Disney has been in the middle of a number of lawsuits lately, but one important court case could be ending soon.

One of the lawsuits that had been filed against Disney (a while ago) was a $5 MILLION(!) case surrounding Magic Key Passes (essentially Disneyland’s version of Annual Passes) and their interaction with Theme Park Reservations. The lawsuit alleged that Disneyland “deceived its most loyal fan base by artificially limiting theme park capacity and blocking passholders with ‘no blockout’ annual passes from making reservations.” But now, it seems that case could be coming to an end.

Basics of the Lawsuit

Let’s go over the basics of the lawsuit quickly. The case was mainly about the Disneyland Dream Key which was said to have no blockout dates. Disneyland has been requiring guests to make Park Reservations to enter the parks though, and those can run out.

The Plaintiff argued that Disney “relegated them to ‘second class’ ticket holders by artificially limiting Magic Key reservations and the number of passholders that can visit on any given day.”

Among other things, they claimed that Disneyland was setting aside LESS Park Reservations for Magic Key Holders than single-day park guests, leading to more sold-out days for Passholders. The Plaintiff argued that there were days on which reservations were available for other guests (like single-day park guests), but not Passholders.

Disney filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but portions of the case — specifically claims made against Disney on breach of contract and the California Consumer Protection Act — were allowed to move forward. The case continued from there but it has now hit a crucial point.

Settlement

According to the court docket, on July 20th, 2023, a Notice of Settlement was filed by the parties. In the notice, Disney and the Plaintiff note that they attended an all-day, in-person mediation on the case before a judge on July 19th, 2023. It appears that the mediation session was very helpful!

The notice mentions that the parties “have agreed to a settlement in principle to resolve this action in its entirety on a classwide basis.” In other words, they’ve tentatively agreed to some settlement terms that could resolve the case.

But, things still need to be finalized. So, the parties have basically asked the court to pause all current deadlines and hearing dates in the case so that they can have until August 31st, 2023, to finalize the terms of the settlement agreement and have the Plaintiff request initial approval for the class-action settlement.

What Happens Next?

So, what happens now? Well…now we wait! If the judge enters the order, then things in the case will be paused until August 31st so Disney and the Plaintiff have time to iron out the settlement details. Then, the Plaintiff would move for preliminary approval of the settlement and things would move forward from there to get all of the approvals necessary so the case can “officially” be settled and finalized.

But the really interesting thing to watch out for is how this might influence the outcome of the similar Park Pass case that was filed by Disney World’s Annual Passholders.

That case is still pending in a Florida federal court (Middle District of Florida). The latest update there was from March of 2023. Earlier this year, Disney filed a motion to dismiss the Third Amended Complaint, and the Plaintiffs later entered a response.

That case was previously referred to mediation and a mediator had been selected by the parties. According to the Case Management and Scheduling Order, a mediation hearing must be completed by February 16th, 2024. So, it could still be quite some time before we hear any updates in terms of mediation for that case.

But, the arguments made in the Disney World Annual Passholder lawsuit are very similar to the ones made in the Magic Key lawsuit. In the Florida case, the Plaintiffs 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” thanks to the use of the Park Pass system. Sound familiar?

Of course, the Plaintiffs in the cases are different, so the mediation tactics and settlement terms that worked in the Magic Key case may NOT work in the Disney World Annual Passholder case. But still, the settlement in the Magic Key case could be a good indication that Disney is interested in settling these cases and might have a proposed plan ready to present.

For now, we’ll just have to watch for updates. Note that Park Pass requirements are changing for many guests in 2024 in Disney World, but Passholders WILL still be required to obtain Park Passes. However, Disney is planning to introduce “Good to Go Days” which will be days that Passholders will get to enter the parks WITHOUT a Park Pass reservation.

We’ll keep an eye out for more updates on these lawsuits and the others Disney is involved in at the moment, so stick around for more news.

Click here to learn about an important lawsuit where the Judge sided with Disney

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