Would you visit Walt Disney World with these health-based operational restrictions in place?

[TrojanUSC]

I disagree completely. Disney makes money on their after-hours ticketed events with a capacity similar to what will probably be implemented post-COVID. They do not need the masses they usually receive during the day to make money. Plus, many high expense items, such as live entertainment, will be scaled back, lowering operating costs significantly. On top of all of that, they do not even need to make money to open right now, only lose less money than if they were to remain closed.

In general, I think there are two points that need to be addressed:
1) WDW, and the country, will definitely be opening before a potential vaccine or cure, both of which have no guarantee of ever occurring, just due to the human spirit. People cannot be locked up forever. WDW may or may not be the first resort open, but it will definitely open if everyone else is because any bad PR can be avoided by the industry moving as a unit and there is money to be made.

2) No one is making anybody go to WDW when it opens. In fact, anybody can disagree with WDW being open, and that is okay. If anybody truly wants to avoid the virus, they will have to stay indoors and self-isolate long after restrictions are lifted and a reopening occurs. Shutting the country down for the virus makes sense for a short while, but society has always accepted preventable deaths at the expense of progress and people enjoying life. It is why driving is legal even though 1.25 million drivers, passengers, and pedestrians (not even electing to drive at all) die every year in car crashes.

No, they do not "make their money" from those events and could not subsist on just that kind of capacity. They make money on them because they are double selling the park, essentially. Meaning you have 60,000 paying day guests then you get 25,000 more people (many of whom already had a ticket for the day) to buy a ticket which costs almost the same as a full day ticket but for only five hours. It's ingenious but the money comes from they are essentially turning one park day into 1.5.

1) Disney will open when they are good and ready. You're going to see lots of regional parks open well before WDW. They have no interest in opening to a 1/3 capacity only to see an outbreak on property and have to close again. The PR damage from that would be devastating.

2) As has been explained ad nauseam... Vehicle accidents are not contagious. If one car accident caused two, which caused four, which caused eight, etc you can be sure we'd restrict driving to essential trips only until we could get a handle on it.

 

[natatomic]

You're talking to a brick wall at this point.

It's clear many on this board fear masks more than the actual disease and have no respect for the WDW employees who said they'd only go back to work if guests wore them.

Kudos to those who at least said they wouldn't go until the mask policy has been lifted.

I guarantee you there are just as many CMs who dread having to wear a mask in this Florida heat their entire shift and aren’t happy with that development. Guests have the luxury of waiting to go back to Disney. Employees need to pay bills, and don’t have much of a choice of “going” or “not going” to Disney if they’re gonna put food on the table. wearing a mask in that type of environment is NOT for everyone.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I disagree completely. Disney makes money on their after-hours ticketed events with a capacity similar to what will probably be implemented post-COVID. They do not need the masses they usually receive during the day to make money. Plus, many high expense items, such as live entertainment, will be scaled back, lowering operating costs significantly. On top of all of that, they do not even need to make money to open right now, only lose less money than if they were to remain closed.

In general, I think there are two points that need to be addressed:
1) WDW, and the country, will definitely be opening before a potential vaccine or cure, both of which have no guarantee of ever occurring, just due to the human spirit. People cannot be locked up forever. WDW may or may not be the first resort open, but it will definitely open if everyone else is because any bad PR can be avoided by the industry moving as a unit and there is money to be made.

2) No one is making anybody go to WDW when it opens. In fact, anybody can disagree with WDW being open, and that is okay. If anybody truly wants to avoid the virus, they will have to stay indoors and self-isolate long after restrictions are lifted and a reopening occurs. Shutting the country down for the virus makes sense for a short while, but society has always accepted preventable deaths at the expense of progress and people enjoying life. It is why driving is legal even though 1.25 million drivers, passengers, and pedestrians (not even electing to drive at all) die every year in car crashes.

I can’t really put into words how you undermine your entire message when you make a traffic accident analogy...or any of the other nonsense snipe chases tossed about.

Do I think this is the plague to end all plagues? No...

But it has infected and dropped people at alarming rates quickly...and traffic accidents are NOT contagious.

Even when things open, business Is going to be way down. That’s a fact. Many things will fold and many more will struggle. This isn’t the boogeyman in the closet. This is real damage.

Special ticket events are great for them but the reason why they’re attractive is they are using the baseline overhead of the regular operating day and charging a lot for little additional overhead at night. Most of the costs are already paid for when they start.

Or do the simple math (over simple...but still leads the right direction). A special ticket is $100 for 3 operating hours. A normal day is $100 for 10 hours... Where’s all that profit if you put the same number in the park with 300% of the costs?

