Poll: Should Disney Ban iPads From the Parks?

[Tigerlulu]

Question--during dark rides are there cast members stationed periodically throughout the ride? Or do they monitor somewhere else? Flash photography actually would be a hazard if they are stationed periodically throughout. The flash can momentarily blind them. Same reason why flash photography is banned at my daughters dance recitals. Safety issue.

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Question--during dark rides are there cast members stationed periodically throughout the ride? Or do they monitor somewhere else? Flash photography actually would be a hazard if they are stationed periodically throughout. The flash can momentarily blind them. Same reason why flash photography is banned at my daughters dance recitals. Safety issue.

Only indoor ride I can think of with a cast member actually in it is the Great Movie Ride in HS, and that ride isn't exactly dark. Almost all of the dark rides that have flash photography bans have no CM's at any point during the ride.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Yet Disney doesn't allow flash photography on many indoor rides. That's not for safety, it's a courtesy issue. How is this any different? It's like movie theaters having silent cell phone rules. Again, not a safety issue, just a courtesy issue.

Right. It's different because that's where Disney draws the line. Frankly (and sadly), Disney really doesn't care about guest behavior that "merely" annoys other guests. They draw the line at matters that create safety issues, such as the selfie sticks, rolling coolers and wheelies. (And they don't really do a great job enforcing it in the cases of rolling coolers and wheelies.)

 

[hsmamato2]

People who are recording video on their devices (like the girl in the example above recording Beauty and the Beast) are also recording sound. Tell them that they are blocking your view and if they don't remove the obstruction, in a loud enough voice to be heard and recorded, talk about how inconsiderate and rude they are being. And do it over and over. Bet they won't show that video to family and friends.

works like a charm

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Right. It's different because that's where Disney draws the line. Frankly (and sadly), Disney really doesn't care about guest behavior that "merely" annoys other guests. They draw the line at matters that create safety issues, such as the selfie sticks, rolling coolers and wheelies. (And they don't really do a great job enforcing it in the cases of rolling coolers and wheelies.)

The only difference is Disney's choice to make a rule about the one issue but not about the other. The actual issues, however, are not different. The no flash photography rules are not there because of safety. There are no employees on those rides whose safety could be endangered by flashes going off. The flash photography rule IS a 'annoys other guests' rule. Now enforcement is a whole other issue! Lol

 

[trivial]

Absolutely. Phones are more commonplace than tablets, so I don't see it interfering with people using the app. I can't imagine why anyone would need to bring a tablet into the parks.

 

[Tomh]

Since the poll said "SHOULD", not "WILL" I voted for certain places like shows parades etc. However, I don't, for even a second, think it will ever happen, unless people start doing stuff with them that is stupid enough to hurt someone, or cause ride disruptions, and then I expect it would be a complete outright ban. I think logistically, it would be impossible to ban them just in certain locations / events, and they simply would not allow them into the parks at all. However, with MDE being such an integral part of the Disney World experience now, banning devices that access MDE would be akin to Disney shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[WolfpackFan]

People get annoyed too easy these days about too many things and seem to be just looking for things to ruin their trip.

 

[ojeight]

The problem is that some people just don't know to act to anymore. Sometimes it seems like people don't have manners anymore and lack common courtesy. I wanted to take a video of Fantasmic! on my last trip so I brought my go pro and attached it to front of my cap. I know not everyone can do this. One thing I think Disney can do to stop some of the Ipads, is if they set cameras up and filmed each show and parade and attached that showing or you attended and the days parade to Memory Maker. It wouldn't be that expensive to do as they videos would only have to be as good what you can take with an Ipad or smart phone. That way people can enjoy the parades and shows with out the hassle of filming it and still have a video of the version they saw. They already allow filming of these events and they are already on youtube so I don’t see it being too big of an issue

 

[JaxDad]

Unfortunately, the urge to video everthing whether you actually look at it later or not AND the inability of many to follow rules only seems to be getting worse! It is definitely not new though. I was in the Royal Palace in Madrid in the late 1990s viewing an absolutely beautiful room with ornate finishes and increadible furnishings when some guy comes walking in with a video camera on his shoulder (think Michael J. Fox in "Back to the Future"). He slowly walked around, looking up and down, then moved on to the next room, never taking his eye from the camera. I actually experienced a brief moment of jealousy, thinking that I wasn't going to have my own palace video when I got home! Then I realized that I was actually "seeing" the palace and thinking about it and respecting it, while I was actually surrounded by it. I know many who video stuff will also put their devices down to soak it all up (or do both simultaneously with go pros), but it was an interesting moment for me that I still remember.

On the same trip, we were standing in the Sistine Chapel with the glorious ceilings and had been told there was absolutely no photography. Some guy was walking around with a baseball cap in his hands. He was doing a pretty good job of hiding the fact that he was taking photos, until his auto-rewinder started whining out loud (again, pre-digital). It was petty funny. He seemed to get away with it, but it would have been even funnier to see a Swiss Guard confront him.

