Disney Suspends College Program; Cast Members Sent Home

The Walt Disney Company has made the decision to suspend the Disney College Program and sending cast members home due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. Cast members will be paid through March. Cast members received the word this morning, and that they would need to vacate their housing by March 18 at 11:00AM. Rent fees will also be waived. We here at The DisInsider are sadenned by this news, our very own Kaila Spencer is one of the cast members affected by this. She took to Twitter to share the news: https://twitter.com/ar1aster/status/1238894790105858050?s=21 A couple day’s ago the company finally made the decision to close both Disneyland and Walt Disney World due to the rise in the virus, reports say the closures will last until April, but we suspect that closures will extend through April. Restaurants and some shopping at both Downtown Disney and Disney Springs will remain open. Disneyland Resort Hotels will also be closing starting Monday. Read: Extra Magic Hour: A Disneyland Resort Podcast | March 13, 2020 The virus has also impacted Disney film studio and their projects in various forms of development, Disney’s highly-anticipated live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid (which was to begin filming on Monday) has been suspended as has Shang-Chi, Peter Pan and Wendy, Shrunk, Home Alone, The Last Duel,  and Nightmare Alley. All projects are still in the works and expected to restart later this year. Disney also moved the release dates of Mulan, The New Mutants, and Antlers, new release dates to be determined soon. All eyes are Black Widow, which is expected hits theaters on May 1. Marvel Studios is reportedly sticking to that release as of now, but are monitoring the situation very closely. We will continue to monitor this situation, and bring you the latest breaking news on the coronavirus and its impact on the Walt Disney Company.