Wdw is a MASS customer model. That’s by design and it’s not negotiable. You don’t want anypart of how much it would cost you to go if they project 30% attendance for 6 months. You better see your mortgage officer first.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

No, they do not "make their money" from those events and could not subsist on just that kind of capacity. They make money on them because they are double selling the park, essentially. Meaning you have 60,000 paying day guests then you get 25,000 more people (many of whom already had a ticket for the day) to buy a ticket which costs almost the same as a full day ticket but for only five hours. It's ingenious but the money comes from they are essentially turning one park day into 1.5.

1) Disney will open when they are good and ready. You're going to see lots of regional parks open well before WDW. They have no interest in opening to a 1/3 capacity only to see an outbreak on property and have to close again. The PR damage from that would be devastating.

2) As has been explained ad nauseam... Vehicle accidents are not contagious. If one car accident caused two, which caused four, which caused eight, etc you can be sure we'd restrict driving to essential trips only until we could get a handle on it.

He shoots...he scores!!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You're talking to a brick wall at this point.

It's clear many on this board fear masks more than the actual disease and have no respect for the WDW employees who said they'd only go back to work if guests wore them.

Kudos to those who at least said they wouldn't go until the mask policy has been lifted.

I know you’re smarter than this...

The masks are both a issue and talking point that is universally loathed and none of us can believe it till we see it..

Here’s who wants no parts of masks in Florida:
1. The customers
2. The employees
3. The government
4. Disney
5. Mother Nature.


But by all means...let it rock and roll and let’s see if we all can defy gravity on this one?

 

[ItRhymes]

Can someone explain to me what a person is supposed to do with a mask that has to be thrown away? Is it a potential biohazard similar to bandages and syringes? (not a rhetorical question, i'm genuinely curious) I do not live in an extremely densely populated area and I've already found a mask stuck to one of my bushes outside. I can only imagine the number of these things that are going to be on the ground / all over the place in Disney.

Some people forget that kids go to Disney to, good luck keeping masks on all those 1-10 year olds.

Let's not even talk about the lawsuits Disney is going to get hit with when people are passing out from lowered oxygen intake combined with (take your pick) exhaustion, heat, elevated heart rate, etc.

The parks opening is going to be a PR nightmare no matter what they do. As someone mentioned earlier, they can't win.

 

[Lilofan]

Can someone explain to me what a person is supposed to do with a mask that has to be thrown away? Is it a potential biohazard similar to bandages and syringes? (not a rhetorical question, i'm genuinely curious) I do not live in an extremely densely populated area and I've already found a mask stuck to one of my bushes outside. I can only imagine the number of these things that are going to be on the ground / all over the place in Disney.

Some people forget that kids go to Disney to, good luck keeping masks on all those 1-10 year olds.

Let's not even talk about the lawsuits Disney is going to get hit with when people are passing out from lowered oxygen intake combined with (take your pick) exhaustion, heat, elevated heart rate, etc.

The parks opening is going to be a PR nightmare no matter what they do. As someone mentioned earlier, they can't win.

The parks and resorts have trash cans and recycle cans. There are literally thousands of them. The guests are going throw away their face masks in the trash cans. I don't think WDW will go through the expense of buying thousands of more trash cans just to dispose of the masks. The trash cans all have lids. I would be more concerned that when a guest dispose their trash, the guests hands come in contact with the germ filled lid. Better wash your hands more frequently! Disney parks I have noticed are always in a constant state of improvement when it comes to policies and procedures. I have optimism that it will get better.

 

[Lilofan]

I guarantee you there are just as many CMs who dread having to wear a mask in this Florida heat their entire shift and aren’t happy with that development. Guests have the luxury of waiting to go back to Disney. Employees need to pay bills, and don’t have much of a choice of “going” or “not going” to Disney if they’re gonna put food on the table. wearing a mask in that type of environment is NOT for everyone.

If cast are not happy with the development of wearing masks, then what is the solution? There is a motto that many companies use - Safety First.

 

[Lilofan]

That would eliminate anyone with anytype of respiratory condition.

Those people are not “uncommon”

And what about cardiovascular? I would think that captures those as well.

Contrary to popular myth: not everyone in Disney is healthy.

If “health” is a requirement...then it’s gonna cost both sides a ton of money

It was reported that 91% of Covid deaths in the UK had all in common one underlying condition, heart disease. Guests with this underlying condition coming to the parks so soon and no vaccine yet are taking a big chance and huge risks to their lives.

 

[mgf]

You all do realize that face coverings are common in some of the hottest places on the planet? Layered clothing, too? We are not talking about people having to wear biohazard suits or respirators. A simple standard blue surgical mask (which I'd guess is what Disney will source for guests) is not so thick as to lower oxygen levels or cause heat exhaustion.

