After last week’s announcement that current and furloughed cast members will receive a free one-night hotel stay, some other interesting news has emerged: Cast Members will not be able to get themselves or guests into any of the theme parks during the entire month of May 2021.
EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, and Animal Kingdom have all been blocked for the entire month of May for self-admission and Main Entrance Pass use. Perhaps the free hotel room offer was a way to counter this reduction in benefits
What do you think about this decision?
Stupid why not makes no sense ..
The month of May has back to back cheer competitions with thousands of families flying and driving in.
May is also Star Wars Weekends. Gardner is usually in January. They must’ve moved it because of COVID.
Star Wars weekends has not happened since 2015.
Pretty much all this month was too. And last. The “free night” thing for cast is only for those already in work at the parks in Florida. Cast members working in Disney Stores certainly aren’t included in that. Actually they’ve taken away quite a few perks at the Disney stores in recent year but this past year has been the hardest. Considering one of the main perks of working for the mouse is being able to go to the parks, it really kicks the morale to the curb. They make crap money, have to deal with crap people and they basically keep them in limbo on the one thing we really work hard towards. I’m a little salty.
You mean 3rd party, which has always been different. In April they could at least get EPCOT at times, so this is certainly worse.
#firebobchapek or as I like to call him lex Luther money pinching you know what kind of a guy I get it tho you have to make cuts in times like this to survive but not like this he’s charging the same price for tickets and hotel stay but your only getting half of what you pay for plus your not getting that Disney experience that has always set Disney apart from the rest of the theme parks out there
Disneystore cast are not 3rd party and in fact are now under the Parks division. Retirees also left off the free resort room offer.
Disney cast at Disney-owned shops at Disney Springs absolutely get park access.
“have to deal with crap people” – wow – nice comment from a 5 star cast member (not).
You apparently have not worked retail or customer service during this pandemic… people have been awful to these cast members.
It’s demoralizing for cast members. They need “the magic” to, in turn, impart it to guests.
The magic was is LIVE entertainment of which there is very little in the parks.
If WDW is predicting increasing attendance in May while capacity limits remain, this restriction probably makes sense.
But it also makes the announcement of the free one-night resort stay for cast members look unfortunately opportunistic. If they are truly having to withdraw a perk, they shouldn’t have basked in the glow of magnanimity for a couple of days before announcing “But free park admission won’t be available in May.”
The month of May has cheer competitions all month long. Thousands of families are flying and driving in with Disney packages already paid for. The money Varsity brings in to Disney annually for these competitions is a LOT!
Exactly! All of the parks are booked for most of the month of May and even if you can get into a park it’s going to be crowded.
“What do you think about this decision?”
Cruel but what do you expect from a company still making record profits but refusing to rehire 30,000 still unemployed WDW employees.
I think it’s time to #FireChapek.
But he was just able to buy a 12.5 million dollar house 🙄
👍
You can’t fire Chapek! He just got a mortgage for $12 million!
Work harder somewhere else. Make more money so you’re not crying over free passes at a stupid amusement park.
This is a horrible way to treat cast members!!! They put up with a lot of rude, crappy people!!!
Let them have access to the parks for goodness sakes!!!
It’s all optics for Disney. Just one massive virtue signal at the expense of something else. “Look how good we are doing to our CMs!” Meanwhile, it’s rotten underneath the skin. Nothing seems genuine anymore.
that’s the only benefit that made it worth working there but ok
Still the resorts are nice enough by themselves. Hang out a bit, relax, hit the shops at Disney Springs, swim at the pool or relax next to it.
How can Disney ban castmembers unless they have a special “work bonus” type of pass? So if a castmember buys a regular pass, he is just a normal guest and cannot be banned. That’s what I would do if I work for Disney. Get a real pass, not one of those silly freebies with a ton of strings attached.
That is why Labor Unions form and why they are needed.
Lol why do you need a union to hold your hand if you don’t like it leave and go somewhere else that will make you happy. Unions do nothing anymore besides take your money and act like a tough guy while actually just being best buddies with your company working against you.
Walt Disney World cast members are unionized and have been for decades.
That other comment isn’t to dispute your point, by the way. It’s, rather, to highlight that just having labor unions isn’t enough; we also need the laws to back them up and prevent companies from undermining their bargaining power.
As a former cast member I was always at the parks. Go for 1 ride, go to get your hair cut, go to just sit and talk with friends. I also did the same with hotel bars, pools and restaurants.
This isn’t like giving a guest a free room but saying they can’t go to a park. A night in a hotel could be fun.
😡👎
This is irritating because I was apart of the DCP Spring 2020 & when we got sent home due to Covid we got complementary tickets. we have to treat those tickets like cast member tickets so I booked my entire vacation a couple months ago and just went to actually look like park tickets for May and everything is blocked out. now they’re offering current cast members the free night at a resort because they can’t get into the parks but I don’t get either. Super frustrating!
