Disney Masks ... Predictable

[NotUrsula]

My first reaction was to order, so I put them in My cart. Then I thought on it, I removed them. DISNEY can well afford to donate without Using Disney fans to fund their donations.
Personally find it Distasteful. Really, Disney... do better!

FWIW, they ARE donating them, at least some of them. They are donating one million masks to patients in children's hospitals, and then also donating the profits from the ones sold online. The issue I'm having with their sale donation is that they have put a cap on the amount that will be donated. I'm hoping that the negative reaction to that will cause them to reconsider the cap.

I've been making masks for a charity drive for nearly 2 months now, and I can tell you this much: EVERY mask donated has a likelihood of ending up re-sold. The ones that we have been donating have been turning up on eBay in dribs and drabs; someone is taking them out of the pipeline (we are now being advised to stamp "not for resale" on the ones we donate.) I'm willing to bet that probably half of the masks that the Disney Store sold today are going to end up being re-sold on eBay for a lot more than Disney priced them.

There is already a HUGE market on eBay and Etsy of Disney-print masks. The online price of the printed Disney character raw fabric (licensed by Disney but not sold by them) has gone up about 500% in the past month. Disney won't make as much on their masks as the ones that are out there now, which average about $11/ea., and which are mostly made of fabric purchased before the price skyrocketed. (Some are cheaper, but some are also more expensive.)

 

[bcla]

The face covering are to protect everyone else from an asymptomatic person from unknowingly spreading the virus. If a person is sick they should be isolated. No need for the general public to wear anything other than this type mask. Save the surgical ones for those in the medical field.

I still see a lot of the procedure masks worn by members of the public. You know - the simple type. A lot of these are marketed as more or less waiting room masks and not necessarily for medical professionals. I know the Disney pattern masks that my kid has are are marketed as preventing the spread of germs in waiting rooms.

My wife frankly ordered a bunch that were made in China. They look a lot like the light blue procedure masks from 3M or Kimberly-Clark. However, they have an insert that says that they were made in a Chinese garment factory. I don't know if I really need to feel guilty about this since I understand that our local hospitals have no difficulty getting these types of masks now via their normal supply channels. Real N95 masks may be another matter.

Also - I see a lot of people wearing the vented N95 masks. That defeats much of the purpose by not filtering exhalation.

 

[Kestryl]

The homemade masks people are selling around my area are $5+ each. So I don’t see Disney masks as over-priced.

If they require them in the parks... or really anywhere longer than about an hour... I might be stuck at home. It feels like I can’t get in enough air while wearing them, and I have a lot of difficulty keeping my glasses clear. I don’t have asthma or anything (that I’m aware of). And I realize that the fogging glasses should mean that the mask doesn’t fit properly, but I’ve tried a few different wires and clamps and can’t get it to stay. So I’m up for any tips. Especially the breathing thing.

 

[NotUrsula]

The homemade masks people are selling around my area are $5+ each. So I don’t see Disney masks as over-priced.

If they require them in the parks... or really anywhere longer than about an hour... I might be stuck at home. It feels like I can’t get in enough air while wearing them, and I have a lot of difficulty keeping my glasses clear. I don’t have asthma or anything (that I’m aware of). And I realize that the fogging glasses should mean that the mask doesn’t fit properly, but I’ve tried a few different wires and clamps and can’t get it to stay. So I’m up for any tips. Especially the breathing thing.

It should be a *bit* hard to breathe when wearing a mask; it should move in & out a bit when you breathe.

The nose wire will work best if it is 16-20 gauge wire, thinner than 20 won't stay bent properly. (The best wire design for a cloth mask is to have an open-ended "slip pocket" on the outside of the mask, about 1x3" (a piece of 1" ribbon will do in a pinch), sewn on crosswise just below the top center edge. Cut the wire 9" long, curl the tips with a needle-nose pliers for safety, and then bend 2" under from each end to look sort of like the main part of a pr. of aviator glasses. Slip that wire into the pocket, put on the mask and shape the wire down around your nose. Remove the wire when you wash the mask.)

 

[Diznygrl]

Judging by the price point I'm not expecting these masks to be the greatest of quality, since they're pretty inexpensive by Disney standards. It's hard to really say since the pictures shown are just computer illustrations and not the actual masks, since they've not been manufactured yet. But I'm ok with that because I really don't feel like navigating the new world of online homemade mask sales, or paying $15-20 for one mask. These should be good enough for what they are supposed to do, which is to keep your gross droplets to yourself in situations where social distancing may be tricky.

If the market for face masks is still viable later down the road after the initial "charity" phase is over, I imagine Disney will start making fancier ones for a higher price.

 

[FairestOfThemAll37]

Folks this is the first step in the new normal. Now that they are on Shop Disney, they will be sold in the parks and on the cruises and Disney could make them mandatory in public areas of cruises and in the parks.

All those people who say oh I'm not wearing a mask in Disney parks or on a Disney cruise, it will ruin the magic and the experience, will have to make a choice, either wear the mask or don't experience Disney!

I cannot imagine wearing a mask all day at Disney! I honestly don’t think I could. I had to wait in line for the grocery store (TJs, not doing that again) for maybe 10-15 minutes. It’s definitely not summer yet but we’ve been hitting around 90 and it was rough for just that 15 minutes. By the time I waited, shopped and got back in my hot car my face already felt kind of damp.

I’m pretty sure once it’s up in the high 90s with heat index of 100+ in the summer people are going to be sweating through their masks. I thought once masks get damp they stop doing what they’re supposed to do. It’s going to be interesting!

 

[billlaurie]

I preordered this morning. Hey, they are cute, why not.

