No more smoking or vaping in the parks

[firefly_ris]

How are you going to enforce it anyway? Serious question. Are they going to start patting everyone down? People tend to carry their cigarettes in their pockets. Sorry but rent a cop isn't patting me down at the gate.

Right. I don't know. Plus lots of people go through the no bag line... I dunno. Someone upthread said they can't bring them past security at Wide World of Sports, I wonder what the heck they do there?

I personally wish they would just keep the DSAs and actually be very strict on enforcement. People get away with all sorts of things at Disney, not just smoking in non-DSA areas, because CMs aren't supposed to be confrontational. Meanwhile everyone gets more entitled.... enforce things strictly and people will stop. And by strict I mean, you're smoking in a non-DSA area? Escorted out of the park. Caught line jumping? Escorted out. When there is a real consequence and word gets out, people will start abiding. I'm tired of this mentality where X amount of people are jerks and break rules, so we have to either deal with it or make an entire system change, instead of just punishing the people who are acting like jerks. But I guess they'd also need to increase staffing for that too. Bleh.

 

[robinb]

If you think that people will go to the front of the park to smoke and vape, I have a bridge to sell you. The smoking ban will only result in people sneaking cigarettes here and there and more vaping. My DD vapes (don't get me started!) and I am not looking forward to a trip with her where she will be unable to get her nicotine fix without walking to the front of the park. It was bad enough when I made her sit in the smoking area to vape on our last trip together.

 

[RedAngie]

Disney just announced that smoking and vaping is now banned in the parks. There will be smoking areas outside the gates.

I'm reading that the ban takes effect May 1.

It's fine with me, but DSAs inside the parks never bothered me.

 

[Summer2018]

If people want to kill themselves with those cancer sticks, that is their prerogative. However, the rest of us don't need to breathe in the toxins they are releasing into the air we ALL breathe.

My daughter and I battle asthma every day. My MIL just died of lung cancer. None of us ever smoked a day in our lives.

I appreciate Disney's efforts on behalf of the rest of us.

 

[dclpluto]

I have no idea... I mean, how else do you enforce it? Because if you still let people in with cigarettes, then I'd have to imagine practically no one is going to battle crowds all the way back to the park entrance to smoke and then walk all the way back to where they were. So then you just end up with exactly what happens now, people smoking in non-designated areas. I don't know what the answer is. Give them lockers/storage area for their stuff...? No clue.

Disney is not going to give lockers away.

 

[Hrhpd]

How are you going to enforce it anyway? Serious question. Are they going to start patting everyone down? People tend to carry their cigarettes in their pockets. Sorry but rent a cop isn't patting me down at the gate.

It will be very easy for security to target smokers for a heightened security check. They only have to use their nose. And I could def see security asking to see your pockets, a square bulge is very easy to recognize. Tobacco sniffing beagles would be cheaper than hiring more security for those that want to sneak in one or two cigarettes

More seriously, Disney already has a model that has proven itself to be successful at WWOS. They will just build off that model. It is the way the world is moving. Stadiums, concert halls, movie theaters, airplanes, restaurants, most public spaces, all have resorted to banning smoking. In the future, it is going to become more and more inconvenient to smoke. You can't bring alcohol into most places, now it is being extended to cigarettes.

As a for profit company, Disney most likely has run the numbers of what it was going to cost them to alienate a small percentage of their visitors vs. encouraging non smokers to put Disney down on their bucket list. They have obviously decided that getting rid of smoking areas, ice, and wagons won't impact their bottom line and since the vast majority of people are non-smokers, may even enhance it with more people wanting to come to Disney if it is designated as "smoke-free."

-A former smoker.

 

[firefly_ris]

Disney is not going to give lockers away.

Oh yeah, of course not. I'm just spouting off random hypothetical scenarios. If anything they'd say "Here's a locker to store your cigs in, pay up." Which no one will pay and just sneak them in anyway and smoke them in the bathroom. So, keep the DSAs and just actually strictly enforce it.

 

[firefly_ris]

More seriously, Disney already has a model that has proven itself to be successful at WWOS. They will just build off that model.

