DSLR camera policy in the parks?

[Experiment_626]

I'm headed down to WDW later today and will be back home on Sunday. I'll let you guys know if I have any problems, but I don't expect any.

SSB

 

[11290]

I think it's been said a few times now that the policy of what constitutes a "pro" camera is at DL not WDW.

Sorry, didn't mean to "mess up" the thread for all and waste bandwidth.

Just posted to ensure that there were no problems with this at WDW for anyone that might have any concerns about it, based on my current experiences there.

 

[InsertWittyNameHere]

Sorry, didn't mean to "mess up" the thread for all and waste bandwidth.

Just posted to ensure that there were no problems with this at WDW for anyone that might have any concerns about it, based on my current experiences there.

Everyone's input to this somewhat confusing situation is gladly accepted. Your confirmation has probably help to ease the minds of most of the people on here who bring "pro" cameras into the Orlando parks

 

[safetymom]

I am in the parks several times a week at WDW. I have my Nikon D70S with the 18-200 VR lens and have not been questioned at all.

 

[gokenin]

Add one more benefit to prime lenses. While there are many that go over 6", the same focal length should be shorter than a zoom. I wonder what the CMs will think of the Pentax pancake lenses.

dont know but will find out when I head down with my limiteds had to say its another arguement for taking primes course the 50-200 isnt that big for a pentax and a teleconverter will almost make 70-280

 

[Suburbanmom]

Except for my Nifty 50, I think all my lenses are over 6-inches in length. Good think I went to Disneyland last year!

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8
Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR
Nikon 50mm f/1.8

 

[annnewjerz]

Except for my Nifty 50, I think all my lenses are over 6-inches in length. Good think I went to Disneyland last year!

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8
Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR
Nikon 50mm f/1.8

I just drooled on myself a little when I saw you had the 70-200mm 2.8 VR. That must be huge, I hope you've been lifting weights for carrying that beast around.

How do you like it so far? I just got my D60 three weeks ago and the 18-200mm VR last week, so I'm NOWHERE NEAR ready to spend that kind of money, but One can dream, right??

 

[mrhart005]

I would like to say that i was there Sunday Oct 5th with an Evolt E300 by Olympus with a 14-45mm lens and was told i could not bring it in to the park by the security supervisor because the lens was over 9mm in strength. I then went to town hall in side Disneyland and filed a complaint, i was placed in a separate room and they got the front gate manager to come talk with me.
He stated that this is there policy and that it might be a discrepancy like a hit and miss and that a couple might make it through. in the end all he would do for me was give me some complimentary VIP fast pass tickets and 4 disposable cameras, i am still not happy at all with the out come and will be writing Disney CO.
I as well seen other DSLR cams in the park with better and stronger lens's on them.

I posted this in the Disneyland board too, but can repeat details here too.

This is a new policy at DL only. Not WDW.

A regular DL guest and photographer, Britt Dietz, spoke to an area lead and manager(s) about this new policy. He routinely takes photos in the park with a Canon 5D and 100-400L IS lens (he's friends with a lot of CMs) and was stopped at bag check last week. They mentioned the same story about paparazzi causing problems during Lindsay Lohan's recent park visit (Sept. 24). With the Miley Cyrus event happening just a couple weeks afterwards, some executive decided to flex his/her power and implemented this new policy.

The new policy stated to Britt was simpler from the one given to Master Mason: no lens longer than 6" (before extending) would be allowed. The type or size of camera body was never brought up.

I visited the park last Sunday--yes, the same day as the Miley Cyrus event--to see what was up and to "test" the new policy. My Canon XTi with 18-200 lens was allowed, but I was asked to take my 70-300 back to my car or hotel room. Once inside the park, I noticed many, many guests with dSLRs. I stopped counting after the 12th or 13th dSLR that I saw. Although there were no large zoom lenses to be seen. Most of the Nikons that I saw had the Nikkor 18-200 lens attached. At the MiceChat meet that I attended, there were at least 5 of us with dSLRs and a few of us compared stories about the bag checks. I don't think anyone will have a problem bringing your camera into the park. The bag check CMs seem to be focusing on lenses.

