I keep seeing assumptions about how much masks will be enforced based on previous enforcement of rules at the park.
But these assumptions are all based on the world before everything got flipped upside-down.
But those are the only times we have to go on so let's look at some of the safety rules (big and small) the park enforces without backing down:
-Bag checks
-Metal detectors
-No weapons
-No costumes
-No "Halloween" masks
-Wearing proper restraints on the rides
These rules were enforced every day since they were added with very few exceptions. How often have you seen a CM "give up" and allow someone to ride Tower of Terror without a seatbelt because they complained? Or a guest wearing a full Darth Vader costume in the park?
Those safely rules are more similar to the new mask rules. They are a lot different than "no cutting in line" or "please stay behind this tape line on the ground".
This is all true, however this is also a very different issue. Most people who want to break the rules you listed are a very tiny number of guests. And most of those rules don’t have an easy way around. If your kid is too short, it’s easy enough to enforce that rule, because the only way you can then get into the line, is by forcing yourself. it has happened before, but the number of guests that do that or may be one in 1 million, and it’s very easy to stop them once they get onto the actual ride themselves. All you do is you don’t start the ride. Yes, guests argue all the time, but enforcing it is actually SUPER easy. And same with restraints. You just don’t start the ride until they comply.
Same with bag checks and metal detectors. I don’t know anyone that has ever taken a stance against them to the point to where they would just blast through them - and even if they did, theyve got all that security and all those cops right there. They’re not getting far. Again - super easy to enforce. Plus, once you’re in the park, it’s not like your subjected to continuous bag checks and metal detectors everywhere.
As for masks, anyone can wear them into the park. And then anyone can take them off five feet into the park. A CM can remind them to put it on, but then they walk away and it’s off again. Another CM May see them, but they don’t know they’ve been told already. The guests could just get an endless series of warnings without ever being kicked out and still NOT wear the mask a majority of the day. The only way to ensure continual enforcement is to have the same CM keep an eye on them all day, which will be impossible. PLUS, there is a huge divide over the country right now with pro and anti mask people. This isn’t a small number like people trying to sneak their small children on rides or sneak past the metal detector. I think there will literally be thousands of guests who are against wearing a mask all day, and will get into the park while wearing one, and then take them off.
and then I think there will be another subset of guess he genuinely think the masks are doable in the heat, who support the mask requirement, but then find they can’t handle it and find themselves giving up. People already underestimate the Florida heat and find themselves taking more a/c breaks than they were probably anticipating. Once in the park, there’s NO taking a break from the mask. Even a/c will bring only minimal comfort with a mask. Once you are in the park, they expect you to keep that mascon the entire time, aside from meals. I don’t think the average guest is being very realistic as to what that’s going to truly feel like in Florida.
I definitely agree with you that because this is a safety issue, there is a greater likelihood of it being enforced. But I also think the sheer number of people that are probably going to break the rules is going to make enforcement a nightmare, and very possibly short-lived.
). That being said, if they don’t enforce the rule at all and that becomes known they open themselves up for a potential liability too. It’s definitely a tough spot for Disney and CMs.
