Orange County will lift all mask requirements on Saturday paving the way for a mask-free summer at Walt Disney World

Jun 04, 2021 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Posted: Friday June 4, 2021 9:06am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has just announced that effective Saturday June 5 he is lifting all COVID-19 restrictions relating to masks and social distancing clearing the way for Disney to move to a mask-free Walt Disney World.

The majority are no longer wearing masks as they enter the Magic Kingdom

Demings was speaking at the 2021 State of Orange County where the news of moving to phase 3 and eliminating mask requirements headlined his speech.

We had expected this announcement from the mayor earlier in the week, but Demings said on Wednesday that the county had achieved a 14 day positivity rate just below 5% for the last 11 days, but would need to wait until 14 days at that same level before he would lift the mask requirements.

At the end of April, Demings laid out a phased plan to begin to scale back mask and physical distancing requirements as part of a COVID-19 mitigation strategy. At that time, he announced that when 70% of the population 16+ has received their first dose of the vaccine and/or Orange County's 14-day rolling positivity rate is 5% or below all restrictions will be lifted.

Guests entering Disney's Animal Kingdom without masks for the first time in a year

Orange County reached the 50% vaccination level two weeks ago which triggered the county to drop the mask requirement when outdoors, and this quickly prompted Walt Disney World to drop its mask requirement for guests at its theme parks when outdoors. Masks still remain a requirement when entering attractions and at any indoor space at Walt Disney World, despite Universal Orlando and Sea World eliminating mask requirements both indoors and outdoors.

'Masks On' sign outside Mouse Gear in Future World at EPCOT

Disney moved very quickly to follow the Orange County outdoor mask requirement being dropped a couple of weeks ago, and we could see a mask free Walt Disney World as soon as this weekend should Disney decide to follow the updated county guidance.

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wdwmagicApr 14, 2022

This thread is going to take a break for a while until any changes are announced at Disney in regard to the last remaining mask requirements on transport.

Andrew CApr 14, 2022

If we are talking about WDW, put the blame on the company for keeping this silly rule in place. For airplanes, put the blame on the feds. When people realize stupid rules are in place and have no impact, they are going to be challenged. That’s just human nature and the reality throughout history. On the other end, when rules tend to make sense, people are more receptive. WDWs transportation rule is illogical. The feds 14 day extension of the public transportation rule at this point is the same. Expect more push back. It’s all about appearances than anything else and more and more people will pick up on that.

Chip ChippersonApr 14, 2022

No, you're not following the rules. You're planning the mask version of holding your finger an in from your siblings face and saying, "I'm not touching you!" And for the record, on my recent flights, the message was that masks had to be replaced between bites/sips, so unless you plan on holding g a drink to your mouth for the entire flight then you're not following the rules - but if you do that, please report back and let us know of how that worked out for you during turbulence.

Club CooloholicApr 14, 2022

I already explained it. It slows things down and makes it harder for the employees. And some might not really want to sit for 3 hours on a flight next to a guy sipping coffee the whole time.

Nonsensequitter75Apr 14, 2022

I don’t understand why you’re mad at me.

G00fyDadApr 14, 2022

There. Fixed the stupid. Now, go create ANOTHER account for me to ignore. :rolleyes:

Nonsensequitter75Apr 14, 2022

Thanks for understanding

G00fyDadApr 14, 2022

Okay.

Nonsensequitter75Apr 14, 2022

God bless, but no thank you.

G00fyDadApr 14, 2022

They are flag carriers for the socially inept and the self-important. They have one job here. It's stupid but they're going to do it.

G00fyDadApr 14, 2022

Just go back to your regular account. Please? For everyone.

Nonsensequitter75Apr 14, 2022

What can I say? I’m so lonely at this stage in my life, that the (virtual) company of people who hate me is better than the alternative, which is no company at all.

DisneyCaneApr 14, 2022

Hence why I asked the poster if they were intending to only experience outdoor attractions with outdoor queues. If yes, then I can at least understand their logic. If no, then the obsession about people not masking on transportation doesn't make any sense.