DCA's Hollywood Lounge Shut Down By County Health Inspectors

[TP2000]

Upon further reading this thread, it did occur to me that if one for decades religiously reads 'Orange County Restaurants Shut Down By Health Inspectors', and only one trivial incident shows up (else we'd have been made aware of it in this thread), then this seems to point to TDA not having sloppy standards, but rather the opposite, considering the scale of operations and lengthy time period. A forgettable incident then of neither consequence nor indicativeness of larger problems.

You're right, there's the silver lining! I love it!

Maybe this was just one idiot 24 year old Dockers-clad manager who spent the morning nursing a Starbucks and swiping at TikTok at their desk, instead of doing their daily pre-opening tasks and basic leadership accountabilities. And it just happened to be the day the water went out for some reason at the Hollywood Lounge, and the hourly CM's opening that location and following the morning checklist knew their opening manager that day was worthless and wouldn't care that there was no water, and then just after the park opened the county health inspector showed up. Gotcha!

The other funny thing this thread has done is got me to subscribe to the OC Register again, on a screaming deal of only $1 for the next year.

We've got a year's worth of me lying in wait for another Dockers-clad manager to screw up like this!

 

[TP2000]

Seems like you may have an issue with the OP - there are threads on far more trivial things. It’s something that happened. It’s interesting and notable.

The OP made quite a few jokes about it… didn’t seem to take it that seriously.

Thank you for getting it.

Well, that's sort of a salacious headline, isn't it? I didn't mean it to sound so exciting, but I guess it's accurate. Here's why...

I then had to Google the menu for the Hollywood Lounge myself, just to see what passes as a "cocktail" at this place.

My Gawd... Someone hold my bottle of bitters and catch my whiskey stones as I almost faint!

 

[TP2000]

Again, the health regulations allow self-service drink dispensers.

I’m not sure what that has to do with this?

Thanks again @TrainsOfDisney for following up on that point, as its relevance to this issue was completely lost on me.

I didn't get it. Not the first nor last time, though.

Perspective and context. Self-service drink dispensers don’t have a sink right next to them and nobody is under the illusion that guests are washing their wands before using them. We accept that despite being handled by a lot of people of questionable cleanliness the way they operate is going to keep them generally safe. But, if you turn that machine around so that only employees are using it then they do have to follow food handling procedures, even if the only thing they’re doing at that venue is selling drinks.

Okay, but the CM's working the Hollywood Lounge booze bar aren't just pushing cups under Coke machines. They are, as the dearly departed Bob Chapek would tell us, creating Instagrammable Moments, and also beverages with many components to them.

Would you want to drink one of these Diabetes Bombs cocktails from the Hollywood Lounge with the pickles and the fruit and the sugar rims and the whipped cream and the sprinkles and the skewers and the glow-in-the-dark plastic toys shoved in there for some reason and the gummy worms and the Instagramming all made by a food service worker who couldn't wash their hands during their shift? I wouldn't.

And apparently neither would the Orange County Health Authority inspector show shut it all down last week.

 

[Disney Irish]

You're right, there's the silver lining! I love it!

Maybe this was just one idiot 24 year old Dockers-clad manager who spent the morning nursing a Starbucks and swiping at TikTok at their desk, instead of doing their daily pre-opening tasks and basic leadership accountabilities. And it just happened to be the day the water went out for some reason at the Hollywood Lounge, and the hourly CM's opening that location and following the morning checklist knew their opening manager that day was worthless and wouldn't care that there was no water, and then just after the park opened the county health inspector showed up. Gotcha!

The other funny thing this thread has done is got me to subscribe to the OC Register again, on a screaming deal of only $1 for the next year.

We've got a year's worth of me lying in wait for another Dockers-clad manager to screw up like this!

Honestly does it really help anyone here for you to throw a nameless manager under the bus for something you have no proof of even happening let alone that it was the result of an error? I mean CMs get all sorts of blame for things that are beyond their control, no reason to try and fabricate some scenario that may or may not even be close to being true.

And really does it make you feel better to call a nameless 24 year old an idiot or worthless?

