Dorney Park’s owner sued over reimbursements for virus-shortened season

CLEVELAND — A season pass holder Friday sued Cedar Fair, the owner of Dorney Park in South Whitehall Township, and a dozen other major theme parks, in a lawsuit that alleges the company failed to offer reimbursements for a season hindered by the pandemic.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo, Ohio, requests a class-action status to include residents who bought passes from all of the parks the Sandusky, Ohio, corporation owns.

Jonas Jacobson, an attorney whose firm brought the lawsuit, estimates that could include more than 2 million people. The company either canceled or reduced its seasons at all of its parks.

Season passes at all Cedar Fair parks including Dorney Park were extended through 2021, as well.

“Pass-holders paid for passes for the 2020 season, and Cedar Fair did not provide that,” Jacobson said. “So it needs to provide refunds for those who purchased the passes.”

Michael Russell, the corporate director of investor relations at Cedar Fair, said the company does not comment on litigation.

Monica Walker, a Washington state resident, brought the suit because she had purchased a season pass for Knott’s Berry Farm, a theme park near Anaheim, California. The park closed in March and has not reopened.

“[Walker] and millions of others bought season passes for the 2020 season,” the lawsuit said. “But in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was canceled at many parks and substantially shortened and restricted at the rest.

“Pass-holders did not receive what they paid for.”