food IS a theme park
Alright, listen; we’ve got some burning questions!
Cinderella Castle and Main Street USA in Disney World
There’s no doubt about it, there’s a lot of uncertainty about the current situation. And while we understand that Disney World will remain closed until there is more clarity on how things progress, there are a few questions that we hope they’ll address sooner rather than later.
Here are six questions we’re still waiting on Disney to answer!
The Disney parks are currently closed until further notice and these closures have had major financial implications for the Walt Disney Company and its employees.
Disneyland Main Entrance – Closed
Recently, Disney Parks moved to furlough all non-essential employees for an indeterminate amount of time. Now, we have a much clearer picture of just how much the Walt Disney Company will save each month now that employee pay is suspended.
Disney parks around the world are closed to help mitigate the effect of the current global health crisis. As we enter month two of the closure, we’re starting to look ahead at what a reopening might look like.
Main Street, U.S.A.
Disney World and Disneyland both announced their closures on March 12th, but they ultimately closed on different days. Some factors point to a combined reopening for the two parks, while others suggest they may open on separate days. Let’s take a closer look at how Disney has handled the closures on both coasts.
With nationwide closures in effect, we’ve been wondering when we might see Disneyland reopen.
Disneyland Main Entrance
Disneyland has remained closed since March 14th, marking the longest closure in park history. Since the situation is constantly evolving, Disney has not announced when they expect to reopen. But Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently commented on how long he expects large gatherings to be suspended for.
At this time, Disney World and Disneyland will remain closed until further notice and will be compensating their employees until April 18th, after which all non-essential Cast Members will be short-term furloughed.
And while the parks are accepting new reservations starting after June 1st, they’ve just released all of their incoming college interns and cultural representatives from their Disney programs which were scheduled to begin in early June.
Bob Chapek at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Dedication Ceremony
Combined with other efforts to budget-cut due to theme park losses compounded by hits to nearly all of Disney’s primary entertainment silos, news broke recently that some of Disney’s most highly-paid executives were taking major salary cuts, including current CEO Bob Chapek and CEO-turned-Chairman Bob Iger.
A lot of analysts have been looking at the future of Disney right now. As one of the biggest companies in the world, Disney’s outlook will have an effect on the overall market.
Walt Disney World
Recently, a Wells Fargo analyst made the statement that it could take two years for the Disney parks to return to normalcy after their closures end. Of course, this has been concerning for Disney fans everywhere. Today, however, an analyst from J.P. Morgan says otherwise: The parks could reopen by June and the company could even turn a profit.
Disney has been hard at work negotiating the terms of furlough with different unions representing Cast Members. So far, they’ve reached agreements with the American Federations of Musicians Local 389, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2088, and the Independent Employee Service Association.
Disneyland Main Entrance – Closed
Disneyland has since reached agreements with another 10 unions on the furloughs, set to begin April 19th. These unions represent food and beverage workers, pyrotechnicians, sound mechanics, stage managers, stage technicians, and other Cast Members in Disneyland.
Disney Chairman Bob Iger recently expressed his expectations for reopened Disney parks, spurring Wall Street to make their own predictions.
Disneyland Main Entrance
With the Disney parks currently closed, executives and analysts are looking to the potentially very different future of the parks. Even as Iger began to suggest measures that could be taken to make guests feel safe, Wells Fargo analysts are predicting that the Disney parks may not return to their pre-closure attendance levels for two years.
With the recent closures of the Disney parks, there have been several measures taken by the Walt Disney Company to maintain economic viability. One of those measures has been a major salary reduction for Disney executives.
Bob Chapek
This announcement came just last week, but it seems that all has not gone smoothly with the pay cuts.
It seems the terms of the amended company contracts failed to provide an end date to the salary reductions, among other things, prompting executives to push back against the cuts.
With Disney World, Disneyland, and all of the international parks closed, Disney is facing an unprecedented situation. And that leaves the company with some very difficult decisions.
Disneyland Main Entrance
The current situation has had an immense impact on people across the globe. And even though Disney is a major company, they haven’t been immune to the effects. All of the Disney parks are currently closed, Disney Cruise Line sailings are halted until at least April 28th, and many other arms of the Walt Disney Company face an uncertain future. With a huge section of their business impacted, Disney has some hard decisions to make about how to move forward.
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