Well, I sympathize with those affected. I was laid off about 6 years ago. It was no fault of my own, I had excellent reviews, had been promoted, etc., but the company lost its biggest contract, which employed over half the staff there. Hundreds of people were laid off. Its just the way it was. As it so happens, it worked out for the best as I got the job I have now which has better pay, better hours, and is way more stable.
That said, if 450 people out of 62,000 were laid off, that is a drop in the bucket. Its less than 1% of the staff at WDW. I appreciate that to those affected, including their families, this is catastrophic, but in the current economic climate it had to be expected. I don't care what anyone says, people are not traveling or spending as much as they did in the recent past. Yes parks attendance may be up recently, but that is being driven by steep discounts and local visitors who are inclined to have shorter stays, stay off-site, not eat at the parks, etc., thus not spending as much as non-locals.
Were the right people let go? I don't know. Are there other things that could have been done to save money? Maybe. Maybe some of those things have already been done. The devil is in the details. But to imply that Disney is "wrong" because they laid people off just doesn't fly. Its what is happening right now. (And this specifically has nothing to do with the economy being run without regulation. More regulation would probably have prevented at least part of the situation we are in. However, now that we are here, businesses need to make real decisions on how they can see there way through things, and that was part of what is happening here.)
