Cuts coming to every area of parks and resorts - thanks to Shanghai and Paris

[wogwog]

Sorry, I cannot agree with this. Both the Hub and the web site were showing two ELPs. I am part of a cast that has access to the HUB daily It didn't change.

Yes it did. I believe several WDW Manager friends and neighbors over you. I think they know more about scheduling than most, even you. They also have meetings and correspondence that you do not unless you are WDW manager as well. One of them said to look at the last half of March and April before writing. I care not a bit about your uninformed opinion but others planning a trip might be interested. Feel free to use the ignore button.

 

[natatomic]

Only on page 9, so forgive me for not being caught up.

Friendship boats will only operate will 4 boats on the Epcot-Studios route (typically it's 4, but they run 5 during peak hours, especially during the busy season) and only 1 boat in the World Showcase Lagoon for the foreseeable future.

Unless they have a handful of CMs call out sick, in which case 0 boats will run in the lagoon. Which has already happened once.

 

[TP2000]

My dad worked in a factory with the teamsters union. After a couple of years, they were thrown out, because of what you just said. I hope the workers can organize and get a Union that will represent them.

I was a dues paying Teamster as a young man. They were worthless. The shop stewards gave lip service to the members, while they jumped on any chance they got to go up to the office for a meeting with management so they could hit on the pretty secretaries and then loaf around on a break after their meeting. The shop stewards defended the liars and cheats and crooks who made my job harder, and then went to a fancy Christmas party thrown by the Teamsters every year that regular members weren't invited to.

The Teamsters is truly a rotten organization (Google Jimmy Hoffa Sr. for an example). I pity the hard working CM's who are forced to give dues money to them every paycheck.

 

[Cesar R M]

By the way, assuming these cuts are happening at DL, too, as they are reported to be company-wide, can you imagine how some of the more dedicated DL cast members might have felt watching "Disneyland 60 and Everything Else" special the other night, not only spending so much time on non-Disneyland stuff but just knowing that they are supposedly celebrating the anniversary of it while cutting your hours? Sad.

"happy birthday! good news! Your jobs were cut to minimum! ohh? you dont like that? ok! you're fired! "

 

[Cesar R M]

Bull... Walt went bankrupt a number of times. He ate cheese and canned goods while living in a back room in some office building and fed some of it to a mouse that he shared the room with, ironically. More then once he put everything on the line to get what he wanted to get. He at times had nothing more then a couple of dollars in his pocket if that much or living on borrowed money. No one has to work at that pay scale unless they are uneducated or scared to try something different. I would think that the uneducated part does not apply... they must all be fairly literate.

I dont think an "office backroom" even comes close to the costs of today.

 

[Tay]

Interesting considering how all the companies who've fallen in recent years after doing things like this. I wish another company would buy a majority percentage in WDW and DLR like Tokyo.

 

[John]

Hard to know for sure if this is a result of budget cuts or not but yesterday was the contract renewal day for the Citizens of Hollywood and apparently between the 1940s cast and the Hollywood Public Works cast 11 were let go. Now it's unknown whether they'll be replaced or not. Other years they would let a certain number go but replace them all. However I don't think they've lost this many before so who knows. Can't blame this all on the budget cuts just yet but it certainly seems rather coincidental.

Very disturbing news......more streetmosphere gone. The little things. I am sure the resident curmudgeon will come here and say....but we dont know the rest of the story. How do we know these people were not terrible employees. Dead wood. I suppose that the rethemeing of DHS will have little to do with Hollywood or the making of movies. But its 2016 and they havnt even started construction on any of the improvements. Some scoffed at the notion that the reimagination wouldn't be completed till post-2021. Each day that passes it seems to be more plausible by the second. Disney could have kept these actors around for another year or two. With every cut to DHS, every closure there is less and less to experience. WDW might not be closing down but DHS sure has the feel of a place going out of business.

It truly is a slap in the face to the paying customer to allow this park to be in this condition.

But but they are pouring money in it and they just announced that kewl SW fireworks show......the place has been left to rot like the Spectromagic parade. They didnt do anything till the place absolutely needed it. Wake me up in 2021.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I pity the hard working CM's who are forced to give dues money to them every paycheck.

No Walt Disney World Cast Members are required to be part of a union. That is illegal in Florida as it is a 'Right to Work' state.

 

[Nubs70]

(2nd attempt. Mobile doesn't like me tonight)

That's not going to happen and Inwill tell you why. The "vast majority" of these CMs make less than $9/hour. These are the CMs on the front line where a walk-out would do the most harm to the company that they would need to make a change. But where are they going to go? Where will they get their income? There isn't enough jobs elsewhere to immediately soak up a giant walk-out like that where people's lives won't be interrupted.

