"No flash photography please"

[scuba]

passenger, go ahead and take your shots, I would never allow your flashes to stand in my way of enjoying Disney, heck I might bum a few from you, I just feel that either we have the rule or we don't...stealing a car with no one around is still a crime, and there are many, many of us that could care less if you take a bunch of flash photos even with a crowded boat!.......alot of folks griping about the flashes, and I know your not one of them, and maybe they themselves might bend the rules from time to time. If everyone is taking pictures knowing the policy but also thinking that they are not bothering anyone then maybe that is the explination for the flashes......I'm just saying....lastly we cannot make everyone happy, as I pointed out in my post my Wife's camera is both big and on the motor drive mode its very loud, It would be most annoying for the cast members to always have to announce..."No cameras with very bright intense spotlight flashes and no SLRs with very loud mechanical noises especially the shutters are permitted on this ride"

There is a movement here to make everyone happy, it just isn't possible.....September 16th, we were riding POTC, we had just printed from this board our copy of Disney secrets and read that if you yelled or spoke the name George 3 times in the scene where the buildings are on fire then "something might happen", George was the name of a mechanic that died and his ghost is believed to still be there, anyways after saying George 3 times someone behind us asked us to be quite....WTH

I guess "something" did happen, I made someone behind me mad!

 

[DizBelle]

There is a recorded announcement on POTC. It is played right after you board the boat and it moves forward a bit and stops. There is a barrel off to the side that has a speaker in it. "Arrrrrggggg, thar be no flash pictures...."

However, the volume is really, really low an unless you know to listen for it, you will easily miss it. I actually emailed WDW about this a couple of years ago but I haven't seen the volume turned up.

 

[aurorae]

Any flashes on rides are annoying, but it is especially annoying when the person is totally clueless -- like taking a flash picture of a movie screen. Or taking a flash picture of something that is more than, say, 20 feet away.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

This past August when I was at WDW and watching the Hall of Presidents, several times they said no flash photography to respect the integrity of the show. However there were still some people taking pictures and I am thinking to myself did they not hear all those announcements, since it was mentioned more then one time.

I also remember hearing the same announcement on WDW's version of the Pirates of the Caribbean and yet I still see guests taking pictures.

 

[WTP]

The last time I went to WDW, one of our first stops was at PoTC and I was so horrified that the boat in front of me had about 100 flashes go off in the course of the ride...and not one announcement telling them to stop. It really ruined the magic for me. Fortunately though we did ride again later and had a much better experience!

I would love for them to not just make announcements, but accost repeat offenders at the end of the ride and do something...I don't know what--it doesn't really warrant ejection from the park or anything--and most people who are that rude wouldn't care about a 'stern talking to'--but something's gotta be done.

 

[Cynt]

I know this is mean however, I would like to sit next to these folks. And just as they're flashing away "accidently" bump them real hard so that their camera goes falling to the ground, in the water, etc. Apologize and mention you're not supposed to take pictures during the ride.

 

[Reddog1134]

This past May I was in the Haunted Mansion and a teenage girl in the Doom Buggy behind me was taking pictures the entire time. I never heard any announcements made.

However, when I was in Star Tours, the man sitting in front of me was using his camera to record a video of the film. This in itself was not distracting but a CM got on the intercom several times and asked him to put down his camera. The ride was about half way over before his wife finally said something to him and he stopped filming.

 

[owensamo]

We were on PoTC shortly after the last refurb (to add movie stuff) and there was a guy in our boat that had a video camera with a light on the front. He went through Davy Jones, and we ended up stopped at the top of the drop waiting for the dude to turn it off while the CM over the loudspeaker had to tell him at least 3 times to do so before he got the idea that a) he needed to turn it off and b) they weren't going to let the ride continue until he did. He turned it off, and we went down the hill. I don't remember if he turned it back on again at the bottom (it's not all that dark in the ride, it just feels like it is) but it really impressed me that we ended up *stopped* on PoTC because of someone's camera light!

Amanda

 

[SunniKC]

I'm glad to read this....just for advance warning....I would have been one snapping away not knowing I wasn't supposed to use flash. Will have to remember to swap from auto to manual
What other rides beside PoTC and of course HM (I did know that one) say no flash??
PoTC
HM
Hall (not that I intend to do that one anyway)
???

 

[bellaDisneydncr]

The last time I was on a boat in Pirates with some flash photography users, they waited until we got off the ride to inform them they couldn't use it.... kind of useless at that point. But someone used a flash in the Leota scene in HM the last time I was on it. Well I just decided to become the announcer and proclaimed "NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY" They stopped after that.

 

[annnewjerz]

I'm glad to read this....just for advance warning....I would have been one snapping away not knowing I wasn't supposed to use flash. Will have to remember to swap from auto to manual
What other rides beside PoTC and of course HM (I did know that one) say no flash??
PoTC
HM
Hall (not that I intend to do that one anyway)
???

