Another round of layoffs has hit Walt Disney World, and these are some big losses to the atmosphere of the resort and its quality as a destination (though to be clear, as we have said repeatedly, all these cuts are huge losses). Via Orlando Sentinel, the cuts include:
Festival of the Lion King Cast and Crew
Finding Nemo: The Musical Cast and Crew
Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular Cast and Crew
Beauty and the Beast — Live on Stage Cast and Crew
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue Cast
Citizens of Main Street USA
Citizens of Hollywood
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Cast and Crew
Green Army Men
Jedi Training Academy
It’s unclear what will become of the impacted shows. These were are temporarily suspended during the reopening phase, so guests visiting tomorrow won’t see anything different than guests visiting yesterday, but it’s much less clear whether these shows will ever come back.
Our hearts go out to the impacted Cast Members, and you should keep in mind there are ongoing ways to support laid off Cast Members.
Statement from Actors’ Equity Association
You can read the statement from Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents a large number of those laid off, here. Some key points from it:
720 of 780 of the Equity members at Walt Disney World have been laid off
these laid-off members maintain recall rights until the end of 2021
I don’t know the breakdown of Equity positions at Walt Disney World. The Frozen Sing Along has Equity performers, and that show is currently operational.
A few people have asked why Frozen Sing Along is back, but these other shows aren’t. This is a particularly good question because Frozen is indoors and “Beauty and the Beast” and “Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular” are outdoors.
First, Frozen Sing Along has significantly few costs. There are something like six performers in each show, along with some basic effects. Indiana Jones has a ton of effects and many more performers, and Beauty and the Beast at least has many more performers.
Moreover, Frozen Sing Along runs much more frequently. It runs nine times today, which is down from pre-pandemic but sitll much more than the ~five shows Beauty and the Beast would see during a full day.
This may cut against the cost aspect somewhat, but in a park struggling to keep guests out of line for the few rides they have, Hollywood Studios needs a frequent show like Frozen Sing Along more than a few-times-a-day Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular.
Our Thoughts
On a personal and professional level for us, these cuts are very sad to see.
Festival of the Lion King was one of Emily’s favorite things at Walt Disney World, and even though I didn’t love it as much, we watched it every trip (thankfully).
And nothing about the other shows was “missable,” either. Finding Nemo was a cornerstone of my Animal Kingdom days, usually fitting perfectly in right at 11AM. Beauty and the Beast and the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular were necessary escapes from the stress of Hollywood Studios (in addition to being great shows).
Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue was a fantastic show that we didn’t visit nearly enough times, in part because we’d just discovered the wonder that is Fort Wilderness.
Readers constantly asked me about Jedi Training Academy. As I didn’t have a child, it was a big blind spot for me, but at least once a trip I’d have to go chat with a Cast Member about when to arrive because readers always asked.
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor was an enjoyable, light-hearted, interactive escape from what can be a very chaotic Magic Kingdom. And Green Army Men, Citizens of Hollywood, and Citizens of Main Street literally brought the parks to life.
I kept saying “was” above, but we don’t know for sure these shows won’t be back. I’m certain it’ll be a financial decision with little regard for the posterity of families who had their hopes for their next visit to include these shows dashed.
But as a financial decision I’m not sure whether it makes more sense to train all new casts and crews for shows that were fairly old already or whether it makes sense to develop new shows geared for opening during the 50th Anniversary celebration, which could theoretically begin as late as October 1, 2021 and still be “on time.”
Even if this doesn’t “change” things in that (1) the shows were going to be suspended for a while anyways (2) on balance guests will be neutral about old favorites or new, exciting things, it feels like a huge change for us.
This is honestly the first time I’ve just not cared personally about visiting the parks. Professionally I have a duty to my readers to get there as soon as I believe it’s safe for my family (which yes, I continue to stress about), but personally I’ve never been less excited.
When To Plan Your Next Trip
(Note: Nothing in this section addresses the very real concerns we all might have about visiting during the ongoing pandemic. I still haven’t visited, so that should tell you I’m sensitive to those concerns.)
That’s the emotional response, but the practicalities of it are real, too. Add this to the delays in construction of TRON and Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind we mentioned a few weeks back (now unofficially expected 2022), and it’s clear that Disney is in no rush to get things back to normal.
Look online, and you’ll see plenty of influencers and a few bloggers reporting great times at the parks. I know guests who have had Magical times too. But the parks are barely reaching their 25% capacity cap. If Disney wanted to / thought they could rebound, they’d need to appeal to guests who aren’t already sucked in, and these cuts don’t help that.
I can’t speak to the business or health/safety reasoning here, but my point is that it’s a very negative outlook. It basically concedes that nothing the resort can do in the near future will get more guests. This conflicts strongly with the (fading, but still present) idea that reopening or increasing capacity is some magic bullet.
If I had to guess, I’d say the experience you have today is nearly exactly the experience you’d have through September 2021.
I wrote just a few days ago that I’d say Walt Disney World is worth it right now, but that I’d also hold off on trips if given the choice. This barely changes that advice.
Ideally, planning right now has you visiting during the 50th Anniversary Celebration (in whatever form that takes) and after some new rides have opened (expected 2022). So the question is how to time one or multiple trips so that you get one visit (maybe your only visit, maybe not) in that 50th Anniversary / new rides timeframe.
Since everything impacted was suspended already, this doesn’t change the situation in the parks. While I’m upset with these cuts, I have to stand by what I said last week—the experience is still “worth it” if that’s what’s holding you back from a current trip.
The change comes in how I think about waiting. I previously thought waiting until summer 2021 or early fall 2021 made sense, but now I’d have to delay that.
If you’re going to wait, you’re probably looking at waiting until holidays 2021 or spring 2022 if you expect to have a better experience than what you’d find today.
That’s all just speculation, to be clear. But if you can’t wait until holidays 2021, I think you’re better off visiting now and then working to save for your next trip. If you delay until summer 2021, I think your experience looks a lot like it would today, and then you might be waiting on your next trip until well after the 50th Anniversary Celebration.
So to summarize, if you can only visit once in the next 3-4 years, we recommend waiting until holiday season 2021 or spring 2022. But if you can make multiple visits and are just wondering “is it worth it,” it’s probably still a fine time, particularly because you can take advantage of the new room discounts at Walt Disney world.