Now Reading: Florida Bans 72,000 Disney World Guests From Buying Tickets With Welfare Money
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Florida Bans 72,000 Disney World Guests From Buying Tickets With Welfare Money
Florida Bans 72,000 Disney World Guests From Buying Tickets With Welfare Money
The news of Disney World’s new rides and attractions coming soon will undoubtedly excite visitors, but those who are Florida residents may be blocked from attending if they’re on welfare. Americans who receive certain welfare benefits in Florida are facing new restrictions on how they’re allowed to spend their cash, including a ban on using the money for theme park admission.
That means the affected welfare recipients, totaling approximately 72,000 Americans in Florida, are no longer permitted to purchase Disney World tickets, among other “inappropriate” items, according to Governor Ron DeSantis. Florida is the first in the United States to implement such controls amid increased concerns that welfare is being used to fund non-essential “luxury” goods and services. Opinions on the change seem divided; some say welfare recipients still have a right to “fun,” while others say their taxes shouldn’t fund luxury theme park visits.
Florida Is The First State To Ban Disney World Tickets For Welfare Recipients
According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida is the first U.S. state to amend its Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) plan to block Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) welfare funds from being used on a range of non-essential items and “inappropriate” luxury services. Families’ money is loaded onto EBT cards, which are intended to cover basic expenses and essentials, such as housing, utilities, food, household items, and personal care.
Florida already prohibits alcohol, gambling, casino transactions, and adult entertainment purchases on EBT cards. But now, the new policy expands the existing restrictions to more goods and services at eligible retailers, including theme park admission, which Disney World tickets fall under.
“Taxpayer-funded assistance should help families put food on the table, keep the lights on, purchase clothing, provide for their children and overcome barriers on the path toward independence,” DeSantis said, citing that welfare shouldn’t be used for luxuries, including theme parks.
“Florida has become the first in the nation to set guardrails on our TANF State Plan to stop these taxpayer-funded benefits from being used to purchase inappropriate, luxury, and non-essential goods and services,” Governor Ron DeSantis said in an August 24 news release.
He added: “We will continue supporting Floridians who genuinely need assistance, while working to improve accountability and transparency so that these programs operate as intended.”
“Temporary Cash Assistance is designed to provide families with flexibility during times of need, and these commonsense changes preserve that flexibility while strengthening the integrity of the program,” said DCF Interim Secretary Kate Williams.
On average, families in Florida are paid around $235 per month in TANF benefits. The maximum for a family of three is $303 per month. 63% of the around 72,000 recipients are children, according to data shared by Congress in February 2024.
TANF Recipients In Florida (2024) | Total |
Families: | 35,095 |
Adults: | 26,698 |
Children: | 45,486 |
Total Recipients: | 72,184 |
”Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, Florida continues to ensure government assistance serves as a bridge to greater stability and independence while safeguarding taxpayer resources,” Williams added. In addition to theme park tickets, the new restrictions ban TCA-receiving families from purchasing:
- Tobacco, nicotine and vaping products
- Drugs and intoxicants
- Video games and entertainment subscriptions
- Tattoos, spa services, tanning, and other luxury services
- Psychic and fortune-telling services
Meanwhile, Florida’s new spending rules for welfare recipients have divided opinions on social media, particularly when it comes to the ban on Disney World admission. Florida also uses TANF funding for its Relative Caregiver Program, a type of benefit that supports relatives who care for over 4,000 children across the state. Essentially, those families are now locked out of going to Disney World unless they pay for it themselves.
Florida’s New Welfare Rules For Theme Park Tickets Have Divided Opinions
TheTravel read through hundreds of comments about Florida’s new ban on welfare-funded theme park tickets across various social media platforms. The wider sentiment is very much divided, although the majority seemingly supports DeSantis’ ruling. On one hand, some of those against it say that it’s unfair because even people on government assistance still have the right to fun and enjoyment of life.
“And does this mean you’re not allowed to have any fun while receiving welfare?” one reader wrote in the comments of an article by The Sun.
The opposition also follows concerns that Disney parks are becoming too expensive for low-income and middle-class families (many of whom receive welfare), which even worried park executives, the Wall Street Journal revealed. The Walt Disney Company’s previous CEO, Rob Iger, also addressed the concerns in March 2025.
In contrast, many appear to be in favor of Florida’s new welfare rules banning theme park ticket purchases, believing that taxpayer-funded welfare payments shouldn’t be used for luxuries and non-essentials.
“If you don’t want me telling you what you can and can’t buy, use your own money. The minute you start spending my money I should have a say,” one taxpayer wrote on a news report by The Hill. Another added that “Welfare isn’t meant to be [spent] on ‘fun’ items.”
The “necessities only” message continued overwhelmingly in online discussions: “Welfare should be to keep you alive. That’s all. A roof over your head, basic utilities, and enough food you don’t starve. The rest is up to you. I cannot believe that taxpayers were ever paying for that stuff,” one person said.
“Wait, people were actually using welfare cash for theme park tickets? Yeah, definitely time for a boundary,” one person wrote on a post by Fox News. “I’m shocked all these items weren’t already excluded from welfare funds,” another added. Although people who receive disability payments are unaffected by DeSantis’ rule change, Disney World has clamped down on its own disability perk.
Floridians On Disability Are Unaffected — But Disney World Has Tightened Its Own Rules
Disney World guests who receive disability payments, such as Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income, are unaffected by the state’s new rule because the Social Security Administration administers the funds from other federal programs, not Florida’s TCA welfare program. The new blocks only affect Florida’s welfare EBT cash assistance cards, not standard federal disability benefits.
Furthermore, Disney World remains disability-friendly, specifically offering its Disability Access Service (DAS) pass, which allows guests to skip lines. However, the company has clamped down on visitors seeking the pass in recent months. Disney previously pointed out that its DAS program, which launched in 2013, needed adjustments after usage grew from 5% to 20% over 12 years and “kept rising.”
As a result, fearing misuse, the company introduced a new policy that bars guests from all parks if they’re caught lying in DAS pass interviews. “If it is determined that any of the statements a Guest made in the process of obtaining DAS are not true, the Guest will be permanently barred from entering Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort,” Disney’s DAS page says.
The company also warned that any “previously purchased Annual Passes, Magic Key passes, tickets and other park products and services will be forfeited and not refunded.”
Similar to Florida’s new rule for welfare spending, the decision also sparked mixed reactions back then. “They are making a determination about whether you’re disabled enough,” Shannon Bonadurer, a professional travel advisor from Michigan, told the Associated Press. Despite her ileostomy, she was denied a DAS pass, as was her blind and disabled 25-year-old son.
“I would love to wait in line with everyone else, and so would my son, since that would mean he has a normal life. But we don’t, and unfortunately for us, we need adaptations to how we wait.”
On the other hand, some people made their support for Disney World’s heightened scrutiny clear. “The abuse by ‘private guided tour groups’ off site vendors’ have ruined yet another ploy for line jumping […] Here we get ‘cheaters’ who claim handicaps and other issues to get a free pass. Time for it to stop totally […] too bad so many have abused it like so many other things in life,” a reader told TheTravel.
Although Disney itself has enforced stricter measures regarding who can obtain a DAS pass, Florida hasn’t extended its crackdown to disability welfare users. Being prohibited from purchasing Disney World tickets currently doesn’t apply to those on any disability welfare programs, who are still free to spend their money on the “Happiest Place in the World.”
