Can we all just keep our arms down for ride photos?

[Sagginit]

While I agree with the sentiment of "If you care about the picture, ask for the front row," I think we're being a little harsh on the OP overall.

I have a different but related frustration with ride photos, and my story has to do with the ToT specifically. A few months ago my little girl turned 3 and also grew tall enough to ride ToT (yes, she's 99th percentile for height). So we took her on it, not knowing how it was going to go, but she loved it. We don't usually buy ride photos but thought this was a momentous enough occasion to warrant it. So we went to the little counter, located our photo, saw that we all had happy looks on our faces, and paid. As the CM was about to hand us our photo, she pulled it back and said, "I'm sorry, we can't see you this photo." We were a little taken aback, and then a heartbeat later I realized someone must have pulled a "Flash Mountain" on us. Kind of--a teenage boy in the back row was clearly flashing his middle finger with a big, mean grin on his face. Luckily the little jerk was on the other side of the cabin, so the CM let us (against policy), cover him up with our hands and take a picture of the printed photo with our camera phone. We have a memento, but not the one we were hoping for. They refunded our money and we all got to commiserate about the decline in morals and manners in society.

Now, having been a teenage boy once a long time ago, I realize that this could have been an isolated incident and doesn't by itself represent the fall of the Roman empire. But it was certainly frustrating to us, and unlike a guest throwing their hands in the air in joy, was simply and intentionally mean.

I think the issue is more or less a lot of people these days see it as a chance to make a silly photo and don't think about other people who actually might want to buy the photos with genuine reactions to the ride. Lots of people know where the cameras are and pose so there are a chunk of people that are fully aware of what they are doing (season passholder at six flags and I could tell you where every ride camera was). I was on Splash and have had the people in front of me coordinate so they put arms up and lean to other sides. Great photo for them but you can't see the back of the ride. I think with rides like Splash this is just a hazard of not filling the log and having to share. With something like TOT it's incredibly mean spirited. What would potentially reduce that is if they made it so you couldn't take a photo of the photo, there are coatings they could put on the tv monitors that would not allow you to take photos. It would be less fun if you couldn't show everyone that great picture of you all sleeping on the ride, pumping your arms up like a lifting contest, or making inappropriate gestures. I can tell you that I am 5'8" and could not buy any of these pictures on my last trip as I was blocked or obstructed every single time, so I don't think its 100% people just having fun (maybe 95% but still the OP doesn't deserve the tomatoes for pointing out the 5%).

 

[lk2500]

My son knows where all the ride cameras are and comes up with some really funny and bizarre faces and poses. That is just what he enjoys doing. One time he really pissed some people off that were behind him and it got a bit heated in the photo queue, I don't recall what ride it was, might have been Splash.

So, now, whenever we ride Splash and somebody is sitting behind us I tell them which way we'll be leaning so they can lean the opposite way and not be blocked, lol....

 

[wowsmom]

While I agree with the sentiment of "If you care about the picture, ask for the front row," I think we're being a little harsh on the OP overall.

I have a different but related frustration with ride photos, and my story has to do with the ToT specifically. A few months ago my little girl turned 3 and also grew tall enough to ride ToT (yes, she's 99th percentile for height). So we took her on it, not knowing how it was going to go, but she loved it. We don't usually buy ride photos but thought this was a momentous enough occasion to warrant it. So we went to the little counter, located our photo, saw that we all had happy looks on our faces, and paid. As the CM was about to hand us our photo, she pulled it back and said, "I'm sorry, we can't see you this photo." We were a little taken aback, and then a heartbeat later I realized someone must have pulled a "Flash Mountain" on us. Kind of--a teenage boy in the back row was clearly flashing his middle finger with a big, mean grin on his face. Luckily the little jerk was on the other side of the cabin, so the CM let us (against policy), cover him up with our hands and take a picture of the printed photo with our camera phone. We have a memento, but not the one we were hoping for. They refunded our money and we all got to commiserate about the decline in morals and manners in society.

Now, having been a teenage boy once a long time ago, I realize that this could have been an isolated incident and doesn't by itself represent the fall of the Roman empire. But it was certainly frustrating to us, and unlike a guest throwing their hands in the air in joy, was simply and intentionally mean.

Something similar happened the first time our younger son rode ToT as well - the picture never even made it to the screen.

 

[lk2500]

Something similar happened the first time our younger son rode ToT as well - the picture never even made it to the screen.

Yeah, we've had one or two like that. I don't recall if it was DLR or SFMM. I guess somebody made an obscene gesture or gang sign.