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A California couple says their retirement plans have been set back five years after losing a lawsuit against Disneyland (DIS)after being banned from the park’s exclusive Club 33.
From 2012 to 2017, Scott and Diana Anderson paid the club’s annual membership fee of $31,500 – although the fees were a drop in the bucket for the Disney fans. The Andersons, who are both 60 years old, estimate that they spent around $125,000 annually visiting the happiest place on earth, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Club 33 is an exclusive restaurant decorated with props from Disney films, original animated films and Art Nouveau design elements. The Andersons were on a waiting list for more than a decade before being admitted to Club 33.
The spell ended abruptly on September 3, 2017, when Scott Anderson was allegedly found by security guards showing signs of intoxication. The guards told jurors that not only was Anderson slurring his speech and barely able to stand, but his “breath smelled quite strongly of alcohol.”
The permanent ban followed an earlier suspension of Diana Anderson after she allegedly used foul language at Club 33.
The Andersons demanded a $10,500 refund from Disney for the four months in 2017 they paid for but were unable to use. They also demanded an additional $231,000, according to the Los Angeles Times. The couple lost their case but plans to appeal – despite mounting legal fees.
“I’ll sell a kidney,” Diana Anderson told the outlet. “I don’t care.”
The Andersons’ attorney, Sean Macias, did not dispute that Scott Anderson had been drinking that night, but argued that most of his symptoms were actually triggered by a co-occurring vestibular migraine. During the civil trial, Macias criticized the park for not conducting a breathalyzer test.
“You have not proven that Mr. Anderson was drunk,” Macias told the jury. “He does not want to be known as a drunkard.”
Disney’s attorney Jonathan E. Phillips told the jury that the Andersons were simply trying to avoid the consequences of Scott’s violation of the club’s rules against public drunkenness.
“[Scott] cost his wife of 40 years her lifelong dream of joining Club 33,” he said.
The legal battle not only cost Diana her dreams – Scott told the Los Angeles Times that the case cost the couple $400,000.
“My wife and I both firmly believe that this is absolutely wrong and we will fight this to the death,” he told the outlet. “There is no way we are going to let this go.”
This story originally appeared on Monday, September 9, on our sister site Quartz.
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