I think I may have missed it, but what do they do at WWOS exactly? Like how do they check if people are carrying cigarettes on them?

 

[JaxDad]

I have no idea... I mean, how else do you enforce it? Because if you still let people in with cigarettes, then I'd have to imagine practically no one is going to battle crowds all the way back to the park entrance to smoke and then walk all the way back to where they were. So then you just end up with exactly what happens now, people smoking in non-designated areas. I don't know what the answer is. Give them lockers/storage area for their stuff...? No clue.

In true Disney profit-maximization fashion, they will have kiosks/vending machines selling specialty, over-priced cigarettes at the new smoking areas...

 

[cabanafrau]

It will be very easy for security to target smokers for a heightened security check. They only have to use their nose. And I could def see security asking to see your pockets, a square bulge is very easy to recognize. Tobacco sniffing beagles would be cheaper than hiring more security for those that want to sneak in one or two cigarettes

More seriously, Disney already has a model that has proven itself to be successful at WWOS. They will just build off that model. It is the way the world is moving. Stadiums, concert halls, movie theaters, airplanes, restaurants, most public spaces, all have resorted to banning smoking. In the future, it is going to become more and more inconvenient to smoke. You can't bring alcohol into most places, now it is being extended to cigarettes.

As a for profit company, Disney most likely has run the numbers of what it was going to cost them to alienate a small percentage of their visitors vs. encouraging non smokers to put Disney down on their bucket list. They have obviously decided that getting rid of smoking areas, ice, and wagons won't impact their bottom line and since the vast majority of people are non-smokers, may even enhance it with more people wanting to come to Disney if it is designated as "smoke-free."

-A former smoker.

Are there tobacco smelling beagles, or tobacco smelling dogs of any breed for that matter? Of all the K-9 training I've heard and all the K-9's I've seen, I don't know of any trained in tobacco.

 

[luvsJack]

It will be very easy for security to target smokers for a heightened security check. They only have to use their nose. And I could def see security asking to see your pockets, a square bulge is very easy to recognize. Tobacco sniffing beagles would be cheaper than hiring more security for those that want to sneak in one or two cigarettes

More seriously, Disney already has a model that has proven itself to be successful at WWOS. They will just build off that model. It is the way the world is moving. Stadiums, concert halls, movie theaters, airplanes, restaurants, most public spaces, all have resorted to banning smoking. In the future, it is going to become more and more inconvenient to smoke. You can't bring alcohol into most places, now it is being extended to cigarettes.

As a for profit company, Disney most likely has run the numbers of what it was going to cost them to alienate a small percentage of their visitors vs. encouraging non smokers to put Disney down on their bucket list. They have obviously decided that getting rid of smoking areas, ice, and wagons won't impact their bottom line and since the vast majority of people are non-smokers, may even enhance it with more people wanting to come to Disney if it is designated as "smoke-free."

-A former smoker.

The campus I work on is a smoke free campus. Most places we go to are smoke free, its not like we stay home to smoke. NONE of them ask if you have cigarettes on you. They ban smoking not the actual cigarette. We have been through more security lines than I can shake a stick at and the only thing we have ever been asked to take back to the car or throw a way was DD's pepper spray on her key ring at a wrestling event.

I can name at least a dozen articles of clothing that you can put a pack in your pocket and it not be seen.

Alcohol is a little different. I mean a bottle of Jack Daniels is a bit harder to hide than a pack of cigarettes. But do people get in with a jack and coke in their Yeti cup? I would say there is a decent chance they do.

How do they stop them at WWOS? Or is it more of a "if we see it, it won't be allowed in" type of thing?

 

[luvsJack]

If people want to kill themselves with those cancer sticks, that is their prerogative. However, the rest of us don't need to breathe in the toxins they are releasing into the air we ALL breathe.

My daughter and I battle asthma every day. My MIL just died of lung cancer. None of us ever smoked a day in our lives.

I appreciate Disney's efforts on behalf of the rest of us.

I am sorry about your MIL's lung cancer and your asthma.

