All COVID Mandates for Orange County, Home of Walt Disney World, Lifted
The light at the end of the tunnel is here! During today’s 2021 State of Orange Country press conference (Orange County is the home to Walt Disney World), Mayor Jerry Demings announced that the county is no longer under a state of emergency and that they will be entering Phase 3 of their reopening strategy tomorrow. Phase 3 suspends all COVID mandates and protocols including mask requirements and social distancing guidelines.
Orange County, Florida can enter Phase 3 as their 14-day rolling positivity rate is below the crucial 5% threshold. During the press conference he said, “We are back, we are back on course. We are back on course for destination greatness.”
The 2021 State of Orange County address by Mayor @JerryDemings @OCFLMayor. He says as of today we are no longer under a local state of emergency. Saturday, OC goes into Phase 3 of the reopening plan after 14 straight days of the positivity rate being under 5% #FOX35 pic.twitter.com/qQrJInLunH
— Amanda McKenzie FOX 35 (@AmandaMckNews) June 4, 2021
Orange County is home to the majority of the Walt Disney World Resort. The County has been under a state of emergency for the past 15 months when the COVID-19 pandemic started.
So, what does this mean for Walt Disney World? Well, we are still waiting on the official word since they are a private business and can pretty much make their own rules. But, in the past few weeks we have seen a lot of progress to get back to “normal” in the parks.
Three weeks ago, Walt Disney World lifted their mandate requiring Guests to wear masks or face coverings outside. Since then, we have seen the removal of social distancing markers in outdoor queues and outdoor eating areas at restaurants.
However, with today’s announcement by Mayor Demings, we might see the complete removal of the mask mandate – indoors and outdoors. It was just last weekend that Universal Orlando allowed Guests to go mask-free in all indoor and outdoor locations.
‘WE’RE BACK!’ Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings announced during his annual State of the County address on Friday that the county is no longer under a local state of emergency. https://t.co/joqd5E18j5
— FOX 35 Orlando (@fox35orlando) June 4, 2021
Other than not requiring Guests to wear masks indoors and outdoors, we will most likely see Walt Disney World increase park capacity in the near future. Which hopefully means the return of FastPasses or something similar!
Walt Disney World will also be able to increase their restaurant capacity now with Orange County being in Phase 3. The decreased restaurant capacity has been one factor that has kept the popular dining plans away. Hopefully, their return is imminent as well.
(Matt Stroshane, photographer)
If you are a Walt Disney World fan, the next several days and weeks are going to be interesting (in a good way!) with the news of Orange County lifting all of their COVID mandates. Make sure to keep it right here with MickeyBlog.com as we bring all the breaking goods on the return to normal!
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