Shows Not Returning Soon Due to Mass Entertainment Layoffs at Disney World
Another massive round of Cast Member layoffs hit entertainment at Walt Disney World, including performers and supporting Cast Members at many highly popular shows in the parks & resorts. In this post, we’ll cover details and offer commentary.
These entertainment cuts are part of the 28,000 layoffs announced for Walt Disney World and Disneyland last month. Thus far, it appears that Florida accounts for roughly 15,000 of the lost jobs. However, these have been occurring in waves as Disney negotiates with unions, and are likely not finished yet.
Before we begin, a reminder that Central Florida’s tourism industry has been devastated, with many people losing their jobs. Please see our Help Give Back to Disney Cast Members & Community post, which offers a range of ways you can assist during this time of need. Beyond that, have extra empathy and courtesy when interacting with Cast Members in the coming days, weeks, and months.
The last few weeks have been rough, and the latest round of entertainment layoffs is equally devastating. Hearing from Cast Member friends and seeing acquaintances post that they “got the call.” Opening social media and hearing from people who have received the life-altering news. It’s heartbreaking over and over again.
Some of these people are Disney lifers who have been with the company for decades. Some have opened multiple new parks. Some were truly living their dream in working for this company. Some uprooted their families and lives to move to Florida or California and be magic-makers. All were ambassadors for Disney, worthy stewards of Walt’s legacy, and vital assets for the company. We cannot fathom Disney without all of these people. They were what makes Disney, Disney.
For many of you, these entertainment layoffs are likely going to “hit harder” because these are highly-visible roles in popular shows or atmospheric acts that left indelible, lasting memories on your vacations. It’s just worth pointing out that for every one of these prominent entertainment jobs lost, there are a dozen other less visible positions that have also been eliminated.
All of them are integral in making the rides, shows, restaurants, and everything else about the Walt Disney World experience run smoothly. Whether someone works in custodial or as Cinderella, those jobs are both essential in making Walt Disney World what it is.
As for the latest round of layoffs, many of those affected are members of Actors’ Equity Association, a union for stage managers and performers. You might recall that over the summer, that union and Disney were at odds over performers returning to work safely. The standoff was highly publicized and contentious, but the union and Disney ultimately reached an “agreement” when the Maingate testing complex opened near Animal Kingdom.
Since that time, some performers have returned to Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Savi’s Workshop and the Frozen Sing-Along Celebration. All other shows have remained dark and atmospheric entertainment has not been called back.
After we published this post, that union released a statement about the layoffs. “Our hearts go out to all the cast members at Walt Disney World,” said Kate Shindle, president of Actors’ Equity Association. “Disney has made it clear that our members would face work reductions since they announced layoffs of nearly 28,000 employees. That does not make this news any less painful.”
Prior to the closure in March, about 780 Equity Cast Members were employed at Walt Disney World, either full time, part time or seasonally. About 60 are currently working or about to return to work in the park. About 720 Equity member workers have now been laid off. According to the new MOU with Disney, these laid-off members maintain recall rights until the end of 2021.
The layoffs of these 720 performers and show support Cast Members at Walt Disney World are incredibly widespread. While Walt Disney World has not released a statement (and we wouldn’t expect one), we’ve received multiple credible reports on the shows impacted.
Outside the parks, the first big one is the entirety of the Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. This dinner show has been a venerable “Vacation Kingdom” staple since 1974 and should’ve had a spotlight shined on it for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.
Over at Animal Kingdom, both Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo: The Musical are among the shows that had their Cast Members laid off.
The entire cast and crew for Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, and Jedi Training Academy: Trials of the Temple at Disney’s Hollywood Studios were also let go.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios also saw Streetmosphere cuts, with the Green Army Men in Toy Story Land and Citizens of Hollywood both reportedly being eliminated.
On that front, the Citizens of Main Street in Magic Kingdom were also laid off. Over in Tomorrowland, the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor cast and crew was also let go.
Note that this is not an exhaustive list of the stage shows, atmospheric acts, and other entertainment that Walt Disney World has laid off. These are simply what we were able to independently and credibly confirm.
Our hearts go out to the performers, crew, and unsung support staff that made all of these productions possible. These are deep cuts that will leave scars on Walt Disney World for years to come, well after there’s a full recovery and things return to “normal.”
