Originally Posted By TokyoSea The other day I was pleasantly surprised to see that all the smoking areas at Disney Sea have been converted just to open sitting areas. As a non-smoker the change was a welcome breath of fresh air. But out of curiosity, what lead to the change and where are the poor smokers left to smoke now?
Originally Posted By TokyoSweets They built smoking rooms, one of them used to be the bathrooms by Space at TDL and there is another room at TDS by Broadway Music Theater. A very welcome change!
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ There is a sneaky one in the fortress too - you access it from the landings area.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Wish they did this at Disneyland Paris where the whole park is a filthy ashtray, where euro guests smoke everywhere. Filthy. Bravo TDR for making these changes, but it's still not enough. Smokers belong in outer space.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Wish they did this at Disneyland Paris where the whole park is a filthy ashtray, where euro guests smoke everywhere. Filthy. Bravo TDR for making these changes, but it's still not enough. Smokers belong in outer space.<<< I'm a non-smoker, but I don't mind smokers in the parks. I guess that's the European in me speaking. As long as they don't smoke in queues and building, I'm fine. The only annoying thing for me is, that they throw the cigarette on the ground instead of an ashtray. If Disney would handle that stricter, I would welcome that, but since they don't do that, I can live with them smoking in the outside. I know in the eyes of many US Disney fans, Europeans are rude, disrespectful and God forbid we drink alcohol in the Magic Kingdom park. Sometimes that's true that Europeans don't behave, but most of the time it's not. At least in my six visits, I have never had any bad experiences. I guess you will find this kind of people everywhere, except Japan, and we encountered some bad behaviour at WDW as well. Nevertheless there are some things that should be improved at DLP, like the situation with people in planters. I admit that's disrespectful and rude. However Disney built DLP in France and not in the US. Cultures are different and that's good. So Disney did the right thing to accomodate that, like the alcohol served in DLP. I just can't imagine having dinner at Walt's and drinking a Coke.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>However Disney built DLP in France and not in the US. Cultures are different and that's good.<< I completely agree. Realistically, you just can't expect guests in Europe, Hong Kong, or Japan to all act like guests in America. For better or for worse there are some serious differences in the cultural mentality. Personally, I have no problem with people smoking outside, especially when I'm in another country. While it may be annoying for some, it's every low on my list of complaints. Much bigger issues to me are guests in the planters, line cutting, and pushing and shoving (mostly mainlanders at HKDL...Shanghai's going to be really interesting!)
Originally Posted By dagobert >>> Much bigger issues to me are guests in the planters, line cutting, and pushing and shoving (mostly mainlanders at HKDL...Shanghai's going to be really interesting!)<<< Line cutting was a problem at DLP, but it didn't happen during our last visits. However in 2006 when we have been there on New Year's Eve it happened a few times. And it's also annoying to see people in planters. That's really rude.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>>I'm a non-smoker, but I don't mind smokers in the parks.<<< Well I DO. At DLP this is a constant problem and smoke can be inhaled almost constantly when you're there It's an attack on my right to safe breathing air. A shame they smoke on top of their children in a place full of them. have you people not heard of cancer and other 2nd hand tobacco dangers? >>>I guess that's the European in me speaking. As long as they don't smoke in queues and building, I'm fine.<<< That's the problem, Euro guests do just that all the time, and I have seen this happen there very often. >>> Realistically, you just can't expect guests in Europe, Hong Kong, or Japan to all act like guests in America.<<< No you can't expect it, God forbid Americans, Chinese and Europeans learned from the exemplary behaviors displayed by the Japanese guests at TDR. But regardless of cultural differences, the main problem that causes these problems in the parks is CM complacency. If management and CMs took the time to make sure guests followed the safety/smoking rules, things might be better, especially in DLP where CMs just don't care. The US and HK parks also suffer from this problem. Only in Tokyo do I see CMs being proactive and in high staffing numbers cracking down on prohibited guests' behaviors. >>>Nevertheless there are some things that should be improved at DLP, like the situation with people in planters. I admit that's disrespectful and rude. <<< Agreed, but again, that goes back to what I just mentioned; CM complacency, which at DLP is rampant. If CMs don't come down on these issues, they will never be fixed.