SeaWorld Annual Pass Settlement

A court authorized the Notice because you have the right to know about a proposed Settlement of this class action lawsuit and your rights and options before the Court decides whether to grant final approval to the Settlement. The Notice and this website explain the lawsuit, the Settlement, your legal rights, what Settlement benefits are available, who is eligible for them, and how to get them.

The Honorable Gregory Pollack of the San Diego County Superior Court (the “Court”) is overseeing this class action. The lawsuit is known as Lomeli and Blanco v. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc., et al., No. 37-2023-00008529-CU-BT-CTL (the “Lawsuit”). The person who filed this Lawsuit is called the Named Plaintiff, and the companies they sued, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc., and Sea World, LLC, are called the “Defendants” (or, simply, “SeaWorld”).

In a class action lawsuit, one or more people called a “representative plaintiff” or “named plaintiff” (in this Action, Daniel Blanco) sue on behalf of other people who may potentially have similar legal claims. All of these people are a class or class members. For purposes of this Settlement, one court will resolve the issues for all Settlement Class Members, except for those people who properly opt out of the Settlement Class, as explained below.

SeaWorld San Diego is a theme park and entertainment company. On SeaWorld San Diego’s website or mobile application (“app”), consumers can purchase Annual Passes to SeaWorld San Diego that automatically renew after the initial twelve-month commitment period ends, unless and until the consumer terminates (cancels) the Annual Pass.

Plaintiff Daniel Blanco (“Named Plaintiff”) brought this lawsuit individually and on behalf of a California class of consumers alleging that SeaWorld San Diego violated the requirements of California Business and Professions Code sections 17600-17606 regarding disclosure, affirmative consent to, and reminder of the automatic renewal terms and cancelation rights in connection with a customer’s purchase and renewal of Annual Passes. The Named Plaintiff asserted claims for injunctive relief and restitution under California Business and Professions Code section 17200 and section 17535 due to the Defendants’ alleged unfair competition and false advertising.

SeaWorld denies any wrongdoing and contends that it complied with all applicable laws. The Court has not made any determination as to which party is right and has not found that SeaWorld engaged in any wrongdoing or violated any laws. Instead, the Named Plaintiff and Defendants have agreed to a settlement to avoid the risk, cost, and time of continuing the lawsuit.

The Named Plaintiff has made legal claims against SeaWorld on behalf of themself and the Settlement Class, which is comprised of people who are similarly situated. SeaWorld denies that it has done anything wrong or violated any laws and admits no liability. The Court has not decided in favor of the Named Plaintiff or SeaWorld. Instead, both sides agreed to a settlement. This way, they avoid the cost of a trial, and the Settlement Class Members will receive relief now rather than years from now, if at all.

You are a Settlement Class Member if the following Settlement Class definition applies to you: all persons with a California home or billing address on file with Defendants who purchased one or more Annual Passes to SeaWorld San Diego using the SeaWorld San Diego website or mobile application on or after February 28, 2019, whose Annual Pass automatically renewed after the initial twelve-month commitment ended on or before February 28, 2025, and who did not receive a refund for the first auto-renewal charge.

Excluded from the Settlement Class are all employees of the Defendants, Plaintiffs’ counsel, and the judicial officers to whom this case is assigned.

Settlement Class Members will be identified through SeaWorld’s records.

If you are still not sure whether you are included, you can call the Settlement Administrator at 1-888-865-1770 for more information or review the Settlement documents found on the Important Documents page.

If the Court grants final approval and the Settlement becomes effective, SeaWorld will pay a settlement amount of $1.5 million. The Settlement Administrator will subtract from the settlement amount the settlement administration expenses, any service award to the Named Plaintiff, and any attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses awarded to Settlement Class Counsel as approved by the Court. The remaining amount, the Net Settlement Amount, will be distributed on a pro rata basis (a legal term meaning equal share) to each Settlement Class Member who did not timely opt out of the Settlement. The estimate of the total number of Settlement Class Members is 141,358.

A detailed description of the settlement benefits can be found in the Settlement Agreement, a copy of which is accessible by clicking here.

If Sea World’s records identify you as a Settlement Class Member and you do not timely opt out of the Settlement, you are a considered a “Participating Settlement Class Member.” If the Court grants final approval and the Settlement becomes effective, Participating Settlement Class Members will automatically receive a cash payment from the Settlement. Participating Settlement Class Members will be notified directly to select how they want to receive their payment, either as an electronic payment—such as Venmo, direct deposit/ACH, PayPal, or another electronic method the Settlement Administrator deems effective—or as a paper check.

