Disney

Monique Coleman says there's a perfectly good explanation why her old Disney Channel costar, Zac Efron, didn't join in on a big broadcast sing-along ... the almighty Wi-Fi signal.

We talked to the 'High School Musical' alum -- who was one of the former child stars in the hit DC movie series, and who performed "We're All In This Together" Thursday alongside Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale and others -- and she told us why Zac was MIA during the nationally televised performance. Long story short ... dude's probably got a bad signal.

Monique says Zac -- the lead man in the 'HSM' movies -- got on-board at the very last minute, and was only able to introduce the song from a fuzzy video he sent in. The reason he wasn't able to sing along with the crew is because he's likely in a remote part of the world with crappy Internet. Last she heard, ZE was in Papua New Guinea filming for his new Quibi show, "Killing Zac Efron" -- so yeah, he wasn't gonna risk a bad show.

More importantly than that, though, is the fact that Zac is one of the most down-to-earth celebs there is in the biz ... according to Monique, anyway. She says she's not surprised he didn't cave to the Disney pressure to get in on the sing-along ... and did what he realistically could.

Walt Disney World employees are taking it on the chin, hard -- the theme park is about to furlough 43,000 workers as it remains closed due to the coronavirus.

Orlando's Magic Kingdom, which has been shut down since March 16, reached agreements with its workers' unions, and will make the layoffs effective April 19 ... according to Forbes. Most of the employees are security guards and other workers involved in operating the facilities.

The Mouse House says the laid-off workers will keep their health benefits up to one year -- and Disney has agreed to pay for coronavirus testing for any employees who need it.

Of course, it's still unclear when Disney will reopen gates at its parks around the world. The massive park will now be staffed by only 200 people with "essential duties."

Forbes says Disney World is the largest single-site employer in the country ... and the massive layoffs are expected to have a domino effect on the Central Florida economy ... where so many other industries depend on Disney being open to stay in business.

Meghan Markle got back on the bike by narrating a Disney nature documentary, and take a listen ... she didn't skip a beat.

Disney+ just dropped the Disney Nature documentary, "Elephant," narrated by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex -- and the teaser just aired on 'GMA.' The doc, of course, is special to her. She's done a ton of work in the past to help elephants, and proceeds will go to help an org near and dear to her ... Elephant Without Borders.

Meghan narrates the migration of Shani and her family. The elephant family is tracked as they make a 1,000-mile, 8-month trek across Africa. Ya gotta listen reaaaal closely, 'cause it almost doesn't sound like Meghan. But, it's her.

As we reported ... Meghan's making her Hollywood comeback nearly a year after Prince Harry went to bat for Meghan when he pitched former Disney head Bob Iger.

Disney is making its most loyal fans happy by pausing payments for annual pass holders and refunding monthly payments during the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's the deal ... the Mouse House just announced it will no longer continue charging Annual Pass members while its parks remain closed due to the virus, and it's refunding scheduled monthly payments that were changed since the outbreak.

As we reported ... Disney pissed off a lot of people by continuing to charge Pass holders at a time when millions of folks are hurting for cash.

Disney posted an update to the annual pass holder payment policy Thursday, offering some much needed financial relief in a dark time. The policy flip will ease minds and wallets, and seek to undo some very bad optics.

Disney also says park pass holders who already paid in full for their annual passes can get a partial refund for the period the theme parks are closed.

The new policy kicks in this Sunday, when Disney says it will halt automatic payments and waive all upcoming monthly payments while the parks remain shuttered.

Disney lovers can still get a healthy dose of magic during quarantine -- it's just a watered-down, digital version, of course ... but hey, anything to beat those COVID-19 blues, right?

Turns out, the Mouse House has a YouTube channel dedicated to their theme park attractions -- specifically, an immersive version of them that can be enjoyed (partially, anyway) through a screen. Basically ... you can experience pretty much any ride via virtual reality.