Disney also holds it over CMs heads (implied, not spoken) that if you don't want this job or salary there are a hundred people at casting who'd do it. That's not exactly the best position to be in when you make such a low income. A walk-out would have a huge personal impact on them. Disney knows this and they have their CMs by the nads because of this.

They get paid from the strike fund. If there has not been a strike in a long time there should be a quite sizable strike fund available.

 

[raven]

They get paid from the strike fund. If there has not been a strike in a long time there should be a quite sizable strike fund available.

That's if they are in a Union. Most $8.75/hr CM's that are in a Union are paying $500 per year in dues. Most teacher's Unions are only $200 per year. But if that many people strike, there isn't enough to cover lost wages. Not for thousands of people.

 

[asianway]

I was fixing to come here and ask if the FriendShip boats were part of the cuts. At the moment it appears that only the Canada to Morocco route is running. There is currently no boat transportation between Mexico and Germany.


Yes, I'm one of them. I'm not lying or snorting pixie dust when I say that I truly love what I do. I've personally had nothing but a positive experience with Disney since I started and I'd be more than happy to stay forever.

Last time I saw one friendship on the lagoon it was doing 3 point routes is that not ops anymore?

 

[JUFL2019]

No Walt Disney World Cast Members are required to be part of a union. That is illegal in Florida as it is a 'Right to Work' state.

They don't like to mention that when they "force" new cast members to sign up. Also it's near impossible to get out of paying dues once you start.

 

[ToTBellHop]

One Friendship in a park that has never had more locations closed and never cost more to enter. Nice.

At least there are flowers.

 

[GoofyDadKB]

Hard to know for sure if this is a result of budget cuts or not but yesterday was the contract renewal day for the Citizens of Hollywood and apparently between the 1940s cast and the Hollywood Public Works cast 11 were let go. Now it's unknown whether they'll be replaced or not. Other years they would let a certain number go but replace them all. However I don't think they've lost this many before so who knows. Can't blame this all on the budget cuts just yet but it certainly seems rather coincidental.

I wonder if they are making room for more Star Wars characters to roam the park without adding cost to the overall operation.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I'm talking about the work environment and details for young adult aged employees. This is 2016, not the early 1970's when you entered it.

There are retired servicemen working at Disney who now scrub toilets. There are people with degrees working renting strollers at the front of the parks. There are also high school drop outs and drug addicts working as area coordinators for Disney.

Education doesn't seem to make a difference in this day and age anymore. It all seems to be all about who you know.

What difference does it make what year it is. If you think things were rosy for startup employees in the 70's, you've been reading the wrong books. You talk about a good old boy network, it was in full force back then. Education was not as important a requirement like it is now. You could get started somewhere and work your way up. You still can, but, what has changed is the attitude of the "young" worker now. Now there is an entitlement factor that is killing them. They believe that the world, in general, owes them a living and the attitude is... "if you pay me what I think I'm worth then I will give you 100%. Otherwise you will get what you pay for". I've heard from people just starting out how the "company" does not value them in any meaningful way. Of course they don't... until you have shown that you have what they are looking for you have no value to them other then an investment. In fact, you are getting paid to train, to learn things, to show your metal. What people do not seem to grasp is that no matter how much one thinks it's an injustice, the boss is in control. They can't keep you there, but, they can and do control your future within the confines of that particular business.

You can talk as big is as you want... they are in control and what you do affects what happens to you no matter what situation you are in. If you don't want to play the game, you will lose by default. It's really simple! I would have to give you the idea that some of the "leaders" are drug addicts. You apparently know that, whereas I don't have that exposure, but, don't put that and under-educated together in the sense of deserving leadership rolls. Under-educated doesn't mean to dumb to do anything, it means not formally trained. They learn from experience not a book. Also there are a lot of "educated" people that don't have an ounce of common sense between them. Another factor is if you work in a workforce that numbers somewhere around 60K and you think that moving up will be automatic you need to think again. There aren't 60K executive jobs available. The cream will come to the top and that is where the advancement comes from. If you don't put in the effort you will not reap the benefits unless you get extremely lucky and that doesn't happen often.

I dont think an "office backroom" even comes close to the costs of today.

You're right... using an office backroom means you cannot afford any amount of rent. That would be poorer then poor with no government programs to help them out. It means, for all intents and purposes, homeless!

 

[mm52200]

I wonder if they are making room for more Star Wars characters to roam the park without adding cost to the overall operation.

