People taking pictures on Spaceship Earth despite being told to stop

[mickyzzzzz05]

It seems to me that unless people start letting other people know they are ruining the experience for everyone and being rude, they will think nothing of their behavior and continue it. There is a nice way to say, "please stop taking flash pictures" without having to be rude. But these annoying people with their flashes need to knock it off, period.

I agree! It seems that "tolerating this" and other behaviors like this is only promoting problems. The more that the "silent majority" stay silent, the worse things become.

 

[MEK]

So are you saying they don't bother trying to enforce the rule because they know people will ignore it?

No . I'm saying that they ask you not to use your camera becomes it comes with a flash and a flash will degrade the quality of the exhibit. Often exhibits will say No flash photography to differentiate.

I am not suggesting they don't enforce the rule. That is their job and they are doing the right thing. That's why you should not take flash pictures as a general rule. And - yes - I took the caveman picture. So I broke the rule to take that picture. Was I correct in doing that? No.

 

[goofy4tink]

As long as it doesn't bright up the area I don't see why it's such a big deal. Let people make memories how they want to, and you should worry about you.

Ummm, by definition, it does 'bright up the area'...it's a flash. It makes everything around it brighter.
Using a flash usually doesn't make the photo any better. it does make the area right in front of the camera nice and bright though. I seldom use the flash when taking photos in WDW. When we went to Cape Canaveral, we were told absolutely no flash photography. Okay, no problem. I disabled my flash and went happily on my way. Well, I overhead a 'gentleman' speaking to his wife, in not so very quiet tones..'Well, evidently she feels she doesn't need to follow the rules about taking photos....must be nice to be so special'. Well, I just turned to him and told him that photos were fine, just not flash photos..or hadn't he understood the tour guide??? He said that you couldn't take a decent photo inside without flash..so obviously I was using flash. I politely stood next to him, took a photo of some display, and then asked him he had seen any flash??? Ah, no, I didn't. Then I showed him the photo...very nicely done if I did say so myself. The poor man was so apologetic. He said he didn't realize you could do that...yada, yada, yada.

The vast majority of people have no idea that they can do away with their flash. Watch parents at plays or dance recitals....all usng flash from 40' away. Have to wonder how those shots are coming out.

But, on Haunted Mansion??? Or Spaceship Earth??? Or Ellen's Universe of Energy??? Nope. And I've had it happen on all those attractions. At Ellen's, the CM kept coming on over the PA, telling the person with the flash camera to put it away. He finally said that if the camera wasn't put away, it would be taken away at the end of the ride!!! That seemed to make an impression.
At Haunted Mansion??? There we were, at the Madam Leota area...floating head and all that. And of course, someone just has to start with the flash photography. After the third flash, everyone was yelling "No Flash Photography!!!!!!'

 

[WDSearcher]

I disagree. I'd buy this argument for the first time someone takes a photo, but repeatedly throughout the ride? I don't think so. I have seen WAY too many examples of the same people taking repeated flash photos on PotC, Spaceship Earth and Haunted Mansion to believe it's accidental (after one inadvertent photo). I do think it's "me first" selfish thinking to continue to do this after one surely realizes the flash is on. On all of these rides, and especially PotC, it's hard for me to imagine that people don't notice all the other people going through the ride with them.

Cheap flash cameras have been around for most of my life, but I do feel people are less considerate in this regard than, say, 35 years ago.

And as I mentioned before (and others have as well), people would be warned ejection is possible and it wouldn't happen until repeated violations.
Difficult to enforce? Probably yes, and it would probably be unevenly enforced as well. Still, I think just the chance of being ejected from the ride, or even the park, would be an effective deterrent.

Right ... but how do you do that? Someone gets warned on, say, Pirates and then what ... a CM follows them to every other ride to see if they are taking flash photos there too? Or they radio every single dark ride and say "Look out for the guy in the red hat"? Or do you just keep track of who you warn and then enter it into a master list of "people who have been taking flash pictures today" that is on a computer database somewhere? And then, of course, you're maintaining that database. And is it by day or by trip or ...?

Operationally, I don't see it being worth the hassle and expense to monitor like this unless the problem is so severe that other Guests are cancelling trips in large numbers due to the pervasive "flash photo on rides" problem.

 

[disneysteve]

The vast majority of people have no idea that they can do away with their flash. Watch parents at plays or dance recitals....all usng flash from 40' away.

My favorite is all of the people who take flash photographs of the fireworks at night. Really?

