OMG... the Cell Phones!

[Indiana Scott]

I honestly pity people (sorry but mostly twenty something and younger girls) that walk around the park in a zombie like trance with their nose stuck in their phones. What an incredible waste of what may be one the best time in life.

 

[YukonMommy]

I apparently am in the minority here but when my family and I are at Disney (or on any holiday) all electronics (excluding my camera) are left behind in the hotel safe. I check for text messages at the end of the day after the kids are in bed and I do not fb while on holidays.
As you can imagine life with 4 kids and a hubby who is only home on the week ends due to work is chaotic so we use this time as a family to catch up, talk, I get to hold hands with my hubby, I guess just be in the moment. All to quickly life passes us by.

I strongly encourage my kids to keep their eyes up and see and experience the world around them, that their experiences will be stored in their memory forever, not just on some instagram account! So as hard as it can be (seriously how sad is that!) I try to live what I'm preaching at them!

But like in life, to each their own, just like others have said common courtesy and common sense can go along way!

 

[mom2rtk]

I apparently am in the minority here but when my family and I are at Disney (or on any holiday) all electronics (excluding my camera) are left behind in the hotel safe. I check for text messages at the end of the day after the kids are in bed and I do not fb while on holidays.
As you can imagine life with 4 kids and a hubby who is only home on the week ends due to work is chaotic so we use this time as a family to catch up, talk, I get to hold hands with my hubby, I guess just be in the moment. All to quickly life passes us by.

I strongly encourage my kids to keep their eyes up and see and experience the world around them, that their experiences will be stored in their memory forever, not just on some instagram account! So as hard as it can be (seriously how sad is that!) I try to live what I'm preaching at them!

But like in life, to each their own, just like others have said common courtesy and common sense can go along way!

Then be sure to stick with DLR over WDW. Smart phones are an integral part of their "My Magic Plus" program.

 

[SweetAlex]

I apparently am in the minority here but when my family and I are at Disney (or on any holiday) all electronics (excluding my camera) are left behind in the hotel safe. I check for text messages at the end of the day after the kids are in bed and I do not fb while on holidays.
As you can imagine life with 4 kids and a hubby who is only home on the week ends due to work is chaotic so we use this time as a family to catch up, talk, I get to hold hands with my hubby, I guess just be in the moment. All to quickly life passes us by.

I strongly encourage my kids to keep their eyes up and see and experience the world around them, that their experiences will be stored in their memory forever, not just on some instagram account! So as hard as it can be (seriously how sad is that!) I try to live what I'm preaching at them!

But like in life, to each their own, just like others have said common courtesy and common sense can go along way!

I think this is wonderful! .

 

[DizMe]

I just got back from a wonderful trip. My sister and I were talking to a CM in DCA who works in one of the first shops (near the candy store). She told us that she watches parents daily who are so glued to their phones that they don't even see their own kids half the time. She said one dad was conducting business while his family stood around waiting, and apparently had been doing this the whole trip, and his wife got so fed up with it that she took the kids and said they were going back to the hotel. How sad for those kids!

I figured out I'd been a little guilty of ignoring my sister's conversation a few times by "just answering this text" while she was trying to talk. In my defense, I was at DL without my kids, who wanted to see what we were doing. Also, my sister pretty much never stops talking. Still, it did ring a bell with me and I put my phone away for the rest of the trip except to take pictures now and then.

Video, in general, is a waste of time unless you want to capture a special moment with your family in it. Otherwise, there are plenty of better videos of exactly the same thing already posted on youtube, but I still don't get reliving a ride in a video .

 

[bumbershoot]

I honestly pity people (sorry but mostly twenty something and younger girls) that walk around the park in a zombie like trance with their nose stuck in their phones. What an incredible waste of what may be one the best time in life.

If you reframe it as those women sharing their current experiences with others who aren't there with them, it feels better. They aren't just staring at a phone, they are communicating with other people. Why is it so bothersome that some people might want to talk with people who aren't there? Why is there an assumption that they aren't enjoying themselves?

The most zombie-like people are those in groups who are talking to each other. They are the stop-in-front-of-others people who aren't even aware that others have just whiplashed themselves to not run into the stoppers. Packs of people are the most oblivious in general.

To me if someone is being loud during a conversation on a cell, if it's irritating me that I only have one half of the conversation, ultimately that irritation comes from me not knowing what they are talking about. Once I realized that it was just ridiculous curiousity and nosiness, I realized that I'm glad it's one-sided because otherwise I would have TWO loud talkers bugging me. (same thing beyond people speaking a language I don't understand...I'm just nosy and want to know what they are saying...I can solve that by learning other languages!)

