Disney Cast Members tend to go above and beyond in order to ensure the Guest is happy and receives the best customer service there is around. By doing so, Disney Cast Members tend to meet people from all around the world and remember those people for the rest of their lives.
But sometimes, Cast Members tend to deal with rude and unusual Guests, making for fun stories to tell their friends and families. One time, a Disneyland Cast Member dealt with a certain Guest who had an odd fascination and obsession with her.
A former Disneyland Cast Member took to social media to share her story. When she was around the age of 19-20, she worked at the Disneyland Parks as a character host, meaning she worked at various locations. One day she was working at a Princess breakfast in Disneyland Park where she had an older Guest ask to take a picture with her. The Guest was a male around the age of 40, but the Cast Member didn’t think anything of it as this happened quite often since her costume made her look like a popper at the Castle.
She did mention the Guest was an Annual Passholder and was very kind and sweet and never thought anything of it at the time.
On a different day, the Cast Member ran into the same Guest again while she was working at the Cars location. And then, on another day, the Guest came back to visit the Cast Member… again.
On the third time the Guest came to visit the Cast Member at the Cars location, he waited for the Cast Member to come back from her lunch break to hand deliver her a letter, with a printed photo of the two of them from the Princess breakfast location, along with his phone number and email on the back.
The Cast Member explained that after this encounter, she did not work at the Cars location again.
You can hear the Cast Members story in her TikTok video below:
As the Walt Disney Company and Parks find themselves surrounded by seemingly endless controversy, CEO Bob Chapek maintains the helm of the ship, either successfully making it through the treacherous waves of backlash or going down with the ship.
If you have visited the Disney Parks and Resorts in the last few years or been a part of the Disney community in general you will surely know the name, Bob Chapek. Chapek serves as the company’s current CEO, taking over Bob Iger’s multi-decade tenure in early 2020, perhaps the worst time to take over one o the largest corporations in the world.
The exchange of power between Iger and Chapek was swift and came as a bit of a surprise, especially since Bob Chapek ended his position with the company earlier than expected. Now, as reported by CNBC, the relationship between Chapek and Iger is strained after the two had a falling out.
Of course, some of this can be attributed to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the difficulties it caused. Normal times would have most likely allowed Iger and Chapek to work more closely. Iger and Chapek seemed to be ready for the difficult challenge of dealing with a global pandemic together. Back in 2020 during the Walt Disney Company’s Annual Shareholder meeting, Iger said “I can’t think of a better person to succeed me in this role”. Chapek returned the same optimistic view of the future.
One month after these positive comments, then-New York Times columnist Ben Smith published a story after reaching Iger by email where Iger told Smith he would stick around to help run the company, saying “A crisis of this magnitude, and its impact on Disney would necessarily result in my actively helping Bob [Chapek] and the company contend with it, particularly since I ran the company for 15 years!”
Allegedly Chapek was furious when he saw the story and comments. He had not expressed a need or desire for extra help and had not asked for any. At this point, Iger had postponed his retirement as Disney CEO three times already and Chapek felt he was essentially doing it again.
Although a joint effort in running a company during a pandemic would certainly help, “the two executives barely spoke to each other” after this. Apparently, Chapek has a small circle of close confidants with whom he makes and discusses major decisions including longtime right-hand man Kareem Daniel, chief of staff Arthur Bochner, and, to some degree, Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy, whom Iger promoted to the role in 2015, according to people familiar with the situation.
Former CEO Bob Iger was not so lucky as to be included in this circle. Back in December, Iger threw a little “going away” type of party, inviting over 50 people to his Brentwood home in suburban Los Angeles. Iger spoke about and discussed his time at the company among other matters. Also in attendance was Chapek, but according to sources, there was little interaction between the two men during the event.
Guests, including veteran Disney executives and television talents such as broadcasters Robin Roberts, David Muir, and Al Michaels were in attendance with Iger and Chapek reportedly sitting at opposite tables. Chapek sat near several of his direct reports, including Daniel. Iger sat next to film director and mogul Steven Spielberg. While Iger spent about 10 minutes publicly praising former colleagues, he barely mentioned Chapek, said the people.
“It was extremely awkward,” said one of the guests, asking to remain anonymous. “The tension was palpable.” According to CNBC, both Iger and Chapek declined to comment on their relationship with each other.
