Smoking policy

[bridgemanva]

When staff ask an individual on three separate occaisions in a 3 hour period to not smoke in the pool area they have no recourse? This was my experience yesterday, the lifguards did request the individual cease smoking when observed however this seemed to be their only option. Each time they called in a supervisor who addressed the individual. I personally found it frustrating to observe and it impacted my enjoyment of the pool - I actually relocated twice as cigarette smoke is a migraine trigger for me. The guards were responsive however seemingly powerless, and given some of the commentary I heard from the smoker and company this will be an ongoing issue and direct interaction on my part was not advisable.
I have written a note to the resort commending the guards responsiveness and follow up but also reflected my above concerns. Any other suggestions?

 

[jupers]

I'm sorry you had that experience. I always try to be courteous and utilize the designated areas...we're not all bad.

 

[Granny]

This thread will probably be locked since there's a smoking policy thread floating around here somewhere. Smoking is a hot button topic, as I'm sure you are aware.

given some of the commentary I heard from the smoker and company this will be an ongoing issue and direct interaction on my part was not advisable

Good decision.

 

[drusba]

When staff ask an individual on three separate occaisions in a 3 hour period to not smoke in the pool area they have no recourse? This was my experience yesterday, the lifguards did request the individual cease smoking when observed however this seemed to be their only option. Each time they called in a supervisor who addressed the individual. I personally found it frustrating to observe and it impacted my enjoyment of the pool - I actually relocated twice as cigarette smoke is a migraine trigger for me. The guards were responsive however seemingly powerless, and given some of the commentary I heard from the smoker and company this will be an ongoing issue and direct interaction on my part was not advisable.
I have written a note to the resort commending the guards responsiveness and follow up but also reflected my above concerns. Any other suggestions?

Reality is that there is not much they can actually do if a person refuses to comply. Those CMs trying to to get the person to stop cannot, and obviously do not want to try to, use physical force to get the person to stop or force him to leave since that could just lead to violence -- most caught once stop; someone who doesn't is probably not someone who is going to take kindly to any attempt to escort him out. You cannot call police because there is no criminal offense; no smoking in common areas like the pool at WDW is a policy adopted by Disney but not any criminal offense in Florida as far as I know. You could call security guards but they face the same problems as the regular CMs if the person just refuses to stop or to leave and they do not have any immunity from civil suits for injuries incurred during the resistance of an arrest like a police officer does.

 

[disneynutz]

Disney has a process in place to deal with situations like this but they don't like to confront Guests in the happiest place on earth.

Based on policy, if the Guest crosses the line, Disney can pretty do what ever they want. The Life Guards will deal with it, then a Manager, then Security, then local law enforcement. When they want to get rid of someone, Security will issue a trespass warning to the Guest and ask them to leave. If they don't or if they come back, local law enforcement will now arrest them for trespassing.

It all depends on the policy and the Guests interaction with the CM's.

Bill

 

[CarolMN]

Smoking / No smoking areas are a WDW policy, not a DVC policy.

Those who would like to discuss this topic further are welcome to do so over on the Resorts Board in this thread:

The Smoking DSA's @ Resorts Info Thread

Thanks for understanding.