This year at Disneyland, HalloweenTime is full of pumpkins, candy, new fireworks, attraction layovers, villains, and cigarette smoke. Yes, that’s right, cigarette smoke. The powers-that-be have put the Disney villains this year in a character walk in front of it’s a small world.  In previous years, this would be a wonderful location. The line for it’s a small world isn’t as prohibitive as it will be for Christmas, there is ample room to make a line for a character meet n’ greet, and there are even trees around to offer some respite from what has been scorching sun. The downside is what is right behind the small backdrops they have made for Disney’s villains.

 

Fantasyland’s smoking section is located several yards away, close enough that smoke regularly wafts into the character location. It is also close enough that guests could be heard complaining about it in the park on Sunday. It is even close enough that one Cast Member had to be removed from this location when the smoke caused this person to have an asthma attack.

 

 

This is a problem that needs to be addressed. Secondhand smoke has been proven to have detrimental effects. The Walt Disney Company has gone as far as to publicly denounce the practice of smoking in movies, “produced by the Company that carry the Disney brand” (“except in limited circumstances”) and they strongly discourage the use of smoking in other movies produced within the United States by Touchstone Pictures. It also discourages the use of smoking in other movies that are merely distributed by the Walt Disney Company. In 2006, the Disneyland Resort Hotels transitioned to a smoke free environment. A year later the Walt Disney World Resort Hotels did the same. Within the Disneyland Resort, smoking is relegated to specific smoking areas. However when the smoking areas and an attraction or queue end up sharing air, there is a safety and comfort issue for the majority of guests and cast members who are not smokers. According to the Center for Disease Control, “secondhand smoke contains at least 250 known toxic chemicals, including more than 50 that can cause cancer.” It also causes heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory infections and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDs).

 

Disney has four standards of quality that it operates under. The first, and the one that is never to be compromised is safety. This standard must be questioned at this location if there is at least one Cast Member being removed as a direct result of the nearby smoking section. Characters inherently attract children and families. While the argument could be made that people are only exposed to the smoke for a few minutes as they make their way through the Meet n’ Greet, it must be remembered that Cast Members and characters alike are standing there for much longer. Their safety must be considered as well. Disney has made great strides in past years in dealing with the smoking issue. This could have just been a case where the ramifications of the proximity of the characters to the smoking section weren’t thought through all the way. Now that a problem exists and has been recognized, it is time to fix it. Hopefully, this fix will come swiftly. The health of the Cast Members who work so hard daily to make magic for the families that visit must be vigorously protected so that Disneyland remains as healthy and safe as it is fun “for all who come to this happy place.”

 

DAPs Magic emailed the Disneyland Press Office but did not receive a response for comment on this story.

 

 

Sources:

 

http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/cr_safety_security_smoking.html

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/common/helpFAQ?id=HelpFAQSmokeFreePage

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/faq/smoke-free-policy/#subCategory5

http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/help/gsDetail?name=ParkwideServicesGSDetailPage

http://www.cdc.gov/DataStatistics/archive/second-hand-smoke.html

 

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Comment posted by: rmc77

we were just there a week ago and the smell of the smoke as we walked by was disgusting even our 3 and 5 year olds said it smelled yucky.we were at the happiest place on earth we shouldn't have to be exposed to toxins and cancer causing second hand smoke, I mean come on make it a no smoking zone in the parks.we dont go again for a while otherwise I would bring this letter to city hall, good luck!

 

Comment posted by: MrDAPs

You can leave a comment with City Hall by emailing them via www.disneyland.com and then the CONTACT US button.

 

Comment posted by: Nectarmaiden

Not only will I print this out and deliver it to City Hall tomorrow, I will also mail a couple of copies to Disney addresses I have.