(HorizonPost.com) – Checks in the $9.5 million settlement reached last fall in the class action lawsuit brought against Disney by Dream Key annual pass holders will begin showing up in the mail this month.
The over 100,000 people who purchased the nearly $1,400 annual Dream Key pass between August 25, 2021, and October 25, 2021, will be receiving just a fraction of what they paid for the annual pass under the settlement.
The class-action suit accused Disney of misleading customers into believing that the Dream Key annual pass had no blackout dates.
The lawsuit was initially filed in November 2021 by California woman Janale Nielsen who claimed that she only purchased the pass to Disneyland in Anaheim believing that it would allow her to make reservations for any day she wanted. However, in October 2021, when she tried to reserve dates for November, she was unable to do so.
The class action alleged that Disney was limiting the number of reservations Dream Key holders could make to increase the number of single-day passes available to other Disneyland guests.
In addition to annual admission to the park, a Dream Key pass also gave customers up to 15 percent off on some dining and another 20 percent off on some Disney merchandise.
In July 2023, the two parties agreed to avoid a trial by settling the lawsuit.
In the settlement eventually reached last September, Disney agreed to pay $9.5 million. Those in the class action were given until January 2024 to elect whether they wanted their cut of the settlement mailed in a check or paid electronically.
Each Dream Key annual pass holder in the lawsuit will be receiving only $67.41, either by check in the mail or electronically, starting this month. The checks will be mailed automatically to the last known addresses of the people in the class action.
Jenale Nielsen, the original plaintiff in the suit, will receive $5,000.
Under the agreement, Disney does not admit wrongdoing or liability.
The Dream Key annual pass has been discontinued.
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