 

[Disney Irish]

@TP2000 I tell you what, since you want to play reporter why don't you follow the OC shutdown list for the next 6 month. Note down every instance of a DLR location getting shutdown for violation, an actual in the park location. Go investigate the hows and the whys, no vague "well it could have been this", but the actual incident and what caused it. And come report back here every instance of it happening.

I'm willing to bet that at the end of that 6 months a grand total of 0 will have been logged. At which point I want you to admit this was a HUGE nothing burger of a "story" and it was just gossip.

However if it does occur, I'll post on my signature for the following 6 months that "TP is a reporting god".

Do we have a deal?

 

[Phroobar]

They had a dog that licked the plates clean

Was the dog's name Three Rivers?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

Go investigate the hows and the whys, no vague "well it could have been this"

I’m imagining TP2000 cos-playing as Detective Jessica Rabbit searching for clues!

 

[TP2000]

And really does it make you feel better to call a nameless 24 year old an idiot or worthless?

If the Dockers-clad manager opened the booze stand they are in charge of on June 23rd while knowing it was without running water, then they're an idiot.

And if that's the case, I don't feel bad about that, especially because they have no skin in that game. They didn't open that booze stand with their own money and sweat and are struggling to keep it afloat. Rather, they got assigned to work there by a giant global company (Current Market Cap of $222 Billion) after getting a theme park battlefield promotion to Dockers-clad manager.

We had Ky'le From Tustin as the fictional Star Wars Land Cast Member just waiting to pull us in to his backstory. Should we have a name for the Dockers-clad manager? Or is it better to just call him/her "Dockers-clad manager"?

 

[TP2000]

@TP2000 I tell you what, since you want to play reporter why don't you follow the OC shutdown list for the next 6 month. Note down every instance of a DLR location getting shutdown for violation, an actual in the park location. Go investigate the hows and the whys, no vague "well it could have been this", but the actual incident and what caused it. And come report back here every instance of it happening.

I'm willing to bet that at the end of that 6 months a grand total of 0 will have been logged. At which point I want you to admit this was a HUGE nothing burger of a "story" and it was just gossip.

However if it does occur, I'll post on my signature for the following 6 months that "TP is a reporting god".

Do we have a deal?

I'm not even quite sure what that means.

This very funny thread (that's getting funnier by the day) was of note to me exactly because a Disneyland location showing up in the Orange County Restaurants Shut Down By Health Inspectors column in the OC Register is so unheard of. I read that column religiously for about two decades. I don't remember any Disneyland restaurant ever being shut down by the county before. I remember some horrible Chinese buffet a couple blocks from the park having regular closures due to cockroach infestations. And of course Captain Kidd's had a few violations in its day. But the Plaza Inn or Tomorrowland Terrace or Wine Country Trattoria being shut down by the county? NEVER!

I've re-subscribed to the OC Register for the next year for a dollar. So I'll probably be checking it out fairly regularly. But I'm going to be getting busy here in exactly one day. I've got my important duties as Chief Judge for my neighborhood's July 4th Decorated Bike & ATV Parade on Friday, and this year I bought a new Uncle Sam hat with attached beard to go with my official-looking red, white and blue judge's clipboard. Then early next week I'm decamping to La Jolla for the summer, hosting friends and family in July, and will be flying out of Lindbergh occasionally for multiple overseas Viking Cruises in August and September. So, you know... Summer Means Fun!

I just hesitate to commit to following the OC Register column religiously like I did when I was a working man. I will be following it more, but please forgive me if I'm overseas and miss a sudden closure of The Blue Bayou for no running water.

But you spend your summer however you see fit. Summer Means Fun!

 

[TP2000]

I’m imagining TP2000 cos-playing as Detective Jessica Rabbit searching for clues!

Careful, I keep meaning to go back to the Orange County website to see if there's a Search function on closures.

