Disneyland and Disney World lay off 28,000 employees amid pandemic struggles - OCR/SCNG

TP2000

Well-Known Member
The Disney College Program and Professional Internship programs are on indefinite hold as well- in Florida they've been removing furniture from their DCP housing facilities. Unsure of what they're doing with Carnegie in Anaheim. I just feel bad for my friends who were accepted this fall, and for those who were hoping to do the program and won't have the opportunity to while in school.

Wonderful insight, SuddenStorm, thank you so much for sharing! And yes, things are getting more and more dire by the day in Anaheim.

I quoted the part about the college intern program above, and Carnegie Plaza apartments in downtown Anaheim. Disneyland's college program had leased several hundred apartments long-term for the past decade in downtown Anaheim. Each apartment had four to six college kids in it, working at Disneyland with disposable income. It was a major driver of the renaissance of downtown Anaheim with the Packing District, Promenade, etc.,

But that's all gone now. All of those apartments sit empty, with no known way to repopulate them except for dumping them onto the market for non-Disney renters.

I have unexpectedly ended up out in Rancho Mirage for the weekend to help a friend, but there's a little party (actually a HUGE party) here this weekend where two people who will be in attendance have solid working knowledge of the OC rental market and commercial real estate. I will definitely hit them up for their thoughts on Anaheim. If they have any juicy info, I will share it here later this weekend.
 
Last edited:

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Let's look at it another way.

A server works a 6 Hour Shift, Sells $500 of food/drink per hour, that is just 4 tables of 4 guests each, with an average of $31.25 per guest.

$450 per shift. Increase the percentage to 20% and an 8 hour shift = $800

So very doable. And think about a bartender at Trader Sam's.

Add to that $15 per hour in wages, plus good benefits. So 6 hours $450 in tips plus $90 in wages, equals $540 or $90 per hour!

No wonder that a large group of tipped CM's at the DLR Hotels make 6 figures after tips. Servers, bartenders, Valets, Bell Caps and more. Yes, they work hard, deal with problem guests, but in many cases, the server is making more per year than the person being served.

And UNITE HERE claims how little their members make, but their numbers are always without tips!

The tips in the service industry are the majority of an employee's income. And the bare minimum is claimed as income for the IRS, much of it just slips into a pocket as cold hard cash and is never reported.

Heck, I always leave five bucks for the chambermaid at a Hampton Inn, or ten dollars for the chambermaid at a high end hotel. I guarantee you that maid is not claiming that tip money on her taxes, and I get lots of extra towels and extra bath amenities left for me. Win-win!

So yes, the sob stories the UNITE HERE union would trot out regularly about how their union members were destitute and living off the $15 an hour wage Disneyland paid them were always bunk. Especially those bellhops, valet parking guys and waiters/waitresses; those folks made hundreds of dollars per day in tax-free cash tips!

But not anymore in Anaheim. They're all out of work and trying to live off a tiny unemployment check that only reflects their hourly wage they used to make.
 

JustinSt

Active Member
The tips in the service industry are the majority of an employee's income. And the bare minimum is claimed as income for the IRS, much of it just slips into a pocket as cold hard cash and is never reported.

Heck, I always leave five bucks for the chambermaid at a Hampton Inn, or ten dollars for the chambermaid at a high end hotel. I guarantee you that maid is not claiming that tip money on her taxes, and I get lots of extra towels and extra bath amenities left for me. Win-win!

So yes, the sob stories the UNITE HERE union would trot out regularly about how their union members were destitute and living off the $15 an hour wage Disneyland paid them were always bunk. Especially those bellhops, valet parking guys and waiters/waitresses; those folks made hundreds of dollars per day in tax-free cash tips!

But not anymore in Anaheim. They're all out of work and trying to live off a tiny unemployment check that only reflects their hourly wage they used to make.
This is not true. For Disney, all of credit card tips, gift card, and graduities are claimed, which usually represents 95 percent of our tips. And Disney provides away to claim all cash tips as well.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
This is not true. For Disney, all of credit card tips, gift card, and graduities are claimed, which usually represents 95 percent of our tips. And Disney provides away to claim all cash tips as well.

