Late in 2021, Disney got hit with a lawsuit from Magic Key Pass holders (Disneyland’s updated version of Annual Passes) over the Park Pass reservation system and its interaction with Magic Key.
Annual Passholder Card
That lawsuit alleged that Disney deceived its fanbase by “artificially limiting theme park capacity and blocking passholders with ‘no blockout’ annual passes from making reservations.” Earlier in 2022, we shared an update on the case and the claims that had been allowed to go forward, along with a look at how the lawsuit likely impacted the Magic Key passes made available for renewal. And now it looks like Disney might be feeling a little bit of deja vu.
The Lawsuit
According to the Orlando Sentinel, 2 Disney World passholders have sued Walt Disney Parks and Resorts claiming that by keeping the Park Pass reservation system in place, Disney has breached its contract with Annual Passholders.
The plaintiffs (referred to simply as E.K. and M.P.) argue that the Park Pass system effectively blocked out the highest tier of annual passholders from visiting the parks on certain days, even though Disney had advertised these passes as having “unlimited access.”
Annual Pass Magnet
The lawsuit was filed as a class action suit and it refers to Disney World’s highest annual pass tiers by their older names — Platinum and Platinum Plus. The Disney World Annual Pass system was reworked a bit and passes now have updated names.
According to the Plaintiffs, however, Disney allegedly introduced this updated system to “cover up its own wrongdoing.”
Annual Passholder Entrance
If you do go to the Disney World website where Annual Passes can be purchased (when available — sales of most Annual Passes are currently paused) it does currently say “To enter a theme park, each passholder must have a theme park reservation in addition to a valid pass. Park reservations are limited and are subject to availability and applicable pass blockout dates.”
©Disney
In their complaint, the Plaintiffs also allege that Disney has been “unfairly favoring” guests who have single-day or multi-day tickets over Annual Passholders so that they can “make a larger profit.”
The lawsuit claims, “Disney appears to be limiting the number of reservations available to Platinum Pass holders and Platinum Plus Pass holders on any given day in order to maximize the number of single day and other passes that Disney can sell.”
This is similar to what was alleged in the Disneyland version of the lawsuit.
©Disney
We have seen instances where Annual Pass Park Passes for a certain park have sold out on a specific day, while passes for the same park on the same day remain available for single or multi-day tickets. Most recently, we saw this take place for the upcoming reopening date of Fantasmic!
But there are also days where the reverse is true — days where passes fill up for single and multi-day guests, while Annual Passholders have more availability. We saw this for some November Park Passes in 2022.
Annual Pass
In terms of guest value, during one earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said, “typically, someone who travels and stays for five to seven days is marginally more valuable to the business than someone who comes in on an annual pass and stays a day or two and consumes less, you know, merchandise and food and beverage.”
Disney’s Response
In response to the suit, Disney spokesman Avery Maehrer noted that Disney recognizes that Annual Passholders are some of the resort’s “biggest fans and most loyal guests.” Maehrer insisted that Disney has been forthcoming with Annual Passholders about updates to the system.
Annual Passholder Chocolates
According to Maehrer, “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.”
What Next?
With two lawsuits now pending for very similar issues related to annual passes and how they interact with the Park Pass system, it’ll be interesting to see what Disney does next. Over at Disneyland, the lawsuit seems to have likely had an effect on Magic Key passes, in that there are no longer any Magic Key passes with 365-day access to the parks. Instead, ALL passes now have blockout dates.
What changes could the lawsuit bring to Disney World? Only time will tell.
EPCOT
In terms of Park Passes, Disney executives have noted how the Park Pass system has benefited the company and guest experience.
Chapek once shared, “We have a [park] reservation system which now enables us on the fly, to change whatever factors we need in terms of ticket packaging that we want…If we see any spikiness, we can smooth that in a way we couldn’t before, and we’re real pleased we did that.” Some have also commented on how the system can benefit the guest experience by limiting the crowds.
Bob Chapek
Chapek has also commented on how the Park Pass system has helped Disney “balance” who they’re letting into the parks. Chapek noted that Disney didn’t have a Park Pass reservation system before and “frankly, the annual pass as a value was so great that people were literally coming all the time and the accessibility of the park was unlimited to them” potentially preventing other guests who come less frequently from getting in. Chapek said that this didn’t really “seem like a real balanced proposition.”
Chapek also noted that Disney is not going to allow someone to have a “less than stellar experience in the parks because we jammed too many people in there.”
Disney CEO Bob Chapek in Disney World on its 50th Anniversary
We’ll continue to watch for more details about this lawsuit and future changes made (if any) to the Park Pass system and/or the Annual Pass system. Stay tuned for more updates.
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This is a frivolous lawsuit. Everything is spelled out very clearly in the Terms and Conditions of the AP. Disney is more than covered legally.
Thanks a lot to those people, they’re going to ruin it for everyone. We have 5 AP in our house, we’ve never had an issue getting park passes for busy days. If you wait until the last minute that’s on you.
So now we’re going to get what California has black out dates, paying for parking, less discounts.
These two idiots are going to ruin Annual Passes because they chose not to read the terms and conditions they signed off on
Disney will just end up not offering annual passes again for everyone. No renewals either.
Regardless of what future manipulations Disney makes to the annual pass program, it is ethically wrong of them to deny entrance to an annual passholder with no block out dates while still selling tickets to day guests.
Every time Chapek opens his mouth, all I can think of is Meghan Trainor’s song ‘You Must Be Lying – Your Lips Are Moving.’
