South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Disney World still faces scuffles over mask rule
Just before Halloween, Len Testa saw something rather frightening at Disney Springs: A woman attempting to pass off a paper napkin attached to her nose with a clothespin as a mask meant to ward off the coronavirus.
Disney security didn’t buy it and wouldn’t let her in with her homemade mask, but Testa couldn’t help feel annoyed. “I was just like, why can’t you just follow the rules?” he said.
Testa is a computer scientist who started his business Touring Plans to analyze wait times for vacationers.
The Disney Springs incident made him curious. How often did people follow the rules? He wanted to understand the typical days at the theme parks beyond the occasional bad apple whose defiance often goes viral on social media.
After all, when Orlando’s theme parks reopened this summer in the middle of the pandemic, one of the biggest questions was how would Americans would respond to wearing masks.
So the next day, Testa started counting masks at Disney World, and he hasn’t stopped. His findings: Between 94% and 98% wore their masks correctly each day as Touring Plans counted 10,000 people.
It made him “feel better about humanity, that we’re all in this together,” he said during an interview in mid-November as his team had been counting daily for about three weeks.
“People who aren’t willing to wear masks in Walt Disney World just aren’t going to Walt Disney World,” Testa said. “You see that online in discussions all the time, people saying that, ’I won’t go back to Walt Disney World until there’s a vaccine, and I don’t have to wear masks.’”
Plus, he said, “No one wants to pay $120 to get into a theme park and then get kicked out for not wearing a 50-cent mask. Not great economics there.”
Jackie Swisher, the Hollywood Studios vice president, said Disney’s success in mandating masks comes from its “holistic approach” that includes pre-arrival reminders, signs throughout the parks and staff training.
On a recent Thursday morning, a Hollywood Studios performer reminded the audience to keep their facial coverings on and then led them in a singalong of “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” without missing a beat.
Sometimes, a Disney employee dressed in the bold yellow shirt from the social distancing squad will show children that if a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal can wear a mask, they can, too.
“We always try to keep it fun — we’re Disney,” Swisher said.
But Disney has not forgotten the gravity of the pandemic crisis, either, especially as cases are rising in Orange County and across the country.
In October, new signs popped up around Disney World stating an explicit message: Visitors who don’t obey the mask rules will be asked to leave. The reminder also plays on the loudspeakers every 15 or so minutes.
When asked how many times Disney has kicked visitors out, Swisher said, “That is very rare for us.”
Disney’s more direct and frank stance is a different tone than its typical impeccable customer service where the customer is almost always right, said Disney union leader Eric Clinton.
“They deserve a lot of credit for it,” Clinton said. “[A mask] is the thing that can protect you. Disney is taking that very seriously . ... They’re proving to people we can operate safely even in a pandemic.”
One health official said Orange County felt like a “pressure cooker and it’s about to go off ” looking at the COVID-19 numbers locally. But the health department also has said repeatedly no known outbreaks are tied to the theme parks.
“As the cases in our community continue to increase, we obviously will see cases associated with people who work at a theme park because they are very large employers,” said Alvina Chu, an epidemiology program manager during a recent Orange County press conference.
Fights over new rules
As thousands return to Central Florida’s theme parks, police have had to intervene a few times as tension and even fights broke out with guests over the pandemic rules.
Jennifer Sanchez Muller,
30, of Riverview, was charged with battery after an argument escalated while she waited in line at Legoland’s Grand Carousel on July 18, according to a Winter Haven Police report.
In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Sanchez Muller said her husband was holding their 9-monthold daughter in his arms when the child tugged down on his mask. The next person in line, who was six feet away, muttered, “That’s how people get sick because they don’t have their masks on,” Sanchez Muller said.
The two families started arguing and then Sanchez Muller accused the other woman of pulling out her phone and taking a picture of the couple’s daughter, perhaps to shame them, she believed.
Sanchez Muller accused the woman of coming at her. She shoved the woman backward into the bushes, which was captured on Legoland video, according to the police report. Her court case is still pending.
Park spokeswoman Kelly Hornick said it was the only incident of this nature since Legoland reopened.
At Universal, two women shoved and punched each other in line at Revenge of the Mummy over how fast the socially distanced line was moving and if it was maintaining six feet of space. At one point during the skirmish, one woman coughed in the other’s face, according to an Orlando Police report, which said officers couldn’t determine who was the primary aggressor during the Sept. 12 incident.
“The overwhelming majority of our guests have been great,’ said Universal spokesman Tom Schroder. ”They understand the need, support us by doing their part and tell us they feel comfortable while in our parks.”
At Disney, an elderly Hollywood Studios visitor got into an argument and then was attacked by two strangers from a large family group who weren’t all wearing masks after they took shelter from the rain by the bathrooms near the Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster, according to an Orange County Sheriff ’s Office report.
One man punched the senior in the head and then a woman from the family joined in, hitting the victim after he fell on the ground. The man, who was at least 65 years old, was not seriously hurt, and the large family left the park before the sheriff ’s office could arrest anyone during the Sept. 17 incident, the report said.
An Orlando man was arrested in August for hitting and threatening to kill an Epcot security guard who enforced the mask policy.
“There’s always going to be people like that in the world, unfortunately,” Clinton said. “I don’t think that’s the norm.”
Driving the Kilimanjaro Safari truck at Animal Kingdom, Disney employee Jocelyn Lagor said her expectations were exceeded by how well guests follow the rules.
She initially worried about spotty mask-wearing like what she sometimes sees at the grocery store.
“I would definitely say it’s been surprisingly easier than I imagined,” said Lagor, a union steward.
The cooler weather helps, and visitors respond pleasantly to her occasional reminders to fix their masks. Gone is any irritability from the summer heat.
To help visitors understand the rules, Disney sends out a “know before you go” email which explains the rules.
Disney also takes measures to make sure people obey once they’re on Disney property.
On a walk-around of Epcot Thursday, park General Manager Kartika Rodriguez cheerfully reminded a man who had just finished his beer and was getting up to walk around to tug up his mask. He apologized and obeyed. It was a common interaction, quick and pleasant.
“Body language is just as important as ever to communicate with our guests,” Swisher said. “We always lead with empathy.”
At Epcot, the park doubled the number of tables set out to encourage people to stay stationary when they eat and drink.
Outside Test Track and other Disney World rides, new signs went up in November, banning visitors from bringing food and drink into the indoor queues, following the advice of medical experts. Disney also does not allow facial coverings with valves or neck gaiters because they have been deemed ineffective in preventing the virus.
The mask counter
Every day since late October, Testa or another member of his Touring Plans crew take their position to count passersby. One day they’re at Magic Kingdom’s Tomorrowland, the next day, they walk through Epcot’s World Showcase, every day counting at least 500 people.
“We figured we could provide context and say, ’This is what we’re seeing’... It would provide people with information about how to make good decisions about whether to go to Disney World,” Testa said.
Testa said he was impressed to see the compliance as high at Disney Springs or Epcot’s recent International Food and Wine Festival as the rest of the theme parks.
The rare offenders were mostly guests whose noses peeked out of their masks or who ate and drank while walking, a violation of Disney rules. Testa hasn’t seen many instances of folks flagrantly defying the mask mandate.
The theme park giant recently announced raising its self-imposed attendance cap from 25% to 35% and expects high customer demand for the holidays.
Testa plans to keep counting.
“We figured we could provide context and say, ‘This is what we’re seeing’... It would provide people with information about how to make good decisions about whether to go to Disney World,”
Len Testa, computer scientist who started his business Touring Plans to analyze wait times for vacationers.