How can the company possibly do this? The reason Disney does so well is ONLY because of the cast for heavens sake! Why punish them for making the company what it is today???? This is ludicrous.
Are you saying that if I worked at DW (or DL), that I get access to the park for FREE??? –Except for this May, where I just have to put up with a one night stay at a Disney resort that includes all the amenities of the resort like the pool?
SIGN ME UP!
There is no saying that this block won’t continue for the next couple of months. It is a big deal when you are asked to work 40+ hours during a still ongoing pandemic where people are significantly more rude and one of your major benefits is taken away.
trust me…after working 40+ hours I’m sure Disney is the last place they want to be. But, let’s not forget, it’s just an amusement park. The states are open to explore. There are endless opportunities to go elsewhere on a day off from work especially in Florida. For those crying over this is just immature.
Until you have worked at Disney and followed the “magical” guidelines to be the employees that Walt desired, you would not have experienced the demands of compliance compared to the actual demands of employment! Customer service is a demanding job! It is an acting job. It is a job of weakness and supplication, and surrender to the whims of many obnoxious guests. It deserves full-time perks and better wages! The unions that represent Cast Members are virtually powerless, and Florida’s “right to work” status only gives power to the rich and powerful in the name of greed and compromised slavery! WDW hires northern retirees who love Disney and don’t need a full-time paycheck, along with “students” from everywhere, who work for minimal wages to obtain the Disney reference on their resumes, and then there include those raised on Disney who believed in Walt’s dream for a place for families to bond Then, there are the practical immigrants from our slave colonies of Puerto Rico and Haiti who serve happily for better wages than their home island economies provide. So Disney can bargain-basement their employees, diminish union strength, and now erase their long-standing perks. Disney fans, believers in magic, and dreamers should avoid employment with Disney! It is a false being that was once a provider of family entertainment, affordable joy, and actual magic. Chapek was raised in my home community, attended my high school, and has related his upbringing in several articles. He just purchased a 12 million-dollar estate. He earned his cash by depriving others and pleasing his stockholders. He screwed all Cast Members to buy his home. Take your kids to the Grand Canyon, Big Sur, the Dunes, Washington, and the colors of Vermont! The price of magic has become a gouge for the middle class and a playground for the wealthy. Walt, your dream has been compromised and the magic is not real! Part-time Cast Member over five years in three parks and 12 designated positions and more than twice that many in individual assignments. I know.
Yeah but they now get to wear tons of makeup and jewelry and sport tattoos. Doesn’t seem to be a lot of compliance needed anymore.
I am such a huge Disney fan- I have spent countless days and an obscene amount of my hard earned money at the “house of the mouse”. However, it pains me to say that Disney has lost so much of the “magic” that has kept me returning year after year- sometimes even several times a year. They have gotten rid of my favorite “tried and trues”, from parades to attractions- to special perks- all while increasing their prices across the board- from theme park admissions to hotel accomodations, to food; they even charge for overnight parking to stay “in the world”! Magical Express? Soon a distant memory- now to be so unfair to their hard working, loyal, and in my opinion, always helpful and cheerful cast members- just so so sad. Disney has sadly become all about the money and is rapidly pricing the middle class ( not to mention those whose are just trying to make ends meet), right out of their Disney dream vacation. I will always love my Disney, but I’m sure this is not what Walt had in mind. I am so disheartened by all of the changes- most of them not good. I long for the days of the Electrical Parade, Spectromagic, the Osborne Spectacle of Lights, the Great Movie Ride, the Backlot Studio Tour at Hollywood( MGM) Studios- and so much more! Come on Disney bring back the magic and make Walt proud- I’m sure this is not what he envisioned.
I think disney is getting more bizarre over the years. Upper management with there millions of dollars bonuses and salaries and block the people that truly do there work so these clowns have there extravagant lifestyles should all be fired. Disney seems to be a dam occult of something. Brainwashing people into the most magical place on earth but behind the scenes is so corrupt and greed driven. 1 free night in a room Jesus its thats a benefit or bonus I pity these poor people that stand out in the 90+ heat daily for the fools that run disney.
There are cheer competitions for most of the month of May. It’s going to be insanity. All of the parks are booked as well as most of the hotel rooms. My daughter is competing and if I didn’t have to go I would avoid Disney until the competitions are done.
We’ve seen our park visitations reduced almost annually since 2006. I would venture to guess that they will drop park entry completely in the future.
They couldn’t get in in April either!
Should theme park entrance be reserved for cast members, or for guests? Doesn’t seem to be a reduction of benefits, just a capacity issue.
I think it S—-ks. And if they dont let the cast members in soon i am cancelling my passholder and my 2 kids as well. I havent been to WDW in months. Cause my wife cant get in. I am so tired of this BS Pandemic. Enough already. If your scared of the BS CORONA VIRUS STAY TF HOME!!!!