The Actors Equity Association has reached an agreement with Disney Parks to have their live performance workers be vaccinated by the end of September. As we covered earlier this week, the number of live performers still working for Disney is dramatically lower than it once was, and the likelihood of those numbers increasing back to pre-pandemic levels is essentially zero.
According to the information we’ve received, there is a process for cast members who have sincerely held religious opposition to the vaccine, as well as for cast members who have medical reasons for not receiving the vaccine. Exact specifications for what those medical reasons might permit were not disclosed. For example, we do not know if cast members who already have natural immunity will be exempted. Furthermore, there is no explanation which we have received regarding if “booster shot” vaccines can also be required for cast members in the near future.
The number of live performance cast members still employed by Disney Parks is miniscule in comparison to the numbers that existed 18 months in the past. There are essentially no parades at this point, very few entertainers in the parks, and live shows are almost non-existent (with Lion King and Beauty and the Beast being the two main exceptions). The lack of live performers is so apparent that the Boo Bash experience has gone from having a huge Castle show with puppetry and pyrotechnics — a show that was performed during the last year of Mickey’s Not So Spooky Halloween Party — to now having three actors on a single generic float riding through Magic Kingdom awkwardly.
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