It does make me wonder how many people taking flash pictures simply haven't got a clue how to use a camera. They probably don't realize that they can turn the flash off, or that it is possible to take a picture without the flash. That said, it still doesn't justify disregarding the rules. If you are in a ride/show/attraction where flash photography isn't permitted, put away your camera unless you know how to use it properly.

 

[webshark3]

The vast majority of people have no idea that they can do away with their flash. Watch parents at plays or dance recitals....all usng flash from 40' away. Have to wonder how those shots are coming out.

I'll start out by saying I hate flashes on rides. I hate flashes in general. I'll crank the ISO before I enable the flash. But there is a reason for flash in the situation you point about above. Cheaper cameras lack proper ISO control and usually don't have any type of control over shutter. I have a old Pentax P&S. If I disable the flash, it would default to 1/5 or something like 1/15sec depending on the lighting. But with the flash enabled, it locked the at about 1/60sec.

Obviously, the faster shutter speed is going to give less blur. Hence, people think they need the flash, because, quite frankly, the flash photos will always look better (even though the flash itself is doing absolutely nothing).

 

[webshark3]

Just remember, "You can't buy class or manners"

Sure you can.
http://www.etiquette-ny.com

 

[TLSnell1981]

I recently rode POTC and during the ride the couple in front of me turned around to take a picture with a flash and just about blinded me for the rest of the ride..... thank you!

This happened to us last year. Some idiot insisted on using his strobe, while taking family photos...from the first row. DH asked him to please stop. The "gentleman's" response, "if, you don't like it, close your eyes"! His family found the whole situation funny. The repeated flashes, triggered a migraine and ruined the rest of my day.

 

[disneysteve]

DH asked him to please stop. The "gentleman's" response, "if, you don't like it, close your eyes"

This is really the crux of the problem. It isn't people who accidentally leave their flash on and snap one picture (like I've done on occasion). The problem is the people who know exactly what they are doing and don't give a damn what anybody else thinks or who is hurt by their actions. Those are the ones who should be booted out of the park. Unfortunately, this is the group that seems to be growing over time.

 

[Technosavant]

One of the wonderful things about a DSLR with an offboard flash is the much improved flash capability... you're not limited to a 10 foot range for that pathetic little popgun flash.

One of the other wonderful things is that you can dismount the flash, charge the strobe, and trigger it with a test button when the people taking such pictures look in your direction. It may take a few shots, but they'll get the picture.

 

[zuzu310]

If it happens once, okay whatever. People are rude and selfish and oh let's not forget my favorite....ENTITLED. But when it is constantly being flashed in my eyes, I have a problem with that. And what the heck are you going to do with a pic of a monk copying down volumes of books anyways? Now there's a lovely photo for your scrapbook. I mean can;t you just remember that? Why do you need a picture of an animatronic monk?

 

[si-am]

If it happens once, okay whatever. People are rude and selfish and oh let's not forget my favorite....ENTITLED. But when it is constantly being flashed in my eyes, I have a problem with that. And what the heck are you going to do with a pic of a monk copying down volumes of books anyways? Now there's a lovely photo for your scrapbook. I mean can;t you just remember that? Why do you need a picture of an animatronic monk?

Bwahahahaha

Not only that, but a blurry terrible photo of a monk!

 

[StitchSpawn]

If it happens once, okay whatever. People are rude and selfish and oh let's not forget my favorite....ENTITLED. But when it is constantly being flashed in my eyes, I have a problem with that. And what the heck are you going to do with a pic of a monk copying down volumes of books anyways? Now there's a lovely photo for your scrapbook. I mean can;t you just remember that? Why do you need a picture of an animatronic monk?

that's exactly how I feel...

 

[WDSearcher]

Perhaps those of us who believe rules should apply to everyone and be enforced when not being followed need to start expressing our concerns to Disney. Maybe if they start getting enough emails and phone calls and letters complaining about unruly guests, they may realize that if they don't address the problem, they'll start losing rule-abiding guests.

I'm sure Disney gets scores of phone calls and letters complaining about unruly guests. The thing is ... unless a CM or manager SEES the action happening, they're somewhat limited as to what can be done. Say you come home after your two-week trip to WDW and write a letter complaining about unruly guests who were taking flash photos on POC. It happened a week ago. You didn't say anything about it at the time. You don't know who the guests are. It happened repeatedly on that one ride and really ruined the experience for your kids.

Now ... what is Disney supposed to do? How do they correct the behavior of a guest they can't identify? Chances are they'll apologize, send you FPs or something else, and that's that. And then you'd be back here, complaining that Disney tried to mollify you with FPs and won't do anything to solve the problem. But there's nothing they can do that directly speaks to the person you're upset with.

