A federal judge has allowed the lawsuit against Disneyland for its Magic Key Holder program to move forward.
The lawsuit was filed by Janale Nielsen (both individually and on behalf of other Dream Key holders). The suit claims that Disneyland misled and deceived its annual pass holders.
Nielsen purchased a $1,399 Disneyland Dream Key annual pass with no blockout dates in September 2021, but was unable to make theme park reservations for certain dates in November 2021.
The $5 million lawsuit against Disneyland alleges that the park 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.
United States District Court Judge David Carter denied Disney’s motion to dismiss the Magic Key annual passholder case as it relates to breach of contract and the California consumer protection act.
“Plaintiff alleges that the term ‘no blockout dates’ is not defined in the advertisement but that she understood the term to mean that Dream Key Pass holders would not be blocked from making theme park reservations ‘whenever Disney was offering park reservations for entrance to the theme parks,’” according to the complaint. “She also understood the advertisement’s statement that ‘park reservations are subject to availability and are not guaranteed for any specific dates or park’ to mean that ‘if park reservations were available and being offered to the public, Dream Key holders could use their passes to make reservations for entry to the parks.’”
In answering the complaint, Disney admits it promised there would be no blockout dates for Dream Key pass holders, but denies Disneyland blocked out dates to Dream Key pass holders. They also admitted the phrase “blockout date” is not defined, but denies the phrase “no blockout dates” can be reasonably understood to mean Dream Key passholders can make reservations whenever Disneyland or Disney California Adventure offer theme park reservations.