What's done is done, but I will be heartbroken if Citizens/Streetmo, an opening day show and established classic at WDW will slowly be cut/taken over by Star Wars.

They could replace all 11 actors, but honestly who knows these days.

 

[Disone]

Yes it did. I believe several WDW Manager friends and neighbors over you. I think they know more about scheduling than most, even you. They also have meetings and correspondence that you do not unless you are WDW manager as well. One of them said to look at the last half of March and April before writing. I care not a bit about your uninformed opinion but others planning a trip might be interested. Feel free to use the ignore button.

You can believe what you like. Sorry wogwog but its not my opinion. Facts are facts. Cast members Schedules for we ending march 19th are not even done yet. Guest should base their vacation plans on the printed entertainment schedule that is on disneyworld.com. Which has shown two ELPs quite some time now. Your not saving anyones vacation by stating otherwise. Encourage you to stop taking it so personally, but yes I know exactly what I'm talking about and it is not opinion.

 

[raven]

What difference does it make what year it is. If you think things were rosy for startup employees in the 70's, you've been reading the wrong books. You talk about a good old boy network, it was in full force back then. Education was not as important a requirement like it is now. You could get started somewhere and work your way up. You still can, but, what has changed is the attitude of the "young" worker now. Now there is an entitlement factor that is killing them. They believe that the world, in general, owes them a living and the attitude is... "if you pay me what I think I'm worth then I will give you 100%. Otherwise you will get what you pay for". I've heard from people just starting out how the "company" does not value them in any meaningful way. Of course they don't... until you have shown that you have what they are looking for you have no value to them other then an investment. In fact, you are getting paid to train, to learn things, to show your metal. What people do not seem to grasp is that no matter how much one thinks it's an injustice, the boss is in control. They can't keep you there, but, they can and do control your future within the confines of that particular business.

You can talk as big is as you want... they are in control and what you do affects what happens to you no matter what situation you are in. If you don't want to play the game, you will lose by default. It's really simple! I would have to give you the idea that some of the "leaders" are drug addicts. You apparently know that, whereas I don't have that exposure, but, don't put that and under-educated together in the sense of deserving leadership rolls. Under-educated doesn't mean to dumb to do anything, it means not formally trained. They learn from experience not a book. Also there are a lot of "educated" people that don't have an ounce of common sense between them. Another factor is if you work in a workforce that numbers somewhere around 60K and you think that moving up will be automatic you need to think again. There aren't 60K executive jobs available. The cream will come to the top and that is where the advancement comes from. If you don't put in the effort you will not reap the benefits unless you get extremely lucky and that doesn't happen often.

You're right... using an office backroom means you cannot afford any amount of rent. That would be poorer then poor with no government programs to help them out. It means, for all intents and purposes, homeless!

First of all, books? Who uses those anymore to research information?


Secondly, a majority of the people who work for Disney actually moved to the area to work for them specifically because they grew up loving Disney. Just having them around guests gives Disney an advantage of free advertisement and knowledge. That statement right there proves that they give their 100%. So to be placed in that situation with their 100% dedication to their company then that same company slashes their hours, eliminates their jobs or gives them less than a $.50 raise over the course of 5 years shows is a smack in the face.

Thirdly, putting in an effort to make more money doesn't always work in companies. McDonalds in some areas pay $15/hr for untrain, educated or uneducated employees? Why? Because they value their workers. The legacy and history of Disney is all warm and fuzzy but it is no longer that way. only perceived that way to their guests. If you had actually worked for Disney longer than a year you would get a hard dose or reality and see what has become of it. It's easy to "assume" how things are being run but unless you've experienced it for yourself, you really don't have a clue.

 

[betty rose]

Just wondering, does anyone have anymore cuts, coming to the parks, or resorts? Our family is going in June, and we may need to change our plans. Maybe less days in Disney.

 

[DVCOwner]

The Teamsters refuse to get involved because they know their Theme Park employee membership is living paycheck to paycheck in shared apartments stocked with Top Ramen, even with the OT they get.

A strike couldn't last more than one week, and even then you'd be asking Teamsters to miss their car payment or rent. The Teamsters core dues paying membership in Orlando simply can't afford to miss a day of work, let alone the three to four weeks of a full strike it would take to actually cause change.

So the Teamsters leadership quietly skims off dues money each week and pretends they are doing something about it to any member stupid enough to ask.

If what you are saying is true then it is time to dump the union and save all the money paid in dues.

Still I think that there is a lot of stuff the union could do without going on strike. Things like going on local TV and radio talking about the cut in hours. I think they could also picket in some public areas. What I am trying to say is that if everything I am reading is so bad, the union should do something.