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Smoking: Park policies: Your opinion.


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I got this from another board, but i thought i'd try it here.

I guess PKI is putting in a smoking rule and having smoking only in designated areas.

I'm a smoker, and having visited Dollywood last year (they have such smoking rules) i couldn't agree more with that policy.

That park was the cleanest park i've ever seen.

We were walking along the pathway, and this park worker advised me of the policy. She was very courteous and friendly and even walked me to the smoking area so i could blaze. She didn't just say: "You CAN"T DO THAT IN THIS AREA!!! MOVE OVER THERE!!!" (without a doubt, DW took my fav park category on many counts last summer.)

So, what do the rest of you think of such policies?

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They are great policies, when they are enforced.

 

Disneyland has had such a policy in effect for years, but people still smoke wherever and CM's don't usually say anything.

 

It also depends on where they put the smoking areas. There used to be one by Splash Mountain and you could smell the smoke from the ride after the final drop. It was nasty.

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Silver Dollar City has the policy with certain smoking areas, and Holiday World's was great.

 

Personally as a non-smoker, I prefer non-smoking areas, but alot of the parks we visit people still blaze up in line and don't care as well as most of the employees.

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I don't smoke, and I've never ever been bothered by people smoking. As much as it pains me to see people losing the right to smoke wherever they may be, I can see it is a somewhat neccesary step for the parks to take. After all, some people got a allmost freakish stand on it. (if you are reading this, you know who you are! )

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I think what PKI did was stretching a line a bit. You cannot stop smokers, for they will still smoke. I have no problem with smoking, but, like previously mentioned, smokeing sections which some parks have are a better idea then just banning smoking. It might even cause attendence to decrease, as smokers would rather spend an enjoyable day at a park where they can do something which they are habitual in doing. They don't want to have to give up something they like to have fun.

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Actually, I think most parks have a rule about smoking...even SFMM had a designated smoking areas thing for about 3 weeks (complete with signs and everything!) and then gave up because no one cooporated or enforced it. That's the key, it will never work unless parks enforce it.

 

As a non-smoker I would love to see it completely banned at parks! Japan is a very smokey country and it annoyed me quite a bit. Even in the US the states which do not allow smoking in restaurants are so much better for me! It's always weird to go traveling and go into a restaurant and have them ask you "smoking or non?", since I'm not used to that at all!

 

Elissa "I still respect the smokers, but it really does bother a lot of us!" Alvey

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Personally, I think smoking should be illegal. It makes me sick to be walking behind someone who's smoking. It's so damn gross.

 

I think allowing people to smoke in a park (even in designated areas) is bad, but if they did completely ban smoking...the attendance would probably drop.

So I guess i'll just have to deal with it...

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Being a non smoker, I can't stand smelling it on somebody...and once they begin talking it get's pretty bad. I know parks around here (SFMW,PGA) do not allow you to smoke in queues. I think they should get rid of smoking overall in parks. I want to smell the cotton candy and whatnot, not someone's smokey breath.

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I can't stand cigarettes (note: I didn't say smokers as I won't prejudge them). Frankly, they should be illegal, I mean what benefits the country from smoking (unless the companies pay the government to keep it legal)?

Smokers at DLR really ruin the *strains to find the right word* magic for non-smokers and their families.

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I'm all for smoking areas, though as a rule I try to avoid smoking in Disney parks (excluding Epcot - you can't have that much alcohol without needing a cigarette).

 

I wish park employees could be more stringent on enforcing the smoking-areas-only policies, but the simple fact of the matter is that a certain percentage of smokers - just like a certain percentage of any other group of folks you can lump together - are real schmucks. I've seen people get almost stupidly offended when told they couldn't smoke in the line for Spider-Man (and this is the indoor section of the queue, not the outer areas!). I personally think these folks should be ejected from the parks, but let's be honest - no park has the stones to do that.

 

Oh, and can we also reserve a corner of hell for the people who talked on their cell phones throughout El Rio del Tiempo last time I was there?

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I wish park employees could be more stringent on enforcing the smoking-areas-only policies, but the simple fact of the matter is that a certain percentage of smokers - just like a certain percentage of any other group of folks you can lump together - are real schmucks. I've seen people get almost stupidly offended when told they couldn't smoke in the line for Spider-Man (and this is the indoor section of the queue, not the outer areas!). I personally think these folks should be ejected from the parks, but let's be honest - no park has the stones to do that.

 

 

I agree, I work in a hospital, and there could be someone with a breathing problem, such as asthma, that can be triggered by cigarette smoke, like me

 

I have asthma and at times the smoke can trigger an asthma attack, I do have very mild asthma, but there are plenty who have it WAY worse than I do

 

I don't have any intrest in seeing it banned completly, but if the park provides a good number of smoking area's then the park rules should be strictly enforced

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City Of Arlington, Tx (Home of SFOT) has a city ordinance stating no smoking in lines. I consider myself an occasional smoker(usually with a pint of harp or guinness), but I have no real issue with smoking or smokers as long as they do it in an designated area.

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Although I am only 12 years old I smoke quite heavily when I am around friends. I think all the stuff about it being harmful to your body is rubbish, if it was so bad then how come I haven't got lung cancer yet!?! I just think it is a conspiracy to get it banned because George Bush and the Democrats think that it doesn't smell nice.

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^Are you crazy!?

