Put Down Your Phones!

[rt2dz]

But Disney is forcing us to use our phones more. Need to schedule/change FP, we will be forced to use the phone. Need to check wait times so we don't miss a FP, pull out the phone. Not feeling well and need to cancel tomorrows dinner just in case because you don't want a $10 per person no show fee, pull out the phone. Need to check your FP scheduled time, need the phone again. Get it? Like it or not, phone use is required at WDW.

Then there are all the other things. Taking and sending photos. Maybe checking on a massive situation at work, where you probably shouldn't be on vacation. I know my DH gets paid to do a job. He has several people under him in one of the most key departments to a very large company. Vacation or not, he might have to take care of something. Sometimes he needs to get it done, or the vacation is over--for him at least. Possibly even the job. There are people who are keeping tabs on someone who is seriously ill at home. I mean, really, if your father had a massive stroke the first day of your vacation and everyone is telling you it's fine, wouldn't you still want to stay on top of the situation in case anything changes? Or would you rather be so checked out in your happy place that you never got a chance to say goodbye? Maybe the child has Autism and that is helping him/her get through the meal. Kids with motor skill issues can't color. Or maybe an older child has a project to do for something--school or other activities. Some schools are year round. Some schools require summer work. my kids are GT and AP classes. Each has a summer reading list. One has to write 2 repots, the other has to fill out online surveys and there are various deadlines by which they need to be completed. Yeah, they complain too.

No one knows how representative that snapshot is compared to the rest of their vacation. Do not make assumptions unless you know the whole story.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[scrapquitler]

My adult daughter and I just returned from our annual WDW trip and we both were disturbed by what we observed....whether on the bus, at dinner or standing on line waiting to go on an attraction we saw parents more involved with their cell phones, ipads, whatever than their kids. We noticed parents telling kids to be quiet so they could read their emails or check something online. As a parent and educator I was so saddened to see this over and over again. While there were parents interacting with their children and having a great time, there was an overwhelming number completely "checked out." I always thought vacation was a chance to spend time with your kids without all the outside pressures of everyday life. The other disturbing thing was the kids that had a device put in front of them so they can play games or watch videos during dinner. Sadly, we noticed many tables where there were parents and children and absolutely no conversation.
This seems to be something that's getting worse every year. What's the point of a family vacation where the family doesn't interact with each other? Maybe it's time for the parents to put away their electronics and start reconnecting with their families and pay attention to their children, not their phones. Disney really is a magical place, but the magic needs to start by acutally paying attention.

Why do you care what the people at my table in a restaurant are doing if it isn't disturbing you? You might see me checking my email, but that's 5 minutes if the WHOLE day. And you dont kniw if the oerson you see using their phone is checking in to get the boarding passes fircthe flight home, confirming tomorrows dinner reservations, etc. and frankly its none of your business. This is something where you need to mind your own business.

 

[HippieChickadee]

My last trip to Disney- June of this year- I watch a teenager (I assume sprain or break) her ankle walking off a walkway because she was texting- and her family had walked so far ahead of her she had to CALL THEM ON THEIR CELL to stop and turn around to help her.

As others have said- I've seen so many families- entire families- sitting in silence while on their phones/ipads at meals, in lines, by the pools...

I've seen young kids BEGGING their parents for attention while they stand there ignoring them texting away or facebooking and only looking up to yell at the child for bothering them.

I sat waiting for my name to be called at liberty tavern one time, with this lady next to me reading every single word on Facebook, as if it were a newspaper, OUT LOUD to her husband who kept rolling his eyes at me after ever status update was read. He was clearly bored out of his mind while his wife obsessively read and typed ignoring him the entire 40 minutes we were waiting.

But me witnessing these things take place means I'm just as detached from my family as they were and it also makes me judgmental.

I could seriously go on and on with this topic with things I've witnessed, but I'm done sitting in front of the computer for the day and I'm going out to enjoy a beautiful day.

