Pal Mickey...safe to use on an airplane???

[riu girl]

Just ordered a Pal Mickey and it should be here in a few days.

Probably my stupidest question yet:

Is it safe to use a Pal Mickey (one that hasn't been activiated yet) on an airplane? I know certain electronic devices are not allowed but don't know about a Pal Mickey.

Thanks,

Suzy V.

 

[CarolA]

It is probably safe from a flight point of view. However, don't be surprised if the other passengers strangle Pal Mickey! Toys that make noise like that are NOT good flying toys. The other passengers probably don't want to hear Pal Mickey's jokes and may tell you about it.

 

[phillybeth]

Pal Mickey is not that loud that he would be heard beyond your row. As long as Mickey is traveling with family you should be fine.

 

[CarolA]

Trust me.... Pal Mickey can be heard beyond your row.....I have heard kids dolls, games etc. The parents all seemed shocked when someone complained. (It wasn't me, but in all instances people have complained.) If your toy does not have a mute button or headphones it is not a good plane toy.

 

[Chicago526]

I don't know, if a Pal Mickey telling jokes keeps a little kid occupied and not screaming or kicking the back of my seat, I'd be happy to put up with a few corney jokes!

 

[Brian Noble]

Pal Mickey *does* have a receiver, and in general receivers are *not* allowed on airplanes. However, I believe the underlying medium is infrared, and I doubt very much that in-plane systems use IR for anything important, so it's probably safe.

 

[CarolA]

The sad part is... most parents with the noisy toys also have the kids who scream and bang on your seat. The kids with the quiet toys have been taught how to behave on airplanes.

I had a kid behind me once with a Game Boy. He claimed his did not have a mute. He hit my seat, hit his parents, SCREAMED about losing the game and was generally a BRAT. Mommy kept saying "Timmy don't do that" Timmy has never obeyed Mommy in his life since it is pretty apparent that mommy really does nothing besides apologize to the rest of cabin "I just can't control him" Of couse Mommy told the passenger beside her that she doesn't approve of punishment, you should reason with the child..... This child needed punshment!

 

[phillybeth]

Originally posted by Brian Noble
Pal Mickey *does* have a receiver, and in general receivers are *not* allowed on airplanes. However, I believe the underlying medium is infrared, and I doubt very much that in-plane systems use IR for anything important, so it's probably safe.

But the receiver is not in use unless Pal Mickey is in one of the parks and he has been activated.
Not only have I flown with Pal Mickey, on my last flight from the World there was a child in the row behind me with one. She was playing with it and the only way I knew she had it on was every once in a while I heard the giggle. Unless you are flying the red-eye, there should be enough ambient noise on the plane that Mickey shouldn't disturb anyone- he really isn't that loud.

 

[riu girl]

The Disney Store that I ordered the Pal Mickey from (I think it is called Disney World Premiere) just called me to say that the shipping cost for the Pal Mickey has gone from $10.95 s/h to $50 to ship to Canada so I cancelled the order. The reason I ordered from there was because the Pal Mickey was only $27.95 plus s/h. I was informed that UPS Canada is on strike, therefore, they sourced other ways to ship it and it would cost $50 just for the shipping. Yikes!!!

Gotta hand it to the staff at this store though. She was so great about the whole thing.

Anyway, thanks for all the tips.

Suzy V.

 

[Brian Noble]

But the receiver is not in use unless Pal Mickey is in one of the parks and he has been activated.

Once it's been activated, the receiver is *always* in use; at least whenever Mickey is switched on. That's what receivers do---they sit around waiting for someone to transmit in their direction. It doesn't react to anything until it picks up a signal in the parks, but it is always listening just in case it might be there.

Tangentially, I've always wondered why one cannot use receivers on planes, as they don't actually emit any energy in the radio spectrum beyond normal electronic noise. But I'm not an employee of the FAA, so there must be something I don't get.