Disney is in the middle of some big lawsuits right now.
Back in February, we shared details about consumer antitrust lawsuits filed against Disney. Plus, they’ve been hit with lawsuits in the past related to the way they handled the Parental Rights in Education Bill in Florida, the Park Pass system in Orlando (and how it works with Annual Passholders), and the park reservation system (and its impact on Magic Key holders) in Disneyland too. But things with lawsuits change, so today we’re taking a closer look at the Park Pass lawsuit related to Disney World’s Annual Passholders to see just what’s going on.
The Lawsuit
In 2022, a few Disney World Annual Passholders filed a lawsuit against Disney (specifically Walt Disney Parks & Resorts U.S., Inc.) related to Park Passes and how they impacted Annual Passholders.
We’ve shared a number of updates about the lawsuit, most recently in January of 2023. At that time, the Plaintiffs had already filed a second amended complaint revealing their names (as required by the Court), and Disney had filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. The case also got set for a trial period starting August 5th, 2024, and other key dates by which certain documents must be filed or other requirements must be met were set.
So what’s happening now?
The Update
Well, 2023 has already proven to be a busy year for this lawsuit. On February 1st, 2023, a THIRD Amended Complaint was filed by the Plaintiffs. Because a third amended complaint has now been filed, the Court entered an order denying Disney’s Motion to Dismiss the previous complaint as MOOT.
Essentially, it’s as if a reset button has been hit. The Third Amended Complaint is now the one controlling the case and Disney will need to file a new motion to dismiss that third amended complaint (should they want to).
So what does the third amended complaint allege? Much of it is similar to what we’ve seen before, but let’s go over it all here to get a fresh update. First, they go through some Annual Pass basics by explaining that the Disney Platinum Pass and Platinum Plus Pass had NO blockout dates.
They then allege that “Blockout Dates are pre-designated days Disney closes off the parks to certain annual pass holders due to high park attendance or for other reasons that only Disney controls.” And they point out that “No Blockout Dates is a very important material term of the Platinum Pass contract.”
They then talk about Park Hopping and how Annual Passes have that perk too. According to their allegations, Park Hopping is “one of the most sought-after and important features for those who hold Disney annual passes because of the flexibility it provides.”
Then they note that the Park Pass system was introduced in Disney World during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to their claims, “It was reasonably believed by Plaintiffs that this reservation system would only be temporary and would end once the threat of the pandemic lessened because they had not been subject to this system pre-pandemic. However, this was not the case. Disney used the Park Pass Reservation System during the pandemic and post-pandemic to maximize its profits.”
They also allege that by restricting Passholders’ access to the parks by keeping the Park Pass system in place, “Disney effectively unilaterally modified all Platinum Pass holders’ contracts.”
They claim that Passholders felt like they were “forced to reluctantly agree to the terms of this new agreement, having no meaningful alternative if they still wanted to have an annual pass.” They go on to discuss how a major Park Hopping restriction has also been introduced (which stops people from hopping before 2PM) and how that restriction has not been lifted.
According to the Plaintiffs, Disney is also skewing Park Pass availability toward regular ticket holders as opposed to Passholders. They claim, “In order to make more money, Disney is unilaterally and unfairly favoring single-ticket purchasers and multi-day ticket purchasers, while restricting Platinum Pass holders, in order to make a larger profit.”
The Plaintiffs also raised issues with the limits Disney has placed on just how many Park Pass reservations a Passholder can make/hold at a particular time. They claim that because there is a limit (for example, those with an Incredi-Pass can only make and hold 5 Park reservations at a time), a Passholder looking to lock in reservations for a future trip may need to lose months of entry (or potentially book a Disney hotel reservation to work around that restriction).
The Plaintiffs allege that Disney’s actions amount to a “predatory business practice, aimed at exploiting the customers who support it the most, its annual pass holders.” They hammer this point home by alleging, “Disney abused a global pandemic to take advantage of its own loyal customers and increase its revenue.”
The lawsuit also goes on to detail specific instances that relate to the Plaintiffs and how they were impacted by the systems in place.
They claim that the Plaintiffs were (in June) trying to plan a trip for November. But, “Platinum Pass holders were only allotted three days of park reservations at one time. This meant that for Platinum Pass holders to make a reservation for the month of November in June, they would be unable to use their Platinum Pass for months.”
They claim that Disney proposed “a bad batch of bad options,” one of which was to make reservations just for 3 days of their trip and “‘hope’ they could get reservations for the other days after they expended their three days of reservations.”
They then claim that, upon booking a trip, they also found that “Disney had park reservations available for single-day ticket purchasers and/or multi-day ticket purchasers that it blocked out for Platinum Pass holders.” They claim that one Plaintiff was unable to get Park Passes using their Annual Pass for days that their significant other (using a multi-day pass) could get reservations.
They allege that if this was all “an issue of capacity, there would not be availability for any new reservations. Instead, Disney is doing nothing more than taking advantage of customers who pre-paid a premium for unlimited access, by limiting these same customers’ access to the parks, so Disney can charge new guests at the expense of the annual pass holders that had already pre-paid.”
One Plaintiff claimed that they felt like they were “[u]nable to rely on [their] Platinum Pass being allowed to make park reservations,” so they were “forced to make resort reservations to gain admission to Disney’s Florida parks.” That allowed them to access the group of reservations set aside for hotel guests (versus the one set aside for Passholders).
