There will be a little less magic at Walt Disney World in the foreseeable future as nearly all shows and performers have been given notice. We’ll look at what happened and also at some other big news around Walt Disney World from this past week. Today marks a change in the way Rise of the Resistance passes will be distributed that might just solve the morning crowd crush . . . but this fix could create another set of problems. Plus we’ve got photos from the parks, new Christmas items and more. . .
More Layoffs & Heartbreak
Over the last week, there have been more layoffs at Walt Disney World. This time it’s a blow to those who appreciate the shows of the resort. To be honest, I just don’t know what to say anymore. To me, the performers are the heart of the theme park experience.
Last week, this tweet made the rounds:
What I’m hearing from sources is all Equity Entertainment was let go, except for Dapper Dans, some Star Wars thing, Voices of Liberty, Frozen. Everyone else, gone.
I have no words.
— WDW Tales Podcast (@WDWTales) October 28, 2020
Then we started hearing from more and more cast members who are receiving emails notifying they are to be let go.
Any equity act— the Citizens of Hollywood and Main Street, shows like the Festival of the Lion King, Finding Nemo: the Musical, Beauty & the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and many more— is just gone. Even some from Voices of Liberty and Frozen Sing-Along have been let go; it seems no one is safe.
To say I’m heartbroken is an understatement. The cast members make the difference— it’s so disheartening to see more and more let go (especially via an automated email, some not even addressing the cast members by name) while the executives continue to receive their full pay.
In a recent Disney Parks Blog post, they shared:
“Recently, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions to reduce our workforce as the business impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic have become more long-lasting than anyone could have predicted. As a result, we’ve had to pause many live shows and entertainment experiences at our resort for longer than originally anticipated.
While it’s impossible at this time to fully replace the incredible entertainment that existed throughout our parks before the pandemic, we are offering live entertainment in new ways wherever possible, including character cavalcades in all four parks and pop-up appearances…”
We were glad to see Disney recognize how important these entertainment cast members ultimately are to the theme park experience. But, we want so much more for these loyal employees.
Disney says that determining which shows can return and when is a complex process. Considering the guidance of health officials and government agencies in determining the right time to adjust capacity, and as soon as it is appropriate, they will start to bring more entertainment back.
“Like most of our fans, we know that our beloved entertainment cast are an incredibly special and essential part of the Disney experience. We look forward to the day when we can welcome back more live entertainment to our parks, and we will share more news about these announcements as we’re able to do so.”
New Look for WDW’s Iconic Entrance
Just last week, we shared photos of the changes coming to the Magic Kingdom’s entrance which complements Cinderella Castle’s 50th-anniversary makeover. Now, Disney is extending the theme with gilded gold and royal blue for Walt Disney World’s iconic entrance signs. Here’s a sneak peek:
And here’s how it looks now:
Of course, Mickey and Minnie are here to stay! The waving flags will soon look iridescent, but the little castle in the clouds will be removed. The entire structure will receive an all-new color palette which also matches the Magic Kingdom’s new entrance sign. While I love those iconic teals and purples of the WDW signs, this new look is starting to grow on me…
What do you think of the new bold color changes?
Rise of the Resistance Virtual Queue Update
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance— it’s the attraction everyone wants to ride, but it’s pretty difficult to actually do so. Until recently, guests had to arrive at the park well before opening, scan in and enter the virtual queue right at 10AM to possibly be assigned to a boarding group. There is a second virtual queue opening at 2PM each day, but the number of available boarding groups depend on how the ride is operating that day, and seem to be much fewer in number than what is released at 10AM.
We’ve reported repeatedly that the system creates overcrowding in the mornings which is counterproductive to Disney’s safety goals. So the park ends up overly busy every morning and begins clearing out well before closing. It seems that Disney has noticed the pattern themselves and is making a major tweak to the system.
Beginning today, November 3rd, guests will no longer need to be in the park at opening to try for a boarding pass…
If you have a park pass reservation for Disney’s Hollywood Studios, you can now try your hand at achieving a boarding group at 7AM that same day— remotely.
