BAY LAKE, Fla. – Face coverings are now optional aboard Disney Skyliner gondolas for fully vaccinated Walt Disney World guests, according to a policy update on the company’s website.
The latest mask rules at the theme park complex still require unvaccinated guests to wear masks on Walt Disney World transportation — buses, monorails and the Skyliner — as well as in restaurants and other indoor locations when one isn’t eating or drinking while stationary. Vaccinated guests must also keep their masks on when riding in buses and monorails, the rules said.
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The update comes just short of a month after Disney made masks optional in outdoor and indoor settings for guests fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
At around the same time, Universal Orlando Resort updated its guidelines to make masks optional indoors and outdoors for fully vaccinated guests and team members. Unvaccinated guests at Universal Orlando are now only encouraged to wear masks indoors, and unvaccinated team members are still required to wear a mask at all times on property.
COVID-19 cases have been on the decline in Florida and the U.S. following surges largely attributed to the omicron variant. Between March 4-10, 10,228 new cases of coronavirus were reported in Florida, a vast drop compared to the opening of the year when more than 10,000 positives in Florida were being reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each day for weeks.
When asked why the mask rules were rolled back on the Disney Skyliner and not on buses and monorails, a Walt Disney World spokesperson gave the following statement to News 6: