Does Disney Owe You Money? How to Claim a Part of the $9.5 Million 'Dream Key' Settlement Over 100,000 Disney customers could get a payment.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Disney began paying out a $9.5 million settlement on Friday.
- The settlement affects over a hundred thousand Disney customers who bought a Dream Key between August and October of 2021.
- They could get a check or digital payment for around $67.41 from Disney.
If you bought a Disney Dream Key pass from August 25 to October 25, 2021, you could receive part of a $9.5 million settlement.
Disney has settled a class action lawsuit filed in November 2021 in California district court over how it marketed its $1,400 Dream Key pass, a program that allows customers to pay a flat rate to go to Disneyland and California Adventures theme parks whenever they want throughout the year.
The settlement website shows that payments to qualified class members were sent either by check or through a digital payment on June 14.
Unless a class member excludes themselves from the settlement payout, they give up any right to sue Disney over the same claims in the lawsuit.
Disneyland. Photo by Barry King/WireImage
According to the plaintiff, Jenale Nielsen, Disney advertised the Dream Key Pass as a way to enter Disneyland without any restrictions. When she bought the pass and tried to make a reservation, however, she found that Disney had blocked out many days, including all weekends in November 2021.
"Given that Disney had advertised and promised that there would be no 'blockouts' for Dream Key holders, Ms. Nielsen was surprised," the filing stated.
Nielsen looked at Disney's website and found that it still had passes available for sale on the days it had barred Dream Pass holders, so the blocks weren't caused by tickets being sold out.
Related: A Fifth Walt Disney World Theme Park Could Be Coming Soon — Here's What We Know
The filing called the Dream Key a "second class ticket" to Disney's parks and said that Nielsen "was deceived by and relied upon" Disney's "false and deceptive advertising."
Locked Disneyland during the pandemic. Photo by Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images
Disney denied all of Nielsen's claims as well as any wrongdoing or liability.
Nielsen received $5,000 as part of the settlement and 100,000 others affected will receive around $67.41 from Disney.
For reference, a standard Disneyland theme park ticket starts at $96 to $194 per day.
Disney has now made changes to its Magic Key Pass advertising. The Dream Key is no longer available to purchase. In its place, the highest tier is now the Inspire Key, priced at $1,649 and labeled as subject to "applicable pass blockout dates."
The Magic Key calendar at the time of writing had availability open for almost all days in July, August, and September for Inspire Key holders.