I'm sure your point is that you want Disney to give it's CMs more "power" in this regard. OK. So ... you get off a ride, grab the nearest CM, point to a family who got off three boats ahead of you and is shopping in the Pirate Shop and say, "They were taking flash photos during the whole ride! It totally ruined my child's experience." The CM -- who now has more power to address things like this -- confronts the family and says, "This guest says that you totally ruined their ride by taking flash photos." The guest says, "I didn't take any pictures." Now ... what does the CM do? Demand to see the guy's camera? Turn back to you and say, "Do you have any proof?" Start asking for other witnesses? Does he call Security and have them come and question the guy, detaining your family and the "flashers" family and other families from the ride in order to figure out who did what?

And if they DO determine that the guy was taking flash photos ... then what? They toss him from the park? Take away his camera? Assign someone to follow him around all day to be sure he doesn't take any more?

What are you expecting to happen here? What would satisfy you as a guest and how much of your day at the park are you willing to take to file a report or make a statement or wait for a manager or whatever?

It's really easy to say, "The CMs should handle things like this!", but what do you want them to do beyond saying, "I'm sorry" to you and reminding the other guy to not take flash photos on dark rides?

 

[WDSearcher]

If it happens once, okay whatever. People are rude and selfish and oh let's not forget my favorite....ENTITLED. But when it is constantly being flashed in my eyes, I have a problem with that. And what the heck are you going to do with a pic of a monk copying down volumes of books anyways? Now there's a lovely photo for your scrapbook. I mean can;t you just remember that? Why do you need a picture of an animatronic monk?

My grandmother had a collection of statues of monks. She had a "Thou Shalt Not Steal" monk bank, monk S&P shakers, a monk apron ... you name it. She'd have climbed over people to get a picture of the monk!

 

[Kona65]

Sure you can.
http://www.etiquette-ny.com

But, not all the people can pass the class.

 

[disneysteve]

I'm sure Disney gets scores of phone calls and letters complaining about unruly guests. The thing is ... unless a CM or manager SEES the action happening, they're somewhat limited as to what can be done.

What are you expecting to happen here? What would satisfy you as a guest

Very fair question. What would satisfy me is Disney not ignoring the problem. They monitor every inch of those rides. They can easily stop a ride and make an announcement to stop taking flash photographs. Yes it interrupts the ride. Yes it detracts from the experience, but so do the bozos repeatedly taking flash pictures. I would much rather have them stop a ride once or twice than have to put up with people taking pictures the whole time.

They don't need to depend on guests to point out the offenders. They know exactly who the offenders are from watching their monitors. It would be very easy for them to pull a guest aside as he exits the ride and remind him that flash photography isn't permitted and to please stop doing it. All they would need is one security guard at one dark ride. That guard could rotate around to different rides at different times - POC, HM, SE, etc. Just get in the routine of admonishing guests who are breaking the rules.

 

[webshark3]

They can easily stop a ride and make an announcement to stop taking flash photographs. Yes it interrupts the ride. Yes it detracts from the experience, but so do the bozos repeatedly taking flash pictures. I would much rather have them stop a ride once or twice than have to put up with people taking pictures the whole time.

Trouble is, the bozos don't care. So you're really just adding another annoyance to the ride (stopping it in addition to the flashes).Disney would rather shut you up with some free fastpasses or something.

A few years ago, my family had a room next to a very noisy group of school-aged kids. Every night they called and complained. Every night the noise continued. Finally Disney just re-reimbursed my parents for 2-nights. Sure it would be great if Disney "fixed" the problem, but at the price of 2 nights back in their pockets, my parents didn't see much of a problem anymore.

 

[kirasaurus]

It does make me wonder how many people taking flash pictures simply haven't got a clue how to use a camera. .

this is exactly the problem. Maybe disney should hand out a "learn how to use your $300 camera, stupid!" pamphlet
Okay, that was a little bit of venting, but in all seriousness, people really don't seem to understand how a camera works.
Personally, my flash is disabled most of the time my camera is out, because nature seems to do a better job with light than the blinding strobe included with many cameras
You've got to wonder what people think when they go home, import their photos, and take a look at some of the pictures they took

 

[kmk1180]

this is exactly the problem. Maybe disney should hand out a "learn how to use your $300 camera, stupid!" pamphlet
s:

Seriouslly...Disney used to do that.
I have a vintage map of MK.
When I bought it it came with a brochure about WDW.
Which as actually as interesting as the map itself.

In the borchure they give tips on how to take pictures...to help
make your slide presentation better for when you got back home.
Things like how action shots are better than posed.
watch for unwanted items in the photo like garage cans..
including..flashbulbs are prohibited in most indoor attractions.