DS's step son has cystic fibrosis and cannot be around smoke. But, outside it doesn't bother him. The Drs even specified "closed in spaces". We are careful not to smoke around him at all but he can't avoid smokers in every walk of life. So, when he is walking through the parking lot at the mall, he is going to walk by smokers. When they go to the beach, he may encounter smokers. But his mom says that being around them outside has never made him wheeze, get sick or have any symptoms. I am just curious what the difference is with his illness and your asthma. (not implying at all that you are not affected by it).

 

[Colleen27]

So your husband would not give his DD her birthday wish because of a smoke? Sounds like he has his priorities backwards.

If he were able to quit, he'd have done it when she was born. Or when her little sister was born. Or when we bought this house and decided he wouldn't smoke indoors, which sometimes has him standing out on the porch or sitting in his car when the windchill is -30. He's tried many times, with gum, patch, counseling, vaping, and he's never made it more than a few days. It just isn't that easy to give up a habit you've had for 30+ years.

So as a smoker staying on resort and paying the the crazy prices to stay on resort, I would have to keep my cigarettes at the hotel? Works fine for people who may have a car there (could you imagine hiking all the way to the monorail, then taking the tram to your car, then doing it all again to go back if you were at MK?), but resort people? That would cause too much of a hassle for everyone.

It doesn't really work for those who have a car either, because of the tram/monorail/ferry situation. You'd easily spend an hour just going to get your cigarettes at the Magic Kingdom.

I
More seriously, Disney already has a model that has proven itself to be successful at WWOS. They will just build off that model. It is the way the world is moving. Stadiums, concert halls, movie theaters, airplanes, restaurants, most public spaces, all have resorted to banning smoking. In the future, it is going to become more and more inconvenient to smoke. You can't bring alcohol into most places, now it is being extended to cigarettes.

I have never been to a stadium, concert hall, movie theatre, airplane or restaurant that wouldn't allow smokers to carry their cigarettes. And all of those places except airplanes tend to have very easily accessible (within maybe a 5 min walk) smoking areas, despite being places people spend far less time at a stretch than theme parks. But the other thing all of those places have is people who will tell someone, "Hey, you can't smoke here." Disney doesn't have that.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not disagreeing with your premise. I can totally see Disney confiscating cigarettes at the gate and expecting people who smoke to trek all the way back to their cars or resorts if they want one rather than actually enforcing their own rules inside of the park. But that's a product of their dysfunctional culture and their basic premise that every guest is replaceable so it doesn't matter if a certain percentage walk away with a bad taste in their mouth about the parks, not something that is in any way normal or IMO reasonable.

 

[Malia78]

No, the pp said very plainly "constantly walking through a smoking section" that isn't last puff while leaving, that isn't the smoker out of the area. That would mean physically walking through a section.

Technically, the original poster said "seems like"...figurative, not literal

Seems like I’m constantly walking through smoking sections.

 

[Colleen27]

I feel it was those smokers who weren't responsible enough to go to an DSA that has caused this. Too bad for those smokers who were responsible. I have a family member who up until a few years ago smoked, and no way would they have gone to the parks without DSAs to stop at.

Nah, I think it was always going this way. They started getting rid of DSAs, knowing that it would make more people light up in places they weren't supposed to (basically the same philosophy Walt articulated about trash cans, but in reverse), and that made a total ban inevitable. Like benches, smoking areas are places where people linger without spending...

Do you think they will ban it from the park altogether like Wide World of Sports? Have to leave it in the car? My boyfriend miiiiight walk to the smoking sections, but he is going to lose it if he has to go all the way to the car or the resort to get the cigarettes themselves. He might not even go anymore.

My question is whether you will physically be able to bring your cigarettes in the park with you or if you will have to leave the pack in your car or resort.
At Wide World of Sports you can not even bring them past the security checkpoint

How do they stop them at WWOS? Or is it more of a "if we see it, it won't be allowed in" type of thing?