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Well I DO. At DLP this is a constant problem and smoke can be inhaled almost constantly when you're there It's an attack on my right to safe breathing air. A shame they smoke on top of their children in a place full of them. have you people not heard of cancer and other 2nd hand tobacco dangers? <<< TDLFAN, don't get me wrong, I know that bad behaviour is a problem at DLP, but I'm just annoyed for being constantly attacked by Americans on fanboards, when I've encountered bad behaviour by Americans as well, especially at WDW. I also know that alcohol and tobacco are big problems for Americans, but as I mentioned before DLP was built in France and there cigarettes and especially wine are part of their culture. I just don't see a problem people smoking outside. However if Disney would enforce their policy on smoking, I guess the smoking problem would decrease. Obiviously Disney in France doesn't do that and so I don't blame the visitors. Of course I have heard of cancer and other second hand tobacco dangers, but the only way to avoid that is a total ban and honestly that's not Disney's business. However I would be as happy as you if Disney would enforce their smoking policy. I really don't know why the CMs aren't stricter, but I agree they should be. I guess the parks also need more CMs to enforce their policies, but since ED SCA is always short on money, DLP just can't afford that. Since I'm not a regular visitor that only goes to DLP during off season, I've just didn't encounter that many smoking problems. Maybe that's because here in Austria people are still allowed to smoke outside. How is it in the US? Are you only allowed to smoke in your home?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros In most of the US, the trend is that you can only smoke outside, a certain distance (~20 feet) away from any doors/windows that might carry the smoke inside. For bars and restaurants, this means that smoking is only allowed outdoors on a patio or deck, if they have one. People are allowed to smoke in their homes, but certain apartment and condo buildings have their own rules against it. When I moved to California, I learned that you're not allowed to smoke in your own car if there are kids in it, which seems a little extreme to me (and was the only question that I got wrong on the driving test; why it applied to me, a non-smoker with no kids, I have no idea). For the most part, the rules seem to be that you can do whatever you want in private, but when you're in public and might blow smoke on someone you need to be careful
Originally Posted By leemac <<Only in Tokyo do I see CMs being proactive and in high staffing numbers cracking down on prohibited guests' behaviors.>> The weird thing is that the Japanese are one of the heaviest smoking nations in the world - more than double the French average and significantly more that just about every other Western country (most of Eastern Europe still has higher consumption). They also smoke just about everywhere - one of the worst experiences is immediately outside any JR entrance - they are usually congregated there getting their fix before either entering the station or heading from the station. They are usually fairly clean when it comes to the used filter but that doesn't stop them flicking ash everywhere.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< [The Japanese] also smoke just about everywhere - one of the worst experiences is immediately outside any JR entrance - they are usually congregated there getting their fix before either entering the station or heading from the station. >>> But things are slowly evolving in Japan with regard to smoking, but differently than elsewhere. I'm sure you've seen the same changes I have over the past few years: - First, JR East banned smoking on railway cars, and more recently anywhere in stations behind the turnstiles, including open-air platforms and even purposefully-built "smoking rooms" with separate ventilation, which have now become just "waiting rooms." - Cigarette vending machines now require a government-issued smart card to operate. That's an interesting adoption specific to Japan, as in most other places, they just ban vending machine sales altogether and make you buy it from a person. - Some popular tourist zones in Tokyo ban smoking anywhere outside within the zone, including the street, sidewalks, etc. Tokyo is the only place I've been to that has large areas of the city with a complete "no smoking" ban when outside in public areas. Yet, nothing has been done about smoking inside in restaurants, bars, etc. Even Hong Kong went to a 100% ban in bars and restaurants a few years ago, and there certainly was no shortage of people smoking there before the ban. I was pleased to find that the TDLH opened as a 100% smoke-free facility, and the Hotel MiraCosta converted to the same while it was closed due to the earthquake. Only the Ambassador still has smoking rooms.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Yet, nothing has been done about smoking inside in restaurants, bars, etc. Even Hong Kong went to a 100% ban in bars and restaurants a few years ago, and there certainly was no shortage of people smoking there before the ban.>> Weird policy-making I guess. I think the problem is that JT is still controlled by the government so not only do they benefit from the duty (which is still too low - something like 25% of what we have in the UK) but also from the massive profits of JT (c.$5bn EBITDA). It is about time that the government act to ban smoking in all public places.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Anyone who smokes is a potential killer--not only killing themself but also killing others. There is no polite way to say it. It's just a fact.
Originally Posted By Mr X By that logic, though, so is anyone who drives a car (for the toxic fumes, not the potential for accident...). Just sayin...
