Disney World bans eating and drinking while walking around the theme park

Walt Disney World  has banned guests from dining while walking through its newly reopened parks, telling visitors that they must be stationary and socially distanced if they want to remove their masks to eat. 

Guests were allowed back into the Happiest Place on Earth when the Florida amusement park reopened on July 11, but Disney officials have already had to fix a glaring loophole in its face mask policies.

The initial policy asked that visitors ‘please bring your own face coverings and wear them at all times, except when dining or swimming,’

But the new policy, updated on Monday, clarified that guests ‘may remove your face covering while actively eating or drinking, but you should be stationary and maintain appropriate physical distancing.’

Previously, it was revealed that some visitors used the loophole by tucking face masks into beverages while on the go. 

Signs advertising the new policy change have already been placed in some Disney parks, according to social media posts. 

The news was confirmed by journalist Scott Gustin, who added on Twitter that the policy change is likely a result of incidents at EPCOT’s Food & Wine Festival. 

The annual The Epcot International Food & Wine held during the coronavirus era took place last week and saw scores of guests encouraged to try various dining options throughout the park. 

Public health experts have noted that the coronavirus is mainly spreads from person-to-person by respiratory droplets – which would be in abundance as crowds of people munch on pretzels and try wine selections.

The Walt Disney World News Today blog reports that guests are being instructed by staff members of the park to stop and remain stationary, standing off to the side, while consuming drinks and snacks.

A theme park cast member told the publication: ‘Guests are now being asked to find a safe spot six feet from other guests before removing their masks to eat and drink.’ 

The wearing of face masks has been strictly enforced since the theme parks reopened over a week ago, and those found without one are asked to either put one on or leave. 

The park enforced a strict curriculum for what qualifies as a proper face mask, which prohibits ‘open-chin triangle bandanas,’ popular ‘neck gaieters’ and costume masks.

Face coverings worn at Disney World must be made of at least two layers of breathable material, fully cover the nose and mother, and be secured with some form of ties. 

Every Walt Disney World theme park at the entertainment complex in Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista is providing a ‘relaxation station’ which allows visitors to remove their mask for a socially-distanced sit down and rest if they chose.

In addition to the aforementioned rules, Disney has also enforced guests to wear face masks while riding attractions by withholding any on-ride photos if they’re captured without masks. 

Guests are now required to make park reservations online before admissions.

All four of Disney’s parks are now open, including Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom, with limited guest capacities and new safety protocols in place. 

Other popular Florida entertainment spots like Universal Studios, Fun Spot, Sea World and other locations on International Drive have reopened as well.  

Disney World was reopened to the general public last week despite exploding coronavirus cases in the state. 11,000 new cases were reported on the park’s day of opening alone.   

Many residents and social media users voiced concerns about resuming operations at Disney World, where Magic Kingdom was named the most visited theme park in the world in 2018 and had 20.8 million visitors that year.

But Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged Disney World to reopen and praised Universal Studios for doing so in June.

‘Theme parks have been doing great, I mean, Universal, look at what they’re doing,’ DeSantis told Bay News 9 on July 6. 

‘And I think that’s the lesson. We have to have society function. You can have society function in a way that keeps people safe, and when you have all the different procedures they have in place … it’s a safe environment.’

DeSantis added that he had ‘no doubt’ Disney would be safe and called the company’s plan ‘very, very thorough.’ 

Meanwhile, coronavirus cases skyrocketed in in several Florida cities and Miami has been named the new pandemic epicenter. 

Florida reported over 12,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the fifth day in a row the state has announced over 10,000 new infections, even as President Donald Trump pledged that ‘it’s going to be under control’. 

Overall, the state has reported 350,047 cases and 5,091 coronavirus-related deaths since March 1. 

On Monday, Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard reported there were 10, 508 new cases and four people had died so far.

NBC Miami reports that the state is now averaging 114 deaths per day over the last week.

Additionally, the batch of tests that received positive results yesterday was 18.2 per cent, but that’s a slight decrease from the 15 per cent positivity rate that was recorded for several days.

 Dade County had the largest number of total cases at 87,035, and was followed by Broward County at 40,976.  

The virus has killed more than 140,000 Americans since the pandemic started, and infected more than three million.