 

[nkereina]

Sorry, but it's 2013 and this is the new reality. If you don't want to partake, that's fine, but don't complain when I do. You don't see me complaining about people NOT utilizing phones. It's just my fiance and I that travel together, and there are often periods when we are waiting for something and just plain don't have anything to talk about because we've been together all day. If we want to take a minute to catch up on work, check in with our family, read the news or sports scores - I will not feel guilty nor apologize to anyone. It doesn't bother either of us, so don't be concerned with us that it bothers you

 

[ConvenientTruth]

I tend to worry about myself and family at Disney....if what one person does, doesn't effect me, then I see no reason to complain about it. Enjoy your technology, smoke, lie about your age (or Children's age), be obese....in the end we shouldn't care how OTHER people raise their kids or what they do in the park.

 

[motherof2boys]

Didn't read all the previous posts but I'll admit we were that Family last week. My youngest was playing Where's my Mickey on his phone & it looked like fun so all four of us downloaded it and played it in long lines. We talked & laughed & gave each other tips as to beat the level we were on. We had a great 12 days of being together 24 hours a day. We all love Disney & each other but sometimes you need a distraction.

 

[minnie mum]

Why do you care what the people at my table in a restaurant are doing if it isn't disturbing you? You might see me checking my email, but that's 5 minutes if the WHOLE day. And you dont kniw if the oerson you see using their phone is checking in to get the boarding passes fircthe flight home, confirming tomorrows dinner reservations, etc. and frankly its none of your business. This is something where you need to mind your own business.

This seems unnecessarily harsh. You are taking it very personally and seem defensive. And I'm not addressing this specifically to you, but to all of the posters who have replied in a similar fashion.

What is this mind your own business business? When has it become forbidden to make observations of something that has become increasingly obvious and commonplace? If the OP had come up to you in line or to your table and remonstrated you for placing your electronics over and above your family, then you would have a perfect right to object. But simply making an observation? Really? She wasn't attacking you personally.

I think the OP is, sadly, perfectly correct. Remaining connected 24/7 has become an almost universal addiction. How do I know that a person I saw ignoring their children while on their smartphone for most of a meal only did that once all day? I don't. But when I see the same behavior everywhere I look no matter what time of day, then it doesn't take a statistical genius to figure that something unsettling is happening.

Why should it bother me- because if the observations are correct then it means that something disturbing is happening with interpersonal dynamics. When little plastic gadgets have more immediate importance than personal connectedness. People would rather browse or text than talk to each other. I completely understand where the OP is coming from.

I'm not saying that this is right or wrong. That people must stop using their devices NOW. That would be ridiculous and futile. But it does seem to be a sociological change that a person should be able to discuss and comment on in the abstract without attaching a lot of personal emotion or outrage to.

 

[catra121]

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents on this one...from a non- "mind your own business" situation.

I am 29, my brother is 28, and we went with my parents back in October. I can't tell you how many times we were sitting down at dinner, or waiting in line, or waiting for the parade/fireworks and all THREE of my family members had their cell phones out. My dad keeps his phone with him at all times because he needs to be reachable for his job...that's fine and I understand.

I certainly had my cell phone WITH me the entire time...but I was the only one not playing with my phone in these situations and I found myself wondering what happened to TALKING to one another? My parents and brother live in another state so we don't get together more than a couple times a year...why is it so hard for them to just spend time BEING with me and enjoying the company?

The worst part is that even my dad who needs to be reachable for his job was not checking emails or responding to work calls during these times. He, my mom, and my brother were: checking facebook, looking at sports scores, browsing news feeds, checking fan sites for various things, etc. WTH? Glad to know where I rank in the grand scheme of things...

Seriously...I don't think it's their INTENTION to ignore me or make me feel this way...it's just the way people live their lives now. Doesn't mean it's any less hurtful to me. regardless of what their intentions are, when they act this way.

I am very glad that smart phones were not around when I was a little kid...I feel like it would have been terrible to grow up feeling this way. Maybe kids don't notice or feel this way because they are part of this whole environment where this behavior is normal. But I can't help but FEEL they (both parents and kids) are missing out on some great things and some great family memories and experiences by being SO connected all the time to things via their cell phones.

