Thousands of Disneyland Resort cast members have been furloughed during the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving the Disneyland Resort essentially empty. While many of these employees haven’t seen a Disneyland ride in nearly ten months, it sure has felt like they’ve been stuck on Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout. Leaving hundreds of cast members holding on tight as they get lifted up suddenly, only to have the bottom fall out seemingly out of nowhere.

To stretch out this tortured metaphor, it appears the ride has one more lift for a lucky few, as new relaxed guidelines have opened the door for a number of cast members.

I will save the depressing history of the past ten months and start with the latest news from California’s Governor Gavin Newsom. On Monday, January 25th, Newsom lifted regional stay-at-home orders around the state. 

This was imposed in late Fall in response to a huge uptick in new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths caused by Covid-19. The surges in cases were clearly tied to Holiday travel and gatherings.

As we are moving away from the major holidays: Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Years, the numbers are starting to trend down.

This is likely do to a combination of factors, the surge due to holiday activity diminishing due to time, some initial effects from early vaccinations, along with the immunity that comes from people previously having had Covid-19. These three factors are combining to show a steady improvement in topline numbers.

With this information, the stay-at-home order in California has been lifted and this allows the Disneyland Resort to allow for outdoor dining in their Downtown Disney dining and retail district. This includes the expanded area into Disney California Adventure, primarily featuring Buena Vista Street.

As a result, Disney has recalled more than 200 employees. According to Worked United Local 50 President, Christopher Workers, (yes, this union president’s last name is ‘Workers’) 232 of their dining and beverage members will be recalled initially.

The reopening of dining options within Downtown Disney is good news for Disney fans and even better news for furloughed cast members. As long as the trend continues to improve, we will start to hear the phrases “first wave,” “second wave,” and “third wave” refer to rehiring and reopening trends rather than referring to increased illness and death. A welcome change everyone can agree on.