To receive a paper check as a Participating Settlement Class Member, you will be required to provide the Settlement Administrator with a mailing address. If no payment selection is made, Participating Settlement Class Members will be issued an electronic MasterCard. Where a Participating Settlement Class Member elects to receive payment in the form of a paper check, that Participating Settlement Class Member will have sixty (60) days from when the check is mailed to cash the check.

You do not need to take any action now to receive a payment. If the Court grants final approval and the Settlement becomes effective, cash payments will be issued to Participating Settlement Class Members. The court will hold a Fairness Hearing to decide whether to give final approval to the Settlement. Even if the Court gives final approval of the Settlement, there may be appeals. It is always uncertain when any appeals will be resolved, and resolving them can take time, perhaps more than a year. You can check on the progress of the lawsuit on this website. The Settlement will become final when the Court has given final approval and all appeals have been resolved in favor of the Settlement, or the time to file appeals has passed (the “Final Settlement Date”). Within sixty (60) days after the Final Settlement Date, the Settlement Administrator will email Participating Settlement Class Members a link to the election portal, which will allow Participating Settlement Class Members thirty (30) days to make a payment election. Please be patient.

The Court has ordered that Parasmo Lieberman Law; Broslavsky & Weinman, LLP; and Preston Law Offices (“Settlement Class Counsel”) will represent the interests of all Settlement Class Members. These lawyers will be paid from the $1.5 million settlement amount. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

Settlement Class Counsel will request up to $500,000 for their attorneys’ fees, which is 33 1/3% of the $1.5 million settlement amount, in addition to up to $20,000 to reimburse Settlement Class Counsel for costs and expenses incurred in connection with the Lawsuit. The Court will make the final decision as to the amounts to be paid to Settlement Class Counsel. The amount that the Court awards will be paid out of the $1.5 million settlement amount.

The Named Plaintiff will request a service award of up to $10,000 for their services as class representative and efforts in bringing the Lawsuit. The Court will make the final decision as to any amount to be paid to the Named Plaintiff.

If the Court approves the Settlement and it becomes final, unless you opt out of the Settlement as described below, you will remain in the Settlement Class and all of the Court’s orders and judgments will apply to you and legally bind you. You will release your legal claims against Defendants that are released by the Settlement Agreement.

This generally means that you will not be able to file a lawsuit, continue a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Defendants for claims that were or reasonably could have been asserted based on the factual allegations in the operative complaint, relating to or arising out of the automatic renewal and/or cancellation of Annual Passes purchased through the SeaWorld San Diego website or mobile application which were automatically renewed by the Defendants during the Settlement Class Period, including federal claims.

The Settlement Agreement, available here, contains the full terms of the release in section 4.3 in necessary legal terminology. Please read this section carefully.

You may opt out of the Settlement Class and the Settlement. If you want to opt out, you must email or mail the Settlement Administrator a Request for Exclusion stating the following:

1. The name and case number of the lawsuit, “Lomeli and Blanco v. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc., No. 37-2023-00008529-CU-BT-CTL”
2. Your full name, address, email address, and telephone number; and
3. A statement that you do not wish to participate in the Settlement

The Request for Exclusion must be sent to the Settlement Administrator at the following address, postmarked or emailed by July 22, 2025:

Sea World San Diego Annual Pass Litigation
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 2377
Portland, OR 97208-2377
info@SeaWorldAnnualPassSettlement.com

You cannot exclude yourself by telephone, and you cannot opt out on behalf of anyone else.

You may not request to opt out of the Settlement Class through “mass” or “class” opt-outs, meaning that each person who seeks to opt out must send an individual, separate request to the Settlement Administrator that complies with all requirements listed above.

If you timely opt out, you will be excluded from the Settlement Class, you will not receive a cash payment, you will not be bound by the judgment entered in the lawsuit, and you will not be precluded from bringing or continuing any timely, individual lawsuit regarding the legal claims in this lawsuit. If you opt out of the Settlement, you cannot object to the Settlement since you will no longer be a Settlement Class Member.

If you are a Settlement Class Member, you may object to the fairness, reasonableness, or adequacy of the Settlement Agreement, or to the request for attorneys’ fees and costs or the service award.

