Phone Screens in Dark Rides

[NYwdwfan]

That's just WRONG! This is when I WOULD complain to the ride host that my ride experience was ruined. @NYwdwfan did the entire room yell at the foolish woman? If you know your kid is afraid of dark places, then for pete's sake, don't take him on rides where it's really dark!!!! Common sense people!

They were - and she didn't seem to care. It was really obnoxious. If it were an experience I cared to go on again - basically ANY other show/ride - I would have complained.

 

[NelleBelle]

LOL..excellent point!

 

[WondersOfLife]

The worst attraction that has this problem is The Haunted Mansion... Honestly I wish guests would be required to put their phones in a locker for this attraction. Even though it's just a dark ride.

 

[horizons82]

What I love about the dark rides is the sense of escape they provide. Attractions like Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Carribbean (as well as ones at Epcot)...they really do allow you to mentally go to another place and put reality behind.

The use of any device that has a lit screen totally ruins this effect; not only is it a visual distraction, but it removes that sense of escapism.

My wife and I both get angry and upset when it happens because at that point we know the atmosphere of the ride has been ruined because of someone inconsiderate. I'm not saying there might not be some emergency need to use the phone, but 99.99% of the time that is not why people are using them with the screens on.

It's so upsetting because it's a frustration caused by something on a ride that could be so easily avoided with just a little consideration.

 

[DarthMileZ]

the only ride it bothers me on is haunted mansion

 

[LAKid53]

Good god, can't people leave that damn electronic device in their pocket/bag/backpack for 2 minutes? And who brings a tablet on ANY ride to read?! If your are going to spend the majority of your time on Disney attractions using that electronic device, why bother going? After all, as many have grumbled about on this forum, Disney ain't cheap.....

Next Disney will ban smartphones in the parks. Which will make that whole MM+ experience irrelevant.

 

[DarthMileZ]

see, i do enjoy watching vlogs etc on youtube, kinda gears me up and gets me excited for the trip etc but when i see ipads it just makes me laugh.

 

[rkelly42]

I am not a fan of people using phones on dark rides, but I must admit I do watch live streams in which these people are using their phones, so I guess I should not complain.

 

[kennyy_d]

I had a similar thing happen on Spaceship Earth. A kid was freaking out as he was being loaded on to the ride, so a CM gave him a flashlight. He spent the entire attraction swinging this light from side to side, completely ruining the show for everyone around.

Now this is just comical. I am so sorry that happened to you. Spaceship Earth is my favorite ride, that's insane! It's hilariously awful.

 

[ToInfinityAndBeyond]

Wow, necro thread.

I've noticed that this phenomenon is also very seasonal. I've been in Orlando year-round and visited the parks almost every weekend since August. I haven't noticed NEARLY the same level of phone use in the winter/early spring months, but I notice it much more with the summer crowd. Just yesterday we stopped by MK for a couple of hours. While in the middle of Philharmagic, the person next to me taps his wife and kids (who were purposely sitting directly in front of him) on the shoulder so they can turn around and smile while he takes a flash photo in the middle of the movie. That one is definitely going on the mantle. They're going to treasure that picture forever.

 

[CdnDznyLuvr]

Sadly I did notice a lot of phone screens on our last visit to the World a few years ago, and I can only imagine that it has gotten worse over the past few years. There seems to be a ton of people Snapchatting, Periscoping and vlogging from the parks so I'm wondering if that has a lot to do with it?

 

[Princess Kaylee]

More and more, I keep noticing things that start to bother me. I try to let myself enjoy the parks, but some things just get to me. It's one thing to have someone use the flash to take a (terrible) picture on a dark ride, but I'm starting to notice more and more people just on their phones in the middle of dark rides. It's such a silly thing to be on a ride like the Haunted Mansion and to be on your phone. I know some people are taking pictures, but I'm starting to wonder.