Apart from the fact it is been proven it's harmful to you, you're only 12, way too young to start smoking! You don't know what you're doing to yourself and until you become more mature and relise what risks you're taking, then you can evaluate whether that (imho awful) taste is worth your life.

 

Why haven't you got lung cancer? Firstly, you're young and your body as at it's peak peformance and it will take a while of your smoking for it to get to the point where lung cancer is inevitable as well as the fact not all smokers get lung cancer.

 

Hundreds of people die each year from second-hand smoking and is having a cigarette worth putting other people at risk?

You obviously don't value your life very much, care to try some euthanasia?

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I hate the smell of cigarettes. Last time I was at SFMM while standing in line for Batman the guy in front of me pulled out a cigarette and started to smoke it. I didn't want to get out of line because I had been in line for almost 30 min. I wanted to tell the guy to please put it out but he looked like the gang banger type that would beat up kids like me if I told them what to do. Like said earlier I think smoking places are a good idea. But smokers should have more respect for the people around them that don't smoke.

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It's very much a matter of respect more than anything else. I smoke, but I only do so in designated smoking areas. I also try to judge the way the wind is blowing and try to position myself within a smoking area so that my smoke will have the least possible impact on those around me that don't smoke. It even bothers me to see someone light up in an area of a park that isn't designated for smoking. Not because the smoke bothers me, but because of the lack of respect it shows.

 

Smoking areas should be well though out, and enforced. Too many times, a smoking area is adjacent to a major walkway. Disneyland is an example of this. I'm well familiar with where I'm supposed to smoke in DL, but I often refrain because of how poorly the smoking areas are set up. California Adventure is a much better example of having the smoking areas placed so that they minimize the impact on nonsmokers.

 

I don't really think we want to go down the road of "Smoking should just be illegal because it's bad for you." That may sound fine to the militant nonsmokers, but what are you going to say when they next come after your Big Mac, or your Ben and Jerry's ice cream because it's bad for you too? There are all kinds of things that people do that are bad for them. That's a slippery slope that we don't even want to start slipping on.

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That may sound fine to the militant nonsmokers, but what are you going to say when they next come after your Big Mac, or your Ben and Jerry's ice cream because it's bad for you too?

 

You mean well when you make this point, but the reality is, my eating a Big Mac and Super-sized fries every day for lunch isn't going to cause you to have have a heart attack.

 

That said, the short term exposure that someone such as myself would receive standing next to smoker in line for a funnel cake, probably isn't going to cause me to get cancer. But, for those of us who don't like the smell and taste of someone's cigarette smoke, or who are concerned about the potential effects of secondhand smoke, I think the smoking sections are a great idea (again, so long as they are enforced, which, knowing PKI, they won't be)

 

Shari "I'll check it out on Opening Weekend and let you know" Shoufler

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Billy Hill: True enough. All the pendulum needs to do is swing in any direction and stuff becomes illegal. I read an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer a while back that was titled: Laws you probibly didn't know about.

One such law was regarding 'french kissing'. That was outlawed, not based on how it looks in public, but for the possiblity of spreading 'mouth to mouth' germs... i forgot what county it was for, but it dated back the early 1900's.

Here's the thing: if the powers that be outlaw, say, smoking, based on health concerns, they can also outlaw 'known' foods that lead to obesity(sp?). Smoking costs the country billions in health care every year: Obesity costs this country billions in health care every year.

Keep in mind, i believe in smoking area's...

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^^^ The big difference is that Smoking also brings in billions of dollars each year in excise taxes. Here in NJ the cigarette taxes are $2.50 per pack!

 

I am a non-smoker and I despise when people light up near me at parks. I think designated areas are great ideas, but again, only when enforced. Should smoking be illegal? I don't think so, it's your body, do what you want to it in your own house, but when you start blowing it on me, that is when I have a problem.

 

Everyone who has said "I try to be respectful and not smoke near people", that is all well and good for you, and I wish everyone was this way, but unfortunatly you are not in the majority. When I am in line and the group of 15 year old girls behind us all start smoking, do you think they would listen to me if I asked them to stop? Keep Dreaming...

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  • 4 years later...

I am a smoker, have been since my early teens.

 

At first my reaction to the minimizing and elimination of smoking areas was outright indignation. The "how DARE they" mentality that we all have at times when we feel targeted.

 

However, I am a smoker and deep down I hate smoking. I actually support banning smoking in public places. I try to be courteous about my habit. The other day at the Tony Hawke ride in Six Flags Vallejo, there was a smoking area close to the ride. Before the park closed to the public several mom or dad and kids were sitting in the area so I simply did not smoke at that time.

 

The thing is that when you have to exit a park to smoke, you smoke less and feel better. At Gilroy Gardens yesterday I did not smoke from arriving until I left the park after lunch. Not a problem, and actually healthier for everyone!

 

OK, enough rambling. My 2 cents turned into a dollar here

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Ok, I am currently a smoker trying to give up (I'm getting there, I don't smoke the 20 a day I previously was) am down to about 4 a day....yay for me

 

My opinion on Smoking in Parks is this, Smoking Areas are a totally stupid idea, would you rather walk past 1 person smoking and smell it, or walk past 30 people smoking and smell that!??!

 

I Personally have never smoked in a Queue Line, no matter how long it is, I also am very observant when smoking as I try to walk away from the crowds (why do they always follow you?!)

 

But hey, I am almost completely given up, so it won't be a problem for me any more.

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