 

[WDSearcher]

This seems unnecessarily harsh. You are taking it very personally and seem defensive. And I'm not addressing this specifically to you, but to all of the posters who have replied in a similar fashion.

What is this mind your own business business? When has it become forbidden to make observations of something that has become increasingly obvious and commonplace? If the OP had come up to you in line or to your table and remonstrated you for placing your electronics over and above your family, then you would have a perfect right to object. But simply making an observation? Really? She wasn't attacking you personally.

I think the OP is, sadly, perfectly correct. Remaining connected 24/7 has become an almost universal addiction. How do I know that a person I saw ignoring their children while on their smartphone for most of a meal only did that once all day? I don't. But when I see the same behavior everywhere I look no matter what time of day, then it doesn't take a statistical genius to figure that something unsettling is happening.

Why should it bother me- because if the observations are correct then it means that something disturbing is happening with interpersonal dynamics. When little plastic gadgets have more immediate importance than personal connectedness. People would rather browse or text than talk to each other. I completely understand where the OP is coming from.

I'm not saying that this is right or wrong. That people must stop using their devices NOW. That would be ridiculous and futile. But it does seem to be a sociological change that a person should be able to discuss and comment on in the abstract without attaching a lot of personal emotion or outrage to.

Discussing it is one thing, but implying that behavior you see for only a few minutes out of a much larger vacation means that someone is like that all the time is, I think, where OP made her mistake.

She didn't start the thread to "discuss and comment on in the abstract". Or, at least, it didn't read that way to me. It wasn't "has anyone else noticed how pervasive this is?" or a simple poll of "How much time do you spend on your phone on vacation?". It was a scolding and a call to action: "Maybe it's time for the parents to put away their electronics and start reconnecting with their families and pay attention to their children, not their phones. Disney really is a magical place, but the magic needs to start by acutally paying attention." Even the title -- "Put Down Your Phones!" -- is a command, not a discussion point. And as many have said here, they often check e-mail, make quick calls, etc. in lines or during other downtime specifically to HAVE the rest of the time free and clear for their family.

For all we know, the people the OP saw were sharing photos with folks back home who couldn't make the trip, or texting the rest of their party in a different park so that they could meet up for lunch, or checking work e-mails because that was the condition they got from their boss that made them able to take the vacation in the first place.

As always in threads like this, it's not the discussion of the concept that's the problem. It's someone posting about how someone else is wrong based on incomplete information.

 

[sandbmisnfla]

I also agree its unfortunate smartphones have consumed us or most people to the points you see it in the parks now but its the wonderful world of technology and convenience and that will just keep growing. I will also note my first trip to the world was when I was 12 and all I wanted too do was play video games at the Contemporary Resort where we stayed - ha - go figure.

 

[soccer mom]

We don't bring our phones to the parks. They are locked in the room safe and we check them in the evening and will only answer an emergency call. I even told our dog sitter not to call us if the dog died. If I can't be there to say good bye then there is no need to call me. I will wait until we get back to be sad. There is nothing I can do from WDW. I so enjoy being disconnected when I am at my happy place. Disney can keep their apps...we just go with the flow.

 

[tlpbupu]

This seems unnecessarily harsh. You are taking it very personally and seem defensive. And I'm not addressing this specifically to you, but to all of the posters who have replied in a similar fashion.

What is this mind your own business business? When has it become forbidden to make observations of something that has become increasingly obvious and commonplace? If the OP had come up to you in line or to your table and remonstrated you for placing your electronics over and above your family, then you would have a perfect right to object. But simply making an observation? Really? She wasn't attacking you personally.

I think the OP is, sadly, perfectly correct. Remaining connected 24/7 has become an almost universal addiction. How do I know that a person I saw ignoring their children while on their smartphone for most of a meal only did that once all day? I don't. But when I see the same behavior everywhere I look no matter what time of day, then it doesn't take a statistical genius to figure that something unsettling is happening.

