UPDATE September 11 2023 – It has been a long time coming but according to an article posted to sfgate.com, the long running lawsuit which was originally filed by Disney Dream Key Passholder, Jenale Nielsen back in November 2021 in Orange County Superior Court in Southern California, has finally got preliminary approval of the class-action settlement.
The law suit was filed over alleged false advertising of the Disneyland Dream Key which claimed it had “no blockout dates” but all weekend days in November 2021 were indeed blocked out.
The complaint also made reference to another number of times when Ms. Neilsen was unable to make reservations for park entry saying, “It was misleading and fraudulent for Disney to sell passes that were advertised as having no blockout dates and not inform Ms. Nielsen and other consumers that Disney was reserving the right to make park reservations ‘unavailable’ whenever it wanted and even when park reservations are and were actually available,”
It has been outlined in the preliminary approval of the class-action settlement, that “All persons who purchased a Dream Key” are eligible for compensation, estimated to be about 103,000 people. The $9.5 million which is almost double the $5 million which was originally sought by Nielsen, will be split equally among former eligible Dream Key passholders which works out at approximately $67 per person. Eligible Dream Key Passholders will be contacted via email for the compensation to be paid.
As outlined in the article, Nielsen is looking to secure attorney’s fees and an additional $5000 for herself. These details will be finalised in court on October 16, 2023.
May 17 2022 – The lawsuit which was originally filed back in November 2021 by Disney Dream Key Passholder Jenale Nielsen in Orange County Superior Court in Southern California, appears to be gaining traction and is now pushing for class action.
The $5 million suit filed on behalf of all Magic Key annual passholders, alleges that Disney artificially limited Magic Key reservations and the number of passholders that could visit on each day which was false advertising based on the “no blockout” day policy for the $1399 Dream Key.
Nielsen purchased the $1,399 Dream Key for Disneyland Resort in September but was unable to make any theme park reservations for certain dates in November 2021.
“[The] 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. 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.”
The discrepancy appears to be the fact that reservations were allegedly available for the public but were not available for Magic Key passholders on these dates which goes against the “no blockout” policy and made them out to be “second class” ticket holders.
As can be seen by this article, Disney admits it promised there wouldn’t be any blockout dates for Dream Key pass holders but deny that they blocked out dates to them.
Currently, the Dream Key lawsuit is proceeding after United States District Court Judge David Carter, denied Disney’s motion to dismiss it. The case is being allowed to continue as it falls under breach of contract and fails under the California consumer protection act.
However, Disney’s dismissal motions relating to claims of false advertising, negligent misrepresentation, legal disclosure, as well as unfair competition have been granted.
Nielsen’s attorneys are pushing to have the case certified as a class action by U.S District Court. This $5 million law suit is definitely gaining traction and we will have to wait and see if the class action is granted.
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