I might get a chance to visit DL this upcoming weekend too and will see if anything has changed, although I doubt it. If there's anything newsworthy to report, I'll post it here.

 

[boBQuincy]

So any Canon owners that are heading to DL should pick up a 70-300 DO lens but stay away from a 70-200 L. That really points out the ignorance of the people who make up these silly rules.

I have a letter ready to go to Disney parks management about this.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I would like to say that i was there Sunday Oct 5th with an Evolt E300 by Olympus with a 14-45mm lens and was told i could not bring it in to the park by the security supervisor because the lens was over 9mm in strength. I then went to town hall in side Disneyland and filed a complaint, i was placed in a separate room and they got the front gate manager to come talk with me.
He stated that this is there policy and that it might be a discrepancy like a hit and miss and that a couple might make it through. in the end all he would do for me was give me some complimentary VIP fast pass tickets and 4 disposable cameras, i am still not happy at all with the out come and will be writing Disney CO.
I as well seen other DSLR cams in the park with better and stronger lens's on them.

9mm!?!?!??! I'm thinking that a disposable has more than that! I was there in the spring and the security guard made a nice comment about my equipment (I had a tripod as well) but nothing more - just wished me a good time.

I'm starting to think that Disneyland would be better served to ban the celebrities that bring the paparazzi if this is all the better they can do.

 

[Michele]

I would like to say that i was there Sunday Oct 5th with an Evolt E300 by Olympus with a 14-45mm lens and was told i could not bring it in to the park by the security supervisor because the lens was over 9mm in strength. I then went to town hall in side Disneyland and filed a complaint, i was placed in a separate room and they got the front gate manager to come talk with me.
He stated that this is there policy and that it might be a discrepancy like a hit and miss and that a couple might make it through. in the end all he would do for me was give me some complimentary VIP fast pass tickets and 4 disposable cameras, i am still not happy at all with the out come and will be writing Disney CO.
I as well seen other DSLR cams in the park with better and stronger lens's on them.

How hard can it be for Disney to get a KNOWLEDGEABLE camera person to lay down some rules that make SENSE. Better yet.....what brack says

 

[brack]

I hope it never comes to WDW putting restrictions on cameras. A few weeks I walked into WDW with my Canon and 28-125 lens in plain sight right past the guards (I don't take any bags)

If Disney has problems with "paparazzi" then they need to deal with them individually. Security can remove them and they can be put on a list to not return.

 

[YEKCIM]

From the various comments on this thread, it seems that the issue is DL-specific, probably due to the high-profile celebrity types in that area.

That said, I wonder if Disney is aware of how much free publicity they get from normal folks like us (well, like the rest of you, anyway...) who go to the parks, take tons of pictures, and then post our keepers on sites like this. I can't speak for everyone, but if Disney were to implement and enforce a rule about "pro" equipment (which mine could be mistaken for, even though it's not), I would be decidedly less enthusiastic about booking a trip. Photography is one of the main reasons I go to WDW. I'll bet I'm not the only one, either.

~Ed

 

[edolyne]

I am hopeful that this policy does not come to WDW and is toned down at DL. I have been to WDW many times without an issue with my various DSLR's that I have had over the years and I am hopeful to goto DL in the next few years. Photography inside the parks is a huge draw for me and a large reason why I like to go, should the policy remain the same or expand it would dramatically affect the number of trips that I make to Disney.

 

[Suburbanmom]

I just drooled on myself a little when I saw you had the 70-200mm 2.8 VR. That must be huge, I hope you've been lifting weights for carrying that beast around.

How do you like it so far? I just got my D60 three weeks ago and the 18-200mm VR last week, so I'm NOWHERE NEAR ready to spend that kind of money, but One can dream, right??

I've only had it for about 3 weeks, but I think I love it. I just figured out something I had set wrong on it, so after I fixed that, my photos seemed to improve...at least in the LCD screen. I haven't uploaded today's set yet. I have noticed my right arm feeling a little more tired lately, too!

Once I have a moment, I plan to share some photos here on the DIS.