Ah, of course, the government figured out a way to tax all credit card transactions.

At least it's nice to know Disneyland CM's are paying their fair share of taxes.

This thread also reminded me of something earlier tonight. I went to drinks and dinner with friends in Palm Springs. It's Pride weekend in Palm Springs, so the town is jumping. And the restaurant we were at was packed with people inside and out. No one had a mask on, except for employees. But patrons wandered inside and out on the patio maskless, and no one said a thing. Because they wanted the tips. 💰

I tipped well, because our waiter was a real gem and very charming. And he never scolded us about masks. So he got extra cash. We all know how it works. :cool:
 

LastoneOn

Well-Known Member
I know a few people who snowbird there. I'll be sure to keep my distance when they wing their way back in a couple weeks for turkey! ;) But then, there are some that will be making the trip from Phoenix and I'm told its about the same situation. Maybe I'll just make pizza and we'll stay home!
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
Ah, of course, the government figured out a way to tax all credit card transactions.

At least it's nice to know Disneyland CM's are paying their fair share of taxes.

This thread also reminded me of something earlier tonight. I went to drinks and dinner with friends in Palm Springs. It's Pride weekend in Palm Springs, so the town is jumping. And the restaurant we were at was packed with people inside and out. No one had a mask on, except for employees. But patrons wandered inside and out on the patio maskless, and no one said a thing. Because they wanted the tips. 💰

I tipped well, because our waiter was a real gem and very charming. And he never scolded us about masks. So he got extra cash. We all know how it works. :cool:
Looking like the pandemic numbers will increase again, not surprising.. at this point DLR will never re-open.
 

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
One of my close friends just got his lay off notice from the parks. He had been DCA ODV for a few years after suffering through nearly a decade of a retail-type job which had destroyed his back from some of items he was required to lift. He was miserable before and had finally found some happiness working at the resort, he loved it very much. Now that it's gone, he's told me he'll likely be forced back into some form of retail again to pay the bills, since that's all that seems to be reliably hiring at the moment. Needless to say, he's now depressed and I feel just awful and offered to help in any way that I can. I wonder how much longer before other friends of mine get the notice, too.

What I found interesting about the story he told me, though, was that he said the notice he received said his employment would ending on Dec. 31st. Anyone have any idea why this might be? I wonder why Disney wouldn't simply just end it but maybe it's for folks with benefits to hold on to them for a little bit longer and ease the transition? Or maybe it's some sort of misguided hope that they'll have better news and could reverse course for some folks before the end of the year? I doubt that last one, the future looks pretty bleak.
If he has company health insurance until 12/31 it would be wise for him to take full advantage of any medical or dental issues/procedures/check ups etc. That's a no brainer but then again I don't know many who are pro-active in their decision making.
 
Last edited:

TP2000

Well-Known Member
It sounds like the sets for the Frozen show are being destroyed- and the space is planned to sit empty and unused for the foreseeable future. I actually enjoyed the Frozen show at DCA, so I'm sad to see this go away forever. Not to mention- the performers and crew for the show are now out of work, and those are jobs that aren't coming back at Disney for a while.

Disney Performing Arts is gone.

The Disney College Program and Professional Internship programs are on indefinite hold as well- in Florida they've been removing furniture from their DCP housing facilities. Unsure of what they're doing with Carnegie in Anaheim. I just feel bad for my friends who were accepted this fall, and for those who were hoping to do the program and won't have the opportunity to while in school.

I heard of a senior guest relations manager in WDW who retired- because the hassle of guest complaints by families who booked their WDW vacations last year, only to show up with no entertainment, reduced offerings, and no discount offered by Disney was getting ridiculous. Disney World Guest Relations is woefully unprepared for this- with guest complaints getting escalated to upper levels of management which didn't typically happen before. I wonder how many others will quit/retire, in addition to the layoffs. Also, Disney is cancelling reservations for Disneyland a week or two at a time- because they have no revenue and don't want the financial hit of those refunds. I assume similar reasoning is behind the delayed AP refunds.

