Festival of the Lion King and Finding Nemo Layoffs

If true, this breaks my heart.

Isn’t that a dodgy source?? (:crossed_fingers:t2::crossed_fingers:t2::crossed_fingers:t2:)
I really hope that’s not true. FOTLK is just the absolute best.

I can’t. I just can’t.
FOTLK is my absolute favorite

I have tears

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:sob:

Man, I am not happy about this. I think @len’s rant on this week’s Disney Dish was correct — they’ve really mishandled all these layoffs. And for them to restore the salaries of the execs but lay off so many CMs just seems so unnecessarily cruel. Ugh. I hope they can figure out how to get the magic back. This majorly bums me out.

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I’m in shock. This is awful. :cry::broken_heart:

My memories of watching FotLK and Finding Nemo and watching my granddaughters who were 3 and just turned 1 at the time last October are among my favorite Disney memories. I am truly in tears as I type this.

All of these layoffs and the missing entertainment are making it easier for us to come to a decision to postpone our trip.

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[quote=“hmbhmbhmb, post:5, topic:74734, full:true”]
Ugh. I hope they can figure out how to get the magic back. [/quote]

This is depressing as these cutbacks hit at the heart of the WDW experience. But like you, I pray Disney can figure out a way to start playing to win again instead of playing not to lose.

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Just saw it in Kenny the Pirate as well.

There goes my 2021 trip. If Beauty and the Beast is also included, I might be serious.

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Seems to be the case. For the first time I’m actually worried about the “magic”.

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Looks Disney Parks are giving up on “theme parks” and might just be “amusement parks” going forward. The high caliber live performers have all been cut (seriously, is there anything major left?).

The real question is whether or not it really impacts the bottom line. Will enough consumers go elsewhere with their vacation dollars? Or is the IP in the parks (rides and parades are all that’s left) enough for the premium Disney charges over SixFlags/Knotts/CedarFair?

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While this news is distressing it is not surprising. We need to remember that these CM’s have been out of work since March. None of these shows have been operating since the re-opening of the parks. These employees had already been furloughed, the lay-off just makes it more official. And if they continued to receive benefits (like medical coverage) during their furlough, those benefits will now end. It’s terribly sad.

I think we all hoped they might start bringing shows back in 2021, but it now seems likely that will not happen - at least not for a while. But I do believe that Disney will bring them back at some point. That’s cold comfort to performers and techs out of work, though. This is not just a Disney issue, either. Large event venues are struggling and will continue to struggle for a while. The lost year. Concerts, conventions, all manner of live theater … Almost everything is open around here with restrictions and protocols, but not those types of venues.

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This is depressing. I really hoped they’d bring back live performances soon. They still can I suppose - most of these people will be optioned for rehire if and when the productions resume.

I really hope a vaccine is approved by Thanksgiving as some of the Pharma CEOs have projected. While it will take time for a vaccine to be distributed, it wouldn’t take much to get us to a place where distancing is possible with live indoor shows.

Would they have been eligible for unemployment benefits while furloughed? How long do those last in Florida? I’m wondering if this is a “bridge move” to get them access to unemployment until the shows re-open? Just trying to find a hopeful angle to the news…

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FL unemployment benefit process is the WORST! Many still have not received a single payment, the computer system crashes, ppl have had to go stand in long lines to get paper forms. Horrible.

Furloughed employees are able to collect unemployment BUT they maintain their company health insurance benefits. This notice, I believe, remove that benefit. It also gives notice that there is no plan to bring them back now? There are rules that limit if a furlough can be extended?

I think it was noted that there were markers installed around the FOLK theatre? I am devastated about FOLK. I know that it takes a lot of performers, but I know they have a version that severely limits those performers. I know there is lighting, sound, and many CMs, BUT with social distancing and a virtual queue it seems that just adding that one show would positively impact the guest experience AND decrease lines in other parts of the park.

I believe they will try to squeeze as many people as possible into those parks during the holidays and I was hopeful that plans would be in the works to bring FOLK back. These days, I live on hope.

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Yes, we have furloughed employees at our county offices. They have their health insurance, but can get unemployment. Only one employee has been laid off completely at this point, as her job was eliminated. It’s been about 6 months since they were all furloughed and I haven’t heard of any additional layoffs, so maybe the time period is state to state.

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The trouble isn’t with the guests, it is with the performers/CMs themselves. The shows don’t allow them to properly socially-distance safely. Keeping the audience safe is only half of the equation.

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