Disney Issues Statement In Response To New Lawsuit
Yesterday, Mickey Blog reported that a couple of unhappy Walt Disney World Annual Passholders are suing Disney over its reservation policy. Now, Disney has issued a statement in response to the new lawsuit.
New Lawsuit
The suit was filed by two Annual Passholders from Florida, one from Orange County, and one from Palm Beach County. Their complaint lies with Walt Disney World‘s Park reservation policy.
The duo claims that Disney treats Passholders unfairly when it comes to booking a visit to the Parks. Each and every Annual Passholder is required to make reservations before they visit Disney World, no matter what type of pass they have.
The problem many Guests have encountered is that some days, reservations are completely booked. Although Passholders are unable to enter the Parks, Disney still makes room for single-day ticket purchases.
A quote from the lawsuit states, “Disney’s conduct is a predatory business practice, aimed at exploiting the customers who support it the most, its annual pass holders. Disney abused a global pandemic to take advantage of its own loyal customers and increase its revenue.”
According to Gabrielle Russon at FloridaPolitics.com, the Florida Passholders’ expected they’d be able to visit the Parks all year, without having to plan their trips. Obviously, this was not the case.
Photo: Disney Parks
Disney’s Response
Yesterday, when Mickey Blog published the news, neither Disney nor attorneys representing the Passholders had made any comments. But, last night at 7 p.m. Gabrielle Russon shared that Disney issued a statement in response to the lawsuit. It reads,
“Annual Passholders continue to be some of our biggest fans and most loyal guests. We’ve been upfront with Passholders about the updates we’ve made, and we offered them the flexibility to opt-in or opt-out of the program early in the pandemic, including refunds if they desired. This lawsuit mischaracterizes the program and its history, and we will respond further in court.”
At about 7 p.m. tonight, #Disney issued this statement in response to the lawsuit I wrote about. https://t.co/upu3jJGlsq @Fla_Pol pic.twitter.com/u1SIwASk5h
— Gabrielle Russon (@GabrielleRusson) October 19, 2022
It’s nice to hear Disney acknowledge that Park regulars, aka Annual Passholders, are some of their most loyal Guests. Although the reservation system has not been well received, it seems Disney feels they have been forthright when it comes to its policies.
Mickey Blog will continue to update you as more information is released about this story. We’ll see if the attorneys will respond to requests for a comment, now that Disney has issued a statement in response to the new lawsuit.
