So my one "What are they thinking" observation

[tweetylori]

...and I will preface this with I know it's a minor thing, but why the heck are they still installing old-fashioned crank paper towel dispensers in the restrooms?

I have a teeny tiny bladder, so I hit up way more of the bathrooms than Husband cared to wait outside of, and through all of them I saw exactly ONE hand dryer in ONE bathroom in all of the Magic Kingdom. Even if Disney didn't want to go with those for some reason, why not at least do the hands-off dispensers you just wave at?

I can see the old stuff in the old bathrooms, but even Gaston's Tavern has the crank dispensers.

As a result, there was water puddles everywhere under these dispensers where wet hands were cranking out those towels.

I just wonder what the thought process is for this.

 

[RhodyJim]

I know that they don't use the air dryers for two reasons:

(1) Air dryers are not as effective at removing germs and spread germs in a 3-6 foot area around the dryer (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3538484/)

(2) They have a sponsorship deal from Brawny

 

[Planogirl]

The new hand dryers at Universal are pretty nice. I am seeing those pop up in more and more places so maybe Disney will get them eventually.

 

[4xmom]

I met a lady at in restroom at MK last time. She was some kind of ear, nose and throat dr. She was telling me that the volume on the hand dryers is bad for little ears. Not sure if that is one of Disney's reasons or not. I had never thought about it, but those things are really loud.

 

[Sandy Fisher]

If you've ever been in a restroom with an "unattended" child and seen them playing with the blow dryers, you'd answer your own question. I used to think that the electric eye dispensers were great, but then I saw a child -- waiting for Mom who was in a stall -- playing with one of those..........
I agree that the blowers are very loud, but never knew there'd been an expert opinion on them.
Learn something every day.

 

[Schmeck]

The new hand dryers at Universal are pretty nice. I am seeing those pop up in more and more places so maybe Disney will get them eventually.

I hope not - my MIT graduate daughter (Bio-engineering) refuses to use them as they are so full of germs that they make your hands "dirtier than before washing". My other daughter, majoring in Biochemistry, has done swab tests on the ones in her school, and now she won't use them either.

 

[leebee]

There are blow dryers- or at least there used to be- in Animal Kingdom, over by Kali River Rapids. I don't know what kind, as they are hard to get to; they're always crowded with people trying to dry their hair and clothes after a wet ride over the Rapids!

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

I saw new Dyson hand dryers in a couple of bathrooms on our recent trip - you put your hands down into the area. I thought it was neat until I read this thread......

I'm pretty sure one of them I saw was in the Rapunzel bathrooms I don't remember where I saw the other one.

 

[cmurray234]

Mythbusters did an experiment on whether hand dryers are more sanitary. They definitely ARE NOT. Turns out that old-fashioned paper towels are 3 times more effective at keeping hands free of bacteria than the dryers. Paper towels are keep colonies of bacteria IN the bathroom at bay more than hand dryers.

Go figure!

 

[evilqueenmindy]

I like the old paper towel dispensers, hand dryers take too long if you want dry hands. And I like having something to touch the door with on my way out

 

[Suellen]

http://www.ted.com/talks/joe_smith_how_to_use_a_paper_towel.html

I use this method and barely need paper towels anymore. They should be running this in a loop in each stall. Better for the environment.... no water dripping on the floor.

 

[AmyB2006]

I hope not - my MIT graduate daughter (Bio-engineering) refuses to use them as they are so full of germs that they make your hands "dirtier than before washing". My other daughter, majoring in Biochemistry, has done swab tests on the ones in her school, and now she won't use them either.

That's because people just rinse their hands without soap and go use the dryer. Lol. Gross. The things I've seen in public bathrooms astound me.

I like the crank paper towels because it's faster but I agree the automatic ones would be more sanitary.

 

[AmyB2006]

http://www.ted.com/talks/joe_smith_how_to_use_a_paper_towel.html I use this method and barely need paper towels anymore. They should be running this in a loop in each stall. Better for the environment.... no water dripping on the floor.

Yeah that's great until one of the people not using soap shakes water off their hands into my face. No thanks. Lol.

 

[anniemae]

Those auto hand dryers sound like a jet engine taking off. Seriously they are sooooooo loud. I hate them, my dd screams and covers her ears when we are in a bathroom and someone uses them. Especially the ones with the blue light on your hands.

Give me the old fashioned paper towels. Then I can open the door with it and not have to touch all the nasty germs from the people I see walking right out of the stall without washing.

 

[nkereina]

I'm sure there's a lot of guests who prefer the paper towels, especially when there is an accident or a food spill or something you need to clean up. Finding a bathroom with paper towels is probably a quick and easy solution for that.

However, for a place that claims to be environmentally conscious - so much so that they try to talk me into reusing towels in my room - it does seem kind of strange the haven't gone the air dryer route. Not to mention, I think attendants would have to tend to the restrooms moreso with the paper towels to clean them up off the floor and empty trash cans more frequently. They must have an internal reason (maybe the sponsorship) that they haven't switched over. I can't imagine the minuscule differences in sanitary-ness would be the reason.

 

[stormtracker]

Hand dryers can also slow down the process of getting you in and out. Ever notice that there are no mirrors in front of the sinks? They slow things down!

 

[Planogirl]

I hope not - my MIT graduate daughter (Bio-engineering) refuses to use them as they are so full of germs that they make your hands "dirtier than before washing". My other daughter, majoring in Biochemistry, has done swab tests on the ones in her school, and now she won't use them either.

I'd love to see actual stats about that. The article cited above seems to show studies that claim different things.

I always thought that the newer jet dryers were better than the old heat dryers but maybe not. Maybe it just feels better since nothing is ever touched.

 

[DebbieB]

They replaced the paper towels with a hand dryer in the restrooms at work. Everyone hates it. There is water all over the sink counter, you can't wipe it off. If you spill something at your desk or on yourself, you can't grab a paper towel to wipe it off. I brought a roll from home to keep at my desk.

 

[crispychicky]

I'd love to see actual stats about that. The article cited above seems to show studies that claim different things.

I always thought that the newer jet dryers were better than the old heat dryers but maybe not. Maybe it just feels better since nothing is ever touched.

The new jet dryers are a little better than the old blower dryers, but no where near as good as paper towels.

There's a study done by Redway, Keith. and Fawdar, S. "A Comparative Study of Three Different Hand Drying Methods." November 2008 you should google. They found that both the new jet dryers and the old blower ones both leave MORE bacteria on your hands than if you hadn't washed at all (p12, Table 2).

 

[lugnut33]

Without bacteria how are you supposed to build up an immune system?