 

[Peterpanflight]

For me it’s not magical if I can’t see a parade, watch fireworks, hug Mickey, etc. I am 42 years old and been going to Disney 2x a year since I was a baby. Disney is my magic place. We just went in Jan and plan to go in April 2020. We decided not to waste our dvc points that year Incase Disney is it how it used to be. It’s all a waiting game but I rather not go and wait it out till I can give Mickey a hug!

 

[The Mom]

The question was would you go to WDW if wearing a mask was a requirement. Not "Should anyone else go?"
You may give your reasons for your not wearing one/being OK with wearing one but please don't spend pages discussing why others should or should not, or why others can or cannot, wear one.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It was reported that 91% of Covid deaths in the UK had all in common one underlying condition, heart disease. Guests with this underlying condition coming to the parks so soon and no vaccine yet are taking a big chance and huge risks to their lives.

Heart disease has - of course - been the #1 cause of death in the US for about forever...

No good/easy answers to any of this.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The question was would you go to WDW if wearing a mask was a requirement. Not "Should anyone else go?"
You may give your reasons for your not wearing one/being OK with wearing one but please don't spend pages discussing why others should or should not, or why others can or cannot, wear one.

I think I certainly could go in a mask...

But I’ve come to the realization that there’s no reason I would go. Sweat drenched, heat stressed, digging and grabbing af masks that negate the point is what I see as the only endgame of masks in a place where the climate is not at all suitable.

Perhaps if we were taught to accommodate for them or had a better designed product from a young age? That’s never happened.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Thanks to all who answered No to the poll. It means more social distance for the rest of us

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Thanks to all who answered No to the poll. It means more social distance for the rest of us

Or it could mean it’s a long time before anyone is going to a park.

You know who’s really good at polling?

 

[Kamikaze]

If cast are not happy with the development of wearing masks, then what is the solution? There is a motto that many companies use - Safety First.

Disney has (well, had, to be honest) a slightly different motto. Safety before show. Or more expanded: safety, courtesy, show, efficiency. Those are (were) Disney's four keys. In that order. They are still part of the company, but they don't hold to them anywhere near as much as they used to.

 

[Kamikaze]

Can someone explain to me what a person is supposed to do with a mask that has to be thrown away? Is it a potential biohazard similar to bandages and syringes? (not a rhetorical question, i'm genuinely curious) I do not live in an extremely densely populated area and I've already found a mask stuck to one of my bushes outside. I can only imagine the number of these things that are going to be on the ground / all over the place in Disney.

Some people forget that kids go to Disney to, good luck keeping masks on all those 1-10 year olds.

Let's not even talk about the lawsuits Disney is going to get hit with when people are passing out from lowered oxygen intake combined with (take your pick) exhaustion, heat, elevated heart rate, etc.

The parks opening is going to be a PR nightmare no matter what they do. As someone mentioned earlier, they can't win.

No, they should not be considered biohazards. While the virus can live on objects for a while, it has not been proven (or studied) whether or not it is transmissible from a non-biological object. In other words, it might be on the mask but theres no proof as of yet whether or not you can catch it from that mask. You should definitely take precautions when picking someone else's mask up to be safe (gloves or even just a plastic bag wrapped around your hand - or pick it up with something like a shovel or pooper scooper where you don't touch it), but you don't need to dispose of it in any other way than to simply throw it out.

I've seen tons of masks and gloves littered everywhere during my runs. I'm not in a city but the suburbs, but its kind of ridiculous how many I'm seeing already.

 

[Incomudro]

Yesterday was the first day here in NJ where temps reached the mid 80's and humidity was noticeable since masks were required to enter stores.
Let me tell you...
There was a very clear difference in comfort as to how the mask felt yesterday as to how it felt wearing one previously.
It got pretty oppressive pretty quickly, just walking across the parking lot. (I always park far and walk)
Wearing one all day long outdoors in WDW would be rough.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

We've had many discussions on this board over the years around why some people don't follow, or shouldn't have to follow, park rules. They never end well and usually end up being locked/deleted.

For Disney and Universal, the mask debate has been settled. They will be required for the initial reopening, as we've seen from CityWalk this week. The back-and-forth of "but what if I don't want to/need to" is only going to end when the company's decide masks are no longer required. Until then, there's just going to be more misinformation and hyperbole being spread on this forum and the mods have made it clear that that is not wanted. The two sides are not going to change their minds, anyway.

@The Mom I think all these masks debates should be moved to the political/social issues sub forum.