Politics 28000 Layoffs coming to Disney's domestic theme parks - statement from Josh D'Amaro

This thread contains political discussion related to the original thread topic

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
After 9/11 the theme parks shortened and restructured many things operations. Never looked back. Paying more to get less has been going on for a long time.

9/11 was a rather minor disruption. It was the delayed effects of the dot.com burst on Disney parks that really happened to coincide with it.

This situation is different and still unfolding.

What gets me is how many Disney fans accept it. I seen even on the other site, how many are upset things are being taken away but still have no issues in going. Like they are addicted.

That’s the truth. Cry...then book and go to sleep so happy 🤩
 

kingdead

Well-Known Member
There isn't much that Warren can legally do to alter Disney's course of operations. That said, Disney is selling a very specific sort of positive emotional experience, so they theoretically would be more sensitive to bad publicity than, say, a chicken farming company or an oil produce. I don't think much of Warren but she's doing what she can to try and help the laid off, I suppose.

Realistically, Disney's problem would be loss of expertise once full operations start again. People who aren't total cultists will need to be lured back with something special, and if they have bad customer service experiences or things LOOK shabby, that's it.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if Disney tried to spin off the parks out of fear of them being a long term drag on the stock. They may be paring down to bail out.
 

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
With no plans to bring back stage shows, parades, and fireworks presentations anytime soon I would imagine thousands of Cast have been let go from those areas.
Each of those productions employees a LOT of people, and with no plans to restart them in the foreseeable future from the Company's view it 'makes sense' to them to just lay everyone off.
I don't nessesarily agree with that, but I can understand the reasoning.

The downside is many of those people were long term Cast who had something the Company doesn't seem to value now - experience.
Many experienced Cast being let go is never a good thing as you destroy the coveted 'elders passing down lessons to the newbies' training / learning structure.

This is why WDI lost some of its magic some years ago when it 'cleaned house' of all the seasoned, truly experienced 'old guard' veterans.
That knowledge from experience cannot be learned from a textbook or computer screen.
It's always more fruitful having a Master show you 'the way'.
Decimating entire departments goes completely against that.
Not only do you lose the experienced teachers and performers, you seriously effect those who remain on a emotional / physchological / 'positive vibe' level.

Very sad day, but we saw this coming.
It still sucks, though.

Sending some love to those effected.
I KNOW what you are going through!

-
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
A fan needs to do what they won’t consider to stop these things: not go.
Up until now there was still plenty of reason for me to go.

I was expecting this to happen after Christmas / New Years. In my mind I was going to get to go and say goodbye on a holiday Trip in November. That’s not going to happen now I guess :(
 

jaxonp

Well-Known Member
I have been twice since the return to parks and I’ve never encountered better experiences with cast members top to bottom. The past few years have been a mixed bag with cast members being amazing and down right rude and awful. Since the reopening, the cast members have reminded me of old Disney and why I loved the experience so much. The cast is everything. I don’t know if they’re happy to have their jobs or what but even the dismissed entertainment offerings are overshadowed by the cast members providing “magical” moments. There’s a consistently not seen in years, maybe decades.
 

monothingie

❤️Bob4Eva❤️
Premium Member
Yeah I think there is some mix up there with the reporting. That doesn’t seem to be any response to the 7 financial questions that were asked.

It's actually not that bad a response, if you just want to move the story along. Why legitimize something that is going nowhere and will be forgotten about in the 24 hour news cycle tomorrow. If Disney responded directly it would escalate the situation and in this hyper political world possibly lead to some sort outrage mob forming on the twitter sewer and just perpetuate whatever she's squawking about.
 

SpectroMagician

Well-Known Member
Warren is an idiot. I am from MA and she is just terrible.

Disney is not a charity, they are a business. If those 28,000 people are losing them money than they should lay them off. It is not economically efficient to keep people around who are not adding to economic output.

I bet the greedy selfish Warren collects all the pay she can and barely gives any to charity. But here she is lecturing a for profit company to screw over their owners. What a loser.
 

monothingie

❤️Bob4Eva❤️
Premium Member
We’re talking serious serious cuts. Entertainment will never recover.

Then the whole issue of people are still paying for less experience, so what reason does WDC Leadership have to bring back shows, fireworks etc? Leadership is loving this.

This will end...eventually. Take your worst estimate or your best estimate or the happy medium between of timelines.

We've been told that primarily Disney can't have fireworks, parades, certain shows, because of their self-imposed social distancing restrictions, which they figure will be in place for months. Secondary to that is that demand has been cut because of lack of international travel, domestic travel restrictions, and general unwillingness to travel.

Disney, like many companies affected by this can't pay people to do nothing. Yes they are loosing a lot of talented people, but they are also trying to keep afloat. Other than a hope that streaming will carry them, they've got nothing right now.

Things will pick up and demand will grow. Disney is going to have to do a lot to entice people back to the parks, they won't be able to do that with a cut-rate product, especially if they want maintain a price premium over the competition. The shows will come back, the fireworks and parades will come back, it may or may not be different people but it will come back. Harmonious (for better or worse) is still being constructed. There's going to be some sort of 50th parade and possibly new fire works. They're not going to win guests back with the current level or highly cheapened level of offerings are currently being offered. They have to build back and grow from what they were pre-pandemic.
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Warren is an idiot. I am from MA and she is just terrible.

Disney is not a charity, they are a business. If those 28,000 people are losing them money than they should lay them off. It is not economically efficient to keep people around who are not adding to economic output.

I bet the greedy selfish Warren collects all the pay she can and barely gives any to charity. But here she is lecturing a for profit company to screw over their owners. What a loser.
Unbelievable. Imagine the astounding mental gymnastics it must take to convince yourself that this is the way things have to be.

Fun fact - top level executives make more per hour than the average Disney employee earns in a year. Every single top level executive could live off of last year's salary, alone, comfortably for the rest of their lives. What a shocker that they had to lay off 28,000 people rather than continue to slash the salaries of said executives for pay that they do not need to survive at all.

And Warren is fine to anyone who isn't a conservative simpleton living in a red county armpit.
 
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arich35

Well-Known Member
What gets me is how many Disney fans accept it. I seen even on the other site, how many are upset things are being taken away but still have no issues in going. Like they are addicted.
You are on a Disney World message board.... You might be addicted....
 

gerarar

Premium Member
I wonder for a show like Fantasmic! how many/much of its cast and crew got laid off. Tech, ops, stage performers, actors, crowd control CMs, etc. There’s probably near a hundred CMs that work each night to pull it off. Would not be surprised if everyone got the call :(
 

oceanbreeze77

Well-Known Member
I wonder for a show like Fantasmic! how many/much of its cast and crew got laid off. Tech, ops, stage performers, actors, crowd control CMs, etc. There’s probably near a hundred CMs that work each night to pull it off. Would not be surprised if everyone got the call :(
I know at DL Fantasmic belongs to the Parade department. DL parade dept was slaughtered.
 

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
The parks have been packed this week. I have my doubts about their touted "25% capacity" number because the parks look absolutely no different from an average pre-covid day. Though the lines are moving fast due to no Fastpass, every line is extending far beyond its normal entrance point. They extend far enough in some instances that the queue would be beyond full even without social distancing. This is also in part a symptom of no Fastpass, but I assure you, even with these lines that seem physically long, the parks are far more enjoyable without Fastpass.

But anyway, its disheartening to see full, bustling parks while simultaneously seeing all these cuts and layoffs happen as if the demand isn't there. Because, it is. It just wasn't there in July or August.
 

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