Disney Headlines for November 28th, 2023
Thanksgiving Week has ended, and we’ll enter the December holiday season in a couple of days.
Still, I wanted to draw attention to how much we take for granted by discussing an inspirational cast member’s story in the latest Disney Headlines.
An Addict Steals Money
The publication, Insider, has always treated MickeyBlog and its sister site, MickeyTravels, quite well.
In fact, here’s a story involving our own Greg Antonelle from this past April.
Since then, I’ve read Insider fairly regularly, especially when they post Disney stories.
An article from Thanksgiving Week touched my heart. You can read it in its entirety here.


Photo:impulsecreative.com
I’ll quickly summarize what happened because it’s one of the best pieces I read this week and crystallized how fortunate so many of us should feel this holiday season.
Here’s the shocking headline: “I spent $24,000 on drugs with my Disney corporate credit card.


Photo: skillastics.com
“The company gave me a second chance instead of firing me.”
Folks, if I write an article for MickeyBlog that doesn’t do well, I feel like I’ve stolen from the company.


Photo: Washington Post
I cannot imagine someone embezzling $24,000 from their employer, much less not getting fired for it.
So, I dug deeper on the story and learned about a gay Armenian-American software engineer who earned their dream job at Disney.


The Walt Disney Company
First, they had interned twice with the company, but then Disney hired the individual full-time.
What the person couldn’t share with their employer was that they’d developed a meth addiction.


Photo:ofx.ie
Such stories sadly aren’t rare over the past decade, which explains why Big Pharma has spent the past several years defending itself against class-action suits.
Here’s a Rite-Aid settlement for $4.75 million, and the Oxycontin settlement currently resides at $4.5 billion and appears more likely to go up than down.


Photo: Wikimedia
This cast member fell victim to the same epidemic that impacted millions of Americans.
Since the engineer was paying money to their family back home as well, they couldn’t afford their addiction.
So, they charged $24,000 on a Disney corporate card. Let’s not undersell the fact that it was a shameful act.
Forgiveness and Redemption


Walt Disney Burbank
As we enter the joyous but sometimes stressful holiday season, I’d encourage everyone to remember the power of forgiveness.
In the cast member’s case, he encountered a stranger and revealed what he had done for some reason that’s not explained in the story.
The stranger advised a confession…and here’s the shocking part. Even though the cast member faced a likely termination and criminal charges, they did it!
You would expect Disney to fire the person for cause and alert the local authorities.
Instead, Disney acted very Disney-like in trying to help an addict in need.
Here’s how the cast member described what happened next:


The Walt Disney Company
“The company gave me a chance to pay it back and left me with a formal warning. This was a big turning point in my life.”
The engineer adds, “The second chance Disney gave me also inspired me to go to rehab.”


Multiracial group of people having a psychotherapy
Alas, anyone who has an addict knows all too well that progress is rarely linear. Instead, this person failed rehab six times before the seventh time helped.
I’d encourage you to read the entire story, the turning point occurred at an emotional moment.
The cast member experienced an epiphany: “I had somehow forgotten the fact that I was not born addicted to drugs.”
This individual concludes by stating, “Disney showed me that compassion can be a powerful force to inspire forgiveness and accountability.


Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks
“I learned that without self-forgiveness and accountability, healing from addiction is impossible.”
We obviously have some other, more negative headlines about Disney to discuss these days, but this is the one I found most fitting right now.
This story is definitely the most Disney I’ve read lately.
Breastfeeding While Frozen


People
You probably missed the Headline since it came out just before Thanksgiving, but People covered something fascinating.
I won’t link directly since the image is not safe for work to some, even though it’s really just nature happening.


Photo Credit: MousePlanet.com
A mother vacationing at Disney deftly combined her love of Viking boats with her child’s need for nutrition.
When her child asked for breastfeeding, the mother didn’t miss a beat. She opened her shirt and let her child suckle right then and there.


Photo: Disney
The where of “right then and there” is what matters, though. Judging by the picture, the woman and her baby were in mid-ride at Frozen Ever After.
Since we only have one image of the event, it’s impossible to say where on the ride this occurred…but I sure hope it wasn’t during the big drop!


Photo: Disney
No matter the specifics, you have to admire a mother so attuned to her baby’s needs that she didn’t make it wait until the ride ended!
I mean, when my cat scratches at my door, I’ll tell it to hold on until I finish writing the paragraph.


Image Credit: Kevin-Davis-Photography, Flickr
This woman just stood in line for an hour to travel to Arendelle.
Then, when the moment arrived, Junior wanted lunch. She didn’t hesitate. And that’s why moms are the absolute best.


Photo: Disney
Since we live in an era of social media judgment, some have questioned the mother’s behavior.
She has rightfully brushed off such criticism as mom-shaming. You can read her thoughts here.


Photo: Disney
More importantly, with Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, we should be celebrating moms more than ever.
Mine is – no joke – 90, and she cooked Thanksgiving dinner for a family of ten plus three more arriving the next day! And her middle-aged children still fight over her cookies.


Holidays at Disney Springs
Enjoy the holiday season, my many loves!


MickeyBlog Logo
Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below, and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond Level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon!