In the past few years getting tickets for popular Disneyland events, like Oogie Boogie Bash or Disneyland After Dark nights, has become increasingly difficult. Disneyland is more popular than ever and these ticketed events are a hit with locals and tourists alike.
In the past two years Oogie Boogie Bash tickets sold out immediately within their designated ‘sale windows' provided by Disney leaving many guests coming up empty handed for tickets. When guests are desperate for tickets, they might turn to eBay or other resale sites to try and get access to an event. However, reselling event tickets goes against Disneyland's ticket policies.
That brings us to the story of a Magic Key holder who was recently BANNED from Disneyland because Disney found out he sold Sweethearts Nite tickets on eBay. Let's get into the details of Disneyland's policies on reselling tickets and this surprising consequence for those that are caught in the act!
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Disneyland Special Event Ticket Policy
If you look at the fine print for any of the currently available Disneyland After Dark tickets, Disney clearly states “Tickets are non-refundable and may not be resold or transferred for commercial purposes.” This language has always been present for special event tickets. This is a way to help prevent scalpers from buying tickets in large amounts to turn around and sell for profit. Since tickets are already limited for ticket events, this is essential to prevent problems.
For Magic Key holders, Disney's name for the annual pass system, they are held to this policy as well. In fact the language in the Magic Key Terms & Conditions clearly states that Magic Key benefits cannot be used to “to obtain or purchase items or services with the intent to resell.” Since Magic Key holders receive discounts on special event tickets this is likely part of the language that Disneyland relies on to enforce consequences for annual passholders that may try to resell these tickets for a profit.
Aside from that, Disney also reserves the right to cancel, suspend or revoke any Magic Key pass at any time for any reason.
Magic Key Holder Banned for Reselling Tickets
Andrew Rich, a Magic Key holder from Washington, had his annual pass revoked after reselling Sweethearts Nite party tickets on eBay. Since he used his Magic Key account to purchase the tickets, and likely received a discount due to his Magic Key pass, his annual pass was revoked for a year.
Disneyland officials told the OC Register that “issues related to Magic Key policy are handled on a case by case basis” and that since Rich sold the tickets for “more than face value” this was in violation of the terms and conditions. Rich told the OC Register that after him and his wife became ill, they no longer could attend the event, and that's when he made the decision to sell the tickets on eBay.
It is unclear how Disneyland knew the tickets on eBay belonged to Rich. Disneyland officials disclosed to the OC Register that “an eagle-eyed Disneyland fan notified the park that Sweethearts’ Nite tickets were being resold on eBay and Rich immediately lost his annual pass privileges.”
Since the tickets would have to be transferred from Rich's Magic Key account to the new account purchasing the tickets, this would give it away. But only after the transfer took place and would not necessarily be clear from the eBay listing itself unless the listing disclosed his identity in some way.
Some Disneyland fans have long speculated that Disney monitors eBay themselves to track down those reselling tickets. If that's the case, it is possible they purchased the tickets to find out who the seller was. But that could be a stretch, it is really unknown how Disney connected these tickets to Rich specifically. But they are clearly aware and watchful when it comes to ticket resales on websites like eBay!
And this is what took Rich by surprise as he claimed he had no awareness of this policy and attempted to reach out to the Magic Key Review Board and Revocation Team to appeal the decision. He was unsuccessful and also learned he would not be receiving a refund for the “257 unused days on his revoked $1,099 Believe annual pass that he paid for in full.”
In the article Rich also shared that he attempted to reach out to Disney Parks Chairman Josh D'Amaro and Disneyland President Ken Potrock. Both supported the decision to ban the pass and didn't provide further comment to the OC Register.
If Magic Key holders have their pass revoked, they are not entitled to a refund if the pass was paid in full and are expected to continue making monthly payments if they are on a payment plan.
Should Disneyland Ban Guests Who Resell Tickets?
This is a tricky situation. It's no secret that resellers aren't popular so the first reaction from many might be vindication. We've all seen the footage of resellers leaving the parks with bags stuffed of merchandise to resell online. I'll never forget seeing the viral videos of resellers wiping out the Splash Mountain merchandise to sell online after we first got the announcement of the Tiana's Bayou Adventure retheme. We saw the eBay listings after Oogie Boogie Bash sold out in 2022 with event tickets listed for triple their original price.
