The Downtown Disney Starbucks remains heavily impacted by ongoing labor disputes between Starbucks Partners, their name for employees, and Starbucks management at the location. Starbucks Partners are also actively maintaining a picket line in front of the location on Disney property. This comes after a multi-day unannounced Starbucks closure last month.
We have details on impacts as well as background on why the closure is ongoing. At Mickey Visit, we bring you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including recent Disneyland menu changes and a ride closure for a top Disneyland ride.
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Downtown Disney Starbucks Remains Impacted by Strike
The Downtown Disney Starbucks remains impacted by labor disputes. This is the location that is just past the World of Disney store.
This dispute involves Starbucks employees and Starbucks corporate. Disney is only lightly involved here as the landlord for the tenant of the location.
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The Starbucks locations inside Disneyland and Disney California Adventure remain open as usual, as those locations operated by Disney Cast Members are not facing the same issues. The location in Disneyland is on Main Street USA and called the Market House, and the location in Disney California Adventure is at the end of Buena Vista Street and is called the Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Cafe.
The Downtown Disney location has not offered mobile order through the Starbucks app since November 8, 2025, and has been operating with limited hours. On Monday, the posted hours were 10:30 am to 7 pm. Other days this week, the location has been open closer to 9 am to 9 pm.
The store is currently being staffed by Starbucks managers from this location and other stores in the nearby area, according to a barista currently on strike. The store has been on strike for 38 days, as of December 13, 2025. There has been no mobile order or normal hours during that period. The store was closed for multiple days starting November 8, 2025, when Starbucks Partners walked out, due to the dispute, as we previously reported.
You can see a photo of the store early Monday morning with the posted hours.
The Downtown Disney location is popular with Disney guests because it is the only location of the three accessible to Disney guests that offers mobile order via the Starbucks app. Ordering in advance here was popular with hotel guests and those getting off the tram from the Mickey and Friends and Pixar Pals parking structures.
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Starbucks Workers United identifies the Downtown Disney Starbucks as one of the most successful store locations in the entire country. Baristas here describe massive crowds that remain constant throughout the entire day.
The Starbucks Workers United group connected Mickey Visit with a Starbucks Partner, Christi Gomoljak, who has worked at Starbucks for 5.5 years in total and 2.5 years in Downtown Disney.
She shared, “I remember my manager telling me this is one of the most successful retail locations in this hemisphere.”
Currently, there is a picket line happening in front of the location at certain times throughout the day. When we passed by in the morning, before the location was open, there were these three picketers holding small signs. The employees are allowed to picket on Disney property if they only bring small signs, speak in a normal voice volume, and do not block entrances or exits. Employees on strike at this location are picketing here, attending various rallies, and talking with other strikers throughout the day.
Gomoljak told Mickey Visit that “everyone working at the location is a Disney fan and loves working at Starbucks, we just want to be paid a living wage.”
She said, “Our customers. Those are our people. They love Disney and they love Starbucks just like us.”
Starbucks corporate previously did not return a request for comment when asking about this location.
Gomoljak shared that the baristas at the Downtown Disney location make approximately $5 per hour less than the Cast Members working at the locations inside the theme parks. The Cast Members working at the Disney theme park locations have a “union contract, and they get significant pay raises,” she said. These claims have not been independently verified.
The Downtown Disney Starbucks strike is not happening in a vacuum. There are over 550 union stores represented, with strikes in 130 cities. There are 140 stores out on strike currently. Gomoljak shared that the union has three main asks.
Gomoljak explained, “Starbucks says a barista’s paycheck is worth $30 per hour with the benefits, but they can’t access the benefits if they are shorting the hours people are staffed. We need better take home pay and we need Starbucks to come back to the negotiating table with new proposals so we can get a fair contract. There are currently 3,800 Starbucks Partners on strike”.
Starbucks corporate has said it remains committed to bargaining with union representatives and is open to returning to the table if negotiations resume. In a recent memo, Starbucks noted it has agreed to over 30 tentative contract provisions and emphasized that the majority of its U.S. stores continue to operate normally.
They also pointed to its average pay and benefits package as among the strongest in retail and described some of the union’s demands as unsustainable.
The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC), a coalition of North American labor unions, estimated that Starbucks has spent over $240 million on anti-union campaigns, a figure that Starbucks has not confirmed.
She said that the best way to express the current situation is with a quote from Star Wars: The Last Jedi, “This is how we’re gonna win, not fighting what we hate, but saving what we love. We absolutely love our location.”
Gomoljak said she and other baristas picketing at the location are encouraging park guests to purchase their coffee at other locations around the Disneyland Resort instead of the Downtown Disney Starbucks location.
There was previously also a Starbucks location at the other end of Downtown Disney near the monorail, but that closed in 2021.
We will be continuing to cover the impacts of the Starbucks closure and the ongoing situation in Downtown Disney closely. Please follow along and share this story with those wondering about the current changes at the location.
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