Hi everyone! I have some bad news that I want to share with you all. At Walt Disney World, it appears that they are laying off show entertainers, casts a dark shadow on popular Disney attractions such as ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Monsters Inc.’ and ‘Indiana Jones’ were affected, among others. The Orlando Sentinel first reported that entertainers of some of its most popular live shows, including “Festival of the Lion King” or “Finding Nemo: The Musical,” were let go on Tuesday.
Performers on Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom park and entertainers of the Citizens of Hollywood at Disney’s Hollywood Studios were reportedly also included in the cuts. The Disney website lists the aforementioned shows as “temporarily unavailable” but it’s important to note those statuses have appeared on the website for months, as a majority of them had already been shut down due to social distancing requirements.
Disney World is also laying off 720 performers because of the pandemic. Only 60 Equity performers are working or returning to work at the Orlando, Florida-based theme park resort, the union said in a statement.
The performer layoffs come weeks after The Walt Disney Co. announced it was eliminating 28,000 jobs in its park’s division in California and Florida because of restrictions and costs from the pandemic. Two-thirds of the planned layoffs involve part-time workers.
“Our hearts go out to all the cast members at Walt Disney World,” said Kate Shindle, president of Actors’ Equity Association. “Disney has made it clear that our members would face work reductions since they announced layoffs of nearly 28,000 employees. That does not make this news any less painful.”
Across Florida, the numbers of those testing positive — while still way down from the state’s summertime peak — have begun inching up over the past week, prompting a school in Orlando to return to virtual classes and the mayor of Jacksonville has extended a mask mandate through Thanksgiving Day.
On Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said during an appearance in central Florida that he has lobbied President Donald Trump to loosen travel restrictions from critical travel markets like Brazil and Europe, in hopes of jump-starting tourism into the state’s tourist attractions and beaches.
On Wednesday, Florida health officials confirmed 4,115 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the statewide total since the pandemic began to 790,426. The state also confirmed 66 new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the death toll from COVID-19 to 16,775.
There were 2,336 people being treated for the disease in Florida hospitals in the late morning Wednesday, according to a state online census of hospital beds. That figure reached nearly 10,000 in late July, then declined steadily until late September when it began hovering between 2,000 and 2,200 for several weeks.
In Fort Lauderdale, City Manager Chris Lagerbloom is among a dozen city employees to test positive for the coronavirus, the South Florida SunSentinel reported. Listed among those employees who are quarantining are 10 police officers and eight firefighters who may have come into contact with an infected individual while responding to calls.
Disneyland Paris is closing on October 30 which is this Friday due to the Covid-19 lockdown and it may last through December 1, but it will reevaluate every two weeks.
All of this information came from the Disney news I look at.
So, what do you guys think about this Disney information?
I would like to hear some comments, thoughts, or opinions down below.
Stay tuned for more Disney updates.