The Disney Travel Agents aren't able to book new Disneyland reservations through 2021.

There's very little chance the park opens before June 2021- and with the reduced capacity restrictions there are many, many employees furloughed who won't be needed. And when the park is open- it's going to operate very, very differently both onstage and backstage.

I feel like the public perception is that Disney is cutting their front line workers while the execs are fat and happy on their salary- but Disney's been taking a scalpel to their whole Parks division, with workers at all level of the operation getting cut. I've heard of people who've worked there for decades who's jobs were cut- but would still have a job had they not transferred roles from one they had previously. There's also some survivors guilt going around among those who remain.

Okay, here's the info I got at two Palm Springs events yesterday from several people connected to Disneyland and Anaheim's business community in various ways. I trust the insight from these people a great deal. They know what they are talking about. In no particular order;

  • Downtown Anaheim apartments leased by Disneyland College Program are all still empty. Disney was leasing these long term through an apartment management company called Greystar. Disney wants out of the leases ASAP because they are still paying to keep them going, but the College Program is kaput and won't come back for years, if ever. Lawyers from both sides are involved, and Greystar is playing hardball. It's going to cost Disney an arm and a leg to get out of the leases, and then a few hundred apartments will be dumped onto the market in downtown Anaheim where the entire dining/retail industry has already collapsed. It's a legal nightmare and neither side is budging.

  • Disney owned hotels are decimated. Basically the entire staff of the Paradise Pier Hotel was laid off last month. A huge portion of the Disneyland Hotel was laid off last month. A core crew remains for the Grand Californian. When the Resort was to reopen in July the strategy was to operate the Paradise Pier and Grand Californian, and put Disneyland Hotel in mothballs. Now the strategy is if/when the Resort reopens only a portion of the Grand Californian will be operated, and with the 25% capacity limit that could be the scenario for at least the first six months to a year upon reopening. The Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotels are effectively shuttered and out of business for the next 12 to 18 months, depending on a reopening timeline. Layoffs at the hotels of both hourly and salaried CM's are massive, with more coming.

  • Furloughs. More are coming. TDA brought back too many theme park managers in June thinking the Resort was going to reopen by July. Now they are swimming in managers who have very little to do. A new round of furloughs are imminent, sending many of the managers who were brought back this past summer back into the unemployed furlough pool. Just in time for Christmas!

  • The Disneyland Resort is bleeding money every day. Nothing they are doing is working to create a profit for Disney. Operating Downtown Disney is costing Disney money, but at least keeps the third-party tenants kind of happy and avoids lawsuits from them. Operating Buena Vista Street will not earn them any real money, it will only retain a pool of CM's and keep them employed, because it would be more expensive to rehire them once the parks begin to actually reopen. The entire strategy right now is simply "Survival Mode", trying to maintain a pool of tenured CM's to build off of once the parks reopen. Knott's is said to be in the same boat; their recent food festivals made no profit, it just keeps the park barely operating and a core group of employees still connected. Knott's is simply trying to survive until next summer.

  • Both Disney and their allies in Anaheim City Hall have switched into Survival Mode. This current situation is simply disastrous for everyone involved. It's becoming clear that the best case scenario for reopening is Disneyland reopens Spring, 2021 at 25% capacity, and that scenario now pencils out as an economic disaster for Anaheim and for Disney. TDA also realizes reopening might not be until next summer, a full 15 months after Disneyland closed. The good news for non-Disney hotels is that Disney will only reopen with the Grand Californian, and that news was purposely released to City Hall and the community to try and help Disney's neighbors plan for the future. TDA is regrouping and trying to figure out a strategy to make it to next spring/summer. Anaheim is scrambling to try and prevent the Resort District from losing all of its small businesses, plus some large anchors like GardenWalk and corporate hotels around the convention center, with the Resort District being taken over by the homeless. But Anaheim is also trying to do the same with its dying downtown area now overrun by homeless as well (see Carnegie Plaza mess).

