Mobile phone usage on dark rides

NelleBelle

NelleBelle

Well-Known Member
Big Phil said:
I have to be honest, when we last went I went into the Country Bear Jamboree with two of my kids (my wife was getting food with our other one) and at the beginning of the show there was this 40 year old guy sitting next to us texting on his phone. I know what I am about to say next might make people think I was rude but I did it anyway. I nudged his shoulder. He looked over and wasn't sure what to make of it but he turned his phone off. Hey, I'm sorry, but I am trying to enjoy the show and you are distracting me with your phone. It is no different than in a movie theatre. But that's me.............
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Of all the years we've been to WDW, I finally got the opportunity to see the American Adventure (kids finally old enough to appreciate it and be quiet and respectful). As soon as the lights dimmed, this woman in front of me has her phone on texting. I gave her a few seconds to turn it off, but as the show started, she continued right on, oblivious to the darkness and her rudeness. I finally had enough and tapped her and asked to please turn her phone off as it was extremely distracting and that I wanted to enjoy the show. She huffed and reluctantly turned it off. My DH is always embarrassed when I do something like this, but I was not about to excuse this behavior in a show where if you don't give a hoot about patriotism or this history of this country, take your texting and get out of the theatre. No one forced you in there to ruin it for others. :mad:
 
Darth Figment

Darth Figment

Well-Known Member
It's even more magical when they hold up a huge tablet that blocks your view. You ask them politely to put it down cause you can't see and they tell YOU to move somewhere else. So move infront of them and hold up your phone in front of their tablet, or drop a few f bombs on their video.😁( I was talking about shows, not a ride, sry)
 
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T

thomas998

Well-Known Member
danyoung56 said:
Isn't that on the passive-aggressive side? I would rather choose the direct approach - "Hey, would you mind not doing that any more?"
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You could do it your way. But the reality is the person blinding everyone with their iPhone knows what they are doing. If I thought they were innocent I might be inclined to try the polite route but that isn't the case.
 
danyoung56

danyoung56

Well-Known Member
I honestly don't think they know how offensive they're being. Sometimes a direct request will work. Course, there are those who are a little stupider than most, who need a little direct intervention.
 
Walt Disney1955

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
NelleBelle said:
Of all the years we've been to WDW, I finally got the opportunity to see the American Adventure (kids finally old enough to appreciate it and be quiet and respectful). As soon as the lights dimmed, this woman in front of me has her phone on texting. I gave her a few seconds to turn it off, but as the show started, she continued right on, oblivious to the darkness and her rudeness. I finally had enough and tapped her and asked to please turn her phone off as it was extremely distracting and that I wanted to enjoy the show. She huffed and reluctantly turned it off. My DH is always embarrassed when I do something like this, but I was not about to excuse this behavior in a show where if you don't give a hoot about patriotism or this history of this country, take your texting and get out of the theatre. No one forced you in there to ruin it for others. :mad:
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Your husband might be embarrassed, but you are still in the right. Even so much as 10 years ago someone doing that in a theatre would have been shocking. Unfortunately we've come "so far" since then that a person is either ignorant or doesn't care that they are doing it. What in the world you need to text for while you are in Disney World is another story for another day, but don't do it on my dime and distract me. That's why I casually nudged the guy's shoulder who was doing it. He knew why.
 
LeighM

LeighM

Well-Known Member
Disneyworld_here_we_come said:
I must have gotten lucky because I don't remember being bothered by any of these things. I personally was focused on the rides and not other people. Just my experience though.
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I forgot which ride this happened on, I think it was Pirates, but the person sitting in front of me turned around to take a picture of something they had just seen and ended up blinding me with their camera flash. I was like WTH?! and the person realized what they did and apologized. No more pictures the rest of the ride. But I couldn't see much of anything besides little floating dots :) Those types of examples are hard to miss LOL. I'm glad you haven't experienced anything like that because it's beyond frustrating.
 
Disneyworld_here_we_come

Disneyworld_here_we_come

Active Member
LeighM said:
I forgot which ride this happened on, I think it was Pirates, but the person sitting in front of me turned around to take a picture of something they had just seen and ended up blinding me with their camera flash. I was like WTH?! and the person realized what they did and apologized. No more pictures the rest of the ride. But I couldn't see much of anything besides little floating dots :) Those types of examples are hard to miss LOL. I'm glad you haven't experienced anything like that because it's beyond frustrating.
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Yeah that would be pretty hard to miss! At least they apologized, this day and age I'm more surprised by apologizes then no apology.
 
