The key is already the ... ehm ... key
echo $array[20120504];
If you are unsure, if the key exists, test for it
$key = 20120504;
$result = isset($array[$key]) ? $array[$key] : null;
Minor addition:
$result = @$array[$key] ?: null;
One may argue, that @
is bad, but keep it serious: This is more readable and straight forward, isn't?
Update: With PHP7 my previous example is possible without the error-silencer
$result = $array[$key] ?? null;