Orange County Ending All Physical Distancing & Mask Mandates on June 5
Mayor Jerry Demings held his “State of the County” press conference during which he announced that Orange County will enter the third and final phase of the reopening plan for returning to normalcy, totally dropping face mask mandates, physical distancing, and all other protocol on Saturday, June 5, 2021. This paves the way for a similar end to health safety rules at Walt Disney World, which calls Orange County, Florida home.
Let’s start with a brief recap of Mayor Demings’ reopening plan. Orange County first announced this three phased plan to gradually lift all health safety measures just over a month ago. At that point, physical distancing was immediately reduced from 6 to 3 feet in all settings. Universal and Walt Disney World quickly followed suit and announced their own reductions to physical distancing.
Orange County then hit phase 2 in mid-May, which resulted in the outdoor face mask mandate being lifted. Within hours of that Friday afternoon press conference, both Universal and Walt Disney World followed suit, announcing that masks would be optional outdoors for guests starting the very next day. You can probably already see where we’re going with this…
Last Friday, heading into Memorial Day weekend, Universal Orlando effectively dropping its face mask rule. Universal announced that face coverings are no longer required for fully vaccinated guests, indoors or outdoors. Universal further stated that it would not require proof of vaccination, essentially ending enforcement of the face mask rule.
At that point, Orange County had not yet announced phase 3 of its reopening plan, so Universal’s announcement might’ve seemed premature. However, the county actually had already qualified for the third phase, but had chosen not to announce it–and actually cancelled its health briefing for the first time in 64 weeks.
Then on June 2, Mayor Jerry Demings held a press conference, which we assumed was to announce the final milestone in Orange County’s plan. However, he instead said that the county would qualify for phase 3 after the 14-day rolling positivity rate has been 5% or below for 14 consecutive days (so 14 days twice, for some reason).
That double 14 requirement was not previously contemplated by executive order or the reopening plan, but whatever. The positivity rate’s drop clearly outpaced vaccine uptake forecasts. It’s understandable that Orange County would inch the plan back a bit given that the county is lagging behind nationwide vaccination goals.
Moving forward to this morning’s “State of the County” event, Mayor Demings revealed that Orange County would enter the third and final phase of its reopening plan as of Saturday. This comes as 55% of Orange County’s population age 16 or older has received at least one dose and the county’s test positivity is 4.5% as of this week.
As a reminder, the third phase is reached when 70% of the population age 16 or older has received their first dose of the vaccine or Orange County’s 14-day rolling positivity rate is 5% or below. The third phase of this plan means that the face mask mandate is lifted indoors for everyone (without regard to vaccination status), physical distancing is dropped, and no other health safety rules remain in effect.
This comes at a time when Florida’s case numbers continue to fall. The state’s average daily case numbers have dropped 43% in the last two weeks, with 8 new cases per day for every 100,000 people. Deaths and hospitalizations are also down dramatically.
The story is similar throughout the United States, with every important metric at its lowest level since March of last year. While the pace of vaccinations has slowed in recent weeks, approximately 63% of adult Americans have received at least one shot.
The United States has set a goal of getting at least one shot into the arms of 70% of adults by July 4. At the nation’s current pace, that’ll be reached–but just barely. In addition to that, credible estimates from the CDC and other health agencies put those who have been infected at 30-40% of the population.
Between vaccinations and natural immunity, the United States is already in a solid position–hence the current decrease. By the start of July 2021, between 70% and 75% of the entire population–not just adults–will have some form and degree of immunity based on conservative math of the above numbers. It’s likely there will still be some localized flare ups this summer and winter in areas of the South and other pockets of the United States where vaccine numbers are lagging far behind, but that does not include Orange County.
With that said, as we’ve pointed out countless times now, Orange County’s rules are significant as they establish the earliest possible timeframe for Walt Disney World to relax or lift its own health safety protocol. This means Disney can now drop all health safety protocol, ending the indoor face mask rules as well as all physical distancing, which means attendance caps could also increase as of June 5, 2021.