It's sorta fascinating ... the YT channel has been racking up videos of pretty much all of their roller coasters and other rides that capture the entire journey with 360-degree cameras -- shot from inside the car itself, and which is adjustable so you can "look around."

If you have a VR headset, there's a way to hook it up and make the ride, if you will, all that much more real ... almost as if you were there yourself. You might have to use a bit of imagination though -- there's no motion-activated seats we're aware of to make it even closer to the real thing. Still though ... it's something to do, and it's a taste of Disney parks from home.

Looks like the VR ride videos are productions of both Disneyland and Disney World -- for the most part -- with rides like Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, The Haunted Mansion, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, The EPCOT Center and everything in between.

Palm Springs-native Alana Austin was only 19 years old when she landed the role of the girly cheerleader turned dirt bike bad boy, Andi Carson -- who poses as her brother and takes to the track while her brother is injured -- in the classic sibling-swapping 2001 Disney TV movie, "Motocrossed."

Alana Austin was helped out along the wild ride by her on-screen mom and confidant, Geneva, played by Mary-Margaret Humes, her biker brother, Andrew, played by Trever O'Brien ... and of course, the fierce French rival on two wheels, Rene Cartier, played by Michael Cunio.

Meghan Markle's officially back in Hollywood ... she's making her Disney debut nearly a year after Prince Harry lobbied the Mouse House's head honcho.

Disney announced Thursday it's releasing a new movie "narrated by Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex." Yup, that's how Disney's marketing Meghan. She'll narrate "Disneynature's Elephant." Natalie Portman's also narrating "Dolphin Reef." The films drop April 3 on Disney Plus.

Gotta give Prince Harry the assist on this one ... 'cause you'll recall there was a July 2019 video that started resurfacing in January, just days after Harry and Meghan announced the bombshell that they're stepping down as Royals.

In the video, you can see Harry chit-chatting with the former head of Disney, Bob Iger, at the "Lion King" premiere in London. You can hear Harry say, "You know she does voice-overs?" Iger responds with surprise, "Oh really? Ah ..."

You can hear Iger say he didn't know that before Harry responds Meghan is "really interested." Moments later, you clearly hear someone say, "We'd love to try." Well, looks like Harry's bidding worked.

It's unclear how much Meghan's getting paid for this gig. But, one thing we know ... she agreed to do voice-over work for Disney in return for a donation to a charity she supports ... Elephants Without Borders.

Oklahoma-born actor Ryan Merriman was still a teenager when he landed the role of the  basketball-loving leprechaun, Kyle Johnson -- who has to hunt down his lucky gold coin to restore order to his Irish family -- in the 2001 Disney channel original movie, "The Luck Of The Irish."

Merriman was cast alongside other notable actors including Glenndon Chatman as the b-ball best friend, Russell Holoway ... and Timothy Omundson as the leprechaun villain, Seamus McTiernan.

Ryan Merriman can more recently be spotted on TV shows like "Pretty Little Liars," "Hawaii Five-0," "Ballers" and "Smallville."

Skai Jackson seems to be taking Bhad Bhabie's death threat seriously ... because she just filed for a restraining order against the rapper.

Bhad Bhabie went on IG this week to call out 17-year-old actress Skai Jackson, whom she's recently started beefing with. The latest salvo ... an apparent death threat, with BB -- AKA Danielle Bregoli -- saying, "Bitch, I'll kill you! I'll really kill you!"

The reason ... BB's mad Skai allegedly made a fake account to talk s**t about Danielle recently being seen hanging out with rapper NBA YoungBoy -- a guy Bhabie seems to think Skai's pretty into herself. As Bhad Bhabie claims in her own words, Skai's moving "sneaky" online.

According to legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Skai filed in L.A. on Thursday. Earlier this week on Twitter she seemingly responded to all the drama with a long list of her own accomplishments.

By the end of the post, she writes ... "No time 4 negatives!"

It's unclear if the judge has approved the order.

We reached out to Bregoli's reps who had no comment on the situation with Skai, but say Danielle's focus is on her album.

"The Most Magical Place on Earth" became the wettest place for a group of theme park guests who got caught on a sinking vessel ... the park's famous Jungle Cruise.

One of the boats at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando started taking on water, which meant everyone onboard had to trek through the water, and try to climb to dryer conditions.

As you can see, there wasn't much wiggle room, but it's an amusement park -- no one was in danger of drowning here. Just a soaking inconvenience.

As you can see ... the Jungle Cruise waterways are pretty shallow.

The boat, named the "Bomokandi Bertha," reportedly sank around 12:30 and caused the ride to be shut down for nearly 2 hours. During that time the wet passengers were safely unloaded -- no injuries, besides wet socks -- and the boat was towed away.

Ya gotta hope everyone at least walked away with FastPasses for their troubles. Titanic this ain't. In fact, kinda reminds us of another "dangerous" river crossing.

Chris Tavarez, the actor from the Disney Channel hit "K.C. Undercover," is going to jail for several months for an alleged domestic violence incident, and that's after striking a plea deal.

According to the LA Superior Court ... the 27-year-old pled no contest to 1 count of felony domestic violence with a prior conviction. He's been sentenced to a suspended 5-year prison sentence but will only serve 300 days in county jail. He's also getting credit for 153 days already served.

That leaves him with a little less than 150 days behind bars. Tavares will also have to take a 52-week class on domestic violence awareness, and complete one year of an outpatient alcohol program.

TMZ broke the story ... Tavarez was busted back in November after allegedly flying into a rage during a fight with his GF, who suffered a concussion. As we reported, he had a prior conviction for a June 2017 spousal battery case .... so, it was a near certainty he'd get a jail sentence this time around.

Tavarez is best known for playing Darien on 'K.C.' ... which starred Zendaya.

Jason Davis' death has authorities thinking he might've overdosed on heroin -- a drug he'd been addicted to in the past and once kicked ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation tell us ... Jason was found unresponsive in his bathroom Sunday morning around 10:30 AM. We're told there were items nearby that were consistent with heroin or opioid use -- including burnt tin foil and other paraphernalia.

An official cause has yet to be determined -- we're told an autopsy and toxicology analysis still needs to be conducted, but for now ... authorities are treating his death as a possible OD.

It makes the situation all the more tragic, as Jason had battled addiction ... and in 2011, he was even arrested and charged for allegedly having heroin on him.

Those charges were eventually dropped after he completed a drug diversion program. About a year before that, he'd been featured on "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew," where he attempted to get clean. We got him on camera around the time his criminal case was being worked on, and he talked sobriety with us -- saying at the time he'd been off drugs for almost a week.

Jason went on to cofound a charity called Cure Addiction Now, which he's said to have been heavily involved with running.

Jason was most known in Hollywood as the voice of Mikey Blumberg on the long-running Disney Channel show, "Recess." He'd acted in several other movies and shows as well.

The guy was just 35.

RIP.

Nikita Pearl Waligwa -- a young actress who starred in a Ugandan Disney movie about a chess prodigy -- has reportedly died ... this after battling health issues a few years earlier.

According to the Ugandan news outlet, The Daily Monitor, Nikita recently passed away. While they don't say exactly how, the paper seems to link her death to a 2016 diagnosis ... which found she had a tumor in her brain. Unclear if she was fighting full-blown cancer.

Even more tragic ... the Monitor says a funding campaign was started for Nikita to get treatment in India, because local doctors were quoted as not having the proper equipment.

As for her acting career, it appears she only starred in the one Disney flick, "Queen of Katwe," playing a friend of the actual chess prodigy, Phiona Mutesi. It also featured Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo -- the film's got a great Rotten Tomatoes score, critics loved it.

Nikita was only 15 years old.