  • Basically, in the last few weeks both TDA and Anaheim City Hall have realized this is a bad situation that is quickly getting much, much worse. As both private business and local governments look ahead to 2021, things have never looked bleaker. There is a glimmer of hope that Disney and Universal will be able to get Sacramento to change its rules for theme parks, but that isn't hopeful. No one is happy. More layoffs are coming. The future looks... dark. :(
 
Last edited:

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I forgot two parts to the conversations, and it kind of allows it to end on a happier note than the above! :oops:

  • This situation has really strengthened the relationship between Anaheim and Disney. During the Colglazier years, that relationship was soured and then eventually broken. Anaheim felt taken advantage of back then. Josh D'Amaro helped heal things after Colglazier left, but there were still bruises. The past six months has really brought everyone together and helped form a strong bond again. Both Disney and Anaheim feel each side values and appreciates the other again. It helps immensely that Josh D'Amaro is now the Chairman and has spent a great deal of time in person with the mayor and the TDA CM's. Disney and Anaheim are a team again!

  • Disney is also trying to do everything it can to help the businesses in the Resort District. Disney is losing big money, but they have a long-term strategy to try and push as much business as possible out into the Resort District. Not reopening the Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel is an example of that; Disney could try and suck up as much hotel capacity as possible, but has purposely chosen a future strategy that does just the opposite to push hotel business out into the Resort District. The word has gotten out among Anaheim's business community, and good will has been developed because of that. Everyone feels like they are all in this together right now!
 
I forgot two parts to the conversations, and it kind of allows it to end on a happier note than the above! :oops:

  • This situation has really strengthened the relationship between Anaheim and Disney. During the Colglazier years, that relationship was soured and then eventually broken. Anaheim felt taken advantage of back then. Josh D'Amaro helped heal things after Colglazier left, but there were still bruises. The past six months has really brought everyone together and helped form a strong bond again. Both Disney and Anaheim feel each side values and appreciates the other again. It helps immensely that Josh D'Amaro is now the Chairman and has spent a great deal of time in person with the mayor and the TDA CM's. Disney and Anaheim are a team again!

  • Disney is also trying to do everything it can to help the businesses in the Resort District. Disney is losing big money, but they have a long-term strategy to try and push as much business as possible out into the Resort District. Not reopening the Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel is an example of that; Disney could try and suck up as much hotel capacity as possible, but has purposely chosen a future strategy that does just the opposite to push hotel business out into the Resort District. The word has gotten out among Anaheim's business community, and good will has been developed because of that. Everyone feels like they are all in this together right now!

Great reports thank you
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
Okay, here's the info I got at two Palm Springs events yesterday from several people connected to Disneyland and Anaheim's business community in various ways. I trust the insight from these people a great deal. They know what they are talking about. In no particular order;

  • Downtown Anaheim apartments leased by Disneyland College Program are all still empty. Disney was leasing these long term through an apartment management company called Greystar. Disney wants out of the leases ASAP because they are still paying to keep them going, but the College Program is kaput and won't come back for years, if ever. Lawyers from both sides are involved, and Greystar is playing hardball. It's going to cost Disney an arm and a leg to get out of the leases, and then a few hundred apartments will be dumped onto the market in downtown Anaheim where the entire dining/retail industry has already collapsed. It's a legal nightmare and neither side is budging.

  • Disney owned hotels are decimated. Basically the entire staff of the Paradise Pier Hotel was laid off last month. A huge portion of the Disneyland Hotel was laid off last month. A core crew remains for the Grand Californian. When the Resort was to reopen in July the strategy was to operate the Paradise Pier and Grand Californian, and put Disneyland Hotel in mothballs. Now the strategy is if/when the Resort reopens only a portion of the Grand Californian will be operated, and with the 25% capacity limit that could be the scenario for at least the first six months to a year upon reopening. The Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotels are effectively shuttered and out of business for the next 12 to 18 months, depending on a reopening timeline. Layoffs at the hotels of both hourly and salaried CM's are massive, with more coming.

