$5 Million Lawsuit Filed Against Disney Parks Alleging 'False Advertising'

Comments for $5 Million Lawsuit Filed Against Disney Parks Alleging ‘False Advertising’

Disneyland Resort Christmas decorations

Credit: Disney

44 Comments

  1. Chris

    Technically they did advertise the passes would work this way; however, considering thst on many of the dates that have no availability for passholders they are still allowing cast members in for free, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

  2. Donna

    Good! Add WDW top tier passholders too.
    Its better now, but was totally no tickets unless u buy a single day ticket. I showed guest relations and they said only certain number in each category and we should be getting our passes much earlier. That’s the purpose for top tier… flexibility and more availability.
    Its a money making business and they certainly are!!!

  3. Joyce

    I hope it does turn into a class action lawsuit – I will be the first to sign my name – I too experienced this when trying to reserve a reservation – I’m paying monthly for the highest level key, but couldn’t get a reservation & had to pay $219 for a single day hopper ticket – Totally upset about it – Disney is not the Happiest Place On Earth

  4. Pattimarie

    Disney advertised the top tier–$1,399–as being without blockouts. What is even the purpose of having a top tier if that is not the case. I’d like to see Disney go into court and show that the number of top tier passes without blackouts sold can be justified by how many are let in. What is the ratio of dates available for the top tier vs. the lower tier? Thus is what the case will be about. I think how fradulant they were in their advertising, and in the practice of alloting reservations will be plain, based on everything I’ve read. I had the top level tier for decades, and was not once denied entry–not even during Christmas. The advertising language did mention the reservation system–which by itself does not imply restriction–only perhaps not being able to go on a certain very crowded day. Some people are reporting that they can never go–but the park is not sold out for others. The clause in the contract does say it’s subject to change–but it always said that. It’s obvious to believe that meant on exceptionally crowded days, or perhaps during natural or man-made disasters. All normal days should not be blocked out with the no-blockout top tier, which is not what’s happening. BTW, the system is not stopping overcrowding and I don’t believe that that was ever what Disney intended. It’s a PR excuse that never held water.

  5. Tod

    “based on availability” it’s in the term and agreement, good luck with this Frivolous lawsuit

  6. Cj Brown

    $1,399 for a top-tier Walt Disney Theme Park Pass that’s supposed to not have any blackout dates (anyone want to post a picture to confirm? or a website link?) and the Passholder still could not use it to obtain Admission into Disneyland – DCA …. please take this to court and raise the amount of the lawsuit damages into the 100’s of millions (send a message that this Chapek Regime of pay more to experience less is an Epic Fail!)

    FYI a Knott’s Berry Farm top-tier Pass is a Platinum Cedar Fair Pass at $202 (no black out dates, cheaper than a Single Disney Park Hopper on Peak Day!)

    I’m sticking to Knott’s, folks …..

  7. Ellen Hillman

    I had the very same thing happen at the end of September. I purchased three passes that had no blackout dates scheduled during our visit. I had to change my park reservations for one day. I checked on availability, cancelled two of the reservations and tried to book the available park. No go. It would not let pass holders book those slots! Tried to go back to the original park …no go. Wound up having no park that day. It was explained to me by several cast members that only non pass holders could book, despite advertised no black outs.

  8. Bob Boogie

    It’s the new CEO. He is turning the place into a racket.

    1. John

      If you want to be a good consumer stop buying what their selling. Disney has become anti-consumer and people still flock to the parks, jump through all their new hoops, and pay way too much.

      1. BTP

        We are. After many happy years, we won’t be renewing and will be spending our money on/at other venues.

  9. The sad part of all this is if the class action suit wins millions of dollars then Disney’s way of making up the money lost will be charging more for food, tickets, merchandise, etc. like the same way they did during the pandemic, also of course freezing wages on its valuable cast members.

    1. Reallydisney?

      No it wont because they have already made money from selling these bogus passes and by then doubling down and selling single day tickets. They double dipped and got caught. Maybe the good old gov’t should stop blocking company takeovers that disney seems to keep getting away with..no monopoly here as the politicians look the other way with their mickey ears on.

      1. Numberonebleep

        Who cares. As clearly stated by other in the comments, people would rather pay for a single day pass than not go. Good riddance, y’all shoot yourselves in the foot then blame the manufacturer for your decision to be a fool. Clearly, everything they charge you is worth the “experience” for you. If you want change, speak with your wallets. At the end of the day, this is a company trying to squeeze as much money as possible, and by not participating, you make your position heard.

  10. J

    I can’t imagine why you people spend so much money on that damn place. The places you could see and experience in real life , with all the cash you squander at Disney ,would be so much more rewarding and memorable. Why not invest in travel abroad and see actual beautiful places, teach your self a new language and visit other countries. The world is so much bigger than Disney. Your just lining the pockets of corporate grifters.

    1. Mark Simpson

      Your comment should be posted in flashing bold type letters. I feel the same way. How can people that have that kind of money to squander be so ignorant? But the media that generates this as living a “good , rich and luxurious” life, has to turned people into brain washed zombies. And who controls the media? DISNEY does, of course under different corporate names. Along with a few other giant companies that control ALL the media outlets. Wake up people. And if you really want to feel good about spending your money, help someone that is less fortunate than you. It’s rewarding and feels good too.

  11. Adrienne

    Blockout dates were applying to annual pass holders, where hotel guest could literally get most dates they wanted. The annual pass was useless. They violated the no blackout dates and favored hotel guests by far. I hope this lawsuit is successful.

  12. Josh

    We have become such a sue happy country!! 30yrs ago my aunt was in a wheelchair sitting front row at sea world and wally the walrus crawled on top of her without trainers receiving consent and do you know what she got as a settlement..a wally stuffed animal and she was fine with that..Stop acting so freakin’ ENTITLED. We are a family of 5 with annual passes and guess what, when parks are blocked out or reservations are full, we find something else to do!!! GET OVER YOURSELVES!!

    1. Reallydisney?

      You miss the point appearently. This is about big corporations screwing over customers and getting caught. By your speaking we should just let them get away with a slap on the wrist. They are a multi billion dollar company which has been monopolizing not only movie entertainment but news and sports too. Disney is too big and reaches too far. The only way for people to keep them in some sort of check is by examples outlined in this article. It is not about the individual pass holders troubles. It’s about the fact of a multi billion dollar company robbing money from customers. Not 1 but thousands. Disney does not need you attempt at good pr as no one cares about your aunt story. People sued other for ridiculous crap in the 90’s too buddy.

      1. Josh

        And that does make it right..suing because you order a hot coffee from McDonald’s and it spills and burns you in your car just as bad..as this lawsuit continues I’m sure the parties involved will still continue to support disney by buying apparel and watching disney+,

        1. Robert

          You obviously don’t even know about the McDonald’s coffee lawsuit, so here’s some education. McDonald’s had had numerous reports about their coffee Temperature exceeding their standards, the coffee makers manufacturers standards, and exceeding the necessary Temperature to make coffee. It was too hot and they knew it. An elderly lady spilled some coffee on her groin and inner thigh and almost died. She had to have a lot of skin grafts due to her third degree burns. She asked McDonald’s to cover her medical bills, roughly $30k. They refused and offered get a few thousand. She sued for $30k and won. The jury awarded her punitive damages in the millions. Punitive damages are where the jury feels that the defendant deserves to be punished for their egregious actions save does so by awarding the plantiff a larger sum. She didn’t sue for millions, she sued for medical bills. It was a jury of 12 that felt that McDonald’s needed to be punished and gave her millions. And after that McDonald’s spent millions more on a PR campaign to spin the story so they didn’t seem like jerks. This isn’t the same as being touched by a walrus. It’s like of the walrus had hospitalized your aunt and sea world had known that the walrus had a history of behaving that way and still refused to take responsibility.

    2. Gary Stradley

      You completely missed the point! It’s not about the money, but principal. You as a annual pass holder paid for unlimited days. Then Disney tells you NO! you can only use 6 days and we will decide when. So, you are ENTITLED. You spent good money for unlimited days then you are told NO! We will tell you when. We want the people that will pay more buying a one day ticket than a APH. You are part of the ENTITLED crowed.

      1. Josh

        So in your case when you run out of gas because the vehicle bought only got 26 miles per gallon not 27 it is the fault manufacturer’s fault so sue them..or maybe you should sue your employer for not giving you off on the days the park was available.

        1. John

          Dude you totally missed the part where Disney is misrepresenting what is being sold for a higher price.

          1. DLand

            John sir, you CAN’T argue with someone who CANKT SEE & DOES’T WANT TO SEE. He likes his little bubble world that he lives in. He’s a SHEEPLE 🐑He fallows the crew & when one sheep goes over the cliff, he’s right behind them and doesn’t care 🤣🤣🤣 You can’t talk to someone who DOESN’T CARE.

        2. Shawn

          Josh, you’re an idiot

  13. Crystal

    I had the platinum annual pass and couldn’t get into any park unless I bought a day pass. I complained to guest services but was told only x amount of passes could be purchased and only y amount of pass holders could enter. I would have to purchase a day pass and not be allowed to use my annual pass.
    My friends with lower passes and blockout dates could get in and I wasn’t able to join them. It was a real mistreatment to me and others that purchased platinum annual passes.