I'm genuinely curious though if any other Disneyland Resort restaurant location run by Disney and staffed with CM's has ever been shut down by the county health inspector in recent times. I'm sure it's happened at least a few times since 1955. The naughty Hollywood Lounge with its inoperable sink and 24 year old Dockers-clad manager sitting at their desk all morning on June 23rd nursing Starbucks and swiping at TikTok certainly couldn't have been the first time! Or could it?

 

[CaptinEO]

I don't know why people are upset at @TP2000 bringing this up or speculating. IMO this is way more entertaining than speculating on an Avatar ride that was announced way too early by Bob Iger and won't even be open in this decade and hasn't broken ground.

We speculate on permits and other news stories, why is this any different?

Are people upset their image of Disney may be shattered? Do they disagree with the health inspector?

 

[TP2000]

I don't know why people are upset at @TP2000 bringing this up or speculating. IMO this is way more entertaining than speculating on an Avatar ride that was announced way too early by Bob Iger and won't even be open in this decade and hasn't broken ground.

We speculate on permits and other news stories, why is this any different?

Are people upset their image of Disney may be shattered? Do they disagree with the health inspector?

And also there are self serve Coca-Cola machines in Orange County! Or something. I'm not really sure.

 

[Disney Irish]

I don't know why people are upset at @TP2000 bringing this up or speculating. IMO this is way more entertaining than speculating on an Avatar ride that was announced way too early by Bob Iger and won't even be open in this decade and hasn't broken ground.

We speculate on permits and other news stories, why is this any different?

Are people upset their image of Disney may be shattered? Do they disagree with the health inspector?

No one is upset with anyone. Its just the overzealous gossipy nature that I have an issue with in which its trying speculate and assign fault for something that very likely has an easy and probably a very uninteresting explanation. There is likely no "docker-clad" manager on their phone too distracted or incompetent to follow rules. There is likely no CM contacting OC Health Inspectors to whistle blow. No one likely got fired for this. There is likely no drama associate with this at all. It is very likely just a sink that just happen to be not working at the time of inspection due to normal maintenance that quickly got resolved.

In reality if TP hadn't have found this one single never happens entry in the OC Register it would have gone unnoticed by everyone here. Its so uninteresting as a story that not one news outlet, Disney fan site (outside of this post), social media group, or Disney vlogger who follow Disneyland down to the most minute detail even covered it. There is no intrigue here.

Now if there ends up being a huge story down the road of some palace intrigue where Bob Iger or Josh D'Amaro ordered the water shutoff for this one kiosk or some variation there of, I'll be the first to acknowledge it and give TP his praises for bringing light to this. But until then this is a huge nothing burger of a story and I wish that TP would just acknowledge that.

 

[Disney Irish]

I don't remember any Disneyland restaurant ever being shut down by the county before.

Maybe the fact that its never happened before should clue you that its very likely not some larger issue, or incompetence, or palace intrigue situation. That its more likely a simple situation that got quickly resolved. But you're so quick to try to find and assign fault that you don't want to really acknowledge it as being the likely situation. Because there is no juicy gossip if that is the case.

To paraphrase Occam's Razor, the simplest answer is likely correct.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Honestly does it really help anyone here for you to throw a nameless manager under the bus for something you have no proof of even happening let alone that it was the result of an error? I mean CMs get all sorts of blame for things that are beyond their control, no reason to try and fabricate some scenario that may or may not even be close to being true.

And really does it make you feel better to call a nameless 24 year old an idiot or worthless?

I've got many things to say about anyone selling me F&B while failing to meet health regulations standards. Idiot indeed being amongst them, and some worse qualifications too.


Come on, Disney doesn't need online lawyers to do their battles for them. They don't love you back, you know. Idiot still merely denotes incompetence, but for all we know, the stand was knowingly operated in violation of health regulations, simply because some mid-manager puts his quarterly operating numbers above the health of your loved ones. And then worse qualifications than idiot apply.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

It is very likely just a sink that just happen to be not working at the time of inspection due to normal maintenance that quickly got resolved.

You seem to be missing the point that if the sink was not working, for any reason, for any amount of time, the food stand should not have been open and operating.

That is not opinion, or gossip, that is literally the requirement and why it was shut down and made the report.