Why should it bother me- because if the observations are correct then it means that something disturbing is happening with interpersonal dynamics. When little plastic gadgets have more immediate importance than personal connectedness. People would rather browse or text than talk to each other. I completely understand where the OP is coming from.

I'm not saying that this is right or wrong. That people must stop using their devices NOW. That would be ridiculous and futile. But it does seem to be a sociological change that a person should be able to discuss and comment on in the abstract without attaching a lot of personal emotion or outrage to.

 

[bumbershoot]

My adult daughter and I just returned from our annual WDW trip and we both were disturbed by what we observed....whether on the bus, at dinner or standing on line waiting to go on an attraction we saw parents more involved with their cell phones, ipads, whatever than their kids. We noticed parents telling kids to be quiet so they could read their emails or check something online. As a parent and educator I was so saddened to see this over and over again. While there were parents interacting with their children and having a great time, there was an overwhelming number completely "checked out." I always thought vacation was a chance to spend time with your kids without all the outside pressures of everyday life. The other disturbing thing was the kids that had a device put in front of them so they can play games or watch videos during dinner. Sadly, we noticed many tables where there were parents and children and absolutely no conversation.
This seems to be something that's getting worse every year. What's the point of a family vacation where the family doesn't interact with each other? Maybe it's time for the parents to put away their electronics and start reconnecting with their families and pay attention to their children, not their phones. Disney really is a magical place, but the magic needs to start by acutally paying attention.

So what?

My brother and I once spent a wonderful afternoon together. What did we do? We sat in his living room, reading books. Not talking to each other, not reading the same book. It was incredibly restful and relaxing, to be SO comfy with a nearly grown brother that you can just sit, silent, for hours, reading.

What on earth is the difference?

And you're only seen moments of time in any given family's existence. How do you know what they are up to the other 23.5 hours of their lives?

What happened to when kids colored at dinner?

There is just no difference.

There is no difference between coloring at dinner or playing a game on a cell phone/ipad. Both of those activities keep the kids occupied.

Oh, guess it was already said for me.

Paying attention to emails, apps, touring plans or texts = bad

Paying attention to other guests and what they do = good

amirite?

This happened to us not that long ago...mom, dad and 2ish year old daughter. She was sitting at a local restaurant playing on an iPhone. I assumed it was mom's or dad's and didnt think much of it. Throughout the meal though, both mom and dad pulled out their own iphones! The kid had her own iphone and she was 2! I love living in Washington DC, people have a lot of disposable cash!

My son has an iphone. It's one that Dh's work let him buy, so he did, and he despised it. Deactivated it and now it's nothing but an ipod. DS plays games on it. He calls it his iphone. Horrors.

Why is it sad? Those little devices have made WDW more attainable for more people.

What about the dad that could never go because of professional responsibilities. That little device in mom's hand may be her list of ADRs or touring tips she is referencing. Maybe that iPad in that little girl's lap is the only thing that keeps a child calm enough during long waits. What if they are from a different country and it's a translation app or currency converter?

Yep!

In our household, it is DH who is the technology junkie. After a couple of vacations where he kept calling work and checking email and generally playing on his phone, the kids and I decided to have an intervention.

Obviously the tech checks weren't vital for his job. If they were, it doesn't matter how much of an intervention you had, it wouldn't be possible. My hubby has to be in contact if possible. My sis in law and brother have to be reachable at ALL times. They were once on vacation and he nearly got called off of vacation to go half a world away. Thankfully it got worked out in the office but that's just how their jobs are.

I'm not talking about the one toddler with an iphone, or the surgeon/CEO parent answering a couple texts, or checking the wait lines at Peter Pan, or trying to convert currency, or find directions. I'm talking about an entire family not even looking up from their devices while sitting together at the dinner table, even after their food comes. I find that sad, and to me it is a symptom of something much bigger. We have become a society so connected to those little devices that now we cant survive an hour without them. I see how that effects my own kids and their generation. You dont have to find it sad, you can think its great, that's okay too.

