Annual Passholders Claim They Were Misled by Disney — Where Do They Stand Now?

Although Disney World has been offering new Annual Passholder perks recently, like an exclusive magnet, a lounge, and special photo-ops, the Park Pass lawsuit brought by Disney World Annual Passholders against Disney World continues. Since the lawsuit was initially filed, Disney announced plans to change the Park Pass Reservation System, but that change did not put an end to the lawsuit.

There are a lot of Disney World Annual Passholders

For reference, the lawsuit was filed in October 2022. It argues that Disney’s Platinum Pass and Platinum Plus passes were advertised with “no blockout dates,” yet Passholders alleged the Park Pass Reservation System created blockout dates for Annual Passholders, and therefore modified their original contracts with Disney. The lawsuit also spells out some other criticisms, arguing that Disney prioritizes regular ticket purchasers in the interest of a bigger profit, “takes advantage” of its loyal passholder fans, and “abused a global pandemic.” Now, let’s discuss where we’re at as of mid-June 2023.

A Brief Recap

A few months back (March 2023, specifically), The Walt Disney Company filed a motion to dismiss the Passholders’ complaint.

Magic Kingdom

Disney made a few key arguments, which can be summarized with this statement: Annual Passes are governed by express terms and conditions, and Disney reserved the right to change those terms (and park access). Additionally, Disney argued that Park Pass availability limitations are not the same as blockout dates. Passholders had the ability to enter the parks; some dates just happened to “sell out.”

Click here to learn more about Disney’s motion to dismiss

From there, it was left to the Plaintiffs (the Annual Passholders) to file a response to Disney’s motion to dismiss, explaining why the original complaint should not be dismissed by the Court.

Figment Annual Passholder Magnet

The Plaintiffs’ response essentially covered a lot of what was originally being argued. Passholders argued that Disney participated in “unethical business practices” and “unlawfully restricted Platinum Pass holders’ ability to enter its Florida theme parks to garner more daily ticket sales.”

Annual Passholder Card

Platinum Passholders asserted that they initially purchased those passes due to the claim that they had “no blockout dates.” Further, they stated that it was “reasonably understood” they could enter the Disney World parks any time, any day of the year — Park Passes got in their way.

Click here to learn more about the Plaintiffs response

Where are we now?

Now that both sides have made an argument on the validity of the lawsuit, it remains to be seen how the judge will rule. Currently, we know where both sides stand. Disney argues there was no implied contract, the express contract lets them change the terms at any time, and Park Pass unavailability isn’t a true “blockout date.” The Passholders argue the express contract is unfair/invalid; instances when the AP calendar is full but the regular ticket calendar is not should, in fact, be considered “blockout dates.”

©Disney

At this point, we’re in a sort of limbo. We’ve previously speculated that the next step could be a hearing or a further opportunity for statements on the matter, though we have yet to see any official progress. There have been no official updates on the case docket since the Plaintiffs’ response in March.

Walt Disney World

We will continue to look for updates as this is an ongoing case. In the meantime, we’re always on the lookout for the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more.