It’ll thus be interesting to see what, if anything, Walt Disney World does with Orange County lifting its indoor face mask mandate and other health rules. It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point that Disney will be further relaxing its rules at some point this summer. (It’s worth noting that Walt Disney World already could’ve increased attendance to a greater degree than has occurred–they presumably have not due to a lack of staffing.)
Although unrelated to Orange County’s dropping of mask mandates, Walt Disney World changed its policy for Cast Members earlier this week. Cast Members who have outdoor roles and are able to maintain six feet or more of physical distancing from guests will no longer be required to wear face masks.
This includes many backstage positions, plus some on-stage ones including parking lot attendants, lifeguards, horticulturists, custodial, construction, maintenance, and some other Cast Members. However, they will still be required to have a face mask and put it on whenever they come into contact with guests or venture indoors. (Presumably, this same rule applies to all Cast Members when backstage, and not just those in the aforementioned ‘select positions.’)
Previously, my best guess as to when Walt Disney World would drop its been mask rules would’ve been “after Independence Day.” However, the return to normalcy in the United States has accelerated to a greater degree than I anticipated. At this point, it seems unlikely that Walt Disney World will hold out more than for a couple more weeks, rather than another full month.
With shifting consumer sentiment, comfort levels continuing to increase, and other businesses dropping their rules en masse, it’s unlikely Walt Disney World will maintain its current rules for several more months. It would amount to swimming upstream against the flow of health guidance, human behavior, and policies at other businesses. Over-burdened frontline Cast Members cannot be expected to indefinitely enforce health rules.
Even with Disney’s reputation for cautiousness and being a family-friendly brand, another big/final change before July 2021 now feels likely. Not only would enforcing rules in place nowhere else cause more friction between guests and Cast Members, but lifting the rule would free up workers at already short-staffed parks to be relocated to other positions. (That might seem trivial, but almost everything Disney is doing right now is dictated by staffing levels–from Park Pass distribution to restaurant capacity.)
On a related note, if you’re wondering how health safety protocol is actually going in the parks, check out our new Physical Distancing & Face Mask Rule Relaxation Report. This details our on-the-ground observations and photos from the last several days at Walt Disney World. The official rules are only one part of the equation–more important is guest behavior and adherence to those rules.
All things considered, our expectation is that Walt Disney World announces it’ll follow this new guidance from Orange County as soon as this afternoon or as late as the next 2-3 weeks. It wouldn’t surprise us if Disney departed from past precedent, and didn’t change its policies immediately.
In this scenario, holding out just a little longer might be a savvy move. That’s especially true if Disney wants to strike that delicate balance between those who are eager to ditch the masks and parents who are understandably apprehensive about their kids under age 12. As cases continue to fall (and community risk for the unvaccinated along with it), comfort levels will continue to increase.
Ultimately, that’s just our guess. As always, none of this should be construed to mean Walt Disney World will or won’t lift its indoor face mask and other health rules now that Orange County has done so. Simply put, this is what paves the way for Walt Disney World to follow suit as early as Saturday, which they have done fairly consistently in the past.
We strongly suspect Walt Disney World will follow the lead of Orange County–albeit perhaps with more delay this go-round. Regardless, another face mask change is inevitably on the horizon for Walt Disney World, likely in the next couple of weeks and almost certainly before Independence Day. (Unlike last time, we didn’t hear any rumors of one beforehand this time.) We will be closely monitoring DisneyWorld.com’s “Know Before You Go” page for rule changes throughout the day and will keep you posted! Whenever Walt Disney World does relax its face mask rule again, expect it to read similarly to Universal’s newly-modified policy.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Thoughts on physical distancing, face mask mandates, and other health safety protocol all ending in Orange County, Florida? Think Walt Disney World has more plans to return to normal? Are you hoping that Disney follows Orange County’s lead, or keeps its indoor mask rules in place longer? Please keep the comments civil. This is not the place for arguing about efficacy, politics, and so forth—all such comments will be deleted, irrespective of perspective. You are not going to change anyone’s mind via the comments section on this blog, nor are you going to change Disney’s rules or public policy. If you wish to contest this, rather than yelling into the internet abyss, have your voice heard in a meaningful way by contacting Disney or your local elected officials.