Back when it was revealed that Disney had ended the Grand Floridian Society Orchestra’s run, we offered extensive commentary. That focused largely on Walt Disney World being increasingly less concerned with delivering commensurate value for money, and more preoccupied with increasing profit margins. All of that remains true here. We’re not going to rehash all of it–you’ll undoubtedly be outraged and upset without us pouring gasoline on that proverbial bonfire.
To be abundantly clear, this bothers us. It’s painful to see, we hurt for those Cast Members, and stand by all of that prior commentary. It’s also the most evident sign yet that Walt Disney World is not going back to normal anytime soon, at a time when so many are craving normalcy. Bluntly, this means these shows and acts are not coming back this year or any time in the near future.
With that said, we want to strike a bit of an optimistic tone here, as a lot of the commentary we’ve seen on social media has been incredibly bleak. There’s talk that Disney has wanted to cut entertainment for years and finally has an excuse, that Disney is now no different from Six Flags, etc.
Some of those comments are emotional hyperbole, others are sincere. Regardless, they’re misguided or flat-out wrong, at least in the long term.
While Walt Disney World has been adept at trimming budgets and increasing attendance in the process, that simply cannot happen and to this degree for an extended period of time. Among other things, demand is a result of perceived value for money. There is not a path forward for Walt Disney World that involves unilaterally dictating high prices and reduced offerings. That is simply not a viable course of action.
We’ve already seen this with Walt Disney World post-reopening as many guests have cancelled trips due to the reduced slate of entertainment (among other reasons). Despite that, you might point to increasing attendance in the parks over the last couple of months as supposed evidence that Disney fans are “suckers” who will pay full price for half the experience.
Except that’s not true. Right now, Walt Disney World is seeing a fraction of its normal guest numbers, and even that fraction is disproportionately locals, Annual Passholders, and Disney Vacation Club members. In other words, guest types who either have pre-paid for their visits or are not booking multi-thousand dollar vacations. There are definitely some full freight tourists, but not even remotely approaching normal levels.
Look no further than low weekday occupancy numbers at the resorts, the fact that many hotels have not reopened and do not have reopening dates, and all the lucrative offerings–Club Level, Disney Dining Plan, dessert parties, etc–that remain unavailable.
As we’ve pointed out many times, Walt Disney World is a hotel (and timeshare) business that operates theme parks as a side hustle. Right now, the latter component isn’t doing so hot, but the former is doing terribly. By its own admission, Walt Disney World is treading water and losing money, just less than if the parks were still closed.
Sadly, that’s likely to remain the case for the next several months. Perhaps well into 2021, longer than any of us who are desperately craving normalcy want to admit. It’s going to be a long road to recovery, both for Walt Disney World and for the travel industry in general.
The point is that Walt Disney World’s short-term approach is unsustainable in the long-term. Whether Disney’s motivation is health safety or cost-savings at a time when added offerings are unlikely to move the needle in terms of hotel occupancy, the result is the same. It might help Disney tread water for now while in preservation mode, but it’s not viable in the ordinary course of business.
Once a general recovery does begin, Walt Disney World will have to work hard to lure guests back. During the last decade, the United States had a strong economy, the travel industry was booming, and Disney could get away with reducing the value proposition without seeing a corresponding drop in demand. Sure, guests wore “Most Expensive Day Ever” shirts, but they were visiting anyway.
The forward-looking outlook for the tourism sector is very different from that, and much less positive. It’s going to take several years for travel to fully recover—until 2025 if experts are to be believed. While there’s likely some degree of “revenge travel” and pent-up demand among fans, that’s not enough. The “new normal” here is that travel will be a value-conscious buyer’s market, and Walt Disney World will need to do more to be competitive with other destinations and entice guests to visit.
Whether that means bringing back these shows and acts or debuting new ones remains to be seen. In the short-term, we still second-guess these cuts and think they could inflict irreparable brand damage (among other things). Regardless of how we feel about that, there’s no conceivable long-term scenario in which entertainment at Walt Disney World is permanently eliminated. Some of these stage shows will be back; other new entertainment will debut. It’s painful right now, but it is temporary pain.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of these Walt Disney World entertainment cuts and additions? Are you optimistic or pessimistic about WDW restoring more stage shows and other acts in 2021 or 2022? Are you worried that it might be a while before Walt Disney World is back to normal in terms of its offerings? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I think what many people may not be taking into account is the strong possibility that these layoffs are not permanent in nature. For several reasons others have already mentioned, Disney does not find it fiscally suitable or possibly appropriate from a health standpoint (i.e. PR standpoint) to commence with these shows/forms of entertainment. While I do not agree with a lot of things Disney does, I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they understand the importance of keeping entertainment not just from a patient satisfaction standpoint but also from an strategic Parks operations standpoint. Permanently eliminating entertainment would only result in severe negative consequences for the Walt Disney World Resort since in my opinion a large portion of the guest experience expects these type of offerings and consider them the differentiating factor as compared to other vacation options or comparable vacations (i.e. Universal etc).
