WDW's new mask policy

[mefordis]

I just heard that you now must put your mask on between sips and bites at restaurants. When we wer ethere in November we could remove our mask once we sat down at the table. Just asking if anyone can confirm.

 

[Allison]

It doesn't say you have to put it on between sips and bites. That would be silly.

 

[Christine]

The policy says that it must be on at all times unless "actively eating and drinking." What they are trying to achieve is people wearing masks more often during indoor dining. So you used to be able to remove it when you got to your table. Now, you'll need to wait until your food is served. And once you've finished your meal and are waiting to pay, it should go back on. That's how I view it.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Just asking if anyone can confirm.

www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/experience-updates/#drawer-card-faceCoverings


www.blogmickey.com/2021/02/masks-on-at-tables-disney-world-tightens-face-covering-requirements-while-dining/

www.wdwmagic.com/other/walt-disney-company/news/27feb2021-walt-disney-worlds-mask-policy-updated-to-include-use-in-restaurants.htm

 

[Disneylover99]

I just heard that you now must put your mask on between sips and bites at restaurants. When we wer ethere in November we could remove our mask once we sat down at the table. Just asking if anyone can confirm.

Lots of discussion in these 2 threads.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/mask-mandate-doubled-down-keep-them-on-while-dining.3827674/
https://www.disboards.com/threads/face-mask-while-at-table.3827673/page-5#post-62731330
Most are speculating it’s not between sips and bites.
You keep your mask on until you order and receive your food/drinks.
Then you unmask and eat. When you’re finished, mask up.
It makes sense to me.

 

[Colleen27]

At sit down restaurants, we always leave our masks on until after we order. Taking orders is the most prolonged period of contact between us and our waiter and it just feels disrespectful to shuck off our masks as soon as we're seated while the waiter remains masked for our protection. So we leave them on until our food and drinks start arriving, and if we stay at the table to chat when we're done eating, we put them back on to do so. It feels like that's the habit Disney is hoping to instill with the new rules, not some absurdist notion of unmasking to take a bite and masking up again to chew.

 

[mefordis]

I'm going to bring one of these with me.

 

[ronandannette]

Lots of discussion in these 2 threads.

Most are speculating it’s not between sips and bites.
You keep your mask on until you order and receive your food/drinks.
Then you unmask and eat. When you’re finished, mask up.
It makes sense to me.

This is exactly how it works and what has always been the requirements here for dine-in restaurants and it's perfectly logical and reasonable to do. The bites-and-sips thing? It's a little early for April Fools.

 

[Colleen27]

It is also worth considering that Flower & Garden is coming up and Disney is probably looking to curb some of the behavior we saw during the (less popular and less crowded) Festival of the Arts, where people sat/stood at tables, on planters, on benches, where ever they could find space to enjoy their food samples and then stayed there, unmasked, chatting and people watching with their empty plates and glasses in front of them. We noticed this particularly in the festival center, where some of the people at tables around us stayed through multiple sets of the pianist without ever putting their masks back on, though their food and drinks were long empty. With the greater popularity of Flower & Garden and busier time of year coming up, they're probably looking to discourage this behavior out of concerns about both covid and crowd flow.

 

[design_mom]

My son's university has a similar "actively eating and drinking" policy. It does not mean to mask up between bites. It means that you are not to remove your mask till you have your food in front of you at the table and you're supposed to put it back on when you're done. If you are sitting at a table in the student union/dining hall doing your homework or talking with friends while nursing a cup of coffee that is NOT considered "actively eating and drinking."

 

[Allison]

I saw people at lounges reading books and on their tablets at their table without food and drinks. That is the kind of thing this prevents.

 

[TLSnell1981]

The policy says that it must be on at all times unless "actively eating and drinking." What they are trying to achieve is people wearing masks more often during indoor dining. So you used to be able to remove it when you got to your table. Now, you'll need to wait until your food is served. And once you've finished your meal and are waiting to pay, it should go back on. That's how I view it.

So Disney is doubling down and going backwards while most are moving forward?

 

[mom2rtk]

Something is going on. My hunch is that they are preparing to increase capacity.

I agree it probably means don't take the mask off until food or drink arrives at the table. And put it back on as soon as you're done eating. But honestly, they should have just said that rather than leave it to people on message boards to decipher.

 

[goodeats]

LilyWDW - you should stop laughing at every post you don’t agree with. It’s really rude!

 

[TLSnell1981]

Something is going on. My hunch is that they are preparing to increase capacity.

I agree it probably means don't take the mask off until food or drink arrives at the table. And put it back on as soon as you're done eating. But honestly, they should have just said that rather than leave it to people on message boards to decipher.

They better get the drinks and bread to the table STAT! Maybe I should make this request as we are being seated.

