Locker Out
Determined to squash employee theft, Disneyland has begun installing new lockers for Merchandise cast members that feature transparent doors.
Before going on stage, employees usually store their purses, lunches, backpacks, and other personal items at their work stations in standard metal lockers. The replacement lockers have doors made of clear plastic, allowing managers to view the contents and make sure workers aren’t hiding anything.
Cast members use a programmable code to secure the new lockers’ electronic lock. Managers will have an electronic override key.
Privacy rights aside, some cast members fear that placing their purses in plain sight will actually increase theft.
Other workers are wondering what will happen when the Digilock electronic locks’ batteries go dead.
“Each attraction, restaurant and store location has a set reserved backstage for their cast members. As far as I noticed, the lockers being changed are the ones reserved for the Merchandise cast members,” shared one source, who expected the conversion to eventually spread to all departments.
Those Mysterious Lights in the Skyway Chalet…
In recent weeks, sharp-eyed guests have noticed cast members going in and out of the long-shuttered Fantasyland Skyway station. Don’t get your hopes up. Fantasyland cast members have decorated the interior of the structure with garland, snowflakes, and a Christmas tree, to use the chalet as a temporary “activity area” for the holidays.
Normally, such frivolity would take place in the area’s subterranean break room, but cast members have been temporarily displaced due to the massive overhaul of the Village Haus and the offices below. The complex is slated to reopen December 23.
Although the station has been used off and on over the last 15 years for area functions, old-timers still find it nostalgic to step back into the old loading station. However, noted one cast member, “The sad thing is, you can really see how the building is deteriorating. The wood is breaking off in pieces from wood rot and termites. And there is a hole in the roof. WDI has got to find a way of putting this structure to use, or it will be gone forever.”
Makes Scents
There is one attraction that disappeared about the same time as the Skyway that might be making a comeback—the old perfume shop in New Orleans Square. The corner shop was one of the land’s originals, opening in 1966 as Mlle. Antoinette’s Parfumerie. But since the mid-1990s, it has peddled jewelry and other accessories as the Jewel of Orleans.
Apparently, an outside contractor specializing in perfumes has expressed interest in taking over the location. No contracts have been signed, but Disney would love to have a new tenant for the spot.
Frito Lay Offs
Earlier this summer, Disneyland food outlets began serving its own brand of chips, replacing the Frito Lay brands that the park first served up in 1955.
Available are generic potato chips, barbeque potato chips, tortilla chips, and cheese curls, similar to Cheetos. “I have tried them all, and they are passable,” said one taste tester. “But stay away from the cheese curls… yuck! An ODV (Outdoor Vending) cast member told me that guests often return them for an exchange or a refund.”
The bags do not list the name of the actual manufacturer, but it’s almost certainly not Frito Lay, since their sponsorship has lapsed. One source speculated that since the park also parted ways last year with McDonalds, Disney may have dumped Frito Lay because its chips were “not healthy.” (The replacement brands are baked.) I doubt it, considering that Frito Lay also offers baked options and that Disney parks continue to sell plenty of other food items of similar nutritional value.
Looking Back
Finally, on a personal note, I wanted to thank you—for faithfully reading and responding to my MousePlanet columns despite their sporadic frequency—and to thank the kind cast members who continue to share, through me, their fascinating on-the-job stories. It means a great deal to me.
You see, 2010 has been quite a challenge. Earlier this year, I lost my father and my big sister within a span of two days. I’ve also had to say good-bye to a record number of Disney old-timers, whose generosity and friendship over the years have given me great joy (and great tales to share). I just learned that yet another park legend has been given a very short time to live.
It reminds me that, really, we’ve all been given just a very short time to live. Do what you love. Where you love. And, most importantly, with the ones you love.
Enough with the eulogies. Enjoy a Merry Christmas and a magical 2011.
