Disneyland has been closed for almost a year now, with tighter restrictions in California versus its sister park in Florida. That seems poised to change with a recent letter Disneyland sent out to their cast members.
Disneyland Resort President Ken Pottrock recently sent a letter to Disneyland Cast Members detailing recent developments at the parks. He noted that the new Avengers Campus is almost done. And, he anounced a new initiative to reopen Disney California Adventure-sort of:
Currently planned to begin mid-March, we will debut an all-new, limited-time ticketed experience, focused on our world-famous food and beverage offerings from around the resort, the latest merchandise and unique, carefully crafted entertainment experiences…all to be offered multiple days a week. With limited capacity and enhanced health and safety measures in place, Guests once again will get to step into a magic Disney environment — an environment that will provide memorable and fun experiences our Guests are craving.
We’re missing a lot of details, but there is one important one. Ken notes in his letter that approximately 1,000 Cast Members will get brought back to paid positions to support the new event. That’s welcome news for folks who may have gone close to a year without a steady paycheck. We’re still waiting for details on prices, offerings and schedules. Those are likely to come along shortly with a planned start date roughly six weeks from now.
Wrapping Up The Magic
Theme park employees have been uniquely harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s hard to say any group of folks has it “the worst” but theme park employees sure have been hit hard. Many of the businesses near major parks like Disneyland and Disney World support theme park operations. Plenty of those jobs support the tourists that stay in hotels or the theme park employees themselves. Without those theme parks operating, there aren’t a lot of alternative jobs for theme park employees to turn to. 1,000 new jobs isn’t much but it’s a start.
While the actual event is short on details, I feel pretty confident there will be plenty of demand for the tickets. There are plenty of die-hard Disney fans in California that haven’t had much Disney in their lives lately. Stay tuned for more details on the actual event as we learn more!