But is this situation the same thing? It sounds like Rich was just trying to recoup his costs after realizing he could not attend the event. And since there are no refunds for special event tickets, the next logical step would be to sell them. If he truly did not know about the policy, it could easily be an honest mistake. Disney did highlight in their comment that these tickets were being sold for “more than face value” yet Rich described that he originally listed them at sale for “face value.” I imagine he listed them as an auction on eBay which could easily lead to a bidding war. Considering the demand for these event tickets, it is easy to imagine them selling for a higher price.
While it seems harsh, I do think Disney has a responsibility to all their guests to uphold these policies. Otherwise we're going to have a Taylor Swift concert ticket style nightmare as guests try to fight off scalpers to attend events. There needs to be enforcement of these policies otherwise there will be resellers trying to take advantage. Considering how popular Disney is these days, anything they can do to help improves the experience for all guests. And after sitting in the D23 queue for two days in a row fighting to get tickets and still coming up empty handed, I think the demand for Disney is just going to continue to grow.
If resellers know that Disney is watching, especially if they are lurking on eBay ready to pounce, then this is an effective way to prevent ticket scalping. Especially with Oogie Boogie Bash ticket sales likely just around the corner!
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This is an awful and genuinely heartless decision by Disney management that has caused us to rethink our own plans to restart purchasing annual passes and making regular visits to Disney following COVID. According to multiple news sources, the penalized family – in their fifties at the time of this incident – had been passholders for decades and were lifetime hardcore Disney fans. In other words – they’re JUST like us. They had just completed visits to the Disney parks on both sides of the nation, plus a Disney cruise, when they came down with COVID and could not attend the special event, so they listed the tickets for face value on EBay. This was clearly not a commercial endeavor. And you don’t treat longtime fans who have put tens of thousands of dollars into Disney this way. A first-time friendly warning would have sufficed. Walt would have FIRED a manager who would ban longtime fans for a year while pocketing every penny of their money for such a minor transgression. If there is any hope for Disney, the Board will unseat the entire management team that mindlessly stuck with this remedy and appoint people who remember what Disney is supposed to be. Otherwise it will be clear that Walt’s Disney is dead. We will be holding out on our purchase and future visits, and watching carefully.
Rules are rules. It doesn’t matter how long they were pass holders or why they had to miss the event. Things why you should ALWAYS read the fine print. I think it’s hilarious how you people all seem to think you know what “Walt would do”. This is a business. If they let one person get away with selling tickets then they open themselves up for lawsuits claiming discrimination for the next person that they ban. If you don’t want your passes revoked, don’t break the very clear and easy to understand rules.
Its pretty well known that special event tickets cannot be resold and when you become a magic pass holder, I’m sure you sign terms and conditions. I’m sure he acknowledged these terms but forgot about them. A year ban is disney actually being nice; they could have prevented him from ever becoming a pass holder again. I get that he was trying to recoup his money but if disney allows this, then scalpers will start taking over the sites.
Not so simple – What happens to people that are APs and also own something that is now considered a collectors item and it sells at auction for a million dollars? Does Disney go after them too? At what point does a purchased item become private property – and therefore allows the owner to do what they want with – including re-sell it?
Tickets to a special event are not the same as a souvenir bought at a store. Tickets have terms and conditions when you purchase them. This is nothing new. You are trying to compare apples to oranges. When you buy an item at a store, it’s yours. You own it and can sell it. There are no terms and conditions you must sign and agree to when purchasing that item. Tickets you literally have to agree to the terms and conditions to buy them. It is a contract.
We’re going to be Paris in June and I am trying to buy tickets to ascend the Eiffel Tower for two families, a party of six. Despite staying up til midnite two nights in a row and trying to buy tickets within seconds on two different dates, I was unable to secure tickets both times. The resellers beat me. Now I see the tickets available from resellers for three or four times the face value, lots of them, guaranteed passes to ascend because they snaked me on the buy.
Let’s all agree that resellers more often than not, suck, and derive a profit from regular folks who are less familiar with complicated systems. And since we don’t know what this particular Magic Key holder paid for his tickets, and how many, and what he listed and sold them for, that we don’t know if he also sucks. But Disney knows more than we do, and they made the decision they did. Can we trust Disney on this?