HOW do you know what they were doing or what their stories were? If you were looking at their screens, I don't care what they were doing, it wasn't those people who were in the wrong.

Not to mention sometimes walking into you because their face is buried in their phone

Epcot's Phineas&Ferb doohickey = face buried in a phone.
Doesn't the sorcerers game also involve a phone-looking thing?
Dealing with the apps to help with your touring plans = looking at a phone.

What's the difference between walking into you with a map in hand vs a phone? Only difference is the opinion of the person walked into.

 

[luvmy3]

This seems unnecessarily harsh. You are taking it very personally and seem defensive. And I'm not addressing this specifically to you, but to all of the posters who have replied in a similar fashion.

What is this mind your own business business? When has it become forbidden to make observations of something that has become increasingly obvious and commonplace? If the OP had come up to you in line or to your table and remonstrated you for placing your electronics over and above your family, then you would have a perfect right to object. But simply making an observation? Really? She wasn't attacking you personally.

I think the OP is, sadly, perfectly correct. Remaining connected 24/7 has become an almost universal addiction. How do I know that a person I saw ignoring their children while on their smartphone for most of a meal only did that once all day? I don't. But when I see the same behavior everywhere I look no matter what time of day, then it doesn't take a statistical genius to figure that something unsettling is happening.

Why should it bother me- because if the observations are correct then it means that something disturbing is happening with interpersonal dynamics. When little plastic gadgets have more immediate importance than personal connectedness. People would rather browse or text than talk to each other. I completely understand where the OP is coming from.

I'm not saying that this is right or wrong. That people must stop using their devices NOW. That would be ridiculous and futile. But it does seem to be a sociological change that a person should be able to discuss and comment on in the abstract without attaching a lot of personal emotion or outrage to.

HOW do you know what they were doing or what their stories were? If you were looking at their screens, I don't care what they were doing, it wasn't those people who were in the wrong.

Epcot's Phineas&Ferb doohickey = face buried in a phone.
Doesn't the sorcerers game also involve a phone-looking thing?
Dealing with the apps to help with your touring plans = looking at a phone.

What's the difference between walking into you with a map in hand vs a phone? Only difference is the opinion of the person walked into.

So did you intentionally ignore my posts to try to make some kind of point?
And that tlast one you quoted was actually a joke, did you miss the wink and ha-ha smiley?

 

[ruthies12]

Just add cell phone use to the list that already includes breast feeding, stroller or wrap usage, taking nap breaks or not, following a set schedule while you are in the parks or not, using the buses (no child seats allowed) cloth vs disposables, changing babies diapers in public...what have I missed?

You forgot giving kids pop and ice cream, or the horror of all horrors- juice

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm such a fossil that we actually sat and talked with our parents at dinner instead of having ANYTHING to play with.

Every single meal? I'd run out of things to say. After all, we've spent every other minute together, and we were likely talking during the rest of the time.

And I know I talked so much (surprise surprise) to my mom that I'm pretty sure she took up meditation so she could have en excuse to lock her door and get away from us, LOL. It was her ONE hour, apart from being at work, out of each week to be out of earshot of the person commenting on everything. Hmm, maybe she didn't actually get a day-long migraine(which caused her to go back to the hotel alone) from the teacups during our one trip to Disneyland? (possible)

My last trip to Disney- June of this year- I watch a teenager (I assume sprain or break) her ankle walking off a walkway because she was texting- and her family had walked so far ahead of her she had to CALL THEM ON THEIR CELL to stop and turn around to help her....

I sat waiting for my name to be called at liberty tavern one time, with this lady next to me reading every single word on Facebook, as if it were a newspaper, OUT LOUD to her husband who kept rolling his eyes at me after ever status update was read. He was clearly bored out of his mind while his wife obsessively read and typed ignoring him the entire 40 minutes we were waiting.

I'm trying to figure out the problem with that first example. Yes, she should have been paying attention. Though she could easily have been taking a picture of something, or reveling in the beauty of Main Street, etc, and missed her step.