Now I do feel that the entertainment and show offerings will return, but it’s anyone’s guess what specific shows may return and what may be replaced with something new or may not be replaced at all. But to assume these cuts are permanent would be foolish (or maybe I’m just being too optimistic. I’m also assuming “normalcy” to start returning in Mid 2021).
“patient satisfaction”? Do you work at a hospital or something? 🙂
The comments section here feels a lot like a eulogy/obituary page. Thanks, Tom, for giving us a place to share our thoughts and memories.
I wrote a comment earlier which may be taken down as it was not wholly appropriate for to this blog and subject and I am sorry about that. I sometimes go off on a tangent and forget that people don’t need to hear all of my opinions. That said, I was thinking about the cast members, and how they are so important to the experience I have when visiting WDW. I’ve been fortunate to have visited WDW and many of their resorts multiple times. When I reflect on the memories I have of the trips there are bits and pieces that remain dear to me. Many of them involved interaction with cast members or just my observations. Here are two seemingly little things that remain in my memory: My wife and I ventured out of our room one night to take a walk at Disney’s Hilton Head resort. It was dark, cold and lightly raining. We looked down at the main pool (which was open until 10PM) and there was a female lifeguard dancing hand in hand with a little girl to Disney music which played over the speakers (Bear Necessity Song). The lifeguard looked up and waived at us and said it was too cold to swim but warm enough for dancing. It was “magical” and I will never forget that image. Another time, our family queued up and watched Wishes in front of the castle for the umpteenth time. It never got old or boring for us. Once it was finished, the modern Wishes song played over the speakers as thousands of guest left for the night and while the other thousands slowly made their way to the different lands for more nighttime fun. While we slowly moved out of the hub toward Adventure Land, two crowd control cast members were arm and arm singing along with the Wishes song and even mimicked the guitar solo. They probably heard that song 300 times. They were smiling, enjoying themselves, and the moment. It made me want to work there. I don’t remember much about that day. What I rode, what I ate, and what day it was are long forgotten, but I will never forget those two happy cast members and how they made me feel as I walked by smiling at them. This is why I am so sad for them and even sadder to know that they don’t have a job to go to. These are the “magic” moments that make Disney better than the rest. It’s because of the people.
This post is much better and I agree with this 100%. I hope this is just temporary, which I am sure it probably is. The parks are a little less magic without all the shows and street performers…
Hoping little by little things will return slowly — like Monster’s Laugh Factory. A little surprised that they can’t socially distance this attraction – must be the actors behind the scenes? We all could use some laughs …
I know there are massive differences between the parks, including that Universal doesn’t have the same hotel industry, but I still find their difference in strategy interesting and don’t completely understand some of those differences. Universal definitely isn’t cutting entertainment, so I still don’t get why Disney has to, especially the outdoor shows. Universal still pulled off a couple haunted houses this season. They just seem more focused on trying to keep as much of the guest experience as possible with covid tweaks, while Disney is just running around with a giant ax.
Tom, here’s a ‘radical’ idea. return to the original system that sold individual tickets to each ride. charge a base admission price. something like $25. then with magic bands linked to credit cards you and your family decide on your priorities. Rise of the Resistance might cost $25. Small World $10. you cobble together a smorgasbord that might well roughly approach today’s cost per ticket day. but this eliminates the frenzy of trying to cram in as much as possible to justify the entry cost plus it should take pressure off the lines. then those who just like the park-like atmosphere can stroll around and enjoy as they wish while ride warriors can pay as they go.
I think at this point that may be something that Disney “revisits”. Considering that it costs almost upwards $150/day/person to just step foot into a park and not be guaranteed access to certain rides, I would be in favor of that.