To object, you must file a written objection with the Court by July 31, 2025, and email or mail a copy of the objection to Class Counsel, Defendants’ Counsel, and the Settlement Administrator, postmarked or emailed by July 31, 2025, to the following addresses:

Your written objection must include the following:

1. The name and case number of the lawsuit, “Lomeli and Blanco v. SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, Inc., No. 37-2023-00008529-CU-BT-CTL”
2. Your full name, address, email address, and telephone number
3. The words “Notice of Objection” or “Formal Objection”
4. All grounds for the objection, accompanied by any legal and factual support for the objection
5. The identity of all lawyers representing you who will appear at the Fairness Hearing, if any
6. The identification of any other objections you have filed, or which have been filed on your behalf, in any other class action cases in the last five years
7. A statement confirming whether you intend to personally appear and/or testify at the Fairness Hearing and, if so, indicating this on your objection under a heading of “Notice of Intent to Appear” and
8. Your signature on the written objection (an attorney’s signature shall not be deemed sufficient)

Any person who submits an objection will be subject to the Court’s jurisdiction (meaning the Court’s authority to handle the objection) and venue with respect to their objection and the Settlement and may be subject to discovery (a legal term that means collecting information) by the Parties. You may (but do not need to) mail your objection through your own lawyer. If you make your objection through your own lawyer, you will be responsible for your personal attorney’s fees and costs.

If you do not timely file an objection, you will be deemed to have waived all of your objections, and you will not be entitled to speak at the Fairness Hearing.

If you mail a written objection, you may appear at the Fairness Hearing, either in person or through your own lawyer, hired at your expense, to object to the Settlement Agreement. You are not required to appear if you do not want to appear. If you or your lawyer intend to make an appearance at the Fairness Hearing, you must include in your objection a statement that you (or your lawyer) want to appear and speak under the heading of “Notice of Intent to Appear.”

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you do not want the Court to approve the Settlement. You can object only if you stay in the Settlement Class. Opting out is telling the Court that you do not want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you opt out, you cannot object because the Settlement no longer affects you. If you attempt to both object to and opt out of the Settlement, you will be deemed to have opted out and will give up the right to object to the Settlement.

The Court has preliminarily approved the Settlement and will hold a hearing, called the Fairness Hearing, to decide whether to give final approval to the Settlement. The purpose of the Fairness Hearing is for the Court to determine whether the Settlement should be approved as fair, reasonable, adequate, and in the best interests of the Settlement Class; to consider the award of attorneys’ fees and costs to Settlement Class Counsel; and to consider the request for a service award to the Representative Plaintiff. The Court may also hear objections at the Fairness Hearing.

On August 15, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., the Court will hold a hearing on the fairness of the proposed Settlement (the “Fairness Hearing”). At the Fairness Hearing, the Court will be available to hear any objections and arguments concerning the proposed Settlement’s fairness from Settlement Class Members who have timely submitted written objections and provided notice of their intent to appear. The hearing will take place before the Honorable Gregory Pollack of the San Diego County Superior Court, located at 330 West Broadway, Department 71, San Diego, California 92101.

The hearing may be postponed to a different date or time or location without notice. Please check this website for any updates about the Settlement, generally, or the Fairness Hearing, specifically. If the date or time of the Fairness Hearing changes, you will not be sent a notification of the change, but the change will be posted to this website.

At the Fairness Hearing, the Court will be available to hear any objections and arguments concerning the fairness of the Settlement from Settlement Class Members who have timely submitted written objections and Notices of Intent to Appear. You may attend the Fairness Hearing, but you do not have to attend. As described above, only Settlement Class Members who have timely filed an objection and included in their objection a statement that they (or their lawyer) intend to appear and speak at the Fairness Hearing under the heading of “Notice of Intent to Appear” may speak at the Fairness Hearing. If you opt out of the Settlement, you cannot speak at the Fairness Hearing.

It is your responsibility to provide updated information to the Settlement Administrator. You can contact the Settlement Administrator at the following address:

Sea World San Diego Annual Pass Litigation
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 2377
Portland, OR 97208-2377 info@SeaWorldAnnualPassSettlement.com

For more information, the Settlement Agreement; the Court’s Preliminary Approval Order; the motion for an award of fees, costs, and expenses to Settlement Class Counsel and a service award to the Named Plaintiff (once filed); and the Complaint filed in the lawsuit are or will be available on the Important Documents page of this website. Alternatively, you may contact the Settlement Administrator at the following address:

Sea World San Diego Annual Pass Litigation
Settlement Administrator
P.O. Box 2377
Portland, OR 97208-2377

This description of the lawsuit and the Settlement does not include details regarding all issues and legal proceedings that have occurred in the lawsuit. You can inspect the Court files at the office of the Clerk of the Court, located at 330 West Broadway, San Diego, California 92101, during business hours Monday through Friday, or via the Court's website at https://www.sdcourt.ca.gov/sdcourt/civil2 at your own expense. If you have questions about the Settlement, you may also contact Settlement Class Counsel using the contact information below:

DO NOT CONTACT THE CLERK OF THE COURT OR THE JUDGE FOR ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE SETTLEMENT OR THE LAWSUIT.