Storytime with Belle - NO PICTURES

[bauer1168]

5 times? I bow to your greatness!

I'm curious what you saw over those 5 visits with regards to photo taking. I was really surprised at the different approach in my 2 visits. Were people up and moving about taking photos?

Haha thanks! From what I saw, no parent got out of their row/seat and moved about when their child had their photo with Belle. When the Photo Pass photographer was taking their pic, the parent(s)/family member/friend etc. would stand up where they were and take the picture from there.
I did see some children look at their parents camera and smile directly towards that, which may have been a problem as they would have been looking away from the photopass pic, and on the family pic, their child would be looking into their camera but Belle would be looking the other way (straight ahead at the photopass).
With regular character M&G where you can ask the photopass photographer to take pictures with your camera(s), you couldn't here. It was the cm photopass camera only.
I agree the best strategy would be to maybe sit on the aisle at the back row and when the photographer is taking the pics, just lean over or stand behind him. I guess it may just depend on the cms working it on that rotation, some may be more lenient than others.
The cms I saw were all excellent and very helpful, especially with children who were shy. They helped the guests a lot. I've said it before, if you have a child who would really like their picture with Belle, but would be too shy to perform in the show, just simply ask one of the cms. They were more than helpful and never said no. They even during one show asked anyone who wanted their picture with Belle to come and stand by them.
Only time was there an incident was when after they had repeatedly over and over again asked the guests politely to refrain from flash photography and one woman on the front row took two flash pictures (grrr so annoying!), this great cm stood over and looked directly into her camera lens and said 'no flash photography'

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

Best seats where people got easy photos was the very first row. We were in the very last row.

We did it about an hour to park close, before MVMCP though at 6pm. The line was 30 minutes, it had been 50-70 the rest of the day when we looked.

 

[mom2rtk]

Only time was there an incident was when after they had repeatedly over and over again asked the guests politely to refrain from flash photography and one woman on the front row took two flash pictures (grrr so annoying!), this great cm stood over and looked directly into her camera lens and said 'no flash photography'

It's incidents like this that will end up with a "no photography" rule in this attraction. They were far more clear about this than at any other attraction I've ever been on.

Really, they just need to staff up on Belles, add her back to TST, then nix the photos at the end.

 

[bauer1168]

It's incidents like this that will end up with a "no photography" rule in this attraction. They were far more clear about this than at any other attraction I've ever been on.

Really, they just need to staff up on Belles, add her back to TST, then nix the photos at the end.

Agree, and bring back Belle in her red dress too! I'm sure most people would be happy to see Belle at TST than Aurora. One thing that stood out for me at the Prince&Princess' M&G at MVMCP was the amount of time guests would spend interacting with Rapunzel,Flynn, Snow White and Snow Price and yet with Aurora and Phillip would breeze through them (I was happy to see them as Sleeping Beauty is one of my favourites and for a Prince, Phillip is pretty cool)
. I see no harm in putting Belle in TST and Aurora were Rapunzel met in Main St. Temporarily before going to TST. Ok and now I've sent this thread completely off topic!

 

[mom2rtk]

Agree, and bring back Belle in her red dress too! I'm sure most people would be happy to see Belle at TST than Aurora. One thing that stood out for me at the Prince&Princess' M&G at MVMCP was the amount of time guests would spend interacting with Rapunzel,Flynn, Snow White and Snow Price and yet with Aurora and Phillip would breeze through them (I was happy to see them as Sleeping Beauty is one of my favourites and for a Prince, Phillip is pretty cool)
. I see no harm in putting Belle in TST and Aurora were Rapunzel met in Main St. Temporarily before going to TST. Ok and now I've sent this thread completely off topic!

Well, it wasn't for lack of trying! We opted instead to bring our own red Belles along!


IMG_9151 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

 

[mesaboy2]

Well, it wasn't for lack of trying! We opted instead to bring our own red Belles along!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8291994733/
IMG_9151 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Showoff.

 

[mom2rtk]

Showoff.

LOL, I couldn't resist.

I love the photo with the Beast. But I really still would have loved to have Belle there in her red too.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

I stand by my statement I made prior to our trip. This is an amazing attraction. But taking Belle out of Town Square Theater was a colossal miss.

The attraction sounds amazing and I can't wait to see it! However I'm still not entirely happy they've removed Belle from meeting elsewhere at MK. This doesn't sound like an attraction that we would want to do several times, once or maybe twice. We do however like to meet our favourite characters several times each during our trips. We stay for extended periods (at minimum 2-3 weeks) and we like to do different poses and photos with the characters. So we don't hold people up too much, we instead meet each character a few times during the trip. Beast is now impossible to meet without a reservation at BOG and this doesn't sound much easier either. Also being in the show isn't something that would appeal to me, especially more than once.

 

[North of Mouse]

I do not believe this attraction will stay the way it is right now. We were just there and the wait times were crazy. I can not imagine what it will be like this coming week and over the summer. One of the things that really stood out to me was the lack of shade in the whole new area, from the bridge to Be Our Guest, Enchanted Tales and Ariels grotto, people will be dropping like flies this summer.

I don't think the lack of shade will be an issue that Disney will worry about. What about all the *meet & greet* lines out in the park every day during the summer?

I especially have seen the *long* line near the entrance to Tomorrowland for the *Brave* (could be Repunzel, not sure) meet & greet in the summer - really amazes me that parents will line up that long in the sun with their little ones. No picture or autograph is worth that IMO - but that's just me

Actually, the show itself is definitely not worth the wait to us. Yes, the Magic Mirror is *cool* and was a neat experience, but other than that, and the beautiful set up, it was kind of blah, and very time consuming. At that, we went before grand opening, and only waited about 15min. tops.

