Disney World No Longer Adds Digital Masks For Guests in Ride Photos

Walt Disney World will stop editing face masks on passengers in photos from their rides. The revelation comes after some fans had been posting about it on Facebook. Disney has issued a statement to USA Today indicating that the policy has changed. Tony Townsend noted the change and told some of his friends about it (Credit: WDWNT). Affected rides included Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin and Dinosaur for right now. People were saying that it’s an effort by the park to encourage people to behave more responsibly in their day to day lives. A lot of fans might be tempted to take off their masks for the pictures, and this would certainly curb that behavior. Walt Disney World has been clear since mid-summer that all guests have to be wearing their masks in the park. You can sit and eat, but otherwise, you have to just make it work. Still, a lot of surprised people got their pictures and noticed the difference.

Disney wrote, “In response to guest requests, we tested modifying some ride photos. We are no longer doing this and continue to expect guests to wear face coverings except when actively eating or drinking while stationary.”

During a previous earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Chapek had to point to how well the other parks had been doing. Walt Disney World remains fine even despite the rising cases across the country. There were steep odds earlier this year, but somehow they’ve managed to make lemons from lemonade.

“On the Parks side, we have proven over many months that we’re able to operate our parks responsibly, following strictly enforced guidelines provided by healthcare experts – successfully reopening our parks in Orlando, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Hong Kong,” Chapek observed. “We also reopened Disneyland Paris for several months, although the resort is now temporarily closed due to President Macron’s recent lockdown order, in response to a resurgence in COVID cases in Europe. People have shown a willingness to visit our parks, which I believe is a testament to the fact that they feel confident in the measures we’ve taken. And we are very encouraged by the positive news earlier this week on the progress of potential vaccines.”

The exec also expressed sadness that California wouldn’t be able to reopen this year.

“Unfortunately, we are extremely disappointed that the State of California continues to keep Disneyland closed, despite our proven track record. Our health and safety protocols are all science-based and have the support of labor unions representing 99% of our hourly Cast Members,” Chapek argued. “Frankly, as we and other civic leaders have stated before, we believe the State leadership should look objectively at what we’ve achieved successfully at our parks around the world – all based on science – as opposed to setting an arbitrary standard that is precluding our Cast Members from getting back to work, while decimating small businesses in the local community.”

Will you be visiting Walt Disney World next year? Let us know down in the comments!