UPDATE 11/15/2023
Breaking News:
If you held a Dream Key when Disney resumed selling Magic Key annual passes, you may have received an email notifying you about a Class Action Settlement. Although the notice did not provide specific dates, it does include information about available options and links to update your personal address.
Continue reading for history and more details.
After almost two years, details of the proposed settlement in the Disneyland Magic Key lawsuit have been released, and Disney is going to pay out a huge sum!
UPDATE: After the details of the settlement were released, all of Disneyland’s Magic Keys suspended sales (all keys are currently available for renawals only). Coincidence? We think not. It’s very likely that changes and a price increase are on the way. Disney’s not just going to eat the loss of this settlement, they’ll find a way to pass it on to you, the consumer.
Before we get to the details, it’s important to briefly discuss what has happened so far.
Jenale Nielsen, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, purchased a Disneyland Dream Key and was unable make reservations as often as she expected to be able to. The main crux of her argument is about the meaning of “no blockout dates”. Disneyland advertised that the Dream Key had “no blockout dates”, but Dream Key holders could not make reservations on some days even though reservations were still available for guests with single-day and multi-day tickets. Her understanding of “no blockout dates” meant that she would be able to make a reservation any day of the year when reservations were still available because the park was not at capacity.
The lawsuit was originally filed in Orange County, California Superior Court. Disney had the lawsuit moved to federal court because of the requested settlement amount and the fact that potential class members would reside in multiple jurisdictions.
The lawsuit originally made several claims, but the two that survived Disney’s legal challenges were regarding breach of contract and violations of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act which “prohibits unfair or deceptive practices in connection with the sale of goods or services to a consumer.” The lawsuit also sought class action certification.
Disneyland stopped selling Magic Keys shortly after the lawsuit was filed. When sales resumed the Dream Key was no longer available for purchase. A new Magic Key, the Inspire Key, replaced it. The Inspire Key was clearly advertised to have blockout dates (for about two weeks around Christmas and New Year’s Day). The Magic Key terms and conditions were also heavily modified to include the following, “Disney allocates daily park reservations among Passes and daily theme park tickets, and therefore makes available to those Passholders eligible to make reservations for a particular day only a portion of the total park reservation capacity. A Pass therefore does not guarantee park entry, even on dates when a Pass is not blocked out and even when a theme park is not at capacity.”
Although The Walt Disney Company has denied any wrongdoing, a motion was filed on July 20th notifying the court that a settlement had been reached, but more time was needed to finalize the details. The original deadline to submit the proposed settlement details was August 31st, but that was extended to September 7th.
The proposed settlement amount for Class Members, all people who purchased Dream Keys, is $67.41. No form is required to be filled out if you accept the settlement. You will be contacted by a third party company with details on how to receive the payment. You only need to take action if you want to exclude yourself from the settlement or if you want to object.
Please remember that the approval process can take months or years. It’s not likely that you will receive any money any time soon.
If you do the math, you can estimate that there were about 107,736 people who purchased Dream Keys. If there are 1 million people who have Magic Keys (a widely-accepted estimate), we now know that about 10 percent purchased the highest level. I think we can infer that there are about the same number of people who currently have the Inspire Key.
We will have more information and an in-depth review soon.
Please let us know what you think in the comment section. Please keep it civil. 🙂