Does Disney Have a Theme Park Staffing Problem?
Disney theme parks have regained nearly all the attendance they lost during the pandemic. In fact, the main reason why they’re not ahead of 2019’s pace is a feature, not a bug.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek recently confirmed that Disney wants less attendance, as it leads to superior guest experiences. However, the parks cannot fulfill this request as easily as you might think.
Recent comments and park cutbacks indicate that an issue persists long after the pandemic. Does Disney have a staffing issue? The answer appears to be yes.
What’s Happening with Disney Staffing?
A few days ago, Disney semi-quietly culled its extensive list of character greetings. Nevertheless, you’ll still find exponentially more Disney character interactions than you would have a year ago.
More importantly, these are the real meet-and-greets that include hugging rather than the pandemic-modified ones that honored social distancing restrictions.
Still, we had more character greetings in September than we’ll (apparently) have in November, which is a surprise. After all, theme park attendance is always higher in November than in September.
Guests travel to Disney parks more to admire the Christmas decorations and celebrate holidays like Thanksgiving. As a rule, Disney has historically added rather than subtracted for the November tourist season.
We are witnessing a different phenomenon in 2022, one that has its roots in the pandemic. The Great Resignation is the media-coined phrase for the sudden ascension of work-from-home jobs.
Disney benefited from this in a significant way. Many fans happily moved to Florida to live close to the parks, increasing the cost of housing in Central Florida by as much as 50 percent in some instances.
However, that positive comes with an alarming negative. Disney had already signed long-term agreements with its cast member unions in the area.
The salaries that Disney had collectively bargained to pay no longer proved satisfactory. Local staff must be able to afford housing in the area.
While Disney has raised its salary rates in some fields, it has acted economically conservative in virtually all aspects of its business since the pandemic.
So, Disney hasn’t even had the option of boosting employee compensation at the level that local housing has increased.
Recent Disney Park Cutbacks and What They Imply
Disney has performed staffing checks and recognized a problem. It doesn’t have enough qualified people to perform the typical array of costumed cast member interactions.
As a point of clarification, I’m not talking about instances like Pete’s Silly Sideshow, which hasn’t reopened since COVID-19 closed the parks in March 2020.
Similarly, I’m not referencing still-absent character meals like 1900 Park Fare. In fact, there’s good news on that front. Akershus finally returns on November 4th. So, some character experiences are returning.
However, others that we’ve had during 2022 are suddenly going away. An excellent example involves Minnie Mouse. She rejoined her fella, Mickey Mouse, at Town Square Theater on July 6th, 2022.
Now, less than four months later, Mickey is back on his own again at this character greeting. In fact, Minnie Mouse isn’t appearing anywhere at Magic Kingdom as I type this.
Obviously, that statement could change at a moment’s notice, but it reinforces a post-pandemic trend.
Management simply will not let just anyone perform as costumed cast members. It’s a rigorous auditioning and training process that few people can complete.
For that reason, Disney finds itself far short on staffing at several character interactions. We’ve called it the Disney Princess Crisis due to the lack of available cast members.
On the surface, the situation appeared to be improving due to Akershus’s return. But unfortunately, sudden cuts hint at a more stressful problem unfolding behind the scenes at Disney.
The Disney Hiring Dilemma
At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Chewbacca and Darth Vader occasionally meet guests. The explanation for this erratic behavior is simple. Only about 15 percent of the population is tall enough to play these characters.
So, Disney’s hiring pool is that much smaller for these characters. On the other side, most people are too tall to portray Minnie Mouse, as Disney prefers people in the range of 5’2” or less.
You can imagine how chaotic Disney’s hiring processes are right now to account for these weird quirks. “We need you, but you must pass an audition. Then, you must finish training. Oh, and how tall are you?”
That’s only part of the story. Disney is currently reintroducing several character-driven experiences. I just mentioned Akershus. The day before its return, the new version of Fantasmic! debuts.
While you have probably forgotten these discussions, MickeyBlog has occasionally chronicled the joys of Character Palooza. It’s a secret character greeting featuring the Fantasmic! performers.
I’m here to tell you that there are a metric ton of them! Fantasmic! features several dozen costumed cast members, which is part of why it’s such exceptional entertainment.
However, Disney must cast several people for each of those roles. So, it just reduced its costumed cast member worker pool by a few hundred more.
In truth, I missed the obvious in discussing why Fantasmic! hadn’t returned yet. Disney drained the water a couple of times, which caused media stirs. The reason for its closure was much simpler, though.
Disney lacked the staffing necessary to operate the show while maintaining the character interactions elsewhere at the parks.
The Current State of Disney Staffing
Now, management has chosen to bite the bullet for a while and bring back Fantasmic! Unfortunately, the opportunity cost of that decision is that it has caused staffing ripple effects elsewhere.
So, stuff like the Sulley greeting at Walt Disney Presents and Minnie Mouse’s appearance at Red Carpet Dreams faces a short-term staffing crisis.
This problem becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as well. As Disney faces more staffing issues, it asks more of its current staff. As a result, they grow overworked and frustrated, working more overtime with fewer days off.
Aspects like these are what triggered The Great Resignation in the first place. A new generation of employees is savvier about balancing their home and work lives. Unfortunately, Disney’s demands aren’t in line with such worker desires.
For this reason, costumed cast members are quitting the company at a higher rate than ever, which causes – you guessed it! – more staffing shortfalls.
Disney’s in a vicious circle right now and needs to find long-term solutions fast. The current situation is growing untenable and will only expand in scope as park attendance increases over the holidays.
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Feature Photo: Disney