Worst Disneyland Stories of 2024

Generally, when you hear the term “worst” linked with Disney, you brace for a bunch of unfair attacks.

Well, I’m happy to report that several of this year’s selections are odd rather than infuriating.

Here are the worst Disneyland stories of 2024. And yes, that Club 33 couple is on here.

Couple Banned from Club 33

Entitlement, thy name is.

Look, I’m generally very affable with the entire Disney community.

We all know we’re part of a large community of good human beings.

Of course, every rule has a few exceptions, and we’ll discuss four of them today.

You’re likely most familiar with the first duo because their story made national headlines…and for all the wrong reasons.

First, you should know what Club 33 is. Walt Disney himself had a hand in the creation of this exclusive club at Disneyland.

A few years ago, Walt Disney World added its own version, but Disneyland’s restaurant remains the original.

If you’ve ever wondered what lies beyond the velvet rope at The Happiest Place on Earth, this is the place. Celebrities hobnob here.

Membership has its privileges, but you must buy your way into the club.

Once you do, Disney expects you to honor a reasonable set of rules to maintain membership. You can see where I’m going with this.

One couple joined Club 33 many years ago. Over time, their behavior grew more and more outlandish.

Finally, after an alleged incident involving drunken shenanigans, Disney put its foot down, revoking the couple’s membership.

Most people would take that as a sure sign that they should change their ways and definitely demonstrate contrition.

This couple sued Disney. Correction: This couple has spent six figures suing Disney.

They keep losing in court, but they won’t stop. You can read the details here and their side of the story here.

Folks, I won’t sugarcoat it. This is what entitlement looks like.

Mother with Small Children Arrested at DCA

Perhaps the strangest Disney California Adventure story of the year involved a mother of two small children.

Some Disney fans lament the rising price of tickets at the various parks.

However, most of them do one of two things. They either vent and then grudgingly pay more, or they visit less often.

Then, we have this woman who shamelessly flaunted the rules by attempting to cheat the system.

She just lied about the age of her kids, pretending as if both were under the age of three years old.

When park security asked her to show proof that the kids were that young, the mother refused.

At this point, a grim series of events unfolded as police handcuffed the woman as her children cried.

In the process of trying to save a negligible amount of money, she wound up paying to get out of jail.

Disney actually would have allowed her to skip this if she had simply paid for her children’s admission. She refused.

We later learned that she had done this same thing several times in a matter of months. So, it’s the stubbornness that’s so weird.

Red Car Trolley Closure

Since Disney California Adventure experienced an overhaul in 2012, one visual has delighted guests with its throwback charm.

The Red Car Trolley reminds Disney fans of the olden days, even if few of us were around to experience them at the time.

This trolley feels oh so very California, albeit the northern part, as trolley cars remain a staple of San Francisco living to this day.

However, the Red Car Trolley seemed transported from another time, drawing inspiration from a St. Louis trolley line from the 1920s.

This particular visual never fails to bring a smile to the faces of DCA visitors, but it’s also never been super-popular during its 12 years.

As Disney California Adventure prepares for another theme park overhaul, management has decided to reclaim the space.

Earlier in 2024, we learned that the Red Car Trolley will close for good in February. It has reached the end of the road, which is sad.

Superfan Banned for Selling Sweethearts’ Nite Tickets on eBay

Everyone wants to make a quick buck, but we should all be smart when we try to do it.

Let’s say, for example, that we purchase something whose terms of service clearly state it’s not to be resold. You’d respect that, right?

Well, you’re one of the good ones, and not everyone is like you.

I know this because of an utterly absurd incident at Disneyland Park this past year.

An annual passholder decided not to go to the popular Sweethearts Nite event for which they’d purchased tickets.

So, this individual decided to sell them on eBay “for face value.”

I’m taking the person at their word on this last part. It was their public comment on what happened.

Disney took notice of this eBay listing and investigated. As fate would have it, the reseller was an annual passholder.

As you know, Disney asks guests to log into their accounts to make ticket purchases.

Disney had no problem figuring out whose tickets were up for sale on eBay, a practice the company has understandably discouraged.

Virtually every night of Disneyland After Dark sells out. The last thing Disney wants is fans buying tickets just to resell them.

So, Disney monitors sites like eBay for transactions just like this.

Sure enough, the annual passholder had their privileges revoked for the year.

While they aren’t banned for life, they did pay for an annual pass without using it for the full year.

That’s the opportunity cost for trying to cheat the system. Disney is acutely aware of the reseller problem and is taking steps to address it.

Disneyland Tech Difficulties

You lived through the trauma, so you know the deal here.

Disney suffered through yet another challenging tech year, with Disneyland seemingly bearing the brunt.

Perhaps the most egregious example involved presales for Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party.

Here’s what we said when everyone was in the weeds. When the tickets went on sale demand overwhelmed the system.

Would-be guests watched in impotent frustration as they made zero progress while waiting in line.

Disneyland’s less-than-helpful progress bar never moved. Eventually, park officials confirmed that they had halted sales.

Later, Disney restarted sales, but many irritated fans had bailed by this point. And they quickly regretted it.

Oogie Boogie Bash tickets fully sold out within ten days. So, anyone who tried to wait out the opening rush likely got shut out.

Lately, Disneyland has faced many examples of this sort of nonsense, virtually all of it caused by tech woes.

Passholder Struggles Lead to Settlement

Speaking of which, Disneyland fans have grown tired of the Magic Key game. It happens whenever tickets go on sale.

Seemingly every time Disney reopens annual pass sales, something disastrous occurs with the tech.

Then, we have the introduction of the new annual pass program itself.

When Disney implemented the Magic Key system, it quietly made a pandemic-related change.

Passholders needed to book Park Passes to enter Disneyland Resort’s theme parks.

Ostensibly, the annual passes should have taken care of that aspect, but Disney added the new Park Pass requirement.

People had already paid for their annual passes before Disneyland changed the rules. So, they sued…and they won!

In a strange turn of events, Disneyland Resort paid its annual passholders a cut of $9.5 million as an apology for the change.

Ordinarily, the customers pay Disneyland, not the other way around, but that’s just how bad Bob Chapek was at his job.

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