The third amended complaint also details how there are 2 classes at issue in this potential class action case — (1) everyone in the U.S. who bought a Platinum Pass and was denied entry as a result of Disney’s actions, and (2) all of the people within Florida who bought a Platinum Pass and were denied entry to Disney’s Florida parks for the reasons outlined in the lawsuit.
And there’s more to know. The Plaintiff and Disney also filed documents to reveal what existing cases might be related to this one. According to Disney’s filing, there were actually a number of other cases that were related to this action, but most have been closed already. The one that remains open is the million-dollar lawsuit filed against Disney in California as it relates to Park Passes and Magic Key holders.
But it is interesting to see that other cases on potentially similar matters have been brought against Disney.
And that’s it…for now! So what happens next? Well, the case continues. We’ll have to see if Disney files another motion to dismiss the case or if they jump ahead to answering the Complaint (though a motion to dismiss is potentially more likely). Then things will move on from there.
We’ll be sure to keep an eye out for more updates. Stay tuned for the latest Disney news.
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What do you think about this Passholder lawsuit? Tell us in the comments.
Ralph says
What would happen if Disney decided that the annual pass would no longer be sold or renewed? How much business would they stand to lose in the long run. How many folks out there would cease to visit the Disney Parks?
Mike says
Disney could easily settle this lawsuit by honoring the current annual pass holders original agreements that didn’t relinquish their passes and continue the modifications currently in place with the new pass holders. Eventually those holders of the first passes will pass away or quit renewing.
Julia says
If you do not like the terms of the Annual Pass, do not buy it. I have an Annual Pass, and have had one for many years. I have not had any problems. You should not expect that when you buy something it has to conform to your wants and needs. Every thing changes over time. I would still like to get a meal when I travel on a plane, but should I file a lawsuit because they do not do it anymore? As I said before, if you do not like the rules, don’t buy it.
Todd says
Many may not like this, but the cleanest thing to do with annual passes is to have just one level and price it extremely high without any blackout dates. Those willing to pay the high price, face zero restrictions and can always get in regardless of park reservations being available. Those not willing to pay the high price then have to purchase daily tickets and Disney achieves what it wants by having fewer annual pass holders in the parks. All the annual pass levels seem overly complicated when the point to annual passes in the beginning was just to allow people in the park throughout the year for a one-time cost.
Mary Ellen says
I find these class action suits fascinating but also accurate. By restricting park access to passholders when the parks are not at capacity, and by restricting the number of park reservations a passholder can have at any given time, Disney Corp has indeed altered the parameters of the annual pass, particularly for the premium levels.
In 2021 and 2022, my spouse and I were pass holders, and our child was not. we had a very complicated process to make all of our park reservations for the same park, because even though we had a resort reservation, we had to abide by capacity restrictions for pass holders that were not the same as ticket holders or resort guests.
We were so frustrated with the process that we declined to renew our passes. Our last trip to our DVC resort involved no Disney park days at all.
Mike says
I agree with the plantiffs Disney has focused too much on Profit especially at WDW. For the Cost Involved many experience should be much better … Rides, Dining, Entertainment to Name a Few !
Randi Briggs says
They make a good case. Before Covid, We could go anytime with our passes, and we could have maxpass and park hopping added to the price. I do have a problem with the fact that I can make reservations for my April trip to Disneyland, but can’t for our September trip. I do hope the class action wins.
Chrystie says
I haven’t heard of a Platinum Pass. What is that? It’s not one of the named passes we have now.
Linda Weirich says
I agree with the lawsuit on the Annual Passholders not being able to getting into the parks. We have Incredi-Pass and we can only make five reservations and we are blocked out. So being out of state and coming down here and spending more than five days and staying on property it is to the point it is forcing us to go to Universal to be able to ride other rides. Because of the restrictions of the 5 days it is gotten to the point where it is making us look at options of staying off property. You don’t get the deals that you use to.
Being from out of state we don’t have the option to pay payments we have to all of ours up front. Please listen to the concerns of the Annual Passholders they are the ones you have been the supporters of Disney for years.
I have loved Disney 56 years please let me keep believing in the magic.
Mark Dunne says
I have to say, I’ve just looked at prices for 2024 from the uk, and a price increase of £1000 plus , man that’s crazy ! The real bug bare with me is that, you buy the merchandise, lounge fly bags, spirit jerseys, tee’s etc, to wear next time in the park, then you can’t afford to go back, these prices are really hurting the lower to middle family, the board simply has to fix this problem, tickets prices are through the roof, food prices are 😳, we are trying to juggle our dates throughout the year, but it still looks like £4200 for 10 night , about $6000 , what is going on here, and mr igor stop bleeding the parks to pay for your failings in DP, GP, Star Wars galaxy cruiser, skyrocketing prices , and everyone jumped for joy on your return, sorry I did not !you have to do a hell off a lot more to help middle class and lower income family’s, and yes that is your responsibility !
Ralph says
I’m curious as to how much business Disney World stands to lose if they got rid of the Annual Pass. Right now, they’re not even available to those living outside of Florida and even then it is limited to “Pixie Dust” Pass.
Ralph says
@Todd,
They already have something like that. It’s called Club 33. It has both a steep membership fee plus annual fee but it will let you into the parks, 365 days out of year.