Bob Iger had an accomplished time at the company and any replacement was surely going to have a difficult time replacing him. Iger was beloved by Hollywood and highly respected as a CEO, both by higher-ups and the Disney community in general. Leading the company during the acquisition of Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm also helped solidify Iger as the leader Disney needed at the time.
Chapek, meanwhile, has a harder exterior and at times, according to colleagues, struggles with emotional intelligence — which happens to be Iger’s strength.
The Port Neches-Groves Independent School District represented themselves at Magic Kingdom last week, who, in their Native American-inspired uniforms, marched down Main Street, U.S.A. as they sang, chanted, and danced in front of Disney Guests.
However, the chant caught the attention of many as the drill team repeatedly shouted, “I-N-D-I-A-N-S, scalp ’em, Indians, scalp ’em!” while dancing.
Many shamed Disney for allowing this to happen inside a Walt Disney World theme park, leading the company to release a statement:
“We regret this performance took place, as it did not reflect the audition tape that was submitted. We have immediately put measures in place to ensure performances reflect the auditions.”
Now, fans are asking a seemingly important question — why, in the year 2022, does Peter Pan’s Flight, an attraction inside the Disney Parks, still feature the “painfully offensive and racist depiction of Native Americans intact”?
Josh Spiegel took to Twitter, asking his followers:
A good day to ask why the Peter Pan’s Flight attraction still, in the year 2022, has the painfully offensive and racist depiction of Native Americans intact.
There has never been a good defense for the presence of the racist depiction of Native Americans in the attraction. (In part because their appearance in the ride takes less time than it will take you to read this tweet.)
In case you weren’t aware, Peter Pan (1953) has been accused of being “outdated” and “depicting the mistreatment of people and cultures” in certain scenes, which also appear in the Disney Parks attraction, Peter Pan’s Flight.
Due to these scenes in question, Peter Pan is one of the various films that has recently been removed from children’s profiles on Disney+ for “breaching content advisories”. As for adult profiles, Peter Pan remains available but it does display a content warning before the movie plays.
Another Disney fan replied to Spiegel, writing:
I do have to say that besides the Black centaur that was cut from Fantasia, Tiger Lily remains the only named woman of color in all of Disney films until Jasmine. ☹️
In an effort to continually enhance the Guest experience here at Walt Disney World Resort, we refresh our offerings from time to time.
The high Rock Springs Pool and On the Rocks Pool Bar at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa will be unavailable from January through late March 2023 while the pool undergoes refurbishment. The Paddock Pool and other leisure pools will remain open and available to Guests throughout this refurbishment.
The lobby at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort will undergo a refurbishment from mid-April through late May 2022. During this time, the lobby will remain operational and Cast Members will be present to help direct Guests to the check-in location.
During this time, it is possible that Guests may see or hear construction, but noise should not be heard from Guest rooms between dusk and 9 a.m.
Two years ago, the world was forced to shut down as we battled the COVID-19 pandemic. Disney theme parks across the globe were forced to shut down for months. In the time since, we have seen surges and drops, and now have a vaccine that is widely available. Many countries are now seeing steady declines in COVID positivity rates and hospitalizations as vaccination rates also go up. Unfortunately, one country is seeing a massive spike in cases — China. The government is reporting case numbers not seen since the virus was first reported in Wuhan.
It is due to this sharp spike, Shanghai Disney has announced that it will be closing its gates beginning March 21. Shanghai Disney released a public statement, saying:
Due to the current pandemic situation, Shanghai Disney Resort, including Shaghai Disneyland, Disneytown and Wishing Star Park will be temporarily closed from Monday, March 21, 2022. We will continue to monitor the pandemic situation and consult local authorities, and will notify Guests as soon as we have a confirmed date to resume operations.
We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide refund or exchange for all Guests impacted during this period.
Thank you for your understanding and cooperation! We look forward to seeing you soon!
This is only the second time during the pandemic that Shanghai Disneyland has been forced to shut down. Back when the pandemic first broke out, the Resort was closed from January 2020 until May 2020. It has been open since then, as China worked diligently to get the virus under control. Shanghai Disney’s closure follows the closure of Disney’s other Park in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Disneyland has been closed since January and keeps pushing back its reopening date.
According to reports, Shanghai has closed all of its schools and put mandatory testing in place for its residents. The outbreak has seen the city seal off residential compounds for at least 48 hours. On Saturday, March 19, mainland China reported nearly 2,000 cases. It also reported the country’s first death from COVID in more than a year.
