Disney World bans smoking at its hotels

Starting June 1, smoking will be banned in all Disney-owned hotel and time-share rooms, and on their balconies, patios and other areas, except in designated smoking zones.

No more smoking- or nonsmoking-room options at Walt Disney World’s hotels in the Orlando area. No more smoke lingering in a room or wafting down a hallway. And no more last, quiet cigarette of the night out on the balcony, under a rising Florida moon. Disney World said Tuesday that it is putting out cigarettes and cigars for good in its hotels and time-share buildings, making it the largest single-site resort complex to take such an action, company officials said.

“We’ve just continued to see the demand for smoking decline, and in the last several years, it has really begun to fall off dramatically,” said Erin Wallace, senior vice president at Disney World. “Less than 4% of our rooms today are being reserved for smokers. It’s time to go the whole way.”

As with its policy in the theme parks, Disney World will designate outdoor smoking areas in fairly private locations at all its hotels. Disney instituted a similar policy last year at its Disneyland hotels in California.

It can be expensive to sneak a cigarette in a nonsmoking room. If Disney finds that someone did light up, a “cleaning fee” of $250 to $500 will be tacked onto the customer’s bill. That is to cover the replacement of fabrics such as draperies and bedding, and the deep cleaning of everything else.

“We will charge them a cleaning fee. That’s pretty typical in the industry,” Wallace said. “We’ll be clear to say no, and we’re going to enforce the policy.”