Really any "dim" ride, you aren't supposed to use flash photos on. This would include Splash Mountain, Small World, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Adventures of Pooh, Hall of Presidents, Dinosaur, Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Universe, Figment of the Imagination, Tower of Terror, Rock N' Rollercoaster, Great Movie Ride----the list goes on and on.

Generally if you aren't getting good pictures without the flash on for a normal p&s camera, it's probably a ride you shouldn't use the flash for anyway.

 

[rudetreehill]

When I wrote about "rude behavior" at the parks a while back for my site, we ran several polls. one of them involved asking people what rules they felt were 'breakable" as in "that doesn't apply to me." It's AMAZING how many people felt the "no photo taking" doesn't apply to them or is a rule that doesn't really matter. To me, it's wildly annoying. I really despise when people do it. It takes me RIGHT out of the experience. And for the love of mary, there are a MILLION different places you can get photos from inside the attraction. You ain't takin' some picture nobody has ever taken before! LOL

 

[KSBelle]

I was on PotC last week at WDW. As we were getting ready for the boats to move a young woman mid-late 20's was taking pics of her friends in the boat. The CM told her that no pics were allowed and she turned right around and took a flash pic of him.The whole group just laughed and laughed. Then the taped announcement came on about not taking flash pics. The CM stopped our boat and again told her that flash photography IS NOT ALLOWED. I'll bet she took 20 pics+ during the ride. . I could not believe how rude she was to the CM.

 

[Baltazar]

I guess flash photography is not a problem for the fast moving rides.

You never see anyone popping off snapshots on Dinosaur, Tower of Terror, Rockin' Roller Coaster, Space Mountain ... etc

Too busy holding on for dear life.

 

[PIRATEGIRL007]

During our trip we only encountered Flash Photography 3 times: POTC, Small World, and Maelstrom. On POTC and Maelstrom both they came over the speaker and told them to stop. POTC wasn't even that bad, it was the board in front of us and they only snapped 2 or 3 pictures that I noticed. On Maelstrom the person was in our boat and the CM told them several times then said, "Maam in the white shirt please no flash photography or we will have to stop the ride". I of course thought it was hilarious she got called out and busted out laughing.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

This past May I was in the Haunted Mansion and a teenage girl in the Doom Buggy behind me was taking pictures the entire time. I never heard any announcements made.

The voice we hear in the back of the Doom Buggy says no flash pictures.

 

[Judy WI]

the 20th I rode POC and there were NO flashes. It was the first time that has happened and what a nice difference that makes.

 

[123SA]

Funny, I made an effort to listen, really listen to the announcements on the rides because this is the second started thread within the last month or so about flash photograpy especially on POTC, never heard it...once! I tend to believe that folks are getting on the ride are not knowing they shouldn't take flash photos. Music is loud, folks are watching expressions on kids face about being at Disney, wondering where they might have left their camera or 2 year old, mother wondering what pictures she should include in the scrapbook.

I think this happens a lot. I admit that my first trip to WDW I took photos on all the rides that I didn't hear an announcement - -clearly I missed some announcements? I took photos on small world, Snow White, I took photos on the Peter Pan Ride -- of my kids next to me in the boat. It honestly just didn't occur to me that it was a problem. I guess other flashes didn't bother me. Now that I know, I don't do it anymore, but I don't think I would know if I didn't frequent these boards. Yes, there are people that conciously don't follow the rules, but I do think that many of them just don't hear the announcements.

 

[DisneyGrampa]

Some of the blame, for the flash problems, has to go to Disney. As far as I can recall, there are no signs at ride entrances stating the rules for a particular ride, and certainly no pictographs for non-english speakers.
On my last trip, I had to ask CMs what the rules were for a couple of rides I wasn't sure of. If I'm wrong, then the signs aren't prominent enough, because I was looking for them!

 

[elleherself]

This past trip the boat behind us in Pirates was taking flash photos. It wasn't too irritating when they were far back, but towards the exit we got more congested and it was fairly jarring. My mom was about to turn around and say something, but I stopped her. It isn't worth it getting worked up over it. The family in the boat was speaking French (but I couldn't tell if they were from Canada or France, I'm not that great with accents) and the person taking the photos was a ten year old boy. Trying to shout across to the boat behind us, to communicate something to someone who speaks a different language, would be way more annoying than a few flash photos.

But they were annoying.

In the hall of presidents they specifically made an announcement not to use flash photography. Several people around me were taking photos. The kept the cameras up with their glowing screens the whole time, it was pretty distracting. Next time I might try to sit in the front. When Lincoln stood up, there was a storm of clicks!

I do take a photo or two on rides now and again, and I never mind when someone else takes one or two (non-flash). But when it gets excessive and distracting I get annoyed. And flash on dark rides is a no brainer.