She said one dad was conducting business while his family stood around waiting, and apparently had been doing this the whole trip, and his wife got so fed up with it that she took the kids and said they were going back to the hotel. How sad for those kids!

Having a husband who is likely to be called for work stuff at nearly any time, and having a fabulous sister in law who is likely to be called for work stuff at ANY time, I feel sorry for the husband. He's busy with work; that earns money for the household. And he seems to have a wife who doesn't get that.

My husband had interviews from Disneyland back in 2009. He had a call while we were back in the Monsters Inc area, he got the job offer in the lobby of the Grand. Those calls were absolutely necessary. Yes it was boring sometimes, and difficult to find quiet places for those calls, but jobs pay for vacations. And some jobs aren't 9-5 on weekdays.

 

[smadath]

I'm pretty sure that in the future, babies will be born with one hand and one electronic device for the other.

I think they're more commonly referred to as Borg.

Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated: to the use of electronic devices!

 

[pinkprincess30]

A couple of months ago we were riding splash mountain and seating in the first seat was a 20s something woman who very possibly was the most obnoxious person on the planet. Unfortunately my wife and I had the misfortune of standing next to her throughout the entire wait for the ride as well. Well as soon as we get on the ride she breaks out her ipad and holds it up all through the ride. But on the big drop, the big dummy, got splashed so hard her ipad got knocked out of her hand and into the water. Sometimes life give you a moment.

Oh, that poor dear. It might be hard not to laugh right then and there. Sorry, but that's just funny.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I apparently am in the minority here but when my family and I are at Disney (or on any holiday) all electronics (excluding my camera) are left behind in the hotel safe. I check for text messages at the end of the day after the kids are in bed and I do not fb while on holidays.
As you can imagine life with 4 kids and a hubby who is only home on the week ends due to work is chaotic so we use this time as a family to catch up, talk, I get to hold hands with my hubby, I guess just be in the moment. All to quickly life passes us by.

I strongly encourage my kids to keep their eyes up and see and experience the world around them, that their experiences will be stored in their memory forever, not just on some instagram account! So as hard as it can be (seriously how sad is that!) I try to live what I'm preaching at them!

But like in life, to each their own, just like others have said common courtesy and common sense can go along way!

I will like having my phone to share photos throughout the day with my parents (the grandparents.) Plus, if my husband and I split up at all...say if one does a ride alone...it will be nice to text or call so we can find each other.

So for me, I can't imagine not having my phone in this day and age.

 

[HappiestHaunt]

I think it is not the issue of having a phone in the park. I take my phone for ride times updates and keeping connected with the hubby). For me it is an issue of being oblivious to your surroundings as you walk and expect others to look out for you! Just because you are on your phone, does not mean you are no longer responsible for your person. I could care less what you do in line, as long as you keep up with it. I try to ignore folks on rides using it and causing discomfort. But when you decide you have no personal responsibility because you are on your device is where I start having a problem. You do it in my face on a ride I will say something. You run into me because your on your phone, I will say something. And frankly, I think it is within my rights to do so. But the sad fact is people who do those types of things could care less, since they already believe they are will within their rights doing it.

 

[cmwade77]

Be prepared for a lot more cell phones as paper fastpasses are phased out over the next month and a half or so and everything is associated with your ticket.

 

[ddwlms]

If you reframe it as those women sharing their current experiences with others who aren't there with them, it feels better. They aren't just staring at a phone, they are communicating with other people. Why is it so bothersome that some people might want to talk with people who aren't there? Why is there an assumption that they aren't enjoying themselves?

THANK YOU!!!

I hate talking on the phone, I own a $7 phone that is about 5 years old so it only gets used when necessary, and even I can not believe all the judgmental comments here. Unless a person is running into you as they try to walk and text at the same time, what is your problem?

 

[ClaraOswald]

Be prepared for a lot more cell phones as paper fastpasses are phased out over the next month and a half or so and everything is associated with your ticket.

They are doing this at Disneyland in the next month? I haven't heard about this. A link with info would be great since we are going in February. Thanks!

 

[HappiestHaunt]

THANK YOU!!!

I hate talking on the phone, I own a $7 phone that is about 5 years old so it only gets used when necessary, and even I can not believe all the judgmental comments here. Unless a person is running into you as they try to walk and text at the same time, what is your problem?