  • Layoffs. More are coming. TDA brought back too many theme park managers in June thinking the Resort was going to reopen by July. Now they are swimming in managers who have very little to do. A new round of furloughs are imminent, sending many of the managers who were brought back this past summer back into the unemployed furlough pool. Just in time for Christmas!

  • The Disneyland Resort is bleeding money every day. Nothing they are doing is working to create a profit for Disney. Operating Downtown Disney is costing Disney money, but at least keeps the third-party tenants kind of happy and avoids lawsuits from them. Operating Buena Vista Street will not earn them any real money, it will only retain a pool of CM's and keep them employed, because it would be more expensive to rehire them once the parks begin to actually reopen. The entire strategy right now is simply "Survival Mode", trying to maintain a pool of tenured CM's to build off of once the parks reopen. Knott's is said to be in the same boat; their recent food festivals made no profit, it just keeps the park barely operating and a core group of employees still connected. Knott's is simply trying to survive until next summer.

  • Both Disney and their allies in Anaheim City Hall have switched into Survival Mode. This current situation is simply disastrous for everyone involved. It's becoming clear that the best case scenario for reopening is Disneyland reopens Spring, 2021 at 25% capacity, and that scenario now pencils out as an economic disaster for Anaheim and for Disney. TDA also realizes reopening might not be until next summer, a full 15 months after Disneyland closed. The good news for non-Disney hotels is that Disney will only reopen with the Grand Californian, and that news was purposely released to City Hall and the community to try and help Disney's neighbors plan for the future. TDA is regrouping and trying to figure out a strategy to make it to next spring/summer. Anaheim is scrambling to try and prevent the Resort District from losing all of its small businesses, plus some large anchors like GardenWalk and corporate hotels around the convention center, with the Resort District being taken over by the homeless. But Anaheim is also trying to do the same with its dying downtown area now overrun by homeless as well (see Carnegie Plaza mess).

  • Basically, in the last few weeks both TDA and Anaheim City Hall have realized this is a bad situation that is quickly getting much, much worse. As both private business and local governments look ahead to 2021, things have never looked bleaker. There is a glimmer of hope that Disney and Universal will be able to get Sacramento to change its rules for theme parks, but that isn't hopeful. No one is happy. More layoffs are coming. The future looks... dark. :(

I forgot two parts to the conversations, and it kind of allows it to end on a happier note than the above! :oops:

  • This situation has really strengthened the relationship between Anaheim and Disney. During the Colglazier years, that relationship was soured and then eventually broken. Anaheim felt taken advantage of back then. Josh D'Amaro helped heal things after Colglazier left, but there were still bruises. The past six months has really brought everyone together and helped form a strong bond again. Both Disney and Anaheim feel each side values and appreciates the other again. It helps immensely that Josh D'Amaro is now the Chairman and has spent a great deal of time in person with the mayor and the TDA CM's. Disney and Anaheim are a team again!

  • Disney is also trying to do everything it can to help the businesses in the Resort District. Disney is losing big money, but they have a long-term strategy to try and push as much business as possible out into the Resort District. Not reopening the Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotel is an example of that; Disney could try and suck up as much hotel capacity as possible, but has purposely chosen a future strategy that does just the opposite to push hotel business out into the Resort District. The word has gotten out among Anaheim's business community, and good will has been developed because of that. Everyone feels like they are all in this together right now!

Thanks for sharing! Lots of great (yet depressing) insight into what's happening down in Anaheim.

This whole situation is absolutely surreal, and I'm guessing the impact this will have on Anaheim, the Resort District, and Disneyland will be felt for at least the next decade, if not longer.

Disneyland as we knew it in January 2020 isn't going to be a thing again for a long, long time.
 

SuddenStorm

Well-Known Member
I'm reminded of that digital press conference shared by Darkbeer the day after the State reopen wishlist was announced that consisted of the major park presidents discussing the impact this is having on their parks.