My wife who enjoys visiting the parks/WDW but has a disdain for the attraction grind, would love this. She has said many of times that she would love to just walk around the parks without going on the rides. She would be happy dropping $ on food /beverage and souvenirs.
With the technology that Disney has in place , they should be able to put it in place relatively quick.
The new “original system” could help alleviate crowds by utilizing MDE and offering discounted/free admission to other rides or parks.
Given the “lottery” for ROTR, I would be more apt to pay for guaranteed access to rides then get to a park, miss out, and be stuck at a park with limited attractions.
I loved Disneyland and California Adventure. I worked at Disneyland seasonally during college. I purchased annual passes for my family for about 25 years (my kids have a 17 year gap between oldest and youngest). I would occasionally stay at the Grand Californian or the Disneyland Hotel with kids for a “vacation” even though they are only about 45 minutes from my home.
I, however, did not renew our passes in the fall of 2019 (before COVID) because the price increase coupled with the service decrease became unbearable and started killing my love. First, what makes Disney wonderful is walking into the parks and feeling happy. This occured because of human interaction with cast and characters. I loved taking the kids to Minnie’s breakfast at the Plaza Inn — characters talk and interact with the kids. I love talking with cast in shops. I loved taking the kids to watch the Jedi Training Academy and the Green Men. All of this we enjoyed without going on attractions.
Disney started making my early Sunday morning visits miserable. First, lines to enter the parking garage because they refused to staff sufficiently for the traffic. Lines to go through security because they refused to pay for enough security people to minimize lines. Lines for the tram — to few trams. Lines, lines, lines . . . just to enter the parks. The lines resulted from understaffing — there is plenty of area for people to work and decrease lines, but Disney did not want to pay for the labor necessary to reduce lines. The monorail often does not work (which eliminated an alternative for avoiding lines). Long lines for restaurants on uncrowded mornings. The philosophy appeared to be staffing to insure lines everywhere no matter how low crowds. When asking over $1,000 for a season pass, this philosophy simply became intolerable for me.
To me, Disney lost its way over the past few years. It (perhaps rightly) assumed that consumers would tolerate paying sky-high prices for ever decreasing service levels. The misery of understaffing overcame my love of the place. Nothing appears to have changed this philosophy. Until it changes, I’m staying away. Sadly, that may mean no Disney for a long, long time.
Hi Tom, I am curious if you have any insight into Disney’s thought process here? Next year is the 50th anniversary. I realize Disney is likely hemorrhaging money right now and is looking to stop the bleeding, However, how does Disney recover from the backlash / bad press and lack of entertainment options as the 50th approaches? The decision to lay off so many CMs caused immediate and irreparable injury to so many employees and families, but it seems to me that the decision will also cause significant problems for Disney in the future.
We are planning to visit Disney in April, our first trip there in more than two decades and the first time for the three youngest. Disney’s decision hasn’t altered our plans, but reading all of these nostalgic posts has made me reflect on the talent that Disney has now lost. I am sad that we will not have the opportunity to interact with these CMs. It is clearly our family’s loss. I
It is apparent, from these stories, that Disney wasn’t just “a” job to the affected CMs, but so much more. Prayers to all affected.
Horrible. I can’t help but feel some of this pain is self inflicted, which could have been seen by reading the comments on blogs like these…
Resume international tourism into the USA with pre departure testing, nuance the mask requirements to “indoor attractions only” (which are air conditioned and where the risks are higher), and allow some way to combine Epcot with another park.
no nemo no me
We are the kids out of the house now we go to Disney for us generation. The loss of entertainment is huge for us, most of the rides are a secondary option when we visit though many we still enjoy. It’s the loss of the things that made Disney different that are making us reconsider our future plans. If they can play football and hockey and basketball they can figure out how to present “Finding Nemo” and “Lion King”. Give me a reason to visit not a reason not to visit.
I am very sorry about the remark about the governor that I made. I was really only joking and did not mean to upset anybody. I was NOT trying to suggest violence against him. I am really sorry but maybe some people are getting a little too heated up.
An apology with a side of shade. Nice Barabara.
I wish they could do more balcony shows. We loved the Cadaver Dans and the evil stepsisters on our last visit. We also saw a distanced Jack Sparrow. I don’t think Disney is being creative enough for venue space. They could have kept some of these shows or at least parts of them.
