Would it bother you if someone was taking pictures of your kids?

[dbmarie]

We were at the park today and a man was standing behind me taking pictures of my kids with the character. I turned around and said nicely, " Could you please not take pictures of my kids?". He started yelling your crazy what is wrong with you. My husband said to drop it but I asked him to please just delete the pictures and he refused. Does anyone else find this weird that he wanted pictures of my kids with a character?

 

[Trentmom]

Before I had kids, DH and I went to the parks and if there was a character I wanted to see, but the line was too long, I would stand off to the side and try to snap a pic of them, doing my best not to get get a kid or any person in it.

Sometimes, those kids were so fast, it was inevitable.

I never did anything with those pics, just stuck them in my photo album.

I hope that makes you feel better...

 

[GoinToDisney]

Yeah, that would be a red flag for me. There was a guy taking pics of people at the beach, and I made sure to keep my dd behind him and watch closely whenever he took out the camera.This guy just looked shady.

 

[doulacandice]

I would be creeped out too!! Was he with his family? Children? Wife? Maybe if he was way in the back of the line and wasn't gonna make it to actually meet the character then I would probably think he just wants a picture of the character and leave it at that.. If he was right there next to you though and your kids were in line, I would be the same way.

 

[livndisney]

Oh My! This JUST happened to us last month. My dh noticed a woman trying to take a picture of my child so he stepped in front of her, she moved around him! So he asked her to please not take a pic of his child. I asked the woman (nicely) if she had taken a pic of my child and she went balstic! Saying my DH was a child molester and told me (right in front of my child) to have a MERRY *(^%&^ CHRISTMAS!

 

[StephMK]

The reaction to the question would bother me more than having the pic taken. Yes, it could be innocent pic of a character but reacting like that would definitely set off alarm bells!

A woman stepped out of a parade & took a pic one time of mine but it was more, cute parade watching kind of pic & didn't seem at all threatening. A few months we were at a park & there was a man w/a camera hanging around the outer edges w/no clear connection to a child after I watched him a bit so we left pretty soon after. I think a lot depends on the context of the shot and anytime your intuition goes on alert, it's smart to be cautious.

 

[Disney1976]

A couple of years ago, I was walking into the bathrooms near Fantasyland at MK. I noticed a man with a camera around his neck and his head down, and he was headed straight for the ladies' bathroom. Before I could say something to him (thinking he was just not paying attention) a CM saw him and told him "Sir, careful, you're going into the wrong bathroom!" The man apologized profusely and seemed quite embarrassed by it, especially when he noticed that I saw what happened. But as he passed me walking into the men's room, I heard him clearly mutter to himself "DAMN!" Pretty freaky.

Still, I wouldn't necessarily automatically react negatively to someone taking a picture of your child, as others have said, sometimes it is innocent and accidental. There are also a lot of people who walk around alone with cameras just to take pictures -doesn't automatically mean they are bad people.

I guess use your best judgment.

 

[The Disney Bunch]

I think you were correct in what you asked. I would be upset at the reaction. Did you tell a CM? I would have.

 

[teresajoy]

Oh My! This JUST happened to us last month. My dh noticed a woman trying to take a picture of my child so he stepped in front of her, she moved around him! So he asked her to please not take a pic of his child. I asked the woman (nicely) if she had taken a pic of my child and she went balstic! Saying my DH was a child molester and told me (right in front of my child) to have a MERRY *(^%&^ CHRISTMAS!

Wow, that is so creepy! I would have been scared!

 

[jessica52877]

I probably wouldn't think much of it, but it depends alot on my judgement of the person (I know wrong). We went to ride Thomas this summer, Sir Topham hat was there, but DS didn't want to wait in line, not much of a character person, so I took a picture quickly, trying to do inbetween kids but just doesn't work. they were hardly in it, tops of heads and I edited them out when I got home. Just wanted the character.

 

[mickeylove2]

It wouldn't bother me, we tried to get in line to see the wicked stepmother and stepsisters but of course they are only out for 15 minutes, so no luck with that...I just snapped a pic of the 3 of them and a woman holding a baby on 1 side and a man on the other, I'll crop it so they are not in it, but I would be offended if someone told me not to take that pic and to delete it from my camera. Now if my children were walking around a pool with bathing suits on and some 30 year old man was there alone snapping pics of my kids, I would have a problem, but no if my kids are fully dressed in capris and a tshirt standing next to a popular character at WDW, I wouldn't have a problem with it. How many children are modeling clothes in a JCPenney catalogue?? Again fully dressed and innocent, should they just start taking pics of the clothes laid out on a table? My children's pictures are in the school yearbooks, should I go to every family in the school and demand that my childs picture be cut out of the book?

 

[madmom1030]

I had someone taking pictures of my dd at MGM with Donald and Daisy in October. I didn't notice her the photopass woman did, she said they will tell them not to take pictures of your child if they see them and know they are not with the child. The lady walked away before I could say anythink to her. I hoping she only took pictures of their heads and not the whole shot with my daughter in them.

 

[adoptionmomma4]

It would have upset me. I like to think that people are innocent and just want a picture of the character. However that is not always the case. I remember a case this summer of a pediphile who was running a web site promoting places for other pediphiles to see children. He was taking photographs of children and putting them on his web site (which was taken down) of these children. Could you imagine how the parents of those kids felt? They were just doing normal activities as a family and a very sick person was exploiting them on the internet. I specifically remember him saying in an excerpt of his site on the news that he was at a Wiggles concert I think the man acted inappropriately when asked to delete the photo and that would have sent up red flags to me as well. Scary!!!

