When Disney World reopened after its temporary 2020 closure due to the pandemic, it came back with a new system in place — the Park Pass reservation system.
Now, it has been announced that two Disney World Annual Passholders have filed a lawsuit due to the Park Pass reservation system. According to the Orlando Sentinel, two anonymous passholders have sued Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, “claiming the resort breached its contract with annual passholders by maintaining its Park Pass reservation system.”
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs state that the system requiring visitors to make a reservation into the theme parks “blocked its highest tiers of passholders from visiting the parks on certain days, despite Disney formerly advertising the premium passes as allowing unlimited access.”
The plaintiffs specifically referenced the Platinum and Platinum Plus passes in their lawsuit, two Passholder types that were later replaced by Disney World’s new Annual Passholder system in 2021.
In response to the lawsuit, Disney spokesperson Avery Maehrer told the Orlando Sentinel that Disney recognizes passholders as among its “biggest fans and most loyal guests”, and stated they Disney “has been forthcoming with them about updates to the pass system.”
Maehrer added that, “We offered them the flexibility to opt in or opt out of the program early in the pandemic, including refunds if they desired. This lawsuit mischaracterizes the program and its history, and we will respond further in court.”
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim Disney added their new Annual Passholder system to “cover up its own wrongdoing”, as the current Annual Pass website states that passes are subject to reservation availability and other terms.
This is not the first lawsuit we’ve seen against Disney on behalf of passholders. In 2021, a group of Magic Key Holders (Disneyland’s new Annual Pass system that debuted in 2021) sued Disney in a $5 million class action lawsuit.
In the Disneyland lawsuit, passholders claimed that Disneyland had falsely advertised their Magic Key passes, stating that Disney had relegated Magic Key Holders “to ‘second class’ ticket holders by artificially limiting Magic Key reservations and the number of passholders that can visit on any given day.”
Disney did respond to that lawsuit requesting that the case be dismissed, but a judge allowed two claims to move forward: one relating to the California Consumer Protection Act and one relating to breach of contract. Soon after, Magic Key Holder sales were paused.
Currently, most Disney World Annual Pass sales are paused as well, with one exception being sales of the Pixie Dust Pass.
We’ll continue to keep you updated on the latest developments, so stay tuned to AllEars for more.
I’m fairly sure DisneyWorld will prevail on this lawsuit. I recall reading about the annual passes when they opened back up and I was definitely under the impression that current passholders would have their existing AP’s extended due to Covid shutdowns under the “new program” OR you could request a prorated refund. Like most fine print items, they didn’t specifically point out the negative changes, but they were there. DisneyLAND plaintiffs, I believe those people may have a case.
I’m actually shocked that there hasn’t been a class action suit brought on behalf of everyone who buys standard park tickets only to be ushered out of the parks an hour or two earlier that normal to make way for special ticketed events such as Halloween or Christmas party nights. Is it fair to buy a 5 day park ticket only to find out that as many as 2 of those days are cut short due to special events that Disney is charging more for? It’s not unthinkable to see Disney block out the entire StarWars area of HS all day for a special ticketed StarWars day. How mad would you be to visit HS on your reserved day only to find out you can’t ride anything StarWars without purchasing a special event ticket? May sound far fetched, but you couldn’t have convinced me 20 years ago that Disney would be doing what they are doing today.
I have been a platinum (and now Incredipass) holder since 2016. In that time the price has almost doubled, the park pass reservation system put in place, and photopass is now an additional cost instead of being included. As an out of state passholder, I stay on site, buy merchandise and eat all my meals on site. Why is that less valuable than a regular ticket holder?
I have no plan on ever returning to Disney until Bob Chapek is gone.
Maybe it’s time to dump Disney and go Universal
I am an Annual Passholder. I have been an annual passholder since 1998, my pass renewed in March of 2022 and it will be the last time I renew. My happy place is gone and and so am I.
I’m so tired of people doing these frivolous lawsuits against Disney for something that they agreed upon when purchasing the pass. They flat out state that regardless of your pass it is subject to park capacity, etc. If you don’t book ahead of time and all the reservations are gone, so what! You’re not entitled! Get over yourself and get a life!
Hate the new reservation system