While this will certainly cut down on the park’s heavy crowding in the morning, Disney says you do still need to be near the park – it’s still up for interpretation what “nearby” exactly means, but it seems onsite hotel guests will receive booking priority.
There will still be a 2pm distribution of boarding passes which must be booked from within the park.
Local passholders are fearful this could mean Rise of the Resistance’s virtual queue will hit capacity with onsite resort guests first, or there will be very few distributed to anyone off-property. And even with the increased capacity due to plexiglass being added to ride vehicles (more on that below), we’re wondering if this will actually help the chances of people getting a boarding pass.
But one thing that is likely to happen is that guests who aren’t able to get a boarding pass at 7am are less likely to rush to the park right at opening, which will allow the park to have a more normal distribution of guests throughout the day.
We’ll find out more soon enough. If you are at the park today, please let us know your experience!
Hollywood Studios
Last week I found myself at Disney’s Hollywood Studios— yes, again! (Have I mentioned I really miss park-hopping?).
Ho-Ho-Hollywood!
Christmas merchandise has arrived at Hollywood Studios! (We hope to see that fun, retro holiday decor around Hollywood Boulevard and Echo Lake soon!)
We also spotted a new Starbucks Mug design:
We caught three of the fab five cavalcading near Backlot Express— how cute are those cars?! These will soon be made over to become “Merry Motorcades” within the next week!
Rise of the Resistance Changes
We entered the park close to 9:30, in time for the 10AM boarding group opening. We achieved boarding group 68, with an estimated return time of 1PM. However, even with the new additional ride capacity, our boarding group call was delayed by almost 4 hours, entering the standby queue around 5PM. We understand there are many moving pieces in this incredible attraction… if one small thing is off, the entire system needs to reset. Plus, add in the hourly ride vehicle sanitizing… but, hopefully, daily operations improve over time so more guests can rise with the resistance.
Now, for the recent changes. Throughout the series of preshows, we observed the numbered dots were replaced with three colors for organizing groups – blue, green and yellow – and more plexiglass has been added:
After being sorted into groups for the holding cells, we realized there are 4 groups of parties instead of 2 per cell, which means the plexiglass dividers between the two rows have been installed on all the ride vehicles. That’s a big deal because it has the potential to nearly double the number of people who can ride the attraction each day.
Unfortunately, we were assigned a second row, and… the glare is an issue:
Right now, I honestly don’t think it’s worth waiting all day to experience Rise of the Resistance with the potential of being assigned to the second row. The glare was really distracting throughout the entire ride.
Back out in Batuu, we noticed some new plushes at the Toydarian stall, Maz Kanata and Boba Fett:
As always, the crowds really thin out towards the end of the day. But that pattern may start changing as soon as today, when the new Rise of the Resistance boarding pass system is implemented.
Coming into Toy Story Land, Slinky Dog Dash was only a 30-minute wait, so we took a ride around Andy’s backyard!
We hit the dynamic duo— Tower of Terror and Rock ‘n Roller Coaster— before leaving for the day since both only had 30-minute waits posted.
The sun set pretty quickly, and before we knew it we were in a Disney park after dark. It’s been a while!
Heading out for the night, along with everyone else:
After leaving, we stopped by Wilderness Lodge for some dinner and found some more Christmas merch!
Magic Kingdom After Dark
Speaking of the parks after dark… with the recently extended park hours (and daylight savings time) Laura from the MiceChat team was also in the Magic Kingdom after dark!
We haven’t seen the castle lit up in a long while:
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Let’s Hear From You
How do the cancelations of nearly all of WDW’s shows and performers impact you and your family? Are the parks the same without performers? This is a bitter pill for us. While all of the layoffs have been difficult and heartbreaking, this one seems like it might be the last straw for many potential guests.
And what do you think of the tweak to the Rise of the Resistance boarding pass procedures? Do you think it will solve early morning overcrowding?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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