Personally, for me that is exactly what went down with the phone family and mine. So, yep I am entitled to say something and come here and say my piece. And when someone is using their phone or iPad and detracting from my ride experience because it is in my face....well then once again YEP, I am entitled to say something and state my opinion here.

 

[Indiana Scott]

THANK YOU!!!

I hate talking on the phone, I own a $7 phone that is about 5 years old so it only gets used when necessary, and even I can not believe all the judgmental comments here. Unless a person is running into you as they try to walk and text at the same time, what is your problem?

"Whats my problem?" Wow, what hostility.

I never said I was "bothered" or that I had a "problem" with anybody.
I said I pity people who walk around in a zombie state and rarely if ever take their nose out of their phone. It's my opinion (and I have a right to that) that they just aren't in tune with whats going on around them because that's human nature when one is glued to a phone. That assumption is obviously a logical one based on how many people do everything from waking into posts to being hit by trains because of their intense phone use.
BTW, You'll notice that my post was not an attack on anyone. I would appreciate the same consideration.

 

[VandVsmama]

The GoPro videos that Fresh Baked Disney does are great. The others I could do without. I, too, find it annoying when the person on the ride right in front of me is holding their camera or iPad such that it blocks my entire view.

 

[disneycat321]

My guess is that a lot of those people are locals. DH and I are probably guilty of a lot of the things people are talking about here... When you live near DLR and go all the time, it's really a different experience. When we were locals, I talked to friends, checked Facebook, wrote work e-mails, wrote lesson plans (I'm a teacher), etc. I used my phone at WDW *MUCH* less because that was a vacation. When we visit DLR next week as out of town visitors, I will use it much less because that will be a vacation. It's a different mentality.

This is going to sound dramatic, but I would have a hard time surviving in the parks without my phone. We use them to check wait times CONSTANTLY. It makes life so much easier, especially on crowded days. We even cross check between two different apps. Also - pictures!!! I love taking pictures at Disney!

As for the iPad photography, DH and I constantly make fun of that. Drives us nuts. lol.

 

[Vintage Mouseketeer]

Not Disney:

But....we were at Universal Studios Hollywood where most of the rides are 3-D and people would whip out their iPhones and iPads to take pictures in the ride. I just wanted to scream "your pictures are going to come out like caca, put your phone away".

 

[SweetAlex]

I will like having my phone to share photos throughout the day with my parents (the grandparents.) Plus, if my husband and I split up at all...say if one does a ride alone...it will be nice to text or call so we can find each other.

So for me, I can't imagine not having my phone in this day and age.

I felt the same way but I didn't want to pay the small fortune for a roaming package (being from Canada). But you know, it was fabulous not being able to check my FB every hour or reply to (usually pointless) texts that would normally come in on a regular basis. My kids got a lot more attention than ever before and I didn't miss a single thing during our holiday together as a family because my nose was glued to a screen. Also, my kids didn't ask to play on our phones at each stop and lineup which means we spent a lot more time talking and laughing as a family.

I loved it! It was priceless and so worth it. It did take a bit to get used to though. We're such addicts!

The grandparents still got pics, but after we got back to the hotel (yay for WIFI) and the kids were in bed.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I felt the same way but I didn't want to pay the small fortune for a roaming package (being from Canada). But you know, it was fabulous not being able to check my FB every hour or reply to (usually pointless) texts that would normally come in on a regular basis. My kids got a lot more attention than ever before and I didn't miss a single thing during our holiday together as a family because my nose was glued to a screen. Also, my kids didn't ask to play on our phones at each stop and lineup which means we spent a lot more time talking and laughing as a family.

I loved it! It was priceless and so worth it. It did take a bit to get used to though. We're such addicts!

The grandparents still got pics, but after we got back to the hotel (yay for WIFI) and the kids were in bed.

I am not really that into Facebook or any of that lately. I just go on Instagram to send photos. My parents are retired now and also have smart phones so they check multiple times a day to get their fix of my son. They would be pretty sad to have to wait all day. And honestly, I love sharing photos. To me, it's part of the fun. I love going back through my Instagram feed and reliving the day. I don't really think 5 seconds to snap/send a photo a dozen times a day is a big deal at all. Now, if I were the type to want to stare at Facebook or whatever all day long, yeah...that would be a problem. That just isn't my personality.

As far as kids looking at the phone...thankfully my son is only 15 months old and has no idea what a smart phone is. Ha!

Snapping photos on my phone and on my regular camera...it's all pretty much the same thing to me. And it's something I really enjoy.