Calling them...that's pretty cool that she thought of it. Are they supposed to be bad in this scenario because they didn't notice her? My husband was left behind by his family when he was around 8 (which would have been in 1980) at Disneyland. He was reading a map (paper map, obviously) and was so engrossed in it that he didn't notice them walking away. They didn't notice he wasn't with them. Families get distracted all the time and walk on, thinking people are following them. There's nothing to be demonized in it.

If she was reading something that interested her, out loud to her husband, then she wasn't ignoring him. How sad that he decided to not communicate with her by telling her that maybe he didn't enjoy it, and chose instead to roll his eyes at someone else about it. I feel bad for his wife. It will hurt when she finds out he doesn't appreciate her reading out loud to him (when I'm assuming she thinks he likes it), but it would be better than living the lie he seems to be perpetuating.

 

[MomToOne]

I will be checking my phone while in line at Disney this year because:
1. I need to check my work email. Unfortunately, that is what most companies expect these days. (And I will also say when you try to say things like that shouldn't be required, you get a bunch of "just be glad to have a job" and "if you don't like it, get another job - companies are free to demand anything they want" type comments on this very board. Well, unfortunately that type of attitude has resulted in a society where just about every company expects it, esp. once you reach a certain level in the company. So now you get to deal with me checking my phone in line.)
2. My sister is meeting us mid-trip. I will need to be monitoring her flights, etc. to determine when we need to head back to the hotel to meet her. Prior to having the phone, I would have had to stick around the hotel all morning waiting for her...
3. I need to check my personal email. My mother is elderly and has some medical challenges, and my siblings and I share information about situations with her via email unless things are extremely urgent. While the emails are not urgent, I do not plan to "check out" and not keep up with those items just because I am vacation.
4. I will be using the MDE app to determine attraction wait times, etc. Using the app is no different then reading the old-fashioned boards where this information is posted or reading the times guide - in either case, my attention will be diverted from DD for a few moments. Just because I am now using a "screen" to check these things doesn't really make it any different than before.

DD and I spend LOTS of time together. It is just her and I in the house. I talk to her all the time. Frankly, I would kill sometimes to get her to STOP talking to me We eat multiple meals together each and every day of the year. I don't allow cell phones at the table at home, but in restaurants I'm a bit looser because of the wait times. And cell phone or not, at home or in a restauarant, we will sometimes have a quiet meal and not talk to each other much. It's not the end of the world as we know it - we have just shared all that we care to share with each other at the moment. And my ears need the break sometimes.

I find comments like "Maybe it's time for the parents to put away their electronics and start reconnecting with their families and pay attention to their children, not their phones" HUGELY judgemental. You don't know anything about my family from looking at us for a few minutes. Maybe you should look internally for things you can fix about YOURSELF before you decide to start lecturing everyone else about how they should fix themselves.......

 

[WillAustin]

Maybe it's time for the parents to put away their electronics and start reconnecting with their families and pay attention to their children, not their phones. Disney really is a magical place, but the magic needs to start by acutally paying attention.

Expect more of it...

This is a quote from Disney execs about the new system and their plans:

"People want to make interaction with their smart phones part of how they get into the moment with us and facilitate their vacation so were adapting this mobile first philosophy"

 

[Planogirl]

I dislike phones but I understand that many people adore them and hate not being connected at all times. I don't hang out with people who spend all of their time on the phone but I know of people who never put the things down.

I saw an interesting example of this recently. A girl was sitting at the end of a large table at a restaurant. She was several chairs away from her family and was texting continually. The staff suddenly came out with a cake and sang happy birthday to her. Once they left she went back to texting. I only noticed because I was facing them and kind of idly people watch while I'm out. Before anyone says anything, I don't disapprove or anything (it's not my business) but just found it odd.

 

[Maleficent Dragon]

I don't worry about what other people are doing. I am there for my vacation and enjoyment. If other people want to spend thousands of dollars on their vacations and live on a phone or ipad, it is their loss.