I will add I have been accused a time or two of raising my kids in a bubble. However, I think the OP and her husband acted appropriately. You can never be to safe when your children are concerned.

 

[lclark0621]

Yeah it would bother me a lot.

Last Feb we were seeing Mr. Incredible. Someone came up to the other side of the line & started taking pictures my DS & the character.

I was about to ask them to stop when the cast member went right over & stoped them. She said something about a park rule (or law) iof not taking deliberate pictures of other peoples' children. She stood there & made the person delete the pictures in front of her.

I dont let anyone knowingly take pictures of my son, unless I ok it.

 

[jlovesee]

I won't say there are perverts out there. However not everyone taking pictures of kids on rides (that are not their own) are being malicious. My husband shoots amusement parks for our magazine Theme Parks Magazine, he takes between 600-1500 pictures for ONE park. This includes hundreds of photos of different kids riding childrens rides.

Is this illegal? No

Do we feel like we are doing something wrong? No

We would delete a photo if asked, but we have not once, with over 20+ parks shot and thousands upon thousands of photos taken ever been asked to. (This now includes Animal Kingdom)

When you enter a park you are agreeing to have your photo taken and used for media purposes. This is true with every amusement park I have ever dealt with. This is because parks are private property, not public.

I mention this to make you more comfortable. I try to believe that most people are sincerely good people.

Jennifer

 

[grlpwrd]

I won't say there are perverts out there. However not everyone taking pictures of kids on rides (that are not their own) are being malicious. My husband shoots amusement parks for our magazine Theme Parks Magazine, he takes between 600-1500 pictures for ONE park. This includes hundreds of photos of different kids riding childrens rides.

Is this illegal? No

Do we feel like we are doing something wrong? No

We would delete a photo if asked, but we have not once, with over 20+ parks shot and thousands upon thousands of photos taken ever been asked to. (This now includes Animal Kingdom)

When you enter a park you are agreeing to have your photo taken and used for media purposes. This is true with every amusement park I have ever dealt with. This is because parks are private property, not public.

I mention this to make you more comfortable. I try to believe that most people are sincerely good people.

Jennifer

Yes, of course, but Photopasses and your situation are different. The OP is most likely talking about an encounter with a stranger. I assume this because he would have stated his credentials and not acted in such a suspicious manner.

I tell my family and friends not to post pictures online of my kids so I can understand where the OP is coming from. I would have done what she did if this happened to us.

 

[Zeebs]

Don't agree with way man acted when asked to stop didn't need to be rude however the world (and I am not just meaning Disneyworld) has gone crazy with worrying about everyone being up to no good. This is why you can't film your kids school play it is insane. If this paranoia keeps up cameras will be banned from WDW before long and they will have you spending money on photopass actually with the money making potential in it am surprised they haven't already. I refuse to let my kids be kids on the small off chance the stranger standing there may be having dirty thoughts. Children are more likely to be abused by someone they know so you need to educate them to be careful and open in talking to you about anything. And before anyone tells me I obviously don't know the damage these people can do I have first hand experience of it when I was a child and I still don't tar everyone in the world with the same brush.

Kirsten

 

[dbmarie]

The man had kids in line to see the character and he had also taken photos of the kids prior to mine. I tried to move in front of him he actually went around the side to get the photos . When the CM asked him to erase the photos he also refused. Finally after pulling us aside and again requesting he removed them he did. I'm not sure why I felt so strongly it just didn't seem right.

 

[hmacmahony]

It would not bother me, I have on a few occasions had people stop to take my kids pictures, but the person almost always asked. We were at a medieval fair thing, and we had people stop to take the girls pictures in there princess clothes, at central park we had someone stop to tell us what a beautiful smile my daughter had and could be please take her picture, and just recently somewhere we went someone stopped to take there picture.
As I think about it everyone has asked me first, and I am not a sky is falling, worst case scenario person, so it does not bother me. But, like I said in my case everyone did ask, but I still don't think it would really bother me if they did not.
When we were at animal kingdom last year, there was this little boy, about 2, who was dressed to look like donald, yellow rain boots, white shorts, the shirt, and hat, he was the cutest thing I have EVER EVER seen, during the parade all the people in the parade were coming over to him, the CMs who were by the donald float made sure donald saw him, he was the cutest little thing I ever saw. I took his picture, and it is one of my favorites, it captures the joy we had at that moment.
But, in the end they are your kids, you have to do what you feel is comfortable, and if it creeps you out, then you have every right to ask them to stop.

 

[Stitchfans]

It wouldn't bother me, we tried to get in line to see the wicked stepmother and stepsisters but of course they are only out for 15 minutes, so no luck with that...I just snapped a pic of the 3 of them and a woman holding a baby on 1 side and a man on the other, I'll crop it so they are not in it, but I would be offended if someone told me not to take that pic and to delete it from my camera.

I had the exact experience on our trip this past March. I wanted a picture of the step mother and step sisters too but the line was real long, so I took a picture of them with some one elses child just so I could have a picture of them. Like this OP said I also would be very offended if someone told me not to take the picture and to delete it. As a matter of fact I would flat out refuse and walk away.