@Apple D Gang, you might want to reread Tom’s post as changes in local laws (Orange County laws) are what precipitated Disney dropping outdoor masks a mere few hours after the county announced the change . Tom seemed pretty clear (at least to me) that Disney wouldn’t solely base their decision on the county laws changing, but that they would be one more push in that direction. Of course Disney has their own medical advisors as well as the CDC, state and county laws. They will absolutely do what is best for their financial bottom line, but as Tom pointed out, it is in their best interest to drop masks and the county law change is just one more justification to do so.
There is zero reason for them to worry about legal. No bearing on the decision whatsoever.
They might consider using masks as a sham cover for not bumping capacity to max when we know it’s lack of sufficient personnel.
Tom – I love most of your posts, but this headline and post is a big miss: Disney’s decisions on these issues will be based on what their chief medical officer and external epidemiologist advisors (yes, they have them) recommend, in consultation with the most senior executives from legal, operations, HR and PR. Their decisions will be based on what’s best for the company in the long-term – it’s reputation, and the safety of CM’s and guests. Sure, they’ll be free to relax restrictions when they are ready, but that timing won’t be accelerated or influenced by announcements from the mayor or county officials. And it’s silly to suggest looking to local officials for guidance as to what Disney will do and when, as that’s simply not how they make decisions – especially on this issue.
There was a comment at the very beginning of this series which was concerned or dismayed about park hoppers and how you might not be able to hop even if you had the hopper ticket. I just wanted to add that we went the last week of May when all parks were completely booked (could not get new park res). We had gotten our park res’s at the 60 day mark so we were all set. Also had hoppers. We never had any problem at all hopping to any park we desired. Of course, you could only do so after 2:00 PM. But that wasn’t a problem for us. A couple days we even made it to 3 parks during the day (HS, Blizzard Beach, then MK for dinner). I felt the hopper served its purpose.
And we really had a great time. I was able to get ROTR every day of our HS res (3 times). Also able to ride FOP in Pandora 3 times with minimal waits (one at opening – about 40 minutes, twice at closing, about 20 minutes). Also saw many of the character cavalcades each day – though I’m not a big parade fan and this way sufficient for me.
We were OK with the mask policies in place at the time (only required at the actual queue start but not in the extended outdoor queues). We were 3 adults, 2 vaccinated. Go if you feel comfortable with the potential change in policies.
@Ruthann
I don’t understand your comment? You know all viruses are not the same right? My kid is vaccinated for measles, chicken pox, the flu and we have always taken our own hand sanitizer and cleaned our hands often and never gotten so much as a cold at Disney.
This is one virus which there is no pediatric vaccine. Your what-aboutism completely misses the point. This is one airborne virus.
Tom, I can’t seem to reply to your reply on my post, but thank you for responding. I didn’t see your original metaphor as polarizing, but perhaps that’s because I agree with the sentiment! In general, I think you’ve done a great job of being very even handed when making posts about this subject. I’m sure there are plenty of times when you have to bite your tongue (metaphorically speaking) instead of injecting your opinion. And I can absolutely understand why you don’t want people arguing in the comments here.
@Ruthann
My 14 year old got her second shot on Wednesday evening, but when she was little, save the common cold, there was no serious illness she hadn’t been vaccinated against, so we stayed away from people who were obv sick, washed our hands often, and didn’t worry.
But my friend has small children and this past January she said goodbye to her dad on an IPad a nurse held up to him. Three teachers in our district died of COVID. People are scared and those who lost loved ones are traumatized. So when they plan a trip and feel comfortable with conditions (indoor masks, etc) when they book, and then the rules change, I can totally understand why they’re looking at the thousands of dollars they’ve spent,
Worrying about their kids, and feeling frustrated and stuck. Can’t you?
I don’t understand all the comments by parents of young children?
