I would have said that but they has a chance to drop in November and did not. Cases were very low... my guess is masks are easy to keep comparatively. Sure there are rule breakers who flaunt not wearing a mask and are rather unkind about it but most aren't bad.
I agree that masks will be last to go. I wish personally that social distancing had stayed longer but that's me. Though I was happy on my solo trip that they weren't cramming solo people in too tight as a whole. I just do not like it as it is triggering. Not an issue on rides like EE with very defined seats though. Bench rides... eh
My guess regarding the mask policy at Walt Disney World is dependent on 1) CDC guidance 2) Local guidance 3) Possibly California guidance (home office)
This one is easy, masks are more durable and have less operational impact than distancing. Just look at a queue as an example. It’s much harder to create distance, changes the physical capacity, and it quickly fails if people squish in. Is that 3, 4, 5, or 6 feet really between people? Masks also shift the cost to the guest instead. As long as it’s not restricting attendance there’s no rush or incentives pushing to drop them.
Soarin had a huge impact from the 6-foot distancing that was in place. CMs had to lean down near guest's faces and buckle seatbelts on empty seats. Every flight. Then on the next flight some of those empty seats may be needed and the CMs had to manually unlock them. All of this increased loading times, further removing capacity from the ride. I saw CMs having to unlock them almost every time I rode it during that time.
Well, let's see. Social distancing would require that Disney dial back capacity (and revenue). Requiring masks wouldn't. It's not hard to see why they're doing it this way.
Agreed. Barring some major change with Covid social distancing at Disney is unlikely to return.
They keep masks because they don't really impact the operation at all and they are a visible sign that they are "doing something" and "taking COVID seriously" even though they allow cloth masks under their policy which have next to no effect on the spread of Omicron.
We find surgical style masks to be the best for breathing while still being effective. I can sing well in these, and let me tell you, that's saying something. I only use cloth masks for warmth now or to wear on top if double masking.
Personally, we've found the shape matters almost as much. Which varies significantly on cloth masks and the design. Sometimes that can make a KN95/KF94 easier with the duck bill shape.
Remember no KN95s so far for me that really fit well. I have one n95 from wood working that has a valve though and even that one is not as breathable as the surgical style. For singing I actually do a tuck n tie with. All cloth masks come in too far with deep breaths for singing. Mask brackets are meh on singing for me for a few reasons but the end result even with them reality is cloth and singing really kind of sucks. They are not breathable at all and we've tried a ton - not to mention they are not as safe. I sing multiple times a month and even weekly with surgical style. My kid has to sing daily this year and that's his choice too. I have a friend who uses KN94s but has to remove for solo work. I defer to their experiences but they are not as easy to sing in and do muffle a lot.
To be clear, I am pro mask, my only point was, folks gotta read entire graphic including the footnotes and the asterisks.
I agree, many times opinions are presented as facts, fact checks are just opinions, folks can’t tell the difference any more.
Full mask mandates should have been a thing at the start of this along with the people in charge (WHO, CDC, local health departments, etc) shutting down all of the misinformation. If people had simply adhered to the science and followed the suggestions from the start then mask wearing would just be a bad memory at this point. But I do understand your desire to end mandates. Really. Honestly, at this point the mandates are no more effective than trying to get a toddler to eat brussel sprouts.
Hey, my toddler actually ate brussel sprouts last night. So maybe there's hope for us all.
Ha. I'm much older than a toddler and won't eat brussel sprouts.