 

[maxiesmom]

A big difference between these types of things and the iPad phenomenon, though, is that people aren't waiting until the last minute to suddenly put their high heels on, do up their hair in a beehive, or grow 6 inches. A person in heels and a beehive is going to be that way from the moment they line up for something, so I can choose not to stand behind them. As a pp said, unless someone is standing there holding their iPad up in the air from the minute they start waiting for something to start, I have no way of basing my location on the fact that they are going to be blocking my view once the show starts.

You also have no way of knowing who may walk up and stand in front of you at the last minute. So while you may not choose to stand behind someone tall, or with a tall hairdo or mouse ears on, it may still happen. Just like you may or may not end up behind someone with an Ipad.

As to the suggestion about having an announcement not to use Ipads for filming, how would they enforce that in a manner that is not as, if not more, obtrusive than the Ipad use to begin with? A sea of CMs walking into a crowd telling guests to put away their Ipads would be annoying. And I'm sure more than a few arguments would break out. That doesn't sound less distracting than the Ipad use.

 

[Hummingbird]

I voted just in certain areas.

During our Xmas trip we were watching wishes. Myself and my daughters are all under 5ft. A man behind me pulled out an ipad and held it way up in the air directly above my head, out in front of him. I don't know how he dropped it, but he dropped the ipad and it hit me directly in the top of my head. So, yeah safety can be an issue with this also.

 

[Jennasis]

You also have no way of knowing who may walk up and stand in front of you at the last minute. So while you may not choose to stand behind someone tall, or with a tall hairdo or mouse ears on, it may still happen. Just like you may or may not end up behind someone with an Ipad.

As to the suggestion about having an announcement not to use Ipads for filming, how would they enforce that in a manner that is not as, if not more, obtrusive than the Ipad use to begin with? A sea of CMs walking into a crowd telling guests to put away their Ipads would be annoying. And I'm sure more than a few arguments would break out. That doesn't sound less distracting than the Ipad use.

Nobody says they have to enforce it anymore than they enforce the "please take small children by the hand...". It's a suggestion that, when said out loud, may prompt the otherwise clueless idgits of the world that their stupid ipads could potentially be bothering those around them, and maybe please don't use them at this time.

Or, enforce it...IMO a CM telling someone not to do something (like smoking in a non DSA) is in NO WAY more annoying than dealing with the person breaking the rule. YMMV.

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Nobody says they have to enforce it anymore than they enforce the "please take small children by the hand...". It's a suggestion that, when said out loud, may prompt the otherwise clueless idgits of the world that their stupid ipads could potentially be bothering those around them, and maybe please don't use them at this time.

Or, enforce it...IMO a CM telling someone not to do something (like smoking in a non DSA) is in NO WAY more annoying than dealing with the person breaking the rule. YMMV.

^^^all of this. It should be a simple announcement, just like at the beginning of rides. Never once have I thought to myself, "gee, that short announcement totally ruined this whole ride for me!"

 

[alvernon90]

People get annoyed too easy these days about too many things and seem to be just looking for things to ruin their trip.

Ideally the parades and fireworks would have designated "Jerks and Doormats" viewing areas, where inconsiderate [insert least favorite orifice here] and people who don't "get annoyed too easy" can stand together and treat each other like garbage or cheerfully be treated like garbage, whichever they prefer. The normals could then have viewing areas where the normal rules of polite society are enforced in the normal manner.

 

[FeralCatRogue]

As to the suggestion about having an announcement not to use Ipads for filming, how would they enforce that in a manner that is not as, if not more, obtrusive than the Ipad use to begin with? A sea of CMs walking into a crowd telling guests to put away their Ipads would be annoying. And I'm sure more than a few arguments would break out. That doesn't sound less distracting than the Ipad use.

On broadway ushers are very unobstrusive about telling people to remove iphones and ipads. so its possible for the inside show portions to do it wihtout intruding I would think. For huge crowds for castle lighting I doubt there'd be anyway to enforce it since theres no room to move in them.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Ideally the parades and fireworks would have designated "Jerks and Doormats" viewing areas, where inconsiderate [insert least favorite orifice here] and people who don't "get annoyed too easy" can stand together and treat each other like garbage or cheerfully be treated like garbage, whichever they prefer. The normals could then have viewing areas where the normal rules of polite society are enforced in the normal manner.

Seriously, people who just let stuff like this go are not "doormats". Please refrain from name calling and generalizing in this way.

 

[alvernon90]

Seriously, people who just let stuff like this go are not "doormats". Please refrain from name calling and generalizing in this way.

I note that you do not object to generalizing people who do this kind of thing as jerks, was that just an oversight? Assuming it was, please amend my previous suggestion for a designated view area to the "Awesome Dudes and Easygoing Dudes" section. My point remains the same -- people act like Awesome Dudes because they know Easygoing Dudes will do nothing about it.

Also, please read the term "Dudes" to include people of all genders.

 

[sleepymouse]

Part of the reason we do not stake out a parade/fireworks viewing spot an hour or more in advance is because it may not be worth it. The odds of someone in front of me putting a child on the shoulders, holding up an iPad, or simply being really tall are too great. I am happy enough to just watch the fireworks from wherever I may be. I vote "down" with the iPad's though because others really want a prime spot and should be able to have a great view.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I wish something would be done with the pad people.