Girl Brightens Cast Members’ Days By Handing Out Flowers

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Uncategorized

A lot of people seem to think that working at a Disney theme park might be one of the best jobs in the world. However, dealing with Guests every day who are hot, tired, overstimulated, and maybe annoyed at a problem they are dealing with can be a lot. Cast Members can sometimes be subjected to abuse from Guests that they absolutely do not deserve. Being a Cast Member is hard work, and always trying to keep the magic alive can be somewhat challenging.

One young girl and her family, however, are determined to show Cast Members just how important and appreciated they are. Miss Ellie Honeybee is an adorable young girl who has won awards for her incredible cosplay. For those who may be unfamiliar, cosplay is a portmanteau of “costume play” where people wear incredibly accurate costumes to represent specific characters.

Ellie loves visiting Disneyland Resort with her family and wearing impressive costumes. Ellie has dressed as characters such as Scarlett Witch, Loki, Princess Anna, the Haunted Mansion’s Constance Hatchaway, and more. In addition to the accessories to complete her costumes, there is one thing Ellie also never goes to the theme parks without — a lot of carnations.

Ellie walks up to various Cast Members in the Parks and hands them the flowers to thank them for all the work that they do. The Cast Members are usually caught unawares and the small gesture of kindness really makes their day.

You can watch just one of Ellie’s many adorable videos below.

@misselliehoneybee

Disney Magic Part 3 #disneyland #magic #foryou #castmember #flowers #thankyou #disneymagic #spreadingjoy #disneybound #disney #wandavision #magic

♬ Happily ever after – 𝓑𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓽𝓷𝔂

Ellie is very active on social media and has over 5,000 followers on TikTok, which is impressive for any kid, but it is her TikTok following that is really getting her noticed. Miss Ellie Honeybee as she is known on social media platforms has over 98,000 followers on TikTok and her videos have amassed over 3.2 million likes. If you would love to watch more videos of Ellie brightening Cast Members’ days (and maybe your own) you can do so by clicking here.

What did Cast Members find inside a time capsule buried last CENTURY at Disney World

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks, Disney Resorts

As part of the 25th anniversary celebration at Walt Disney World back in October 1996, Cast Members at the resort created a time capsule and buried it at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

A plaque was created and placed over the location where the time capsule was buried. It reads:

“Disney’s Contemporary Resort

Re-dedicated at 25th anniversary

10/25/1996

To be opened at 50th anniversary

10/25/2021

‘Remember the Magic’”

Though the actual opening day of Magic Kingdom in 1971 was October 1, Disney executives delayed the opening ceremony until October 25, 1971, allowing for some leeway, should the Florida park have issues like Disneyland saw on its opening day. No need to televise a fiasco as was the case at Disneyland. That’s why the date on the plaque is October and not October 1.

Last month, there was buzz about the opening of a time capsule at the Contemporary Resort Hotel, but then the buzz faded. Now we know that the capsule was indeed opened–and by some Cast Members that were personally celebrating 50 years as employees of the Most Magical Place on Earth.

So what was found inside the time capsule? Well, there were several things in there, including a limited-edition 15th anniversary commemorative coin for Disney’s Contemporary Resort, name tags, and a Cast Member magazine featuring Cinderella Castle dressed as a birthday cake.

here was an identification card belonging to none other than Mickey Mouse himself.

Also inside the time capsule buried at Disney’s Contemporary Resort Hotel was a Walt Disney World “operating calendar,” which doesn’t look like much more than a shiny slip of paper with bright colors denoting the different parks at the Walt Disney World Resort at the time. Notice there’s no Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood was still called Disney-MGM Studios.

Now-extinct attractions mentioned on the operating calendar include SpectroMagic, “Remember the Magic,” and “Fantasy in the Sky” at Magic Kingdom, Ellen’s Energy Adventure at EPCOT, and the Toy Story Parade, and “Backstage Pass to 101 Dalmatians” at Disney-MGM Studios.

There were several other things “dating” the capsule to last century. Just take a look!

You can watch Cast Members open the time capsule here. How exciting!

FL Gov. DeSantis signs anti-vax mandates bills into law

Posted on by Mathew Corn Animal Kingdom, Disney Dining, Disney Parks, Disney Resorts, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Magic Kingdom, Uncategorized

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has just signed a quartet of bills that helps to protect employees in the Sunshine State from termination should they refuse the COVID-19 vaccine. The new laws create restrictions on vaccine mandates by employers. He signed the bills into law while standing at a car dealership in Brandon, Florida, citing Florida residents’ “right to earn a living.”

“We’re making sure that people have a right to earn a living,” DeSantis said. “We are respecting people’s individual freedom in this state.”

Governor DeSantis (R) sees the passing of the new laws as a political victory. But even though the laws are now in place, they aren’t quite what DeSantis had originally wanted. He had pushed Florida lawmakers for more protection and received backing from supporters who testified during committee hearings.

DeSantis called a special session during which to pass the bills. That move has been met with criticism from Democrats who call the session “political theater” and feel it was done to boost DeSantis’s efforts toward re-election in 2022. They also feel that DeSantis’s decision to call the special session and pass the bills into law is also an attempt on the part of the Florida governor to prop him up for a possible 2024 Presidential run.

State Representative Michael Grant, the majority leader, gesturing on Tuesday as a proposed amendment is voted down during the special legislative session.

