Smoking areas GONE starting may 1st Pinned so people can still see the announcement.

[draybook]

Me too. I no longer use strollers. I don't give you second hand cancer when I smoke in an isolated designated smoking area that, if you look at your park map, you don't enter. I stand for anyone who is less able to stand than me and I have followed the rules laid down by Disney.
What I don't understand is why a) those rules are being changed to disadvantage me as a paying guest; and b) why you would celebrate that fact. Why do you have such intolerance to me?

Isolated? I don't recall the entrance to Adventureland being isolated. Or the walkway by the wishing well. Or the pathway next to Space Mountain. Or the area between CoP and Space. or the path coming from the Mexico pavilion to the Odyssey bathroom, etc, etc.

Cigarette smoke is nasty and many people have allergic reactions to it and it can mess with asthmatics. Again, smoking on private property isn't a right and if not being able to smoke hinders your ability to enjoy well themed attractions and shows, you have a bigger issue than my rejoicing in this ban.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

No, the fact that smoking isn't a right guaranteed by any part of the Constitution and is therefore at the discretion of the property owner is what makes me right. I also don't think I'm better than anyone else. I think that people should stop crying and follow the rules. Smoking is something that affects others, that's a scientific fact.

I didn't say it was a Constitutional right on privately owned property. I also never said smoking doesn't affect others. And no, it doesn't make you right. There are ways Disney could have handled this that would have made everyone happy. You very obviously think you're better than everyone else because you keep insulting people and telling everyone to stop crying and have been calling people names. MOST of the smokers on here have been extraordinarily polite and expressing their views on what they think will happen and how things could have been handled better. YOU have been rude and condescending with anyone who doesn't agree with you...I've been following along with this entire thread. Disney has historically been extraordinarily bad at choosing smoking area locations...and you blame the smokers for that? TRUST ME, We want to be as far away from people like you as possible - whether or not we're smoking.

Smokers have designated areas now and I was just a Magic Kingdom a few weeks ago sitting along the wall by the entrance to New Fantasyland and I was overcome by a very strong stench of smoke.

We were nowhere near a smoking area. Then I looked behind the wall and saw a 40-something woman with purple hair bent over leaning against the wall quickly trying to smoke her cigarette. She's not the first person I have

Disney gave smokers their own area and they can't even abide by that rule.

Sorry, but it's extraordinarily unfair of you to imply that all smokers don't obey the rules. If you read the entirety of this thread, I think you'll find that the rule-breakers are in the minority.

 

[Calmdownnow]

I get that you have an addiction, but it's not our job to enable your addiction, nor is it Disney's.

Disney enables a lot of addictions (sugar consumption is one, pixie dusting is another) but they generally choose not to judge their paying guests. So what are they trying to achieve by this move -- are they staging an "intervention" to improve the health of smokers who are visitors to the parks? Or are they just saying that a category of guests are no longer welcome and regarded as equal in value to non-smoking guests?

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Well that's just Goofy! 44 pages and counting...

 

[LittleBuford]

No, the fact that smoking isn't a right guaranteed by any part of the Constitution and is therefore at the discretion of the property owner is what makes me right.

Disney could still ban it even if it were a constitutional right, just as they forbid guns on property.

 

[LittleBuford]

Eviscerated it? I hardly think so. And yes, it's discriminatory because it singles out a specific group of people. If Disney decided to ban strollers completely, that would be discriminatory, too. If enough people put up a loud enough stink, you don't think they'd backtrack? Look at what happened with James Gunn.

Sorry, but it’s not discriminatory. Smoking is a choice.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

Sorry, but it’s not discriminatory. Smoking is a choice.

So is stroller use.

According to the Oxford dictionary...discriminatory means "Making or showing an unfair or prejudicial distinction between different categories of people or things". Singling out any one group of people is discriminatory...so YES. Sorry to say, banning smoking in the parks is discriminatory because it forces a very specific group of people into doing something they wouldn't have to otherwise. Just like banning strollers would force a different group of people into doing something they wouldn't have to otherwise.

I'm not arguing whether Disney has the right to ban smoking. I'm arguing for those who have been polite and respectful to be treated in kind.

I'll repeat my stance on the smoking issue again: I do not agree with it. I will obey the rules, but I think Disney is creating more of a problem by expecting people to leave and re-enter the parks and I think we'll see butts left in abundance in random places. They have been really bad at choosing smoking area locations, and perhaps if they'd consulted a smoker, we could have shown them how dramatically far away we prefer to be from those the smoke bothers.

 

[LittleBuford]

According to the Oxford dictionary...discriminatory means "Making or showing an unfair or prejudicial distinction between different categories of people or things".

But it's no more unfair or prejudicial than Disney forbidding people to wear clothing with political slogans or to carry guns. Like smoking, these are choices, and Disney is under no obligation to facilitate them.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

But it's no more unfair or prejudicial than Disney forbidding people to wear clothing with political slogans or to carry guns. Like smoking, these are choices, and Disney is under no obligation to facilitate them.

I didn't say they were. But that doesn't make it not discriminatory.

 

[LittleBuford]

I didn't say they were. But that doesn't make it not discriminatory.

