Dear frontline Disney cast member, you’re on my mind today, and I just wanted to let you know. It’s been a while since I last wrote you a note, and perhaps it’s that Thanksgiving’s right around the corner, or maybe it’s just that the words seem like they need to be said. Whatever the reason, writing you a little note seems like the thing to do right about now.

Frontline cast member, the past two years have been tough for you. I know that’s the understatement of the year, but I wanted to say it nonetheless. I don’t think that it gets said enough, and while yes, life and work have been difficult and have changed for so many of us, you have borne a particular heavy load. You have been asked from time to time to shift from being a maker of magic to being a reminder of rules, over and over and over again. And I know that that must be incredibly draining.

As we guests return to our happy place, we come with high (and very often unrealistic) expectations, and some of us, for a myriad of reasons, walk into the parks with very short fuses. There are times when you are treated unjustly. And you are tasked with compartmentalizing your feelings and emotions and treating us with grace. Even when we don’t reciprocate.

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And now we find ourselves – cast members and guests alike – in the middle of a moment when we are disenchanted and disheartened by the decisions being made by Disney leadership. Leadership who is nowhere near the Disney parks and who seems to have forgotten what the daily in-park experience is like for all involved. The decisions being handed down make your everyday going to work much more difficult, and if I’m honest, some of them set you up for failure rather than success. These choices were not yours to make, but the end results are yours to deal with and enforce. You deserve better.

Please know that however frustrated we as Disney fans may get regarding the changes coming to the parks, we know that it’s not your fault. You are not the ones sitting in the boardrooms; you are the ones making the magic in the parks day in and day out.

Thank you. Thank you for all that you do. For making countless memories for our friends and our families. For all that you do to keep us safe when we strap in to ride our favorite attractions. For serving us our favorite meals. For showing up each day and doing what you do. We see you. And we need you.

We’re going to get through this. And, with your help, we’ll still savor the moments spent inside a Disney park, no matter the decisions handed down from afar.

This is our happy place. And it wouldn’t be the same without you.