Understand completely the toll the pandemic has taken on WDW’s shows. Loved The Lion King, Hoop de Doo Revue, etc. Glad I got to see them during my numerous visits to the complex. Going to be hard to justify going there anytime soon. One thing many seem to overlook is that an effective vaccine may eliminate many of these worries that things won’t return to normal until 2025. Let’s hope and pray that one comes into being soon.
The existence of a vaccine will help but I think those 2025 predictions already assume one will exist. The thing that is going to keep the travel industry depressed is a lot of people have lost their jobs or seen their income drastically reduced (just like these CMs). So they are going to be playing catch up financially for a good while after jobs come back, and aren’t likely to have the means to take an expensive vacation for a few years (especially to a destination known to be expensive like Disney World).
Good points, Jared.
This is your first post that ever made me weep. We are worried about wonderful Dan who is a Dapper Dan at Disney World. He had the group sing my late mother’s favorite song and when we visited next trip? He remembered us and asked after us. The incredibly nice people who helped me when I was scootering with sciatica and went to see The Festival of the Lion King. My heart is breaking for dozens upon dozens of Cast Members we have met through the years. We shared stories and laughs and I’m so very worried for them. J in Culinary who is a dear person Will he even have a job tomorrow? I don’t know.
The parks are never going to be the same again. That’s mostly because I worry that the world won’t ever be the same again. They won’t be the same for those who were laid off and even for those who may get called back it is rough (full disclosure-boyfriend works at a Sea World Park. He was furloughed but eventually called back. Many of his co-workers to whom he had grown close through the years were not called back to work and laid off for good in September). Just because you got called back to work doesn’t mean you have permanent employment anymore either.
I appreciate your work Tom and know this must have been a very hard post to write. I also appreciate your candor about your feelings and the truth of what’s going on in the parks.
I guess I am the blind optimist as I expect the pandemic to be over this summer and travel mostly back to normal fall 21 into the spring 22.
In comparing short-term to long-term, the one major short-term fact is that none of these stage shows, with audiences crowding into an indoor space, can be performed at all until the pandemic recedes. They’d be shut down now regardless. Conspiracy theories about Disney wanting to eliminate stage shows are not needed to explain what’s happening; even if Disney viewed these entertainment offerings as the A-Number One-Gold Plated highest priority of the entire theme park operation, they’d still be unable to offer them right now.
If they need to stop the bleeding and hang on until times improve, it’s obvious the cast members they must let go would be the ones whose jobs cannot even exist until the pandemic is over. It would be great if they could afford to keep everyone on during the times of famine, but I wouldn’t read any more into this news than the inescapable present reality.
If that were true, then Disney would have closed all the shows that don’t have live performers (such as Muppets 3D and others). There are ways to do them safely given Disney’s pandemic protocols. They would just need to be tweaked a little like they did for the character meet-n-greets turning into waving to guests from a distance or floating in a boat. it would take some creativity, but isn’t that what Disney is renowned for?
It is a combination of factors but all due to covid. They can’t have these high cost live actor shows playing to 25% or 50%. It’s not a profitable situation to run to half full houses.
They are running lost cost non actor shows which make sense in current times – muppets, Country Bears, Hall of Presidents, American Adventure etc.
I would guess that these large high cost shows aren’t coming back while we have covid. And, when all said and done, they will bring out new shows. They won’t retrain for the same show – why spend that cost, bring out a new show and train all new actors. I could be wrong. Lion King, Finding Nemo, Indiana Jones could be gone for good.
Some other low cost non actor shows still running: carousal of progress, lightning mcqueen’s racing academy. Throw in American Garden’s Theatre – what do they have a band or 3-4 musicans. Nothing large or broadway choregorah – small money
I agree and guest social distancing could not be practiced in those venues. Also a show like The Lion King, for example, has the cast members standing very close or touching during the performance and they probably wouldn’t be wearing masks either. It would be easy to pass the virus around in that environment so I’m guessing “normal” is way in the future. I have faith that Disney values their live entertainment and shows and will resume most of them at some point, when it is safe to do so. Disney’s magic is unique and I believe they will do everything possible to bring it back for their fans!
No…that’s not quite it…because Frozen is back; thank goodness!!! I live that show; however, I’ll admit the constant reminders to social distance and wear masks from the actors in the show was annoying and NOT magical. Do we really need to be reminded every 6 seconds?
