Disney cannot get out of its own way.
The entertainment giant is facing another disturbing scandal.
And Disney landed itself in hot water for this sick move before the hurricane.
Disney would not let its theme park workers leave early with hurricane approaching
Hurricane Milton made landfall in Siesta Key, Florida as a Category 3 storm bringing torrential rain and winds up to 120 miles per hour.
Millions of people in Florida evacuated ahead of Milton’s arrival when it was a Category 5 Hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico.
Disney World in Central Florida closed for only the 11th time in the theme park’s history because of Hurricane Milton.
The theme park is billed as the most magical place on earth.
But for hourly workers at Disney World, it became a nightmare with the hurricane barreling toward Florida.
Four workers at the theme park told Business Insider that they were not allowed to leave work early in the hours before Hurricane Milton made landfall.
They were expected to stick around after the park closed to help it prepare for the hurricane.
Milton made landfall on a Wednesday night.
Disney closed Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and Epcot earlier that Wednesday.
The employees said that the theme parks were only at about 10% capacity that day.
“I wish the park wouldn’t have opened up for the day at all,” an employee said.
Disney employees wanted to beat the storm
Disney let its employees leave at 2:45 pm on that Wednesday but weather conditions in the Orlando area were already starting to deteriorate.
Heavy rain was coming down and tornado warnings were issued shortly after the employees left the theme parks.
One employee claimed that “everyone was in a rush to get out of there, and it was scary not knowing how the weather was going to be on the ride home.”
The Orlando area did not get the brunt of Milton but employees were still concerned about the weather.
“Orlando is just unique because, yes, we are inland, but we see scary rain and terrifying winds,” the employee said. “And just because we aren’t washed away and dealing with storm surge and structural damage doesn’t mean it isn’t scary.”
Disney World was closed on Thursday and reopened on Friday.
Some of the employees were given an order to come in on that Thursday to help with clean up from the storm and others were told to call to check their schedules.
“The fact that they not only expect me to call but potentially go out in the parks to clean up is crazy,” an employee said.
That employee refused to show up on Thursday to help with clean-up duty.
“I don’t feel safe driving at 7 a.m. tomorrow when this is all over,” the employee told Business Insider.
Disney claimed that the safety of its employees was its highest priority.
“Safety is always our first and most important factor when making decisions that will affect our cast members and guests and throughout the storm,” Disney said in a statement. “We provided frequent and timely updates on our changes to make sure they returned home hours before the worst of the weather reached Central Florida.”
Disney has disgruntled employees to deal with in addition to disgruntled customers after the hurricane.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
