©Disney
It always amazes me to watch Disney embrace challenging times. It’s the difference between the watchers and the innovators.
Rather than cower at the current situation, they are using it as an impetus to come up with ways to reinvent themselves. Parks here and around the world have opened to great success. They’ve set the bar from the beginning and learned from one another as things progress – nimbly making changes to policies as they learn from within and from developing public guidelines. In a matter of months, they’ve completely reinvented the guest experience and how they bring the magic.
It’s been an inspiring display of what a company can do when they’re strong enough to lead while also humble enough to learn.
Rates of new COVID cases in central Florida, particularly in areas where Cast Members live, are markedly DOWN since the reopening. Eight in 10 park guests feel that the layered measures that are in place are just right. And even younger guests are adapting to things like masks and embracing them as a new way to express themselves.
And then there’s Disneyland. Shuttered at the mercy of California’s state government.
Josh D’Amaro on Disneyland
Josh D’Amaro, recently named Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, minced few words in addressing the situation in California in a press conference yesterday.
This situation is drastically affecting not only Disneyland’s tens of thousands of furloughed Cast Members, but the countless suppliers, vendors, and other third party businesses of the surrounding community that depend upon Disneyland for their livelihood.
Nearly 80,000 jobs rely on Disneyland’s operations, and today the vast majority of those people are still out of work.
Today, more than ever, Disney’s Cast, their greater community, and their government leaders need to do their own part for the good of the whole.
Disney is doing its part in innovating technology and policies that will keep us safe. From face coverings to mobile ordering to virtual queues to Magic Bands to no contact resort check ins, they are setting the bar for keeping us safe and for keeping their Cast Members both safe and employed.
D’Amaro look straight into the camera and got right to the point:
To our California government officials, particularly at the state level. I encourage you to treat theme parks like you would other sectors. Help us reopen. We need guidelines that are fair and equitable so we can better understand our future and chart a path towards reopening. The longer we wait, the more devastating the impact will be to Orange County and the Anaheim communities and to the tens of thousands of people who rely on us for employment. With the right guidelines and our years of operations experience, I’m confident that we can restart and get people back to work. …We’re ready. And more importantly, it’s time.
Time indeed. Disney is paving the path forward for all of us in this. Perhaps it’s time we all got out of their way.
* * * * * * * * * *
Please join me on Instagram for my day-to-day adventures living a mile from the magic. And join the conversation over in our community on Facebook!
* * * * * * * * * *
If you’re planning a trip to Disney and want a fun way to rock a mask, check out my designs at TeePublic right HERE!! If you cannot or choose not to visit now and are looking for a way to bring the magic home, I’d love for you to check out my Core Memory Candle collection right HERE. And as always, stay safe and be kind, my friends.
