Disney offers discounted "youth group" pricing for its parks to nearly every kind of youth organization — public and private schools, scouting groups, sports teams, church youth groups, mentoring clubs, performing arts groups, and even college student organizations.

However, when our homeschool group applied — after meeting all the published requirements — we discovered Disney had a separate set of unpublished requirements that single out homeschoolers:

• Mandatory classes: Every homeschool group must enroll in a Disney-hosted class to “prove educational purpose.” Other groups can choose these classes, but they are optional. For homeschoolers, they are required. These classes are grade-segmented, capped in size, and spread across multiple parks, making participation exceedingly difficult for multi-age groups or families with children in different grades. To comply, parents would be forced to split their children across separate locations and leave them under the instruction of Disney staff — strangers. This runs directly against the core homeschool principle of parent involvement in education. Many families homeschool precisely to avoid turning their children’s education over to people they don’t know.
• Chaperone restrictions: Because of the class requirement, homeschool groups are effectively capped at one adult chaperone per ten students, while other youth groups qualify for student pricing so long as a majority are students. Homeschool groups naturally have more parent chaperones because of small class sizes and the fact that parents are the teachers. While we understand the need to limit adult chaperones, the standard should be consistent: if a group is majority student, it should qualify — just as it does for every other youth group.

When we offered to comply, Disney admitted they could not accommodate us — their rules made it unworkable for a K–12 homeschool group of our size. In effect, Disney has created barriers homeschoolers can’t reasonably clear, while welcoming every other type of youth group.

A Disney representative went further and said “homeschoolers are essentially families” who should pay full price. But every youth group is made up of students from families. And for every other kind of group, those families are allowed to attend at the youth rate. Singling homeschoolers out in this way is discrimination.

Homeschool students are students. Equal treatment is non-negotiable.

We are calling on Disney to:

• End discriminatory requirements targeting homeschool groups.
• Apply the same youth pricing standards given to schools, scouts, churches, and other organizations.
• Publish a clear written policy so homeschoolers and travel providers know they will not be denied.

This trip alone had 7,500 people ready to attend. BetterSchool groups reach 260,000 families nationwide. Over 2 million children — 1 in every 25 students — now homeschool.

Disney says it’s “where every child’s dream can come true.” That must include homeschoolers.

Sign and share this petition to demand fair treatment. Together, we can make Disney — and every company watching — stop sidelining homeschoolers.