One of them said something along the lines of "Reopening isn't about making money, it's about keeping our workers employed" The parks know they aren't going to be profitable for years to come- and reopening really is about salvaging whatever they can to keep people working and help sustain their respective local economies.

I was absolutely blown away by the familial nature I observed among the cast members at Disneyland backstage. I definitely noticed camps who despised their management, or scheduling, or wanted to be paid more, etc- but the majority of the managers (and hourly CM's) I met really seemed like the kind of folks who value the cast members and were really working to make the place a decent place to work at. I think Josh's handling of Covid- even going as far as to talk to cast members at DTD after the announcement- has really helped demonstrate his desire to ensure this is the philosophy among all management at the Resort- I imagine this has been incredibly difficult of a situation for many in TDA to have to handle, especially when it comes to the employment (or lack thereof) of their CM's.

Also, Chapek's mostly public silence is not a good look. I've almost forgotten that guy is the 'CEO' at a time when layoffs are coming left and right in his company.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Also, Chapek's mostly public silence is not a good look. I've almost forgotten that guy is the 'CEO' at a time when layoffs are coming left and right in his company.

Yes, that is odd. I'm thinking he's in a bit over his head and/or trying to learn the movie and TV biz.

The good news is that the Parks division is being run by Josh D'Amaro now. Everyone in Anaheim has nothing but wonderful things to say about Mr. D'Amaro. That he's been so visible day after day in both Disneyland and over at Anaheim City Hall has helped immensely, and since he is such a genuinely pleasant guy it makes it even easier.

The same could not be said for Michael Colglazier or Bob Chapek when they were in their previous roles that Mr. D'Amaro now has. No one in Anaheim's politics or business commmunity misses working with Colglazier (Stanford! HBS! Smarter than you! Dull as a dishtowel, yet douchey!). Ken Potrock has also come off as a good guy, very level headed, as he learns the Disneyland ropes. But Mr. D'Amaro is the star of this show right now.

I filtered out some of the info I shared because much of it dealt with the Anaheim Convention Center and the collapse of that entire industry (Corporate Hotels, Steakhouses, Banquet Catering, etc.). We already have enough to discuss just dealing with Disneyland being closed for a year or longer, but Anaheim is also reeling from the realization that it's city owned convention center will remain closed for just as long as Disneyland, if not longer.

This really is a disaster for Anaheim.
 
Last edited:

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
I'm reminded of that digital press conference shared by Darkbeer the day after the State reopen wishlist was announced that consisted of the major park presidents discussing the impact this is having on their parks.

One of them said something along the lines of "Reopening isn't about making money, it's about keeping our workers employed" The parks know they aren't going to be profitable for years to come- and reopening really is about salvaging whatever they can to keep people working and help sustain their respective local economies.

I was absolutely blown away by the familial nature I observed among the cast members at Disneyland backstage. I definitely noticed camps who despised their management, or scheduling, or wanted to be paid more, etc- but the majority of the managers (and hourly CM's) I met really seemed like the kind of folks who value the cast members and were really working to make the place a decent place to work at. I think Josh's handling of Covid- even going as far as to talk to cast members at DTD after the announcement- has really helped demonstrate his desire to ensure this is the philosophy among all management at the Resort- I imagine this has been incredibly difficult of a situation for many in TDA to have to handle, especially when it comes to the employment (or lack thereof) of their CM's.

Also, Chapek's mostly public silence is not a good look. I've almost forgotten that guy is the 'CEO' at a time when layoffs are coming left and right in his company.
Chapek is perhaps preparing for the much anticipated Wall Street public earnings call for Q4 happening in mid November.
 

