LOS ANGELES -- When California's theme parks closed in March, employees of Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and other parks were left in limbo, displaced from jobs through no fault of their own, with no idea when -- or if -- they will be called back.
The ax is about to fall on tens of thousands of Disney workers. Walt Disney Co. plans to lay off 28,000 people across its theme parks, products and experience divisions, with about 10,000 of those layoffs hitting the Disneyland Resort parks, hotels and stores in Anaheim, Calif., according to company sources. Notifications for those layoffs are expected to reach workers by email by Sunday.
Universal Studios Hollywood has already reduced its workforce by as many as 7,000 employees through furloughs, layoffs and shift cuts.
The lucky ones have landed new gigs. Many others continue to collect unemployment checks, holding out hope that they will soon be called back to work alongside co-workers they consider family.
But the state has tied the reopening of the theme parks to getting a handle on the pandemic, making a reopening date difficult to predict.
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Meanwhile, many theme park workers are trying to cope with the depression and anxiety brought on by the uncertainty of their circumstances.
"Work was my escape. It was my outlet and I needed to do it," said Priscilla Miranda, 30, a furloughed stage manager at Universal Studios Hollywood. "It was something that meant a lot for me. When it got taken away and I was home all the time, I got really depressed."
About 135,000 people worked at California theme parks before the pandemic, and a huge number of them have been furloughed or laid off since March, when state officials recommended against large gatherings. Before they closed, the state's parks were generating more than $12.6 billion in spending each year, much of it in Southern California, home to seven major theme parks.
Theme park workers in California earn an average annual salary of about $41,000. The perks such as free park passes for friends and family and exclusive previews of new attractions make the jobs desirable.
Park staff members also boast about the family-fun atmosphere and the close bonds they form with co-workers.
Soon after the parks closed, company officials hinted that they would reopen in time for the summer tourist season. But the pandemic didn't abate quickly enough to allow that to happen. Now, state guidelines dictate that the largest theme parks won't reopen until infection rates drop considerably in their home counties. An Orange County health official has said that means Disneyland probably won't be able to open before next summer.
Cassie Simone and Josey Montana McCoy, cast members in the "Frozen" musical show at the Hyperion Theater in Disney California Adventure Park, learned this month that the show was canceled, with no plans to revive it when the park reopens.
The show, based on the animated feature film "Frozen," opened at the theme park in 2016.
Simone, who has played the lead role of Anna in the show, had been acting in Disneyland stage performances since 2004. She called her time at the park a "dream job."
She has become so close to her Disney co-workers that she has been a bridesmaid in the weddings of two fellow cast members and planned the baby shower of another.
"We've seen each other through marriages, babies, divorces, even deaths," Simone said.
McCoy, who played goofy snowman Olaf since the show started in 2016, has mixed feelings about the possibility of returning to Disney during the pandemic. He worries about catching the virus and infecting his baby.
"Let's listen to the scientists," he said.
McCoy recalls going onstage as Olaf when the show debuted and realizing he was giving the children in the audience their first in-person depiction of the snowman. Now he is stunned to think he'll never do that again.
"Emotionally, it comes in waves," he said. "I realize that the wall of security that I built started to crumble slowly."
McCoy credits his Disney co-workers to helping him cope. Within two days after his son's premature birth, his "Frozen" cast mates started a Venmo account to raise money for food, breast-pump cleaning supplies and other necessities.
"It was an incredibly overwhelming time, but our 'Frozen' friends were magnificent," McCoy said.
Miranda, the stage manager for the Universal Studios Hollywood "Waterworld" stunt show, was furloughed in May but, because of a glitch at the state Employment Development Department, did not receive unemployment checks until September.
"This was my career," Miranda said. "It wasn't just a job."
She began to feel better after moving in with her parents in Rialto and started to receive the state benefits. But she's not ready to put her Universal Studios job firmly in the past. She recalls being backstage at the "Waterworld" show, hearing the crowd roar, and feeling proud to help elicit such a reaction.
"I don't want to feel like I'm giving up on it. It's weird," she said. "I feel like I would be a quitter if I turn away from it completely."