Theme parks have been closed and mostly inactive for months on end, but suddenly there’s a lot of news to digest all at once. The economic strain of extended closures, particularly in non-essential venues like entertainment and travel, has been unimaginable. As the world works towards restarting economic activity, workers are being asked to choose between their health or their job. Meanwhile, virus cases are beginning to surge in the areas that Disney’s soon to reopen theme parks are located. That has employees and potential guests nervous, unions on edge, and park executives scrambling to balance health and safety with their corporate mandate to reopen the gates.

, Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty

Theme Park Layoffs Begin

Universal Orlando reopened just a little over two weeks ago. Everything seemed to be going well; the parks in Florida are operating again, guests are visiting, and reviews have been mostly positive. So it took many by surprise to hear that Universal Orlando unleashed major layoffs yesterday. According to a statement from Universal spokesman Tom Schroder,  

“We have made the difficult decision to reduce our Parks & Resorts workforce across multiple locations and business units… This decision was not made lightly, but was necessary to prepare us for the future… We are working to structure and strengthen our business for the future in anticipation of the tourism industry taking time to fully recover.”

Universal declined to disclose how many employees were being affected or which departments would be seeing cuts. But we have heard that the layoffs have not directly affected frontline employees, but rather many middle managers. Additionally, areas like marketing, events, and even Universal Creative have been more directly in the path of pink-slips. The employees who have been laid off will be receiving support from Universal in the form of severance pay, subsidized health benefits, and professional reemployment assistance. 

, Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty
Universal Orlando has been operating with very low crowd levels since their early reopening

Since the parks are operating well below their normal capacity, a smaller workforce is needed. But it was definitely a shock for many Universal employees to get their hopes up by the reopening of the resort only to be let go shortly thereafter.

Universal is ahead of the curve since they were first to reopen. We can certainly imagine a similar situation at all the major theme parks. Disney is not going to need, or be able to pay for, all of its Cast Members once the resort opens. Not all hotels, restaurants, shops, attractions and entertainment venues will be in operation for many months to come. 

, Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty
Via the CDC

The United States is currently blocking potential travelers from a lengthy list of countries, and still more countries (Japan and the EU nations among them) have implemented, or are weighing, travel bans preventing their citizens from visiting the United States (due to our rapid acceleration of Covid-19 cases). And with no vaccine yet released, the tourism industry is bracing for a long and difficult recovery. Reduced operations, stifled tourism, and a cloudy outlook all point to more pain to come for theme park workers. 

Cast Members & Unions Express Concerns 

Theme parks aren’t the easiest places to keep excited guests socially distanced. Thousands of people enter the parks and interact with employees, ride vehicles, hand rails, point of sale terminals, and other equipment. So, even with the very best efforts by theme parks and their guests, it’s very likely that some illnesses will be passed around. As the pandemic has grown suddenly these last couple of weeks, many Cast Members and their unions have been expressing concern. In a recent Disneyland Update, we mentioned a Change.org petition for Disneyland to push back their reopening (which now has 49,000 signatures!). There’s now a new petition asking Walt Disney World to push back their July 11 & 15 openings as well in order to protect the “Magic Makers.” This petition was posted three days ago and has already reached 7,000 signatures. 

, Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty
Expect measures very similar to the new guidelines for Disney Springs at Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

When the parks announced their reopening plans, Covid cases were declining, states were beginning to reopen, and citizens tired of being cooped up at home were starting to feel a little more optimistic. But the trajectory of infections has taken a turn for the worst, especially in our nation’s vacation capitals, California and Florida.  

, Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty
Via WorldMeters

, Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty

And that has theme park unions pushing for a thoughtful delay in reopening plans. Disneyland has yet to be granted approval from the state to reopen, high infection rates and union pressure could very well tip the balance against Disneyland. Keep your eyes on this one. 

, Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty

But even as some unions fight for health and safety, others have reached agreement with Disney on terms for calling workers back to the parks. 

UPDATED: Just after we wrote this article, Gov. Gavin Newsom stated that he is prepared to “revert back” to more stringent coronavirus restrictions, if necessary, as California continues to see a rise in cases. – ABC 7

Teamsters and Affiliated Unions Reach Agreement With Disney

Yesterday, the Teamsters and several other unions settled with Disney on terms for returning workers to their jobs. These workers will be allowed to decline Disney’s request for them to return to their jobs in the first round of calls from HR if they don’t feel safe. However, if the company calls them a second time and they decline Disney’s request again, they must either qualify for a leave of absence or will be terminated. Further, Disney has agreed not to reinstate the College Program until all Full Time and Part Time employees have been called back to work.  If you’d like to read through all the details, we have the agreement for you below: 

, Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty , Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty , Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty , Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty , Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty

According to one union communication to members, 775 workers are in the process of being called back to their positions at the resort for the week of June 28th to assist with park reopening plans. The following week, thousands more will find out when they are expected to return to the resort. 

, Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and Uncertainty
Disney will be using The Incredibles in a new safety campaign.

And while Disney has agreed to pay workers if they get sick and need to stay home, there are no terms we’ve been able to locate which will cover the employee for their cost in getting tested or seeking care for Covid-19 should they contract the disease at work. Keep in mind that most of Disney’s employees make minimal pay. They are being asked to put their lives on the line for Disney’s profitability, without assurances that they’ll be taken care of if they get sick as a result. That is one of the primary reasons many Disney workers are resisting the resort reopening during a growing wave of infections, they don’t know how they would be able to afford care if they get sick themselves. 

But Disney still needs to come to agreement with other unions before workers in all departments can be recalled to their jobs.  


Let’s Hear From You

Does the rapid increase in daily Covid cases have you concerned about theme park reopening plans? The parks shut down and remained closed during a period of much smaller infection rates, now that infections are surging, they are pushing to open. Do you think that gives employees just cause for concern for their safety in a theme park setting?

Yesterday, the last of Disney’s parks world-wide announced reopening plans. All of Disney’s parks now have a reopening date. Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland have already reopened. The rest of Disney’s parks will reopen within a week of each other in mid-July.

A few weeks ago, before Disneyland announced a reopening date, we asked when you’d be willing to return to Disneyland. 7,046 of you responded and more than half indicated that they would be willing to visit on opening day. Here’s the result of that poll: 

, Disney News Update: Growing Reopening Concerns and UncertaintyHowever, much has changed in the trajectory of the virus since then. Yesterday, we included a poll in our article about the rapid reopening of Disney Parks all over the world. We asked a similar question about when you would return to a Disney park and got a much different result. If you haven’t taken that poll, please do so below: 

We are asking our readers to be thoughtful and respectful of others in the comments below. Concern and tempers are high at this moment. But let’s hear your thoughts on how and when theme parks should reopen; how much risk it is fair to put on employees; and how likely you think it would be that theme parks would have to shut down again at some point after reopening due to new projections for the trajectory of this virus.