LeighM

LeighM

Well-Known Member
Disneyworld_here_we_come said:
Yeah that would be pretty hard to miss! At least they apologized, this day and age I'm more surprised by apologizes then no apology.
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I'm not sure they had any choice but to apologize without looking like a huge jerk in front of everyone LOL. It's not everyday someone temporarily blinds another in front of others on a dark ride. Can't really sneak under the radar with that one :joyfull: I'm sure they were embarrassed.
 
Disney4family

Disney4family

Well-Known Member
Captain Barbossa said:
Seriously? Why even ride the dang thing?
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That's my point, too!
Sad to say, it's everywhere - even off rides & attractions. We just enjoyed another one of Resortv1's relaxing strolls (this one around Liberty Square) & saw so many people just staring at phones for so long. I guess we're all forced to look down to get the next FP or check wait times, but these people were just staring forever at their phones.

I can't assume they're all locals and are used to being in the parks. It reminds me of the time my brother went on a high school trip to Europe. The teacher had a party after the trip where everyone brought their pictures to share. My brother's pictures were all of one girl he absolutely loved. The teacher told him it would've been cheaper if he just stood outside her house and took the same pictures.
 
harryk

harryk

Well-Known Member
Phones and flashes should be banned on all dark rides - maybe set up a depository to place them in when you enter the ride and pick them up when departing the ride. If guest does not comply - ban them from the park - forever...... I know this will never happen but a thought.
 
Takeitforgranite

Takeitforgranite

Active Member
Yeah, people fiddling with their phones doesn't bother me that much...because of all the people using the flash. The worst are these people who have expensive cameras with a flash that flickers several times each time. It's like torture to try to endure it on a dark ride. I've had to yell out "No flash!" on POTC several times. Each time, you could hear a cast member saying as much over the loudspeaker, but the people were too clueless to notice it.
 
LukeS7

LukeS7

Well-Known Member
Takeitforgranite said:
Yeah, people fiddling with their phones doesn't bother me that much...because of all the people using the flash. The worst are these people who have expensive cameras with a flash that flickers several times each time. It's like torture to try to endure it on a dark ride. I've had to yell out "No flash!" on POTC several times. Each time, you could hear a cast member saying as much over the loudspeaker, but the people were too clueless to notice it.
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The thing I don’t get is how there are that many stupid people that don’t realize that using a flash doesn’t automatically make their photo better. It’s insane how many people don’t understand that basic concept of photography. I did non-flash photography on my camera during the rides on our last trip and some of the photos came out amazingly, yet would look like absolute crap with the flash on. Example: In this it would’ve washed out the shadow from the show lighting.
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Nezumi_Fan

Nezumi_Fan

New Member
HonorableMention said:
I’ve always had more issues with people using flash photography, which is more annoying to me.

Also, you might not even run into this depending on the ride. It might be more frustrating on something like Pirates, but some like HM’s vehicles are a little better with focusing your view on the scene.
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Ugh, there always seems to be at least one chucklehead snapping photos in the seance scene, especially when it's the "Nightmare Before Christmas" holiday overlay at Disneyland. I generally manage to bite my tongue, but every so often I lose it and will say "NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY!" in the most aggravated voice possible
 
NelleBelle

NelleBelle

Well-Known Member
Nezumi_Fan said:
Ugh, there always seems to be at least one chucklehead snapping photos in the seance scene, especially when it's the "Nightmare Before Christmas" holiday overlay at Disneyland. I generally manage to bite my tongue, but every so often I lose it and will say "NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY!" in the most aggravated voice possible
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LOL...I generally say it to my family and hope the offender "hears" me. Do you have any luck getting them to knock it off? :joyfull:
 
erasure fan1

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
The phones, while still annoying, I can usually ignore. The screens aren't so bright that it makes you not be able to see the show. But a flash, you are blinded for a couple seconds, and you see a white dot for a few more. If Disney had a spine, they could use the rfid tech to log a warning when someone is disturbing others on a dark ride. Then you tell them, 3 strikes and you are kicked out of the parks for the rest of the day. Once word gets around, the problem will almost completely go away. But right now there aren't any penalties for being a jerk.
 

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