  14. DonB

    This is just another in your face money grab by the new Disney Gestapo led by Chapek. Ticket prices have soared with benefits eliminated.DVC perks , that were part of our decision to join , have been watered down to the point where we are questioning the value. We no longer recommend DVC to anyone. The food portions have been reduced. Having to get up at 7 to plan our day is unacceptable. I hope there are more lawsuits.

  15. EricJ

    I always kept saying that Genie+/Magic Key would blow up in Disney’s face like their Limited Edition DVD’s, and cause a last-second head-roll and re-strategizing, and this may be it:

    No, “class action lawsuits” are ridiculous fan tantrums–even if you “win”, the settlement will probably be divided into one free $10 Lightning Lane for everybody–but for those who remember how the LE DVD’s worked out:
    Disney advertised “Character artwork on disk” for their bare-boned releases, and people wrote into support asking where it was–Turns out it referred to a picture of the characters on the disk label (“on disk”, get it?), but that didn’t stop dimmer parents from sending their disks back as “defective”. Once that got laughs in the press, angry Disney fans joined in, sending theirs back for the sake of sarcasm, and Disney was faced with massive product recall.

    Fan complaints are one thing, but when complaints DIRECTLY hit them in the short-term pocketbook (ie., not long-term “boycotts”), that’s when things start getting complicated for the boardroom, and they start changing game plans.

  16. Al

    Karens gonna Karen, Yo. Running to the lawyer has now replaced “I need to speak to your manager”. It would be interesting to see if you inquired with Disney first if there was a honest mistake before calling her lawyer.

    1. EricJ

      Oh, fanboy “class action suits” LONG predate the Karen era–
      It started back in the late 90’s, when “Online petitions” were starting to be laughed off, and then DVD fans tried suing MGM for not offering proper screen ratio, and mail-Netflix for “holding out” on select customers.

      It’s the Second Fanboy Tantrum strategy, for fans who are aware enough to know that nobody takes Change-dot-Org seriously.

      1. Ken

        Try 1100s, not the 90s.

  17. Barb

    If Disney doesn’t wake up and kick Paychek’s a$$ to the curb the parks are likely to go downhill. They’ve made it a nightmare to even get into the parks. Let’s get back to basics, but a ticket and enter the park! I’d rather be in the park elbow to elbow with others than to have to plan my every move. The magic has gone!!!

    1. Barb

      Sorry, should say buy a ticket.

  18. Cory

    It is clear so few passholders, and commenters here, have read the terms and conditions, or taken a business class.
    It states “based upon availability”. If they opened it to only passholders, the passholders would block everyone else. Disney does not make money on passholders, as opposed to resorts and day passes.
    Being unable to get in during the holidays at your whim? Plan ahead. A true fan knows the parks will be busy.

    1. John

      In other words the new annual pass model is not what it used to be and, IMO, it was already too expensive without all the new restrictions. People should just not purchase these ripoffs.

    2. Ken

      Bingo. Well said

  19. John

    Do yourself a favor and spend your money elsewhere. Sad to say but It’s just not worth it anymore.

  20. Chris

    Disney has been doing some shady business lately.

  21. DLand

    WooHoo 🥳🎉🥳🎉🥳🎉 Socket to em, Everybody in the lawsuit. I wish I could join them, but I couldn’t afford there OUTRAGEOUS prices this year & I won’t pay for NONSENSE like this any longer. I worked for Disneyland when we opened California Adventure back in 2001-2007 and they treated there Cast Members like garbage 🗑 I got pneumonia while working for THEM in THERE FOOD DEPT. and was “SEPARATED” (Disney’s way of Firing you) from the company the day after I got out of the hospital. Shocked EVERYBODY in my Department because I had not done anything wrong. Just the opposite. I won awards for Safety, Hospitality and for several other things, but they tried to shred my character. It didn’t work, but Disney still won with there False/Lies about me. Even one of my bosses in my dept quit after he saw how they treated me. Disney DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ANYBODY. JUST THERE POCKETS!!!,

  22. Connie Hernandez

    How do I jump in this lawsuit?!? It is absolutely correct what she is saying.

  23. Ken

    Seems like people need to read their contracts

  24. Tiffany

    As a top tier pass holder I had to purchase hotel rooms that I didn’t even need(we rented a home) just so that I could make reservations to get into the parks. 100% not fair.

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  26. Trish Kelly

    When Disneyland opened, parking was twenty-five cents. Walt said that he did not want to gouge people for parking. Too, he was chagrined to find that there was a ten cent fee to use toilets, a practice he immediately stopped.

    As a memorial to his spirit and vast contribution to Disneyland, a small lamp is lit in the window of Walt’s apartment over the fire station on Main Street. I used to think that Disneyland having soul differentiates it from Disney World that has none.

    Perhaps it is time to extinguish that light, for corporate greed has long ago censured the love and magic that was once Disneyland and replaced it with so many, grinning, unfeeling, plastic facades.

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