 

[cabanafrau]

If ever there was a time to use the line of Disney being a business and the right thing to do being the business move, it's absolutely now. Given how massively their business operations have been taken offline in so many sectors, they need to shore up revenue streams they have available at the moment. I'm not saying that in regard to company profits per se. And I'm certainly not suggesting it's for executive compensation. The idea that every bit of those revenue streams offering a trickle of water that leads to being able to sustain job opportunities for as many of the average, everyday Janes and Joes working for the company is a good thing, a necessary thing.

Monetize, market, synergy, IP the heck out of it for the sake of your employees, Disney.

 

[BrianL]

They have been selling themed masks in Japan for ages as there it is part of the culture to wear them when one is sick and sometimes for other reasons too. I see that happening here too. It will become common to see people wearing masks while doing routine things, even visiting the theme parks.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I bought some.

 

[Searc]

Funny, all they say is "imported", but not from where.

 

[amylevan]

For those judging Disney, so far I’ve seen Gap and Anthropologie both selling masks. I’m pretty sure you’re going to be able to buy a mask to match every outfit soon.

 

[DisneyNurse19]

We do the same as they have been doing in Asia for years, you take them off during dinner.

From the Disneyland Shanghai App:
Guests must wear a mask during their entire visit (except when dining), and will also be reminded to maintain respectful social distances at all times while in stores, queues and restaurants.

Masks are 'normally' worn for pollution in Asia plus this must be recent addition for when they open again as when you look at pictures of Disneyland Shanghai no one has been wearing masks and of the people i know who have been they have never had to wear masks. This will lead to people thinking they are OK as you can't get the virus when eating. Also what will they do with the masks, put them on the table, in their bag, etc.? After all no one will know if the mask has the virus on it

 

[bcla]

They have been selling themed masks in Japan for ages as there it is part of the culture to wear them when one is sick and sometimes for other reasons too. I see that happening here too. It will become common to see people wearing masks while doing routine things, even visiting the theme parks.

In the Chinese speaking parts of Asia, just wearing medical style masks has been pretty common since the SARS outbreak. I thought they were paranoid. I even saw it in the US among a lot of people originally from China, including international students primarily from China. At the time it did seem somewhat paranoid to be wearing a mask in public.

 

[LSUmiss]

Folks this is the first step in the new normal. Now that they are on Shop Disney, they will be sold in the parks and on the cruises and Disney could make them mandatory in public areas of cruises and in the parks.

All those people who say oh I'm not wearing a mask in Disney parks or on a Disney cruise, it will ruin the magic and the experience, will have to make a choice, either wear the mask or don't experience Disney!

And enough ppl may choose not to experience Disney that way & Disney will be in a position to make a choice.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Masks are 'normally' worn for pollution in Asia plus this must be recent addition for when they open again as when you look at pictures of Disneyland Shanghai no one has been wearing masks and of the people i know who have been they have never had to wear masks. This will lead to people thinking they are OK as you can't get the virus when eating. Also what will they do with the masks, put them on the table, in their bag, etc.? After all no one will know if the mask has the virus on it

Since these things are scare I fold the mask and slide it into a sandwich bag. I also have a UV-C travel wand. Not sure how effective they are in this setting but...

 

[bcla]

Since these things are scare I fold the mask and slide it into a sandwich bag. I also have a UV-C travel wand. Not sure how effective they are in this setting but...

Any thought as to whether or not the UV will damage the mask? Or maybe you're not using it on the mask? I've heard of what hospitals are doing to reuse masks. I've seen pictures of rooms where they get gassed by some disinfectant.

 

[NotUrsula]

In the Chinese speaking parts of Asia, just wearing medical style masks has been pretty common since the SARS outbreak. I thought they were paranoid. I even saw it in the US among a lot of people originally from China, including international students primarily from China. At the time it did seem somewhat paranoid to be wearing a mask in public.

The mask tradition in Asia goes a lot farther back than the SARS epidemic. It really took hold among laymen there after an outbreak of airborne pneumonic plague in 1910. In Japan, it has long been considered the polite thing to do to wear a mask to keep your coughs to yourself. That's the key to the whole idea of surgical masks (as opposed to N95s): it is not about what you avoid catching FROM others, it is about what you avoid spraying ON others when you cough or sneeze. The P word we should be thinking of is "polite", not "paranoid".

There are lots of very dry papers on the history of medicine that discuss mask-wearing customs and campaigns, and a quick PubMed search will find hundreds of them if you want to read research. For a quicker read with interesting photos, this article from Bloomberg gives a nice laymen's overview: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-10/medical-face-masks-an-illustrated-history.

BTW, the better type of bag to store a mask between uses is a paper bag, not a plastic one. The virus dies more quickly on paper than on plastic, and the longer a mask stays damp, the longer pathogens are likely to survive on it. That will become more important the hotter the weather gets. Also, if you are concerned about a mask being hot to wear, go with a lighter color; it will help some. In a situation where you expect extended wear, you should carry 2 of them; so that you can let one dry out while you wear the other one.

 

[bcla]

The mask tradition in Asia goes a lot farther back than the SARS epidemic. It really took hold among laymen there after an outbreak of airborne pneumonic plague in 1910. In Japan, it has long been considered the polite thing to do to wear a mask to keep your coughs to yourself. That's the key to the whole idea of surgical masks (as opposed to N95s): it is not about what you avoid catching FROM others, it is about what you avoid spraying ON others when you cough or sneeze. The P word we should be thinking of is "polite", not "paranoid".

I've been to China a few times over the years. I didn't recall seeing a whole lot of mask wearing in the 80s and 90s, but by about 2008 it was pretty common. There might have been some sort of tradition, but it sounded to me like SARS is where a lot more people started wearing masks.

 

[RamblingMad]

I went to order. But it said they won’t be available until July. I have no idea what July is going to look like.