I will really miss the other shows, and hope Disney brings them back (even if they are new ones). I think they willl…I don’t know how they wouldn’t? I do think it’s unfair to put all of this on Disney when the Actor’s Union kind of jerked them around when they tried to bring the shows back. I feel sorry for the CM’s, since many of them were also victims of their union’s poor handling of the situation. Jmo.
There’s a delicate balance to this Covid thing, and either you are going to work or you aren’t going to get paid…at some point. Still, I don’t think any of us can begin to guess on a lot of what is happening in minds of the powers-that/be at Disney. It’s a money decision, to be sure. But in my mind, they could be choosing to make more money right now if they did some things differently, so.
In any case, it’s all very, very sad. And disappointing. It still feels like a strange sci-fi movie at times.
Susan – wasn’t aware they brought that one indoor show back.
I have never gone and looking at youtube appears to be a broadway style show with a good number of live actors.
I would assume they brought this back because it’s piggy back off a new movie – Frozen II and worth the cost to play to a sparse crowd. I am sure there are a number of factors Disney is taken into account. Still betting that they wouldn’t let the other show actors go if they were going to bring back the same show at a latter time. I feel Lion King, Finding Nemo and Indiana Jones are gone for good.
No, it’s the Frozen Sing-A-Long. It’s silly because you really can’t sing a long with a mask on. It doesn’t have that many actors, just 5 or 6. And they social distanced. They didn’t even have Anna & Elsa hug…which I think is silly because I would *think* they are Covid testing them, but perhaps not often enough. They only fill the theatre maybe 1/3 full. I think they could do 1/2 without a problem. I had 4 empty seats on one side and 7 on the other! Nevertheless, there was no wait either time I saw it because people are too busy with Star Wars and the new rides. Or maybe they just didn’t realize it was back. Either way, worked for me! Despite the annoying change in script, I could watch it all day. The snow at the end is truly magical, and never gets old to my “5-year-old” self. Lol!
Ok, expressing your disappointment is one thing but “shoot that governor” comment is just totally wrong and dangerous. Tom ?????????
This post is completely inappropriate. I’m disappointed it is allowed to stay on this site. Another state’s governor was recently targeted by a domestic, terrorist group and you call for more violence. What is wrong with you ?
Condolences on the job loss to the CM’s (Wish them Luck!). Also condolences to whatever secondary personnel that might be losing their jobs as Disney shrinks down…the custodial crews, the restaurant crews, the hotel staff, and others who are getting laid off without the fan fair that the CM’s are getting. And even condolences to those Disney bloggers, reporters, vloggers, and outside travel agents who might soon be experiencing even more trying times themselves because of this. I would imagine as Disney draws down, interest in Disney will draw down as people’s interests shift to other things, and these bloggers, reporters, and travel agents will see dips in their revenues.
It’s kind of fascinating to think back to just the beginning of this year. The parks were humming along with even the “off-season” experiencing increasingly heavier crowd levels to the point where there really wasn’t an “off-season”. The Avengers movies were massive hits in the theaters. There was talk if not certainly the demand in place for calls of a 5th Disney Park in Orlando. Now…we’re talking about not having things return to “normal” until 2025?
And what if there turns out to be COVID-21, COVID-22, or COVID-23? Will Disney have to start all but mothball parks? Will we see in 10 years Youtube videos of Urban Explorers trespassing on Disney Property to show the creepy remains of the inside of Spaceship Earth which hadn’t been seen since the park shutdown in 2024?
My take is that Disney has concluded that Covid is going to be around for a long time, maybe mid-2021 at best and even longer possibly. I hope this is wrong, but I think they have better access to medical info than I do.
The worst thing about these particular layoffs is that there’s just about zero work options for these performers. No one is doing live shows and the film industry is on hiatus. Even the traditional fall-back job of waiting tables is out with restaurants suffering sharp declines in diners. About the only industry which seems to be hiring is grocery stores.
Sorry to be such a downer, but I’m starting to realize that my planned trip to Disneyland next year may not happen.
Know what I would pay to see? If some of the former Cast Mates created a Youtube channel. Any of us could go online and sing a song from a Disney show or movie but if they could keep it going somehow, and generate income for themselves, I’d be first in line to watch them.
If you haven’t seen the Dapper Dan’s video where they all sing from home, it’s on Youtube and it’s TERRIFIC!
Disney is swift about taking their material down if you try to profit from it. I doubt they’d be more lenient just because it’s laid off cast members.