News Disney mask policy at Walt Disney World theme parks

[disneygeek90]

Yes and no. It's a gradual process which has already begun. As everyone knows, masks have not been required for the past 3 weeks while taking a photo. The next step very well could be allowing no masks while eating/drinking and walking. After that, masks not required while outside. Then finally, masks not required anywhere.

As far as when the next step could be, I say 3 weeks could be a great time as the kids are getting out of school. This from the article:



https://www.wdwmagic.com/other/walt...ments-and-plans-to-eliminate-mask-mandate.htm

I can easily see people being allowed to stroll around WDW sipping a bottled water this summer.

I don't see the photo change as a gradual process, more so a pain point with CM's that they decided wasn't worth the hassle. Universal never had the photo policy.

 

[orky8]

Do you think maybe people are untrustworthy because of the H.R.5546 - National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986? I would certainly be untrustworthy of, say, new vehicles if the US Gov. suddenly passed a new act making auto manufacturers immune from civil action.

"Provides that no vaccine manufacturer shall be liable in a civil action for damages arising from a vaccine-related injury or death"

Instead of hating the other side for not thinking the same way that you do (speaking generally) it often helps to try to understand why they think/feel the way they do. That is how we get past issues and come to a place of unity.

Actually, major off topic here, but, here I go... I used to work at the Court of Federal Claims, which is the Court where vaccine suits are now brought. In a nut shell, there was no profit in vaccines and so makers were going to exit the market (or, at least so they convinced Congress). The small price per vaccine wasn't worth the financial risk to them. But, vaccines serve a national good beyond the simple market forces of supply and demand and profit, so congress stepped in, relieved makers of civil liability and created a place for people to get remedies on a no-fault basis - the Court of Federal Claims.

Interestingly, I was at a conference for artificial intelligence a few years back where a similar question was raised. AI systems are (or soon will be) superior safety-wise to humans. But will car makers want the liability that may result? Current systems are driver assist only and clearly state the driver needs to be ready to act at all times. As we shift to more autonomous systems, will we need something like Vaccine Injury Act to shift liability or create a no-fault award system? At an extreme example, let's say a child runs out in the road, and the AI determines it has two choices - hit the child or cause an accident that may injure the driver? If the AI chooses the later option, should Ford be liable? It was an interesting hypothetical question, I thought.

 

[correcaminos]

View attachment 552684

That's not the norm. Even when traveling with school we never toured as a huge group like that.

 

[Chi84]

I see walking the parks pretty much same as walking my parks and zoo and whatever. I don't consider those large groups the way I do a stationary place like a stadium. Rarely ever do people come too close to me outside for more than a second or so.

I wonder if the attitude toward people walking outside at the resorts will change. I take early walks around the resorts nearly every morning and rarely see anyone other than maintenance workers - maybe another guest or two out in the distance.

 

[WDW Pro]

Because more and more people choosing not to get their children the suggested (and required in many places) vaccinations allows for diseases that had been previously eliminated in the US to come back, usually by being brought in by someone from overseas. Which is exactly what happened with the measles outbreak at Disneyland, if memory serves. Someone from overseas brought it with them, and there were children who weren't vaccinated who were infected. It was a very small outbreak, but still very concerning when those choosing not to vaccinate their children are a group that continues to grow.

ETA: I'm not saying temp checks need to stick around...what I'm saying is that if we're not careful and fully educate people about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines in general, and if the anti-vaxxer movement grows enough, we could need to bring temperature checks back in the future in order to prevent the spread of multiple diseases.

At this point, nearly any adult in the US who wants the vaccine can recieve it. Studies done earlier this year showed that up to 40% of adults already have antibodies from prior infection. The likelihood of reinfection for vaccinated and naturally exposed individuals seems to be about 0.6% with minuscule severe bouts.

It seems it's time to recognize our success while remaining diligent about new strains and future potential pandemics.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

I wonder if the attitude toward people walking outside at the resorts will change. I take early walks around the resorts nearly every morning and rarely see anyone other than maintenance workers - maybe another guest or two out in the distance.

Early mornings at the resorts are one of my favorite things about WDW trips. I love having my coffee outside and just enjoying the sun while it's still nice and quiet and no huge numbers of people around.

 

[correcaminos]

Ah, so locker room issues, not sports. Got it. I misunderstood what you were saying.

edit to add....

Did you read the article you sent me?

"The MHSAA has yet to receive any data or evidence that COVID-19 has been spread within teams by sports activities, or between teams playing sports against each other. We have seen statements that there are 'basketball cases' but there is clearly a difference between basketball (or any sport) being pinned as a cause and students, who happen to play basketball or another sport, being infected by any range of activities," said Geoff Kimmerly, an MHSAA spokesman.

Instead, Kimmerly pointed to "parties, or sleepovers, or other activities happening among students outside of practice/competition that are sparking the spreads" that could then prevent teams from playing. "

No, from the field - locker rooms were actually shut down. The kids were all huddled on sidelines and such. But thanks for playing. Yes I read the article. Edit: of course an official for the sport would say what they did. Others also said "“Bottom line is basketball has been a challenge ... and many, many public health officials, despite the fact that there was a decision to allow return to play, we're fairly uncomfortable with what we thought could potentially happen with basketball.”"

Again our locker rooms are closed and have been.

Why sports got the okay and arts were slammed shut, I'll never get it... finally a year later my kid is in a show.

Weren't you banned or something previously for trolling?

 

[Ripken10]

No, from the field - locker rooms were actually shut down. The kids were all huddled on sidelines and such. But thanks for playing. Yes I read the article.

Why sports got the okay and arts were slammed shut, I'll never get it... finally a year later my kid is in a show.

Weren't you banned or something previously for trolling?

For what its worth, my wife is on several return to sports committees, and I am very involved in this scene as well. There is several studies on this (I am sure you can easily search for it if you care) that these committees have been aware of (I am assuming most of these studies are available to anybody, but it's possible only those in the know are privy to it). Sports is a higher spreader than most anything else with children it has been noted. My wife's county has been more aggressive in their return to play than most areas, but even they have noted the challenges noted by these studies.

While college and professional sports get a lot of the media when they are shut down, at the high school level to youth level it is a lot more difficult to detect. At the college and professional level testing is required. At these other levels, it is not, and can sometimes almost be difficult to get the information. Regardless, the three school systems we are most involved with have all seen multiple teams from each sport see shut downs due to outbreaks. And this is with sport turnouts at approx 50% turnouts (which means the likelihood of infection is decreased as well) this just reiterates what these studies have found.

Just my two cents, for what its worth, and since it is right down my wheelhouse.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

For what its worth, my wife is on several return to sports committees, and I am very involved in this scene as well. There is several studies on this (I am sure you can easily search for it if you care) that these committees have been aware of (I am assuming most of these studies are available to anybody, but it's possible only those in the know are privy to it). Sports is a higher spreader than most anything else with children it has been noted. My wife's county has been more aggressive in their return to play than most areas, but even they have noted the challenges noted by these studies.

While college and professional sports get a lot of the media when they are shut down, at the high school level to youth level it is a lot more difficult to detect. At the college and professional level testing is required. At these other levels, it is not, and can sometimes almost be difficult to get the information. Regardless, the three school systems we are most involved with have all seen multiple teams from each sport see shut downs due to outbreaks. And this is with sport turnouts at approx 50% turnouts (which means the likelihood of infection is decreased as well) this just reiterates what these studies have found.

Just my two cents, for what its worth, and since it is right down my wheelhouse.

And I've seen talk about parents refusing to get their children tested and/or lying about test results (not necessarily just for sports, but you get the idea).

 

[pixie225]

Going to Disney Saturday. I so hope they do not lower 6 feet to 3 feet while I am there, as it says it is effective immediately.

 

[Ripken10]

And I've seen talk about parents refusing to get their children tested and/or lying about test results (not necessarily just for sports, but you get the idea).

Yes, that seems obvious from our perspective, but there is no way to quantify this. Something that can easily be done at the youth to high school level but can't in the college or professional setting (at least not ethically). I would imagine some parents feel a lot of pressure to not get tested or report (for anybody that is involved with youth sports, particularly travel youth sports, you can imagine what this pressure could be like, especially when such a "positive" could result in a team being shut down for two weeks -- for many parents the idea of being shut down for two weeks is far worse then their child being positive themselves -- I am making no judgements, just the way it is).

 

[monothingie]

Airlines have so many rules and requirements already that adding a vaccination passport to the list is just one more.

Which the airlines are all in for international travel, and all opposed for domestic.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Yes, that seems obvious from our perspective, but there is no way to quantify this. Something that can easily be done at the youth to high school level but can't in the college or professional setting (at least not ethically). I would imagine some parents feel a lot of pressure to not get tested or report (for anybody that is involved with youth sports, particularly travel youth sports, you can imagine what this pressure could be like, especially when such a "positive" could result in a team being shut down for two weeks -- for many parents the idea of being shut down for two weeks is far worse then their child being positive themselves -- I am making no judgements, just the way it is).

Around here it's happened just so the kids could keep going to school and avoid quarantine. It's not widespread, just a couple of instances, but still concerning.

 

[mgf]

and create mask confusion.

^THIS. Blanket rules make compliance and enforcement easier.

And I have said this many times: At least in FL, if Disney wanted less restrictions they would have them. They would have the political cover from the governor as well as have significant lobbying ability. They have chosen to work under tighter restrictions than they have had to. They are making deliberate and intentional choices to operate that way.

 

[MrPromey]

That's not the norm. Even when traveling with school we never toured as a huge group like that.

I'm guessing you're not from Brazil.

This looks like one of the Brazilian teen tour groups and for them, this size absolutely is the norm.

Their frequency in the parks seems to come down to how the exchange rate is looking on the particular year but yeah, they're massive annoying groups of loosely supervised entitled young teenagers.*

If you've never encountered any groups like this, consider yourself lucky.

*many, many encounters over the years have given me a strong opinion of these groups who's behavior seems to have a lot more to do with a lack of adults with authority than anything to do with culture.

 

[correcaminos]

I'm guessing you're not from Brazil.

This looks like one of the Brazilian teen tour groups and for them, this size absolutely is the norm.

Their frequency in the parks seems to come down to how the exchange rate is looking on the particular year but yeah, they're massive annoying groups of loosely supervised entitled young teenagers.

If you've never encountered any groups like this, consider yourself lucky.

No, not from Brasil. I knew what it was though. It's still not the norm here.

Never seen one honestly but given travel, I don't think they are a current problem anyway.

My point was we do not usually travel here like that. With foreign travel limited I doubt we'd see this.

 

[Chi84]

Going to Disney Saturday. I so hope they do not lower 6 feet to 3 feet while I am there, as it says it is effective immediately.

I’m going Saturday also. With my luck, they’ll lower the distance, enforce the masks and the temperature will be in the 90’s.

 

[disneygeek90]

No, not from Brasil. I knew what it was though. It's still not the norm here

Never seen one honestly but given travel now they aren't a concern either

They're usually around during the summer months.

And, maybe not to this level but it's certainly the norm to see families and friends of 10+ traveling in a pack. Especially at Epcot.

 

[disneygeek90]

Going to Disney Saturday. I so hope they do not lower 6 feet to 3 feet while I am there, as it says it is effective immediately.

Remember this is for the county of Orange County. Not necessarily the parks. Disney had mask mandates before OC did.

 

[correcaminos]

They're usually around during the summer months.

And, maybe not to this level but it's certainly the norm to see families and friends of 10+ traveling in a pack. Especially at Epcot.

I edited to reflect what I meant. Never seen them though truly. I skip mid June-Aug though.

Again right now with travel I doubt we'll see them this summer.