Disney resorts in Orlando, Florida have implemented a new strategy when it comes to security and privacy in the resorts’ guest rooms. The company is doing away with its traditional “Do Not Disturb” room signs and replacing them with “Room Occupied” signs.
The new signs will not preclude hotel staff from entering guests’ rooms. In fact, it is now hotel policy that hotel staff will be entering rooms daily, even when guests are present. Maintenance, housekeeping or security staff will now knock, announce themselves, and then enter. If guests are uncomfortable with staff entering the room when they are not present, hotel staff with coordinate with them on a case-by-case basis.
The Walt Disney Company might soon replace “do not disturb” signs at all of its resorts with ones that say “room occupied.” The move is a response to the Las Vegas massacre in October, and it means hotel staff can enter guest rooms for almost any reason: pic.twitter.com/dRUtjhjrBl
— CBS News (@CBSNews) January 15, 2018
The shift in policy is believed to have been prompted by the mass shooting in Las Vegas last year. A hotel guest there had stored thousands of rounds of ammunition and multiple high-powered rifles in his hotel room before using them to open fire on a crowd of concertgoers his room overlooked. He evaded detection by hanging a “Do Not Disturb” sign on his door. Several hotels in Las Vegas have revised their do not disturb policies in the wake of that incident.
Disney did not confirm that the shooting in Las Vegas played a role in the decision to change their policy, but did say that the decision was prompted by safety concerns.