All they have to do is get rid of the reservation and let it be first come first serve as it was for decades and tthe beginning of all of the Disney parks. I only know of a few times in Disneyland’s 68 year history or Disneyworld’s 50 year history that they had to closed the gates due to maximun capacity. Disney says it is for crowd control, but will all know it is not, it is for staffing. With resrvations they can minimize staffing and have skeleton crews rather than minimizing the guest for crowd control.
I think Disney took a hard look at numbers and decided that AP people did not bring in the $$ that single and multi-day passes could. I was a cast member in college and an AP holder with my husband and now daughter since roughly 1994. The reservation system for those of us used to changing our minds and not having to book and reserve every minute of every Disney vacay has definitely drained the pixie dust. I also don’t buy controlling the numbers. It is still pretty packed a lot of times when we have gone. And with travel resuming it probably won’t let up. We pay a lot for an AP and I think Disney has forgotten this loyal base in its new tiered ticket system. Idk any friends who are AP who like tthis at all.
I have been a passholder since 2007. Lots of changes have taken place. While I wish I could go at anytime like previously that is just no more. What would be interesting to see is take a look at the profitability from your annual passholders who do come frequently. We still spend money. Look at the records. Take a poll for a few months and before any purchase (restaurants, shops, quick stands, etc) scan the ticket. Only to see the type of ticket (day, multi day, ap, room reservations yes or no) and see how you money is coming in. They might be surprised. We as loyal fans are gonna be purchasing higher end items most likely because it is not a once in a lifetime trip.
Looks like Bob Chapek doesn’t quite understand the life of an annual passholder. He said typically a person who spends 5-7 days is more valuable to a business than a passholder spending 2-3 days. No kidding. But how many more days (that year) will the passholder come back and spend more days (and money). The person with 5-7 days may not be back for 2-3 or more years!!
The problem we had was with the newness of the system and the fact that kids and grandkids didn’t let Grandpa and Grandma know when they were coming and which park … until too late. The system was new to them too. They came to enjoy several days with us and WE could not get a reservation. Now we would find any park to reserve in and hop at 2. Exhausting for old folks, but it seems to be what Disney wants. We are considering less exhausting theme parks.
Perhaps the time of Annual passes has passed! Disney does not have to worry about low attendance days any longer. I say get rid of the annual passes and compensate locals with a discount…10% to 20% off! But give everyone an equal chance to go to the parks! Why should locals get all the benefits. The rest of us pay big bucks to go to Orlando, stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, only to find that you can’t get into the park you want on the day you want because it’s full of locals!
Considering the politics of Florida currently, my family and I have decided that we will vacation elsewhere. Dollywood here we come!
No sympathy… it was very clearly spelled out what each pass got you and that you had to get reservations. I never had any trouble getting the days I wanted and rarely had a day when I got dinged for missing a reservation. If you don’t like the terms and conditions, just don’t get the pass!
First off I see having an annual pass more valuable then the regular tickets holders that Bob claims. Those people come for maybe 4-5 days once a year where as pass holders come multiple times a year , spend money on hotels, food , drinks and merchandise every visit. To me that’s a big plus for Disney and from what I can see in the past year there is no balance between the pass holders and single ticket holders. Disneyland is jammed packed almost daily. Disney did great with passes, and tickets holders and no reservations pre covid. I love Disney but I don’t see or completely agree with Bob’s take on it that he is trying to convince guests of. . I don’t in my opinion think people would be as upset on Bob’s way of doing things if people felt he was providing more magic and special things like Disney once did pre covid. It makes bob look very greedy. My opinion. May we see a positive change for all guests and affordability for anyone who would like to enjoy one of the parks.
the days are coming to an end for passholders, this is what disney wants, they do not want us there.
a boycott is not far off, thanks to daddy chapek and his management weasels.
they have made all this so complicated just like everything else, nickel and diming to and geeky bean counters in control.
Chapek said, “typically, someone who travels and stays for five to seven days is MARGINALLY more valuable to the business than someone who comes in on an annual pass and stays a day or two and consumes less, you know, merchandise and food and beverage.” What do you fails to mention in this sentence is that many annual passholder stay longer than 5 to 7 days in a year, and spend more on hotels, food, memorabilia, etc., etc., etc. We did “Wild Afrika Trek” five times. How many times does the one time a year family do that in a lifetime? And because we felt so valued, we typically went on 2 Disney cruises a year, staying in concierge rooms to the tune of $7,000 to $10,000 per cruise. But no more. Let’s break this down… First… As an annual passholder for over 20 years along with my entire family, we always stayed for 5 to 7 days, not “a day or two”. We always stayed at the Deluxe hotels, in the most expensive rooms, and ate only at the finest restaurants, spending more than $30,000 a year at Disney. But wait, there’s more… an annual passholder who spends $1200 for the pass, and stays for 1-2 days, should be VERY PROFITABLE for Disney, as compared to non-passholders being “MARGINALLY more valuable than passholders, you know the passholders that Disney spokesperson Avery Maehrer noted that “Disney recognizes that Annual Passholders are some of the resort’s biggest fans and most loyal guests. Yeah right. Funny way to reward loyalty. My advice to Chapek, at least try to fake it a little better.
This is crazy!! It is spelled out in the paperwork once you become a passholder. I would think Disney can do whatever they want . It’s not up to these annual pass holders to set the limits. Some people will do anything! I am just hoping this doesn’t ruin it for all the rest of us.