Overall COVID-19 restrictions in the country seem to be on-trend to be loosened in the summer, specifically by the 4th of July holiday. This is thanks to the growing optimism of drastically lowering the infection rate of the virus by administering vaccines.
Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday, “If by the time we get to the Fourth of July, with the rollout of the vaccine, we get the level of infection so low – I’m not going to be able to tell you exactly what the specific guidelines of the [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] are, but I can tell you for sure [guidelines] will be much more liberal than they are right now about what you can do.”
Disney CEO Bob Chapek recently spoke about the face mask requirement at Disney Parks during a financial result call for Q1. He stated that he expects the current mask and physical distancing requirements at the Disney Parks to cease by 2022, which doesn’t quite fall in line with Dr. Fauci’s outlook.
Although restrictions are ultimately put in place by state and local ordinances, private businesses like Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort are able to continue imposing their own mask mandate and physical distancing guidelines. For instance, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in November 2020 that the state would have no more anti-COVID-19 measures including lockdowns, fines, school closures, or mask mandates, but the Florida theme parks continued their own enhanced health and safety measures.
Walt Disney World reopened with enhanced health and safety guidelines in place, including reduced capacity, temperature screenings, and requiring face coverings for all guests. More recently, the Orlando resort still requires vaccinated guests to wear face coverings and rolled out a new policy that guests must wear a face covering even when sitting down in a restaurant unless they are actively eating or drinking. Though Disneyland Resort is not fully open, guests visiting Downtown Disney District and part of Disney California Adventure must follow the same policy. The theme parks will be reopening next month, and they’re also expected to follow the same health and safety guidelines.
When COVID-19 restrictions do become more lax countrywide, it’s expected that the health and safety guidelines for theme parks will remain in place until the companies feel like the time is right to loosen them up.
Source: CNN
It will be worth the wait for me. The mask mandates ruin the entire Disney experience.
I wish they would raise the age from to to 10 yrs old. It’s stopping us to go. That’s 1000s of dollars they and hotel and other places are loosing out.
Why should they change it to 10? Children catch the virus and can spread it extremely easily. Just because some children aren’t disciplined and refuse to cooperate with masks doesn’t mean everyone else should be at risk.
Well a lot of kids have Autism and they will never keep a mask on, I have canceled my trip three times to dec 5th and they are saying 2022, geeze
“until the companies feel like the time is right to loosen them up?” So…never? The fact that Disney and Universal have continued with the outdoor mask mandate this long is appalling. They’ll never see ‘normal’ bookings and attendance volumes until Guests are able to walk around freely without a face diaper on in the Florida sun.