 

[wenrob]

It's my hope this will settle down eventually and they'll realize how ridiculous these 'rules' are. It seems this is a recent thing brought on by over zealous paparazzi and sooner or later they'll realize vacationing families are not the issue. Seems to me they'll lose more revenue from people choosing not to go or demanding their money back. And let's face it to even make this work they'd have to ban every kind of camera, cell phones included. They're going to have to eventually decide between the celeb and their entourage who no doubt pay for nothing and the people who actually keep the place open and alive. Whether common sense will prevail on not we can only hope.
IMHO, if these celebs want to visit DL then they need to go as average Joe's, problem solved right there.

 

[NostalgicDad]

Something just doesn't seem right with all of this. We've heard speculation that this all stems from paparazzi problems. I just can't imagine that Disney would be so presumptuous to think that banning regular folk with supposed "pro" camera equipment will fix that problem. I mean, long lenses have nothing to do with it. I looked at the EXIF on some paparazzi pictures provided by a link in a recent posting.........several were at 70mm or even shorter focal length. In other words, there's just no way to prevent photos of celebs or anyone else for that matter without simply banning all cameras. We all know how powerful most P&S's can be. Disney has to know that turning people away with "average" gear will have a major impact on their revenue in the long run. I for one will not plan a vacation to DL knowing that everytime I go through security I may or may not be seriously inconvenienced, day after day of that trip. I'll be more than happy to change my plans for a WDW trip and let DL and the celebs enjoy their privacy. And really.......if Joe Celebrity plans on going to DL then I think they should be aware that there are going to be people with cameras......and lots of them. Their privacy, like mine, is out the window.

 

[Groucho]

I would say that you're unlikely to see a rule like this in WDW for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it will be much harder for someone at WDW to just go back to their car and leave their lens there. For us, my car is usually, oh, 1,250 miles away, and returning to your resort is generally not a practical thing to do, with the possible exception of the monorail resorts from MK and Beach/Yacht Club and Boardwalk from Epcot.

The large number of foreign visitors would also not take very kindly to being told to leave their large lens behind. DL's much higher percentage of local visitors gives them more flexibility to enact rules like these.

The "rule" is certainly arbitrary and highly silly, especially with the large number of high-zoom PnSs out there, many of which go to to 432mm (35mm equivalent) or more. Any stalking paparazzi might do well to just grab one of those for their daytime celebrity stalking at the park!

 

[Armadillo4]

After work this evening, I fought my way through SoCal rush hour traffic to Disneyland. Brought my Canon XTi with 17-70 and tripod to photograph the fireworks. Breezed through bag check without a problem. They barely looked at my camera and didn't say a word about the tripod.

On my way out, I stopped by City Hall to ask about the camera policy. Unfortunately the CM helping me really didn't know at first. She thought it might have been only for last weekend's Miley Cyrus event. But she went in the back (to ask a manager, I assume) and came out to confirm that the no-long lens policy is now a permanent thing. It's such an idiotic policy and I guess they're accepting the risk that they'll alienate some guests.

SLR camera bodies are fine, but long lenses are prohibited. It was crowded (Columbus Day, Canadian Thanksgiving, Fall break, etc.) and I only saw a few other SLRs during my short time in the park, including someone with what looked to be a Canon 1D *drool*.

 

[oogieboogieman]

I hope this will never happen at WDW. I would like to visit DL but not now! The whole lens policy just scares me because you never know who you will get at the front gate deciding what's okay or not. That might ruin my day!

I just turned 41, and my first trip to WDW was 5 or 6 years ago. As of now we have been to WDW 7 or 8 times ( I can't remember things to well after 40). Since our first trip we have purchased a DSLR, annual passes for 3 adults, and bought into vacation club. If this policy change went into effect at WDW, I wouldn't want to go back.

Last August we were there for 2 weeks the only issue with going in the gates was with my Gorilla Pod. I was carrying the Tamrac Velocity 7 sling pack w/ DSLR and 2 lenses and Gorilla Pod tucked in the side. Every time we bag checked I would pull it out for inspection and they had NO IDEA what it was. I had to explain it was a camera tripod everytime. Anyways no DL for us.