JustinSt

Active Member
Okay, here's the info I got at two Palm Springs events yesterday from several people connected to Disneyland and Anaheim's business community in various ways. I trust the insight from these people a great deal. They know what they are talking about. In no particular order;

  • Downtown Anaheim apartments leased by Disneyland College Program are all still empty. Disney was leasing these long term through an apartment management company called Greystar. Disney wants out of the leases ASAP because they are still paying to keep them going, but the College Program is kaput and won't come back for years, if ever. Lawyers from both sides are involved, and Greystar is playing hardball. It's going to cost Disney an arm and a leg to get out of the leases, and then a few hundred apartments will be dumped onto the market in downtown Anaheim where the entire dining/retail industry has already collapsed. It's a legal nightmare and neither side is budging.

  • Disney owned hotels are decimated. Basically the entire staff of the Paradise Pier Hotel was laid off last month. A huge portion of the Disneyland Hotel was laid off last month. A core crew remains for the Grand Californian. When the Resort was to reopen in July the strategy was to operate the Paradise Pier and Grand Californian, and put Disneyland Hotel in mothballs. Now the strategy is if/when the Resort reopens only a portion of the Grand Californian will be operated, and with the 25% capacity limit that could be the scenario for at least the first six months to a year upon reopening. The Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotels are effectively shuttered and out of business for the next 12 to 18 months, depending on a reopening timeline. Layoffs at the hotels of both hourly and salaried CM's are massive, with more coming.

  • Layoffs. More are coming. TDA brought back too many theme park managers in June thinking the Resort was going to reopen by July. Now they are swimming in managers who have very little to do. A new round of furloughs are imminent, sending many of the managers who were brought back this past summer back into the unemployed furlough pool. Just in time for Christmas!

  • The Disneyland Resort is bleeding money every day. Nothing they are doing is working to create a profit for Disney. Operating Downtown Disney is costing Disney money, but at least keeps the third-party tenants kind of happy and avoids lawsuits from them. Operating Buena Vista Street will not earn them any real money, it will only retain a pool of CM's and keep them employed, because it would be more expensive to rehire them once the parks begin to actually reopen. The entire strategy right now is simply "Survival Mode", trying to maintain a pool of tenured CM's to build off of once the parks reopen. Knott's is said to be in the same boat; their recent food festivals made no profit, it just keeps the park barely operating and a core group of employees still connected. Knott's is simply trying to survive until next summer.

  • Both Disney and their allies in Anaheim City Hall have switched into Survival Mode. This current situation is simply disastrous for everyone involved. It's becoming clear that the best case scenario for reopening is Disneyland reopens Spring, 2021 at 25% capacity, and that scenario now pencils out as an economic disaster for Anaheim and for Disney. TDA also realizes reopening might not be until next summer, a full 15 months after Disneyland closed. The good news for non-Disney hotels is that Disney will only reopen with the Grand Californian, and that news was purposely released to City Hall and the community to try and help Disney's neighbors plan for the future. TDA is regrouping and trying to figure out a strategy to make it to next spring/summer. Anaheim is scrambling to try and prevent the Resort District from losing all of its small businesses, plus some large anchors like GardenWalk and corporate hotels around the convention center, with the Resort District being taken over by the homeless. But Anaheim is also trying to do the same with its dying downtown area now overrun by homeless as well (see Carnegie Plaza mess).

  • Basically, in the last few weeks both TDA and Anaheim City Hall have realized this is a bad situation that is quickly getting much, much worse. As both private business and local governments look ahead to 2021, things have never looked bleaker. There is a glimmer of hope that Disney and Universal will be able to get Sacramento to change its rules for theme parks, but that isn't hopeful. No one is happy. More layoffs are coming. The future looks... dark
Okay, here's the info I got at two Palm Springs events yesterday from several people connected to Disneyland and Anaheim's business community in various ways. I trust the insight from these people a great deal. They know what they are talking about. In no particular order;

  • Downtown Anaheim apartments leased by Disneyland College Program are all still empty. Disney was leasing these long term through an apartment management company called Greystar. Disney wants out of the leases ASAP because they are still paying to keep them going, but the College Program is kaput and won't come back for years, if ever. Lawyers from both sides are involved, and Greystar is playing hardball. It's going to cost Disney an arm and a leg to get out of the leases, and then a few hundred apartments will be dumped onto the market in downtown Anaheim where the entire dining/retail industry has already collapsed. It's a legal nightmare and neither side is budging.

