
17:18
right now is down for construction or
17:22
refurb
17:23
here in california but you get the idea
17:26
you would not be able to get one as i
17:28
showed they're all booked up for tonight
17:30
but if you wanted to plan your weekend
17:32
you would have to go two weeks out
17:38
and sometimes
17:38
that doesn't always sometimes you don't
17:39
want to book something you don't
17:41
part of being an annual pass holder an
17:43
ap that ap life if you will
17:48
is not making plans that far ahead
17:51
that is kind of what separates an ap
17:54
from
17:54
a tourist
17:56
or a casual
17:58
goer like a once a year goer
18:01
hope this is making any sense
18:03
for those who
18:04
are kind not local for those who are
18:07
have not had an annual pass for years
18:09
this might not really
18:11
kind of sink in the same way there's
18:14
something i just wanted to get off my
18:15
chest
18:16
it's very odd
18:18
and for me personally i wish
18:21
i had not spent the fourteen hundred
18:23
dollars
18:24
to go there is a different tier system
18:26
for those who purchase tickets in fact i
18:28
checked and right now if i were to
18:30
purchase a ticket for like 120
18:33
for the day
18:34
they would let me in because there's a
18:36
different tier system for ticket holders
18:39
as opposed
18:41
to the magic key holders
18:44
so in reality because i am going to
18:46
florida and i'll be in florida for most
18:47
of october
18:49
especially now that the tampa bay rays
18:50
have made it to the postseason
18:52
yes spoiler alert i am going to attempt
18:55
to go to as many of those games as they
18:57
advance whether it be the wild card
19:00
the the playoffs
19:03
the al division series hopefully fingers
19:05
crossed
19:06
the world series i want to go to quite a
19:07
few
19:08
but i have my original thought was when
19:10
i came back here from florida before i
19:13
was not going to get the magic key i was
19:14
going to wait a little bit i was going
19:16
to wait until after new year's to get it
19:18
and then i thought you know i'd be there
19:19
for a few weeks hack it
19:22
spend the money i can jump in the park
19:24
whenever i want and it just does not
19:26
work out that way
19:28
so i kind of for me personally wish i
19:30
would have waited
19:32
hopefully this helps hopefully my
19:33
mindset doesn't come across
19:36
too much
19:37
as a complaint even though it kind of is
19:39
a complaint
19:40
i'm not really one to to to
19:43
kind of go down that route but gosh this
19:45
is really it's stressful between this
19:47
and the no trams and
19:50
really being so close to disneyland
19:53
but yet not being able to get in
19:56
without a a lengthy walk or even get in
19:58
at all
20:00
in a way i kind of wish they didn't even
20:02
bring out the magic here i kind of wish
20:03
they would just kept it how it was we
20:05
would have something to look forward to
20:08
without a little little tease a little
20:10
just a little tease for you
20:12
certainly i am not one that would you
20:14
know simple things around the park like
20:16
oh they they painted that trash can a
20:18
different color not going to say
20:19
anything about that oh the wait times
20:21
are too long i'm not going to say
20:22
anything about that you just have to
20:24
grin and bear certain things but this
20:27
was something that i just i just had to
20:28
bring up i just had to got the katella
20:30
sign entrance right over there
20:32
supposedly that used to be an entrance
20:34
at one point right over my shoulder i'm
20:36
not gonna walk up to the harbor entrance
20:37
it might be
20:38
i can't get in but i'm just kind of
20:40
strolling through here
20:41
i'm just showing what their their logo
20:43
looks like
20:45
so yeah that's my thoughts that's what
20:48
that's my situation
20:49
others you know might be coming down on
20:52
a vacation or from northern california
20:54
from over in arizona or
20:56
flying cross country and they have it
20:58
all mapped out they have it all planned
20:59
out hey we're going to be there a week
21:01
this makes sense to have this all locked
21:03
in you can book
21:05
way in advance you can book five or six
21:07
days
21:08
a couple months out so it is a good
21:10
thing it is not it is not all bad it is
21:13
definitely beneficial
21:15
for those who are planning in advance
21:17
and not locals
21:19
i think what i'm basically trying to say
21:21
is those who are used to being aps like
21:24
i said that ap life annual pass holders
21:27
this is not the same thing and i am not
21:29
i cannot be the only one out there with
21:31
this thought process also when it comes
21:34
to disney and disney content and
21:36
disneyland i'm sure you've noticed i've
21:39
tapered back a little bit yes i still go
21:41
a lot and i still will continue to go to
21:43
both parks
21:44
but i haven't been doing as much
21:46
as i used to and that will continue yes
21:48
i will be at magic kingdom on october
21:51
1st coming up for
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the 50th anniversary and i might do a
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few others that week as well but i'm not
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going to every opening of every new
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thing you know a new store opens a new
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restaurant a new event anything like
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that a new even ride like ratatouille
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i didn't go to the open i did not
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sign up for
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the annual pass holder preview or
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anything like that certain things i'm
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not gonna i'm not gonna be
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going to every single thing sometimes i
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just like to casually go for example a
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couple nights ago i did get a
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reservation and just popped in
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for a very brief time frame rode a
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couple attractions over in fantasyland
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and just left didn't even take the
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camera so not everything has to be
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documented from my perspective certain
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episodes i will show in the park but
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kind of for me being a former annual
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pass holder now a magic key and whatever
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the heck they're calling it in florida
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used to be annual pass order but i
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believe last month they changed it to a
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different name sometimes for me
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being a local on both coasts is just
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around this time frame late evening when
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the sun drops when the weather is nice
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just wanting to pop in casually
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for the price you know what comes with
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the price but i am paying out there and
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out here it would be nice
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that's what it boils down to it would be
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nice to just be able to just go in
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grab a bite to eat walk down main street
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usa
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and i hope one day it goes back to that
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it goes back to the old style of annual
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pass without reservations also
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in southern california no other theme
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parks universal knots six flags none of
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them need reservations which brings me
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to a point
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could it possibly be creating more
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demand in our people booking
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reservations just because they want they
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think i don't want to get locked out
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which could be another negative factor
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because now they cannot
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they cannot cancel get rid of those
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rezzies the day of
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how many reservations
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are not even being utilized
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that people could be going inside
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disneyland things that make you go
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i'll see you in the next video thanks
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for listening the vlog
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is over i guess i should have showed
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what they changed the name of the
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florida pass to it's called the disney
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and credit pass
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1299
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it used to be the annual pass
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that's the one i have and then they
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adjusted it when they changed the name
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when they brought out the magic key here
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i also will say that i never have any
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issue when i'm in florida
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sometimes it'll take two or three hours
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but because people can get rid of their
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reservation and throw it back online
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i've always been able to get in the
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parks out there
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not one day i wasn't able to go that i
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wanted to go unlike here granted with
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the wdw reservations the ones that were
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filled up for that day i'd as i stated i
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did have to to try for a few hours just
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kept hitting refresh over and over and
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over going back closing the app out
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opening it back up throughout the course
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of the afternoon
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and use the end of the evening
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it was like magic it would appear
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i also should throw in the cast member
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the other day said that
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there is a rare chance that you could
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get one here day of but it would have to
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be a cast member getting rid of their
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reservation or
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a ticket holder
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those two can get rid of their
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reservations for the day
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but annual pass holders or magic key
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holders cannot so there is so you're
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telling me there's a chance
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not much i wonder