Disney's Hollywood Studios Lays Off Beauty and the Beast Live Cast

Disney's Hollywood Studios laid off the entire Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage cast. This move comes after a bunch of other live performers have been let go in recent weeks. Walt Disney World News Today reported on both these cuts and the Disney Society Orchestra cast being sent home. There have been more layoffs for cast members around all of the Disney Parks. Things have been tight ever since the pandemic started and with no end in sight, it looks like things could stretch even further. There's still the chance they could be re-hired, but as with everything surrounding the hospitality industry at this juncture, a lot depends on the next couple of months. For now, a lot of performers, servers, and other staff are out of work and fans are wondering when these changes will stop over the course of the next year.

In another sit-down with Dow Report, Disney Parks head man Josh D'Amaro said that he thought the changes to the theme parks would be here to stay. It does look like these kinds of considerations are actually going to stick in some other facets of life as well. D'Amaro was there on day one to greet all the returning faces at Disney Springs. One would have to imagine that the company is praying for a grand return to their locations in 2021.

"We figured out a way to really push hard on technology, really accelerate some of the ideas that we've had for a long time," he said. "So you think about things like reservation systems in the parks that we can manage capacity and therefore guest experience a little bit better. It's working exceptionally well for us."

"Things like mobile order, Roger. So you can walk up to a restaurant, have your meal ready for you when you arrive. Things like queue reservations systems that we're executing in different ways," Amaro added. "Or even how you might pay for merchandise but without transacting with a credit card. And this technology, it doesn't only help us during a time of a pandemic, but I think it actually leads to a better cast and guest experience. And so, these are things that are helping us now, but I think they're here to stay."

Do you have any plans to visit the Disney Parks over the course of the next year? Let us know down in the comments!