 

[MouseEarsForAll]

Toward the end of Storytime with Belle, the people who got to be a cardboard character pose with Belle to take a picture, which in my opinion, is one of the best parts of the storytime.

Was anyone else yelled at to "sit down, you cant get up" when trying to get up to take a picture of your child posed with Belle. I only got side view pictures or ones of my kids looking the opposite direction towards the photopass guy.

Shouldn't a photo be given to each family as a memento for waiting that long? Or at least allow me to stand and get 1 quick picture of my kids with Belle?

It made me frustrated to say the least, to have to wait in line 50 minutes and then have to BUY a photopass picture instead of being able to take my own.

Anyone else have different experiences with this attraction?

Okay, that's ridiculous.

"I've already payed X amount of money to vacation here, and then you want me to spend more so I can buy YOUR photo of my KIDS?"

 

[deserrai]

We were just there a couple of weeks ago and we didn't even try to do STWB. My DD3 would have loved to see her, but it is my understanding she wouldn't be able to actually "meet" her unless she was chosen to be in the show, which she would never do because she is so shy. We did see her at EPCOT in her blue dress.

 

[bauer1168]

We were just there a couple of weeks ago and we didn't even try to do STWB. My DD3 would have loved to see her, but it is my understanding she wouldn't be able to actually "meet" her unless she was chosen to be in the show, which she would never do because she is so shy. We did see her at EPCOT in her blue dress.

From my experience at ETWB, even if your daughter doesn't get picked for a part, one of two things either happened...

1. Ask a cm when entering the library or when the pictures are being taken with Belle if your daughter could get in the line and have her picture with Belle. The cm ALWAYS said yes

2. A cm would ask the guests if anyone would like their picture with Belle, they could join one of the 2 lines.

Hope this helps you!

 

[bauer1168]

Well, it wasn't for lack of trying! We opted instead to bring our own red Belles along!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28159731@N02/8291994733/
IMG_9151 by mom2rtk, on Flickr

Haha great photo!

 

[parkhopping]

I've done ETWB 3 times now and though I haven't noticed anything in regards to photo-taking, the experience has been slightly different each time. I really think it all depends on the CMs you get. The first time I went was during passholder previews, and when giving out the parts the CM asked if any other kids wanted a part. He specifically looked only at the front row of children when he said this, so I didn't feel like I could volunteer. The second time I did it during MVMCP and I did get picked for a part, but the CM asked if anyone else wanted a part and looked at the entire group. I've also seen the M&G/photo session be more or less rushed during different shows. It's possible that they've been testing doing it different ways, but I think it's more likely that it just depends on what group of CMs you have and the mood they're in that day.

 

[ars0525]

Actually, the show itself is definitely not worth the wait to us. Yes, the Magic Mirror is *cool* and was a neat experience, but other than that, and the beautiful set up, it was kind of blah, and very time consuming. At that, we went before grand opening, and only waited about 15min. tops.

That's how my mom felt too. Glad we did it back in Nov when they happened to have it open, but no way would I wait in line for it. As it was we stood in line about 10 minutes waiting to get enough people cause they need XX amount to participate. And after midnight not many little kids were still out so lots of "big kids" got roles.

OP--My mom & I were both in the show & after I met Belle/sat down, I went back by the photopass guy to grab a shot of my mom. All he said was "please stay behind me" cause he was in the center aisle for the best shot. But no other people were trying to take pictures & the room definitely was not near seating capacity so it wasn't crowded.

While it's nice the "actors" get a photo with Belle, I imagine it's quite time consuming & probably boring for people in the audience to watch. I wonder if the ending will change somehow to speed up the process either by elmininating the photo (although Disney give up $$$, yeah I know) or maybe making a side room for those that want to meet Belle? It also would stink if your kid doesn't participate in the show (either too shy or not enough roles) yet wants to meet Belle cause how it ran when I went was only the "actors" got a picture.

I wasn't paying super close attention to this, but does it only show 1 group at a time or was there multiple rooms with multiple shows happening at once?

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I wasn't paying super close attention to this, but does it only show 1 group at a time or was there multiple rooms with multiple shows happening at once?

We didn't pay attention either, but assumed it must have more than one show going at a time.

 

[mesaboy2]

We didn't pay attention either, but assumed it must have more than one show going at a time.

I know for a fact there are at least two. And I'm reasonably sure there's not a third.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

I noticed in the Wardrobe room there are 2 doors - we went through the left hand one but I'm assuming the other door leads to another identical room so they'd have 2 shows on the go at once.

Hoping this isn't going to be a problem with DD (she's pretty observant)

 

[mesaboy2]

I noticed in the Wardrobe room there are 2 doors - we went through the left hand one but I'm assuming the other door leads to another identical room so they'd have 2 shows on the go at once.

Hoping this isn't going to be a problem with DD (she's pretty observant)

It does, I've been in both.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Op - that's too bad. It must've been the CM.

The show I went to only allowed pictures for the kids who participated in the show and parents were allowed to take pictures as long as they stayed in the back or were low in the middle behind the photopass photographer.

Pictures went so fast that unless the parent was already set up by the time the pictures were taken, you wouldn't get the shot.

I was there on the Passholder preview Saturday.

It was a cute show and I loved the mirror and the workshop but I wouldn't do it again.