Disneyland excluded visitors with physical disabilities from the Anaheim theme park’s Disability Access Service that offers a line-skipping perk only to visitors with developmental disabilities, according to a new lawsuit.
The class action suit filed on Monday, Feb. 10 in Orange County Superior Court alleges Walt Disney Parks and Inspire Health Alliance discriminated against Disneyland visitors with physical disabilities.
The lawsuit focuses on changes made last summer to Disneyland’s Disability Access Service (DAS) that introduced a new screening process to reduce abuse of the program and limited assistance to theme park visitors with developmental disabilities like autism and other neurodivergent disorders.
“Disney’s screening process effectively excluded and tended to screen out individuals with physical disabilities whose conditions also prevented them from tolerating long waits,” according to the lawsuit.
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Disney officials said the claims in the class action lawsuit were without merit and that the updated DAS program is fair and working well to accommodate those guests for whom it was intended.
“Disney is committed to providing a great experience for all who visit our theme parks and particularly our guests with disabilities who may require special accommodations,” Disney officials said in a statement. “Disney offers a broad range of effective disability accommodations and has worked extensively with experts to ensure that our guests’ individual needs are properly matched with the accommodation they require.”
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The class action lawsuit asks the judge to require Disneyland to modify its DAS policies to include all people with disabilities and seeks statutory damages of no less than $4,000 per violation in addition to attorneys’ fees.
DAS use exploded in recent years in part because more people became aware of the service. Social media hacks exploited DAS as a free way to avoid paying for the Lightning Lane line-cutting service which led to misuse and abuses.
Disney rolled out the changes at Walt Disney World in May and Disneyland in June in an attempt to rein in the unwieldy Disability Access Service that has bogged down attraction queues and backed up Lightning Lanes as a result of a tripling in usage of the program.
At the time, Disneyland officials announced that all of the park’s accessibility options would not be available to all guests with disabilities and that a wide suite of options would offer solutions for everyone.
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The changes to DAS limited access to Disneyland visitors with developmental disabilities who were unable to wait in a conventional queue for an extended period of time. DAS visitors get a return time through the Disneyland mobile app comparable to the current standby wait time for an attraction.
As part of the changes, Disney announced plans to partner with Lake Forest-based Inspire Health Alliance to conduct pre-visit screenings of Disneyland visitors that asked about their life experiences but not their disabilities to determine if they were eligible for the updated DAS program.
The lawsuit alleges Disneyland employees along with nurse practitioners from Inspire Health Alliance gathered and evaluated sensitive medical information from disabled guests in public settings in violation of privacy and confidentiality laws.
Visitors who failed to qualify for DAS were directed to other options like Rider Switch passes, Stroller as a Wheelchair tags, Location Return Time passes for older non-ADA compliant queues, wheelchair transfer options, handheld devices for the visually impaired and sign language interpreters.
Disneyland’s alternatives to DAS access failed to provide equitable access and imposed undue burdens, logistical challenges, emotional distress and safety risks, according to the lawsuit.
The class action lawsuit was filed by Irvine-based McCune Law Group on behalf of Trisha Malone, of San Diego, who is physically disabled and was denied access to the Disneyland DAS program.
Disneyland visitors were coerced into signing class action lawsuit waivers before they could interview for the DAS accommodation, according to the legal filing.
