Walt Disney World has sent cease and desist letters to several unauthorized third-party businesses who operated at the resort, forcing these businesses to change their operations.

Disney Forcing Businesses to End Resort Operations

The third-party operators include private photographers, personal chefs, stylists, hotel room decorators, and more. Many come from the Ear For Each Other Facebook group which began in late 2020 “with a mission to provide a space where furloughed CMs could showcase their side hustles” and evolved to support dozens of small local businesses.

Mickey Visit collected and searched for statements from some of the impacted businesses on social media. A few are outlined below.

Personal chef Calikingcuisine shared a post with an image of the cease and desist letter on Facebook. He wrote:

Well the Day Has Come !!! I Said Years Ago I would never Have Issues Cooking At Dinsey(I know how to spell ) because Im a Former Employee, I’m not Harming their business , I never Talked Down on them , and I never used them To Get Buisness, I was Highlighting the Rooms I stayed in, I was only helping them because of A Service They canceled ! So From Now On Calikingcuisine is No Longer Permitted to Cook At Dinsey! I’ve officially Been Flagged on their Radar! I will Now Be Making Accommodations For Any one That is staying there and still wants to enjoy my Food , I have an Airbnb Close To the Parks I can Schedule For Dinners . Everyone that is Already booked Will be contacted!! Thank yall for All the business I’ve received over the years !! I would never be here if it weren’t for being furloughed by the Richest company in the world and Using them To Catapult my Career And Having support of people from All across the World, this isn’t Goodbye But See You Soon , Book me At your Airbnb Or Home For Now!!

The letter comes from Linda Reid, vice president of Walt Disney World Security. It states:

For the safety of our Guests and Cast Members, the Walt Disney World Resort Property Rules do not allow unauthorized commercial activities, and we must ask that you immediately discontinue providing these services at the Walt Disney World Resort, including at the Resort hotels, theme parks, water parks, and Disney Springs.

The cease and desist letter instructs Calikingcuisine to remove all Disney-related advertisements and advises that offering services in the future could result in being trespassed and potential legal action.

Photographer Natalie Szolomayer said in a Facebook post:

Third party photographers are no longer allowed to shoot at the Disney resorts. I was holding out hope until I heard it first-hand, but it seems that my days of shooting at the Disney hotels are over.

To say I’m heartbroken is an understatement. I’m utterly DEVESTATED. I love what I did, I loved capturing your memories and milestones on your vacations, and for what it’s worth – I had permission from MULTIPLE resort managers that I was allowed to photographer there as a professional. I even had some managers go out of their way to help make a crying kid laugh or a baby look toward the camera. During every shoot at the hotels, I felt supported and not in any way a nuisance.

I don’t know for sure the reasoning behind this move. Their photopass team and fine art photography do not offer portrait sessions at the hotels, so I was in no way taking business from them. In fact, I’ve had clients fly to Disney SPECIFICALLY for photo sessions with me – so while it was a drop in the bucket of a billion dollar corporation, I DID bring them some money.

What hurts the most is that so far the cease and desist letters seem to have hit a majority of the vendors in the Ear For Each Other group, which was started after a bunch of cast members were furloughed or let go during covid. That’s where we’d post our side hustles – so other cast members or vacationers looking to support former or furloughed cast members could find various services, knowing they were helping a small business of someone who no longer had a job. That’s where 90% of my business came from.

Szolomayer said she will remain a photographer in Central Florida, including offering photo sessions inside Universal Orlando Resort theme parks because “Universal is super chill about it, and doesn’t mind us third-party riff raff” and noted that Universal’s own photographers are employed by the third-party company Colorvision.

The Walt Disney World property rules these third-party vendors are violate include:

• The sale of goods or services, or the display of goods or services, unless prior written approval has been obtained.
• Unauthorized events, speeches, or use of any flag, banner, sign or other material for commercial purposes, or as part of a demonstration.
• Photography, videotaping or recording of any kind, or otherwise engaging in any activity, for unapproved commercial purposes.
• Unauthorized solicitations of any kind, whether commercial, religious, educational or otherwise, or conducting any unauthorized commercial activities, including solicitations of money or other contributions or donations.

In late 2023, Disney trespassed (i.e. banned) several third-party tour guides for similar reasons.

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