Updated May 18, 2024 at 23:07 PM ET

Turns out, Disneyland is not the happiest place on earth.

At least, it’s not for some of the workers who walk around the park as Mickey Mouse and Elsa and Chewbacca and other beloved Disney characters.

In a union election that ended Saturday, the Anaheim, Calif.-based performers voted overwhelmingly to unionize, by a vote of 953 to 258. The employees will be represented by Actors’ Equity Association, a union known for representing actors and stage managers on Broadway.

The election was open to some 1,700 employees in the character and parade departments, including those who roam Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park greeting visitors and performing in the daily parades.

The union campaign grew out of the pandemic, when performers started having health and safety concerns around sharing costumes and having physical contact with visitors, including hugs from adoring children.

Like many other workers in Southern California, the Disney employees also found their base wages — which went from $20 to $24.15 in January — no match for the rising cost of living.

Calling themselves “Magic United,” the workers leading the organizing campaign called for higher wages and more reliable schedules, noting that parade performers in particular have trouble getting full-time hours.

Mai Vo, who first got a job at Disneyland at 16 and put herself through college performing as a number of Disney characters, says there’s a sense of exhaustion that comes with the job.

“[It] gets really hard to make magic when you’re burnt out,” she says.

In a statement, Disneyland said, “We support our cast members’ right to a confidential vote that recognizes their individual choices,” while noting that non-union employees do receive annual raises and paid sick leave aligned with industry standards.

Copyright 2024 NPR

For the second straight weekend, South Carolina’s baseball team was unable to salvage a single game against a ranked opponent, with this sweep coming courtesy of the No. 1 Tennessee Volunteers after losing 4-1 in game three on Saturday afternoon. It’s the first time that the Gamecocks have been swept in consecutive weekends since April 26th-28th and May 3rd-5th of the 2019 season.

Dylan Eskew got the start on the bump for Carolina in game three, and despite giving up some loud outs, didn’t allow any damage, giving up just two baserunners in two innings on just 29 pitches of work. In the third inning, left-handed pitcher Matthew Becker would come onto the mound to give the Tennessee batters a different look and would get a 4-6-3 double play and another groundout to end the inning. However, things wouldn’t go as swimmingly in the fourth and fifth innings, as an RBI double in the fourth and multiple fielding miscues in the fifth would lead to four Volunteer runs.

At the plate, the Gamecocks struggled against Tennessee starter Zander Sechirst, who only allowed four Carolina baserunners in six innings. In the eighth inning, the Gamecocks would threaten, with Dalton Reeves and Talmadge LeCroy hitting singles, the latter scoring a run, to give South Carolina two baserunners with one out. However, pinch hitter Will Tippett and centerfielder Austin Brinling would strike out and fly out, respectively, and the Gamecocks wouldn’t get anyone on base in the ninth.

South Carolina will play an opponent TBA in a single-elimination first-round game in the SEC Baseball Tournament this coming Tuesday.

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