I took this on March 16, which was the first day that the parks were closed When we first heard of COVID-19, no one had any idea of how it was going to change our lives. We certainly didn’t think that they would shut down Walt Disney World! Of course, that is exactly what happened. March 15 was the last day for the parks, and the whole resort is now closed until further notice. There are plenty of guesses about when and what will happen, but no one knows for sure.
That brings me to today. I am referring to April 18, 2020 as “the day the World went dark” for a specific reason. Today is the last day that many Cast Members are on the payroll. Tomorrow they will officially start their furloughs. It is a very sad day indeed.
I have lived in Florida for about ten years now, and most of that time we have lived near Walt Disney World. I have lots of friends who are Cast Members. Some of them have worked for Disney for decades. They understand why the furlough is taking place, but they still are sad to see it happen. My newsfeed today has been full of name tag and uniform pictures. While they are of course sad, they are also united in the thought that they will be back, and will be better than ever.
Disney is not firing its people. Instead, they are temporarily being let go, so that they will be able to receive unemployment. During this time Disney will continue to pay the health insurance of those furloughed, in fact they will pay the full thing instead of just part. They will also continue to pay tuition for those in the Aspire program.
Those who have been furloughed have been promised that they will have their jobs once again when this is over. They will return at the same pay rate, no one will have to worry about making less.
I’ve heard people complain that Disney is furloughing employees. They’ve said that they should continue to pay them through the closure. Disney is losing millions of dollars daily because of not only the theme parks being closed, but also the movie theaters. The main area that the company is successful at currently is Disney+, but that is not making up for the losses. Furloughing Cast Members makes sense business-wise. Many of these Cast Members were paid for a full month without working at all. That is more than many companies would do.
The Orlando area is hurting right now. Tourism is our main industry, and we can’t allow tourists to come. Restaurants, gift shops, and hotels have closed, and many of them will not be able to reopen because they lost so much money. While the Disney Cast Members who I know are sad to be furloughed, they know that their situation will turn around when the parks open again. Not everyone in the area can say that.
When things do return to some semblance of normal, I plan to thank Cast Members even more for all that they do. I know that they will be happy to welcome guests once again. It is not easy to create magic, but many Cast Members do make it seem easy. If you’re a current or former Cast Member, thank you so much.