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Disneyland Prepared To Terminate All Cast Members, Replacement Proposed

Jess ColopyLast Updated: June 21, 2024

0 1 minute read

A diverse group of Disney cast members, mostly young adults, are standing closely together, smiling, and looking ahead. They are all wearing teal uniforms with badges. Some are holding hands, creating a sense of unity and celebration. The background shows more people in similar attire. — Credit: Disney

A plan to fully automate Disneyland Resort, eliminating the need for most Disney cast members, recently leaked online. Disney Parks fans were horrified thinking about how different Disneyland Park, Downtown Disney, and Disney California Adventure Park would be without thousands of smiling faces.

Thousands of Disney cast members bring Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort to life. From custodial to attractions, each cast member plays a unique role in making the magic happen.

A group of Disneyland cast members, dressed in red and blue plaid vests and blue face masks, line both sides of a street, waving to guests who are walking towards the camera. — Credit: Disney

However, the Disney parks we know and love weren’t always going to be staffed the way that they are now. According to Disney history content creator Kate (@disneycicerone on TikTok), Walt Disney once wanted to automate almost every position at Disneyland Park.

“According to Imagineer Harper Goff, Walt Disney loved the idea of a fully automated Disneyland,” Kate explained. “…Walt didn’t want any skippers in the Jungle Cruise boats, but luckily, Harper convinced him that having a human on board to keep kids’ hands out of the water and also in case of an emergency was a good idea.”

In Fantasyland, Walt Disney hoped that the attraction now called Storybook Land Canal Boats would feature nine-inch tall mechanical people and an animatronic train conductor.

“That automation would never come to pass, but in Tomorrowland, the Automat did,” Kate continued. “…You could get your entire meal from a vending machine.”

walt disney carousel of progress resized — Credit: Disney

Disney allegedly also wanted to automate Walt Disney Animation Studios.

“Sometimes his irritation at not being able to grasp how to do animation well himself got the best of him,” Kate said. “He would threaten to replace all of his animators with audio-animatronics.”

“In the end, despite all of Walt Disney’s ideas and threats, he realized that the people that make the magic are the very heartbeat of Disneyland,” she concluded.