If you (the parent) feel that disney is not safe, then you shouldn’t go, IMO.
If I felt a situation was unsafe for my children, then you can bet I wouldn’t go and expose them to what I perceived as a threat. Simple.
The world isn’t going to change because you feel you children are not safe. Masks will be gone along with social distancing and we will get back to normal soon.
I just wonder what the parents thought before covid? I mean, there was definitely much less sanitizing and cleaning of rides, etc than there is with covid. There were people from all over the US and the World with various illnesses and viruses. Things haven’t changed. You are always exposed to some illness while at disney due to the nature of the beast, the crowding in lines and natural uncleanliness of some children and adults . There is an inherent risk you take wherever you go, whether it be a world class destination such as disney or the local theatre. The risk has always been there.
So, if I felt uncomfortable for whatever reason, then I wouldn’t subject myself or others to going to disney or any other crowded place until I felt better about it.
Get rid of masks. If your afraid wear it but if you have been vaccinated don’t make us wear them
I could have sworn I read a great analogy in here yesterday about the comparison between vaccines and masks – something about a backhoe and a fork? I went back to read it to my wife and I can’t find it. Did you take it out or am I just crazy?
I removed it. (I cannot speak to whether you’re crazy, but if so, it’s not just that. 😉 )
While I absolutely stand by the sentiment (which likened both to tools–vaccines to a tower crane and masks to sporks), it’s the kind of thing that only leads to more polarization and isn’t going to change any minds. I’m tired of people arguing in the comments and my own commentary probably has not helped with that–so I softened up the article in a few places.
I wonder if Park Hopper restrictions will be lifted ?
This seems to coincide with a raft of park day bookings opening up, july just returned to green for all parks!
Lots of talk here about vaccinations and who is vaccinated and who isn’t. We really have to just do what is right for us. Many people are not getting the vaccines and they will be out and about just the like rest of the people that chose to vaccinate. The vaccines are not mandatory. No one at the parks will be asking your vaccine status. They haven’t done this and they aren’t going to. Our schools have been open here since last year with no children vaccinated. Our children have been going to the theme parks, regular parks, eating in restaurants and going to stores since all this started. I know many who are not getting the vaccine for themselves or their children and that is their choice. There is no way to avoid the mix of people you will be encountering so the bottom line is if you are worried just don’t put yourself in that position. The world is not going to change to suit your needs. You just have to make that decision for yourself. Masks are less and less prevalent everywhere you go. People are closer together. As long as you know these things before you make your plans because it is not going to change. Other than Disney there are no masks indoors almost anywhere you go in Orlando or Tampa. Even large venues like the casinos do not have masks. Local states of emergencies have been lifted. All restrictions have been lifted. Knowing this should help you make the decision that is best for you and your family.
Drop the mask requirements indoors, outside, upside down sideways for everyone including cast members. If the trends and data still don’t convince you that you’re safe, by all means wear one 24/7 if you like. It is a free country. Quite frankly, the extreme lockdowns and strict mask mandates did virtually nothing when compared to states that didn’t have them.
I am both a Disney fan and a Tom Bricker fan. This is the best place for accurate and unbiased information regarding how Disney is handling its response to COVID19. I always appreciate his reminder that, “This is not the place for arguing about efficacy, politics, and so forth—all such comments will be deleted, irrespective of perspective. You are not going to change anyone’s mind via the comments section on this blog, nor are you going to change Disney’s rules or public policy.” I respect that. But now that the pandemic is over, I am growing wary of new comments by parents like Becky S who think COVID remains a measurable threat to their young children – even when data proves it never was – and that a face mask is a magical tool to protect them. Speaking on behalf of my wife and 5 children, we are excited beyond measure to know that Disney will soon lift all of its COVID restrictions. And I know for certain that we are not alone. Thankfully, the return to normal at Disney and throughout this country is accelerating whether Becky S agrees with it or not.
