Last July, the San Diego resident, Trisha Malone, requested a disability exemption in a stand on the outskirts of Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks.
The access service to disabled, or das, pass that I wanted would have allowed you to wait in lines that consume a lot of time for popular Disney trips.
Malone met with personnel representing Disney for his application interview. In that public environment, they requested private medical information from the disabled woman.
After a brief exchange, Malone was rejected, since his disability did not meet the new and stricter standards.
That denial was detailed in a collective action complaint of 32 Malone pages presented against Walt Disney Parks and Resorts along with the inspiration health Alliance in the Orange County Superior Court on Monday.
Malone's complaint states that Disney violated confidentiality and invaded his privacy, and violated the UNRUH Civil Rights Law and several Civil Rights Codes in California.
Women's lawyers claim in the complaint, the new standard of Das Pass “illegally excludes people with other disabilities.” The complaint did not provide any details about the plaintiff's disability.
He asks Disney to return to an earlier and less restrictive version of the DAS PASS application. It is also looking for legal damage, restitution and the cost of lawyer fees.
The McCune law group based in Ontario, which represents Malone, issued a statement in his name, saying that the case is about the people that the pass das must benefit.
“Disney has arbitrarily determined that a wide range of disabilities does not qualify as such under the 'Disabled Access Service' program,” said the statement by email. “The park cannot provide a 'great experience for all', while its DAS program continues to attack and marginalize those who intend to support and protect.”
A Disney spokesman who asked not to be appointed said that the park strives to provide great experience for its disabled visitors.
“Disney offers a wide range of effective disability accommodations and has worked hard with experts to ensure that the individual needs of our guests are appropriate with the accommodation they require, and we believe that the statements in this complaint have no merit,” said the spokesman .
Disney's pass is not a license to jump. Rather, it provides a return time for a return time for an attraction, where they will be placed in line with those who have paid for express access or lightning.
In April, Disney announced that I was changing the qualifications. The new wording observed That the program, then the most popular in the park, intended to accommodate those guests who, due to a disability of development such as autism or similar, cannot wait in a conventional tail for a prolonged period of time. “
The changes came into force on May 20 at Disney World and June 18 in Disneyland.
Older standards They were much broaderFor guests “that have difficulty to tolerate extended waiting in a conventional tail environment due to disability.”
Disney said that as a result of that language, the use of the program tripled between 2019 and 2024.
However, it is these previous standards that Malone is requesting.
Malone is demanding on behalf of several unidentified disabled clients who denied a day pass since June 18. Included Inspire Health Alliance, which the demand states that he provided nursing practitioners who collaborated with Disney personnel to determine the value of Das.
Malone's lawyers argue in the complaint that they require guests to undergo a detection process with eligibility criteria that disproportionately affect people with physical disabilities is contrary to the law of UNH of California and the law of American with disabilities with disabilities , or ada.
UNRUH prohibits discrimination For the companies of California based on age, ancestry, color, disability, national origin and a variety of other factors.
Disney has kept previous interviews with the times it offers Many accommodations for your disabled guests.
Those include a sensory experience guide to indicate which parts of the park have strong noises, darkness and potholes, what walks are fast and what they rise from the ground. Disney also offers sign language interpreters, wheelchair and scooter chairs rentals, assistance subtitles and subtitles on some trips, and dialogue and script narration in others.
As for Ride Waiting, Disney offers a “return to tail” process, which allows a party to take a place in line for a guest with disabilities. There are some other similar options, which include a “location return time” accommodation that is offered to wheelchairs.
Malone's lawyers said these adaptations “could not provide equitable access and imposed undue loads, logistics challenges, emotional anguish and security risks.”
