Okay, here is my two cents worth.
The layoffs were only a matter of time, Univeral has been making layoffs for a while now. It is pretty obvious with signs like the Poly refurb and water park closures, that WDW is figuring that it will be well into 2021 before full-scale operations resume. It is only one year and one day from the 50th anniversary. That has got to be their target for the future.
I did some quick google searches on the levels of Disney employment. According to the NY Times, WDW has around 77K employees, about 38K are union.
According to the Orange County Register, Disneyland is more highly unionized with 28K union members of the 32K DL employees.
So just my guess is that most of these are non-union layoffs since Disney specifically talks about discussions with labor unions.
Josh DāAmaro was the one who presented DL re-opening plans to Governor Newsome last week. Now he is announcing layoffs, with probably more union layoffs still to come.
Just my speculation, based on the numbers involved, is that this group was largely WDW and the next group will be DL. Also puts some heat on Gov. Newsome.
Just my two cents.
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Okay, Iām amending my prior post, just saw this on Twitter, looks like a lot more DL and union employees are affected than I first guessed.
Form the Orlando Sentinel:
6,700 non-union worker at WDW are part of the layoffs
I agree. I really wish I could get a refund on my third party tickets. Iām stuck having to do a Disney trip when I donāt know what it will look like in the future. Itās very frustrating reading how people are still flocking to the parks when there are so many restrictions and tickets are still full-price.
We are scheduled to go in May 2021. We are 99% sure we are moving it either to November 2021 or May 2022. My DH just recently lost his job through no fault of his own and is in the process of looking and interviewing for a new job and my best friend who is coming with us canāt do masks in high heat and humidity with her asthma. At least the cost of the tickets can be applied to new tickets when they expire. But I would rather get my money back and go when we feel it is worth it.
And I do feel awful for all those people being laid off. This pandemic has been about more than just those ill from COVID.
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Have you asked for a refund? Not sure where you bought them, but I had an unused ticket from UT for early August and when I went to guest services and asked to change the date on it, they said all they could do was refund me for the ticket - not at all what I expected. But, they refunded me what Disney received for the ticket (which they knew precisely) not the bit that UT kept. When I called UT, they did refund me the rest but said I should have called them and they would have refunded it. I thought it was too late to ask for a refund since I was into the ticketās date range. Just goes to show, it never hurts to ask both your seller and Disney.
ETA - to clarify, Disney refunded me with a gift cardā¦so for cash I would have been better off starting with UT.
I have been trying really hard to hold out hope for an amazing visit once things are back to ānormalā as I cancel trip after trip. This news thoughā¦Iām not sure it will feel the same. The atmosphere and ability to soak up spontaneous fun moments (no lines or fast passes or reservations needed) is so much of what I love. Not feeling very hopeful about the magic 
Thereās something else that may be at play here. If companies took assistance from the federal government through the payroll protection act or whatever it was called, they had to not layoff anyone until after September 30th. I have a friend who works for a major airline. They definitely got some $$ from the feds. A bunch of people are getting laid off and today is their last day. The company was pretty up front about it, however. Told folks, we canāt lay anyone off until 9/30, but we will have to lay people off. Then specific people/positions were announced in August. So the timing makes me wonder if that is part of the why Disney waited until now to make the layoffs.
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I did not buy UT. I bought elsewhere almost a year ago and the agency was not offering any refunds, even during COVID. The phone CMs are not refunding third party tickets.
If I ever buy tickets again, it will only be straight from Disney.
I never saw that Disney took any Federal money, they did not qualify for PPP, it was limited to companies who employ less than 500 people. Airlines got $$$ under a separate agreement. The two stories I linked to above indicate the actual layoff dates are November 1 and December 4th.
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Interesting. Makes sense, I guessā¦I suppose a paycheck through September was maybe better than a lay-off in May?
I think the thought was also that those companies might be in a position to not need to lay off employees by now. Sadly, that is not the case. In the case of airlines, the industry may be changed forever. For instance, business travel will probably never be back at pre-COVID levels, or at least not for a long time.
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From the Facebook page of another DL union:
Members,
As you are all aware of the, company announced this afternoon that after 7 months of shutdown Disney will begin to undergo the lay-off of 28,000 of executive, non-union, salaried, and Union cast members between Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Local 50 cast members will be included.
There is a lot of information we donāt know now and we are scheduled to meet with Disney in the coming days to get more information and bargain over the effects.
Here is what we know now: Who will actually be subject to layoff is still to be determined. The contract and bargaining will determine this. Notice of layoff to Local 50 members is set to occur November 1. Non-union, salaried, and executive cast are starting to receive notice now. Actual termination dates will be set in the notice. At this time over 2500 Local 50 members are expected to be laid off.
We will get through this. We know everyone has a lot of questions. We will keep everyone posted with information as we figure this out. If you have questions feel free to reach out to us here or at the office () and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
In solidarity,
Chris Duarte
Workers United Local 50 President
So thatās 3,450 at DL so far plus 6,700 at WDW.
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If no one goes, how can Disney still operate. They are in a tough spot. They are offering room discounts here and there. They are a business walking on a tight rope for the foreseeable future. Its sad all these people lost their jobs but Disney doesnt have an endless supply of money. They need revenue.
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I do not know Disneys structure but I really dont think they qualified for PPP money. I might be wrong though. Havent looked into it.
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Yeah, they may not have. I know airlines had special funding - not sure if it was through PPP. It might be a different bill.
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Itās got to be so awful to have all this out in the news, but not know if you (as a specific employee) are impacted. Hopefully they can provide clarity soon.
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This is tough so sadā¦ I will say all
The acts that are getting cut are why we loved our trip. Itās what makes Disney special and tickets are expensive. Itās not free ā all that was part of your ticket. The price tag worked because of all the extras. I wouldnāt pay that for sesame place.
But yea Disney canāt run as normal, when they canāt sell more tickets. My hope is when we return they can bring this all back. If they donāt Iād really have to think if itās worth it.
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The CARES Act provided $50 Billion to airlines, $25 Billion for payroll grants for airlines provided that they kept employees on through 9/30/2020. CARES Act also included the Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) provided $659 Billion to small businesses that employed less than 500 people.
Donāt think Disney received any money from CARES Act.
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That is probably correct then.
There is a line between people going to the parks and having more people than anticipated going to the parks. It seems like there are more and more people going. I get that they are a business, but the more people that go with the loss of attractions and entertainment, the less likely they are to bring them back. Why bother with the things that donāt bring in revenue when everyone is willing to pay full price to go without them?
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