The main part of the four-part law, called HB1B, strikes down vaccine mandates on employees by any local government entity in Florida. Private businesses are not wholly exempt from the reach of the bill, as it requires that even those employers to include exemption status for employees who refuse the vaccine because of religious or medical reasons. Under the new law, employees in Florida who have previously contracted COVID-19 are also exempt from vaccine mandates, as are those employees who agree to, and comply with, routine testing for the virus and also wear personal protective equipment (i.e., masks, face coverings, etc.).

How crowded is Walt Disney World right now?

“No nurse, no firefighter, no police officer, no trucker–no anybody–should lose their job because of these COVID jabs,” DeSantis said just before signing the bills into law this morning, referring to vaccinations as “jabs,” as he has been doing lately.

Disney mandated vaccines for its executive employees toward the end of the summer and then struck a deal with unionized Cast Members who work at the Walt Disney World Resort that would require those hourly workers to be fully vaccinated by October 22 or face the possibility of termination. Because Disney is a private employer–the largest in the Sunshine State, too–the law doesn’t change much for the entertainment giant.

But Florida HB1B does now make it a legal requirement for Disney and other private employers in Florida to allow for push-back from employees who cite religious reasons and/or medical inability to receive the vaccine as their reasons for refusing to have the–as DeSantis calls it–“jab.”

Yes, you can be fired over the COVID vaccine | wfaa.com

The new law was passed with seemingly little consideration for the fact that more than 60,000 Floridians have died from novel coronavirus infections since the pandemic began in early 2020. At this time, nearly 61% of Florida residents are fully vaccinated.

Protests at Disney Park lead to closure of large Guest area

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

If you think that the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t trickled down through many facets of everyday life–including theme park operations and staffing concerns–you might want to think again.

Shortly after the virus was first discovered among people who were falling ill in China, Disney Parks in Asia closed their gates to Guests. Shanghai Disneyland announced its closure, effective January 25, 2020, “in response to the prevention and control of the disease outbreak and in order to ensure the health and safety of [the park’s] Guests and Cast Members.”

Hong Kong Disneyland Resort closed its gates on January 26, Tokyo Disneyland closed on March 1 in response to the growing spread of the virus. Disneyland Paris closed on March 12, 2020, and Disney’s U. S. parks followed suit only days later.

Initially, the spread of COVID-19 seemed to call for very temporary closures. In the cases of Disneyland Paris and Disneyland Resort in California, the closures lasted longer than anyone had imagined. The Paris park reopened, only to be closed again in the fall of 2020.

And then came the layoffs.

As of October 3, 2020, approximately 37,000 Cast Members–who were not expected to be laid off–were on furlough. And then in late September 2020, Disney announced plans for 28,000 layoffs that would take place in early 2021. Josh D’Amaro, President of Disney Parks, Products and Experiences, said the decision was a difficult one.

“As you can imagine, a decision of this magnitude is not easy,” D’Amaro wrote in a memo to Cast Members. “For the last several months, our management team has worked tirelessly to avoid having to separate anyone from the company. We’ve cut expenses, suspended capital projects, furloughed our cast members while still paying benefits, and modified our operations to run as efficiently as possible, however, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity.”

Of those 28,000 layoffs, 67% were part-time employees, per D’Amaro. But more layoffs followed. In November, Disney added several thousand more layoffs to the initial 28,000.

Cast Members are back to work now, but there is growing unrest over pay that some Cast Members say is not “a living wage.” Some Cast Members at Disneyland Resort in California were so determined in their cause, that they filed suit against Disney, alleging that Disney wasn’t holding up its end of a deal made with the City of Anaheim that would require Disney to pay a minimum wage of $15 per hour by 2019, and then to increase that pay by at least $1 per hour to $18 per hour by the year 2022.

Disneyland

But the judge presiding over the case sided with Disney.

Protests and demonstrations regarding Cast Member pay, benefits and even working conditions have been taking place at multiple Disney Parks. Some at Disneyland Paris went on strike in October outside Disney’s Newport Bay Club Resort Hotel. A protest at Disneyland in California was related to allegedly less than desirable working conditions and understaffing.

And just today, reports have surfaced that demonstrations taking place inside the park at Disneyland Paris have once again disrupted operations. Today’s protests have warranted to closure of the Castle hub at the park, according to DLP Report (@DLPReport) on Twitter.

Today’s demonstration is by Cast Members who are part of the union known as CGT. Cast Members at Disney Parks are represented by multiple unions. Disneyland Paris security personnel have been trying their best to keep anyone from photographing the event, per @DLPReport.

It’s not clear exactly what specific effects these protests will have on operations at the park today. DisneyDining will be following this story and other protests and strikes by Cast Members and keep you updated as well.

Disneyland Paris Housekeeping Cast Members Go On Strike Regarding Work Conditions

Posted on by Mathew Corn Disney Parks

Housekeeping Cast Members a Disneyland Paris — who are subcontractors and not employed directly by Disney — have gone on strike regarding work conditions.

Salon Mickey reported on Twitter this morning that Cast Members were picketing outside Disney’s Newport Bay Club hotel.

DisneylandParisGuest tweeted last night that there were no rooms available for guests due to the strike, leaving many families sleeping on the floor with no action by management.