 

[Christine]

So Disney is doubling down and going backwards while most are moving forward?

Depends on your perspective I guess. Everything that I've read indicates that indoor dining and close gathering is probably the #1 factor for spread. Going to a restaurant and plopping yourself down at a table for 1.5 hours unmasked is probably not a great idea when multiplied by the amount of people in one restaurant at any given time. Then you've got employees working in that miasma of aerosolized particles for hours at a time. It protects the staff.

I guess "moving forward" depends a lot on where you live. Where I live, we have just gotten our gathering levels increased; however, masking to the greatest extent possible is still advised. Until many, many more people are vaccinated, I think it's a good idea to do this to protect the waitstaff and anyone else who wants to give indoor dining a try and feel as best as they can about it.

Now, as for outdoor masking in those situations, I'm less inclined to think it's necessary; however, Disney walkways get *really* and eating areas in Epcot get really congested so I guess that just follows the guidelines that if you can't safely distance outdoors, you should wear a mask also. Crowded urban areas already do this and the crowds at Disney would equate to that.

 

[tvguy]

Depends on your perspective I guess. Everything that I've read indicates that indoor dining and close gathering is probably the #1 factor for spread. Going to a restaurant and plopping yourself down at a table for 1.5 hours unmasked is probably not a great idea when multiplied by the amount of people in one restaurant at any given time. Then you've got employees working in that miasma of aerosolized particles for hours at a time. It protects the staff.

I guess "moving forward" depends a lot on where you live. Where I live, we have just gotten our gathering levels increased; however, masking to the greatest extent possible is still advised. Until many, many more people are vaccinated, I think it's a good idea to do this to protect the waitstaff and anyone else who wants to give indoor dining a try and feel as best as they can about it.

Now, as for outdoor masking in those situations, I'm less inclined to think it's necessary; however, Disney walkways get *really* and eating areas in Epcot get really congested so I guess that just follows the guidelines that if you can't safely distance outdoors, you should wear a mask also. Crowded urban areas already do this and the crowds at Disney would equate to that.

I still don't get the uproar over masks. It's simple and safe. But I might feel that way because my mom was a surgical nurse and wore a mask 40 hours a week at work for 40 years.

 

[TLSnell1981]

It is also worth considering that Flower & Garden is coming up and Disney is probably looking to curb some of the behavior we saw during the (less popular and less crowded) Festival of the Arts, where people sat/stood at tables, on planters, on benches, where ever they could find space to enjoy their food samples and then stayed there, unmasked, chatting and people watching with their empty plates and glasses in front of them. We noticed this particularly in the festival center, where some of the people at tables around us stayed through multiple sets of the pianist without ever putting their masks back on, though their food and drinks were long empty. With the greater popularity of Flower & Garden and busier time of year coming up, they're probably looking to discourage this behavior out of concerns about both covid and crowd flow.

Disney has extended park hours beginning in March. I'm assuming this is connected to increased capacity.

MK-8:00 AM to 9:00 PM
HS-9:00 AM to 8:00 PM
AK-8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
EPCOT-11:00 AM to 11:00 PM

 

[TLSnell1981]

Depends on your perspective I guess. Everything that I've read indicates that indoor dining and close gathering is probably the #1 factor for spread. Going to a restaurant and plopping yourself down at a table for 1.5 hours unmasked is probably not a great idea when multiplied by the amount of people in one restaurant at any given time. Then you've got employees working in that miasma of aerosolized particles for hours at a time. It protects the staff.

I guess "moving forward" depends a lot on where you live. Where I live, we have just gotten our gathering levels increased; however, masking to the greatest extent possible is still advised. Until many, many more people are vaccinated, I think it's a good idea to do this to protect the waitstaff and anyone else who wants to give indoor dining a try and feel as best as they can about it.

Now, as for outdoor masking in those situations, I'm less inclined to think it's necessary; however, Disney walkways get *really* and eating areas in Epcot get really congested so I guess that just follows the guidelines that if you can't safely distance outdoors, you should wear a mask also. Crowded urban areas already do this and the crowds at Disney would equate to that.

The keyword is probably We have been dining out regular since last spring without contracting the virus. I was expecting to hear WDW had relaxed masks for outdoor activities when I saw this thread. I really should've known better.

 

[jlwhitney]

Keyword probably. We have been dining out regular since last spring without contracting the virus. I was expecting to hear WDW had relaxed masks for outdoor activities when I saw this thread. I really should've known better.

We have been dining in packed restaurants with no social distancing and masks not even required to get to your table here (no mask mandate) for months now, all through holidays also. Also many are letting you wait inside now for your table if there is a wait vs having to wait in your car like over summer. Cases never got of control here and hospitals never had capacity issues either.