@Becky & @Laura, it’s obvious that you both love your children dearly! I can assure you, every parent on this thread also loves their child(ren) dearly. Respectfully, I want to remind you that the health & safety of your kids is your responsibility, no one else’s. Here’s why: even if everyone wanted to keep your kids safe, there’s a good chance everyone will have wildly differing approaches on *how* to keep your kids safe. I mean, we ALL want safe & healthy kids. But my idea of safe & healthy is not the same as your idea. I’m not selfish, I’m not ignorant, I’m not reckless…I’m a mom who’s doing the best I can for the children I have. If I don’t think something is safe for my kids, I keep them away from it, I don’t demand that things change to fit my comfort level. Put another way: if I’m afraid of sharks, I either take my chances with them in the ocean or I just don’t swim. So, you have to do what works for your family and that may mean postponing travel to crowded places (indoor or outdoor) until you’re ready to accept the risk.
I’m thrilled with this news, for what it means for Orange County (always wonderful to see sustained drops in positivity rates) and selfishly what it means for my October trip as part of a fully vaccinated family. I am very empathetic towards those who are uncomfortable traveling while unvaccinated. I was extremely cautious up until I was vaccinated and in fact, this trip in October will be my first vacation (as opposed to staycation) in exactly two years. Our normal vacations involve international travel, which is still very difficult right now with travel advisories, variable quarantine guidance, variant spread among largely unvaccinated populations, etc. making it too risky to book a trip overseas. I am really missing being able to take my favorite type of vacation this year so I understand how all those unvaccinated families who love to go to Disney every year feel! That said, I think anyone booking a trip to WDW this year hoping they will be enforcing covid protocols above and beyond what local, state, and federal guidance advises is risking a lot of disappointment.
@Teresa
Many of them left. I live locally and I know three CMs who moved away once they were furloughed. Unemployment rates were near 25% in Orange County for a bit; a lot of people decided to not wait around and try to find work elsewhere.
I think this probably isn’t well understood by non-locals since they are so many stories about people fleeing other states to Florida over the last year. While that’s undoubtedly true, there was also an exodus from Florida of people with jobs in the hospitality sector.
The vast majority of Central “Floridians” are transplants. Far and away the most popular teams in our neighborhood are the New York Yankees and New England Patriots. (The Bucs are growing in popularity, but presumably because of Brady.)
The people coming in droves can work remotely–they aren’t taking theme park jobs. The people who left are also transplants, who “went back home” because the industry lost over 100,000 jobs and prospects for a recovery didn’t look great. Think of Central Florida as a very amplified version of what’s playing out across the country right now.
Re: Disney staffing problems. What has happened to all the people Disney laid off in 2020? It would seem that bringing them back would make the necessary Re-training minimal. Aren’t those people being rehired?
I mean this respectfully, but I really don’t see Disney allowing the DAS system to be used by people who just don’t want to be inside with unmasked guests. It is already a severely abused system and if it gets used for this (or by people just claiming this as a reason) it would be completely overwhelmed. And if you claim other medical reasons, you’ll still end up waiting inside with unmasked folks as most DAS lines push you straight into indoor waiting areas. And once on the ride or in the show, you’ll be surrounded people with no masks (indoors on many rides or shows) so your problem will still exist. I’ve got kids who can’t be vaccinated yet and we didn’t go last year due to mask mandates being in place and won’t go this year unless they are dropped completely, but we know other families feel differently and that’s ok. Whether you are for or against masks, Disney is a private company and can make any rules they like and even though I miss Disney desperately, I haven’t died from not going in over a year – although it was close 🙂 I’d imagine parents of kids with sensory issues are loving the idea of no masks. My nephew is on the spectrum and flips out if anything touches his face or head (haircuts are always an adventure…) so his folks avoided Disney knowing he wouldn’t be able to tolerate a mask. If Disney drops masks and you are afraid to take an unvaccinated child, you can always push out the trip like we did. We are all in different places for lots of reasons and no one should judge others for that regardless of which side you’re on. Luckily we all have a choice in going or not depending on how comfortable we are with Disney’s rules. Hopefully everyone gets to a comfortable place with this crazy, constantly changing world and gets their Disney fix ASAP 🙂