It’s like OSHA showing up to a Disney construction site and crews aren’t wearing hard hats and the site being shut down. You could say “oh, OSHA probably just showed up when the hard hats were being cleaned and inspected…. Nothing to see here! Don’t even discuss it!”

 

[Disney Irish]

You seem to be missing the point that if the sink was not working, for any reason, for any amount of time, the food stand should not have been open and operating.

That is not opinion, or gossip, that is literally the requirement and why it was shut down and made the report.

It’s like OSHA showing up to a Disney construction site and crews aren’t wearing hard hats and the site being shut down. You could say “oh, OSHA probably just showed up when the hard hats were being cleaned and inspected…. Nothing to see here! Don’t even discuss it!”

Do we know anything about the circumstances in which the sink was not operational? No, we don't. We know nothing, zero, zilch, nada. Its the assumptions being made and the gossipy nature of those assumptions that I really have an issue with, and that is the point I think is being missed.

I have no issue stating, hey the site shouldn't have opened for the day (if indeed it actually was operating for the day) if the sink wasn't working. That is simple, cut and dry, and likely wouldn't have had much conversation. But its the gossipy, hey it maybe that this incompetent "docker-clad" manager on their phone not paying attention with their finger up their nose scrolling through TikTok that allowed this naughty site to open, that is what I have an issue with. Its the extra commentary that isn't needed. This isn't discussing the latest construction project where we discuss the potentials of the latest permit and its impact and bring up hypotheticals.

 

[flynnibus]

I'm surprised some people are cool with a Disneyland place remaining open when employees can't wash their hands especially when they are making drinks.

They were shutdown for not having running water - which is the technical requirement.

Not mentoned, but just assumed by the overdramatic is that the staff didn't have anyway to clean their hands. Maybe they had a water issue and they were told to use alternatives? Like hand wipes, hand cleaner, or using the restrooms before returning to work?

For all we know they might have had water onsite just not water supply that met the requirement. We don't know! It could have been a hack that wasn't sufficent, or it could have been lax training and someone not realizing it was an issue that was a blocker. We don't know.

There the nuance is they were technically in violation hence the closure - not that necessarily unsafe practices were underway.

This is how 'well intentioned' can still be in violation and lead to an issue like this. But in a vacuum armchair QBs stir up nonsense like "filthy venue exposed!"

 

[lazyboy97o]

Come on, Disney doesn't need online lawyers to do their battles for them. They don't love you back, you know.

This isn’t a justification for stirring up nonsense.

 

[flynnibus]

It’s notable that a Disney food service location was shut down by an Orange County Health Inspector.

Notable? Yes, in the interest of daily grind of the resort.. like we watch construction materials being moved around.

What it is not, is drama worthy or the tip of the iceberg of 'what else is going on?'. But that's immediately what the poster is selling.

There's at least one of TDA's Dockers-clad managers obviously not living up to basic health code standards. I'm sure the reprimand over this forced closure was swift and concise. But it makes you wonder... what else are they not doing?

"I'm just asking questions!!"

Are people upset their image of Disney may be shattered? Do they disagree with the health inspector?

It's more that people are likely making it into something way bigger than it is. Every person hates seeing the inspector come in because they can almost always find something in violation even if it's not materially significant - code is code and not every site is 100% all the time. There is a huge difference between "violation" and actually acting unsafe. But some are failing to make that distinction.

It’s like OSHA showing up to a Disney construction site and crews aren’t wearing hard hats and the site being shut down. You could say “oh, OSHA probably just showed up when the hard hats were being cleaned and inspected…. Nothing to see here! Don’t even discuss it!”

Or like when OSHA shows up and finds something that was lazy or overlooked... like something being stored improperly or a new area lacking proper fall protection. Being a violation doesn't mean they were being unsafe in general. It just means it was a violation. That's why the details matter about the situation.

It probably was a training gap in the location managers. We don't even know if the staff KNEW they were intentionally violating the code.. or if they had tried any mitigations.. we're just assuming some big conspiracy to avoid the law.