  • Disney owned hotels are decimated. Basically the entire staff of the Paradise Pier Hotel was laid off last month. A huge portion of the Disneyland Hotel was laid off last month. A core crew remains for the Grand Californian. When the Resort was to reopen in July the strategy was to operate the Paradise Pier and Grand Californian, and put Disneyland Hotel in mothballs. Now the strategy is if/when the Resort reopens only a portion of the Grand Californian will be operated, and with the 25% capacity limit that could be the scenario for at least the first six months to a year upon reopening. The Paradise Pier and Disneyland Hotels are effectively shuttered and out of business for the next 12 to 18 months, depending on a reopening timeline. Layoffs at the hotels of both hourly and salaried CM's are massive, with more coming.

  • Layoffs. More are coming. TDA brought back too many theme park managers in June thinking the Resort was going to reopen by July. Now they are swimming in managers who have very little to do. A new round of furloughs are imminent, sending many of the managers who were brought back this past summer back into the unemployed furlough pool. Just in time for Christmas!

  • The Disneyland Resort is bleeding money every day. Nothing they are doing is working to create a profit for Disney. Operating Downtown Disney is costing Disney money, but at least keeps the third-party tenants kind of happy and avoids lawsuits from them. Operating Buena Vista Street will not earn them any real money, it will only retain a pool of CM's and keep them employed, because it would be more expensive to rehire them once the parks begin to actually reopen. The entire strategy right now is simply "Survival Mode", trying to maintain a pool of tenured CM's to build off of once the parks reopen. Knott's is said to be in the same boat; their recent food festivals made no profit, it just keeps the park barely operating and a core group of employees still connected. Knott's is simply trying to survive until next summer.

  • Both Disney and their allies in Anaheim City Hall have switched into Survival Mode. This current situation is simply disastrous for everyone involved. It's becoming clear that the best case scenario for reopening is Disneyland reopens Spring, 2021 at 25% capacity, and that scenario now pencils out as an economic disaster for Anaheim and for Disney. TDA also realizes reopening might not be until next summer, a full 15 months after Disneyland closed. The good news for non-Disney hotels is that Disney will only reopen with the Grand Californian, and that news was purposely released to City Hall and the community to try and help Disney's neighbors plan for the future. TDA is regrouping and trying to figure out a strategy to make it to next spring/summer. Anaheim is scrambling to try and prevent the Resort District from losing all of its small businesses, plus some large anchors like GardenWalk and corporate hotels around the convention center, with the Resort District being taken over by the homeless. But Anaheim is also trying to do the same with its dying downtown area now overrun by homeless as well (see Carnegie Plaza mess).

  • Basically, in the last few weeks both TDA and Anaheim City Hall have realized this is a bad situation that is quickly getting much, much worse. As both private business and local governments look ahead to 2021, things have never looked bleaker. There is a glimmer of hope that Disney and Universal will be able to get Sacramento to change its rules for theme parks, but that isn't hopeful. No one is happy. More layoffs are coming. The future looks... dark. :(
What I find interesting, is a lot of my friends who work at the 3rd party table service locations in DTD are saying that sales are very close to pre covid days now, I don’t understand why Disney hasn’t opened some restaurants within the grand and DLH to spread out some of the crowds and to make some revenue. My server friends in WDW are also saying that numbers are about the same or even better then pre covid at some of the location within wdw.
 

SplashGhost

Well-Known Member
I really wish I had known in advance that the times I went to Disneyland in January, February, and March would be the last times the parks would be operating for a year or more, and also the last times that I would be getting mostly full experiences at the parks for a very long time to come.

I would have treasured those visits so much more if I knew that time was basically the end of an era for the Disneyland Resort. Even if the parks reopen next Spring, I fear it will be years before they return to their former glory.
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom