Disney

Demi Lovato opened up in a big way with her former castmates from the Disney show, "Sonny With a Chance" ... describing how a fellow castmate was her inspiration for going to rehab and how her eating disorder made it impossibly cold on the set.

Demi was part of a virtual chat between cast members of 'Sonny' and the spinoff, "So Random!," including Tiffany Thornton, Allisyn Ashley Arm, Sterling Knight, Dough Brochu, Matthew Scott Montgomery, Shayne Topp, Audrey Whitby and Damien Haas.

She reminisced about how Tiffany gave her the strength to enter rehab for the first time, saying, "When I went away to treatment for the first time, you were my biggest inspiration coming out of it because you dealt with all of those pressures of being a woman on TV."

Demi went on to say ... "I looked at that as, 'I wish I had that so bad.' Yes, I probably was happier in my head with whatever I looked like at the time. But, I'm so much happier now with the mentality that you have. I look back now and I'm like, man, it's a shame that we wasted any energy on what we wore on set."

She went on to talk about how she was miserable on the set, in part because she was sleep-deprived and overworked.

And then, she talked priorities... "I'm realizing that as I've gotten older because when I was young, when you start off in the industry as a 7-year-old, 8-year-old, you kind of value your self-worth with your success," she explained. "I have moments all the time where I'm like, Do I want to continue this? Or do I want to pull a Tiffany and move to Texas, have a family and have a farm."

And, there's this ... Demi fessed up as to why her dressing room was a sweltering 98 degrees ... "I had an eating disorder and I was underweight and freezing!"

And, while 'Sonny' is near and dear to Lovato's heart, it's not something that she would want to revisit.

Child actor and Hollywood heir Jason Davis's cause of death was fentanyl ... according to the Medical Examiner.

L.A. County Medical Examiner documents show Jason died from the "effects of fentanyl." No other factors are listed in the report ... but it does say it was an accident.

TMZ broke the story ... Jason was found unresponsive in his bathroom on February 16. Law enforcement sources at the time told us there were items nearby that were consistent with heroin or opioid use ... including burnt tin foil and other paraphernalia.

Based on the ME's report ... the opioid would be fentanyl, and not heroin.

Jason -- known in Hollywood as the voice of Mikey Blumberg on the long-running Disney Channel show, "Recess" -- had battled addiction in the past. In 2011, he was busted and charged for allegedly having heroin on him. Those charges were eventually dropped.

He went on to co-found a charity called Cure Addiction Now, an org he was heavily involved with running. The voice actor was also known for being the grandson of the late Hollywood billionaire moguls, Marvin and Barbara Davis.

Jason was 35.

RIP

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.