I'm curious about this. @Anchored , can you tell us if this is something you or your boyfriend personally experienced and, if so, in what context/during what kind of event? Nothing on the WWoS page mentions this rule and cigarettes/tobacco products aren't on the list of prohibited items. I don't doubt you - with Disney's stance on non-enforcement of rules, it does seem like a "passive" way to ensure compliance. But I would think if this was official policy, it would be publicized somewhere, which has me wondering if it was an event-specific policy (similar to how, in my area, pro and college stadiums are sometimes used for youth sporting events and follow youth league rules on alcohol during those events)

 

[nd5056]

... The addiction is just too strong. I have quit and did well for 2 years and started back. I know I can quit again...

I've been there myself, told myself what's the big deal, I can quit anytime I want to. The truth is, it was easier to stay smoke free once I admitted to myself that I'd never be able to quit and stay smoke free if i fail it one more time.

...Nicotine isn't even in all the drops for vapes...

Exactly what I had in mind. I know some that chose this alternative over smoking pot.

I smoked, I do understand everything, including the nicotine crave. Not trying to be smart because I quit. But as Disney being a family establishment and with so many disrespecting the smoking rules, I'm surprised it took them that long. Just look around, almost everywhere there are sticker smoking rules then the one in Disney.

As for those smoking while having oxygen tank in tow... they do it because they want to and are arrogant just about anything else in life, not only smoking.

And there always be someone that'll find a way to bring them inside, because if there's a will, there's a way...

 

[Klismania]

Going back to the parks, for those who vape, is nicotine the only ingredient in those drops?

If memory serves, I believe the base ingredient of most liquids is glycerol - either vegetable or propylene glycol (which is the base for a lot of medical inhalers). Added to that is a precise mixture of whatever mg of nicotine you want - or none if you don't want nicotine - and flavorings. I know of many smokers (typically older people) who transitioned to vaping and stepped down their nicotine. IE: They may have started at 30, then down to 20, 15, 10, etc. Today they still vape with NO nicotine but retain the "security blanket" of the calming action of smoking without the thousands of chemicals that are in traditional cigarettes.

I may be wrong. Hopefully someone who vapes now can confirm or correct my assessment.

It will be very easy for security to target smokers for a heightened security check. They only have to use their nose.

Not always the case. People are always surprised when they find out I smoke. They say they never smell it on me. And I'm a 30+ year smoker. I just try to keep myself, my clothes, my area clean. That's all.

 

[superme80]

I know I'll be in the minority here but I was so sad to read this morning's announcements. We have had so many really great trips to Disney, but I know my husband won't go back with a no-smoking policy in place. It isn't reasonable in the least to expect smokers to hike all the way back to the parking lot to have a cigarette, on top of all the walking that is already involved in a WDW vacation. Disney has to know this and I'm sure they don't care - they are busy enough that losing the ~20% of Americans who still smoke is a loss they're willing to accept. But on a personal level, I'm so disappointed that we'll never take that adults-only trip we've been talking about for years or give DD her 21st birthday wish with a Food & Wine trip.

I'm with you. Not happy about this. The only saving grace is next time we go, my youngest will over 7. I can't even imagine trying to handle 3 kids under 7 while my husband has to go out the gates to smoke, then wait for him to come back. I hope they have a special entrance so the smokers can get back inside quickly to their families.

 

[Klismania]

Nah, I think it was always going this way. They started getting rid of DSAs, knowing that it would make more people light up in places they weren't supposed to (basically the same philosophy Walt articulated about trash cans, but in reverse), and that made a total ban inevitable.

This! If they'd have made the smoking areas more convenient and more plentiful, I don't think we would have seen as many rule-breakers. When WDW started this measure, there were plenty of DSAs. The last time I went (early 2018), there was ONE in AK, TWO in MK, several in the World Showcase in Epcot, and I don't remember how many in HS. It was a royal pain trying to find one and I remember asking myself why I was spending so much money just so I could waste my time trying to find a smoking section.

 

[Mickeyorbust]

I am a smoker and stuck to the DSA's when they existed. Some I disagreed with the placement as they were too close to the main pathways. Others were perfectly placed behind a building or a corner rarely used by other guests. I'm sure the rule breakers were a contributing factor. Why punish everyone? Just enforce your own rule. And where will this end? Will scooters for the disabled be banned next. I have been hit by a few while in the parks and witnessed a 4 year old girls foot broken by one to get to a better parade spot.