GILBERT, Ariz. — A Gilbert couple spent $400,000 suing Disney after being banned from an exclusive club at the park called Club 33.
The park claimed the husband was drunk in public but he claimed he was having a medical episode. The couple sued and recently lost the case.
“My wife has loved Disney her whole life,” said Scott Anderson of Gilbert
“As any avid Disney person... that would be your dream, would be to be a member of Club 33,” his wife Diana Anderson said.
After saving up for 20 years and being on a waitlist for a decade, the Andersons got an invitation to join Disney’s exclusive Club 33 in 2012.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Una pareja de Arizona gastó miles de dólares en una membresía exclusiva para un club de Disney y presentó una demanda cuando se las quitaron
“It’s like four times as much money as we thought it was going to be, and it was like 'okay great', but you know, this is our world at this point,” Scott Anderson said.
It was pricey.
“$10,000 back when we first joined,” Scott Anderson said. “Today, that membership is $32,000.”
But well worth it in their eyes.
“We had just tons of amazing experiences,” Scott Anderson said. “We had dinner inside the Haunted Mansion."
“You have so many benefits,” Diana Anderson said.
It quickly became a place where they took family, friends and employees. The couple was spending nearly $125,000 a year on Disney fun.
But that all ended in 2017 when Disney revoked their membership from the private club after an allegation that Scott Anderson was drunk in public.
“I had two beers and a half a glass of wine,” Scott Anderson said.
A security guard reportedly testified in court that they found him near the entrance of California Adventure displaying signs of what they took to be intoxication and the club swiftly ousted them.
However, according to Scott, Disney made the decision without results from a breathalyzer or blood test and did not have any videos of his behavior.
He believes the symptoms were caused by a medical condition triggered by red wine among the drinks he consumed that day.
“He absolutely was not drunk,” Diana Anderson said.
“I wasn’t found to be drunk in the park,” Scott Anderson said. “I had a vestibular migraine in the park, which was horrific.”
Since then, they’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to get their membership back.
Fast forward to last week, an Orange County jury rejected their claim that Disney ousted them improperly.
“My head just went down,” Scott Anderson said.
The days of Disney VIP experiences and exclusive lounges were over.
According to the Los Angeles Times, an attorney representing Disney said “Club 33 membership guidelines forbid public intoxication… they did not want to pay the consequences of failing to follow the rules.”
The Andersons believe Club 33 targeted them for retaliation because they had complained about a club member harassing other members and staff.
“They targeted us for that,” Scott Anderson said. “They wanted us out.”
But the Superior Court Judge curtailed that line of evidence.
“We were trying to protect the staff and members and members’ guests,” Diana Anderson said. “Instead, I got terminated.”
After spending $400,000 on the lawsuit, Scott Anderson said the case isn’t over.
“We are going to continue the fight,” he said.
12News reached out to Disneyland public relations and media relations for comment. We are still waiting to hear back.
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