You know very well that this is not the legal sense of the word, which relates to unequal treatment of people based on certain (largely inherent) characteristics (age, race, religion, disability, etc.). Being a smoker is not (or shouldn't be) a defining aspect of a person's character.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

...Being a smoker is not (or shouldn't be) a defining aspect of a person's character.

And yet here we are. This thread has plenty of judgement.

 

[LittleBuford]

And yet here we are.

Listen, I get it. My parents were heavy smokers while I was growing up. My mother even smoked while pregnant, so that crap was running through my veins before I was born. I had to tolerate flying in the smoking section, going to school with clothes reeking of tobacco, wondering why on earth my parents would put their disgusting habit above my health and well-being. My mother finally quit when my sister became pregnant, and my father now vapes. Yes, it's difficult to quit, but the excuses have to stop somewhere. It's a choice--a selfish and detrimental one at that--and I'm glad Disney is choosing not to indulge it.

 

[ImperfectPixie]

You know very well that this is not the legal sense of the word, which relates to unequal treatment of people based on their characteristics. Being a smoker is not (or shouldn't be) a defining aspect of a person's character.

I haven't said anything about legalities. Should Disney ban strollers based on the facts that they take up so much walkway space, inconsiderate operators hurt people they slam into, and Disney could recover all the land dedicated to stroller parking? Or should we be understanding of those with little ones and try to be patient? Should we shut down methadone clinics because addicts chose to do drugs? Or should we be kind and make available medications that can help them get clean? Everyone needs to just calm down, take a breath and understand that we're all different and some people "need" things that others don't...like strollers in a jam-packed theme park, or an out-of-the-way (NOT what we've historically seen from Disney), discreet area to smoke. Addictive traits are very often hard-wired into a person. No one chooses to become addicted to anything. I know many people who smoked for a handful of years and were able to quit with no trouble at all. Unfortunately, most smokers don't fall into that category.

 

[LittleBuford]

I haven't said anything about legalities. Should Disney ban strollers based on the facts that they take up so much walkway space, inconsiderate operators hurt people they slam into, and Disney could recover all the land dedicated to stroller parking? Or should we be understanding of those with little ones and try to be patient?

Having children is a fairly natural thing to do (and I say this as a non-parent who never wants to have kids). Smoking a tube of tobacco (or its electronic replacement) is not.

Should we shut down methadone clinics because addicts chose to do drugs? Or should we be kind and make available medications that can help them get clean?

If you're going to maintain this absurd analogy, consider WDW your equivalent of a methadone clinic--a place to help you wean yourself off tobacco.

 

[draybook]

Two weeks ago. People were still smoking at the Adventureland entrance. People were still smoking next to the Space Mountain bathrooms. They were still smoking all over Future World at Epcot. Perhaps those people are the ones you should cry to? They're probably the ones who created this horrible, traumatizing situation that smokers will have to endure. That's if they don't choose to protest the company by going elsewhere.

 

[LittleBuford]

I get it too. Growing up, everyone around me smoked. Parents, family, all their friends. I used to smoke. But I don't begrudge those that do, to get their fix. I've been there, and I say live and let live (or not, as the case may be). There are separate sections to smoke in. Maybe not isolated enough for some, but they are there. The non-smokers won. But I guess that too wasn't good enough.

I guess it boils down to our personal reactions to growing up in such circumstances. Being exposed to tobacco since (and even before) birth made me hate the stuff with a passion, and I have never once put a cigarette to my mouth. I admit to having no sympathy for those who claim they can't give up the habit.

 

[Calmdownnow]

Two weeks ago. People were still smoking at the Adventureland entrance. People were still smoking next to the Space Mountain bathrooms. They were still smoking all over Future World at Epcot. Perhaps those people are the ones you should cry to? They're probably the ones who created this horrible, traumatizing situation that smokers will have to endure. That's if they don't choose to protest the company by going elsewhere.

Is that when you last visited? Tell the truth now...

Edit: The closure of the designated smoking area next to the railway led to Disney designating an area near to Space Mountain as the smoking area on that side of the park, so presumably those smoking were following Disney rules. I do wonder if you spotted smoke near Adventureland whether it came from club 33. After all wealth has privilege.

 

[draybook]

I was illustrating that choices are choices and not everyone makes the same ones. Do parents HAVE to use strollers? No. They most certainly don't. Do meth-heads HAVE to do meth? No, the most certainly don't. Do people HAVE to drive large SUVs? No, they most certainly don't. See...three different subjects used in the same question format with exactly the same answer.

And again, discrimination is the act of treating people less than equal. Smokers can still partake in every attraction and show there is on property. They just can't indulge in a personal choice that was tolerated. Nothing that you were paying for has been affected. The theme parks still offers quality entertainment for a fair price. You're still treated like a human as are the rest of us.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

So I’m sitting here refusing to do the “wave” while waiting for Fantasmic. Throughout my day I’ve Struck up a few conversations with some smokers who were unaware of the new policy. A couple nearly lost their minds.

 

[draybook]

Is that when you last visited? Tell the truth now...

Didn't you pay attention to my thread about the snotty CM at AK or the fight at Epcot on March 6th? Hell, the Epcot thread is still going. Besides, why would I lie about my Disney attendance to some random nobody on a forum? I'm probably about the most direct person you'll ever come across.