With the Orange County local state of emergency related to COVID-19 concluding last week, many guests are wondering if Disney will change their face mask policies as it relates to mandating face masks indoors. Here’s the current policy:
While there is no statewide mandate or policy requiring face masks indoors, Disney implemented an indoor face mask policy back in July following updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The updated policy from Disney also aligned with updated guidance from Orange County officials asking businesses to follow CDC guidelines.
Now, with Orange County ending the local state of emergency, guests are wondering when will Disney World drop the indoor mask mandate. Obviously, Disney did not immediately react to the action from Orange County last week. It is likely that Disney will wait until the county improves to the “moderate” level of community transmission of COVID-19 as defined in the CDC table below.
As of November 1, 2021, Orange County has a positivity percentage of just 3.49%. That metric alone would put the county in the “low” transmission level. However, new cases per 100k persons is sitting at 57.41 – a number that puts the county in the “substantial” level of transmission.
So, when will the case rate drop low enough to be in the “moderate” tier? Well, the CDC has forecasted COVID-19 case numbers to drop over the next three weeks before ticking back up in December. If the forecasted predictions hold true, the COVID-19 weekly case count should be at its lowest since the theme parks reopened back in July 2020.
The next question is: will Disney change their policy once Orange County moves into the “Moderate” tier? We think they will. In all likelihood, Disney World will relax their face mask mandates to make it optional for fully vaccinated individuals to go maskless indoors sometime in November. We saw this policy implemented this summer with the following language:
Face coverings will be optional for fully vaccinated Guests in most areas. Face coverings will still be required of all Guests on Disney transportation, including Disney buses, monorails and Disney Skyliner. While we will not require proof of vaccination, we expect Guests who are not fully vaccinated to continue wearing face coverings in all indoor locations, and upon entering and throughout all attractions and transportation.
It remains to be seen how Disney will handle a return to the “Substantial” tier should cases increase this winter, but Disney World has proven that they aren’t afraid to tighten mask mandates as needed.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!