I was just at a short Epcot trip this weekend and it was on every single ride we rode. We're at the top of Spaceship Earth and as we turn around to head down: BAM! A square of space behind someone's ride vehicle is suddenly illuminated unnaturally. We're on Test Track and someone has pulled out their phone to film the entire experience, their screen in my face the entire time (which is another problem entirely). We're in the Land, which is one of the only rides that mentions keeping your phone away until the greenhouses, and right in the middle of the rain scene, some bored Dad is browsing ESPN.com on his phone behind me. His wife is on a tablet, reading a book.

My question is this: Do you think it would be reasonable for Disney to start asking people to keep their phones away during dark rides?

On another note: I see CMs doing a much better job policing selfie sticks. I actually witnessed one being taken from a guest at bag check a couple of weeks ago. I didn't mind waiting while she called someone over to take it to be checked in. I had a smirk on my face the entire time.

Or the people that feel the need to narrate the whole ride. BE QUIET!

 

[bcsurvivorX2]

More and more, I keep noticing things that start to bother me. I try to let myself enjoy the parks, but some things just get to me. It's one thing to have someone use the flash to take a (terrible) picture on a dark ride, but I'm starting to notice more and more people just on their phones in the middle of dark rides. It's such a silly thing to be on a ride like the Haunted Mansion and to be on your phone. I know some people are taking pictures, but I'm starting to wonder.

I was just at a short Epcot trip this weekend and it was on every single ride we rode. We're at the top of Spaceship Earth and as we turn around to head down: BAM! A square of space behind someone's ride vehicle is suddenly illuminated unnaturally. We're on Test Track and someone has pulled out their phone to film the entire experience, their screen in my face the entire time (which is another problem entirely). We're in the Land, which is one of the only rides that mentions keeping your phone away until the greenhouses, and right in the middle of the rain scene, some bored Dad is browsing ESPN.com on his phone behind me. His wife is on a tablet, reading a book.

My question is this: Do you think it would be reasonable for Disney to start asking people to keep their phones away during dark rides?

On another note: I see CMs doing a much better job policing selfie sticks. I actually witnessed one being taken from a guest at bag check a couple of weeks ago. I didn't mind waiting while she called someone over to take it to be checked in. I had a smirk on my face the entire time.

Agree - people need to GET OFF THOSE SILLY DEVICES and enjoy their families. And totally agree on the taking away illegal items at entry. If you aren't suppose to bring it in - DONT

 

[patch553]

As in my workshop, phone time is home time!!!

 

[mimitchi33]

I only use mine to take photos/videos. Besides my dad texting one of his friends while we rode Nemo today, I never saw anyone else using their phone on a ride. However, I did see people watching Curious George and Goldie and Bear in the queue to meet Joy and Sadness without headphones, and that made me irked, especially since they were the first family to see them. Don't kids have patience anymore for things with short waits? I never saw anyone else do this in short queues-the kids just talked to their family, pointed out the sights or played with toys.

 

[GeoffR]

I just had an awesome trip to WDW in August. It was fantastic, but the only issue I had the whole time I was there was the cell phone use on dark rides. On The Great Movie Ride, Frozen, and The HauntedMansion to be specific is where the issues occurred. On TGMR, and Frozen someone literally recorded the entire ride. On Frozen the photo of the ride has a woman holding phone ruining the entire picture. My fiancé and I were so aggravated after TGMR (someone literally held their phone up the entire time and recorded everything including the movie at the end) we complained to Guest Relations.
I understand it's hard to police, but it's out of hand now. They should ban video and flash on all dark rides. If that's what it takes, so be it. A picture or two is harmless. But it's gotten our of hand. During our trip, a cast member told a woman to put her phone away and she did so all it takes is a little stronger policy and enforcement and people will respond. Because there is essentially no enforcement people do whatever they want and ruin it for everyone else on the ride. They need to take the selfie stick approach and ban it altogether. It's just my opinion but I don't want to look at someone's illuminated phone screen.

Geoff

 

[mousehockey37]

I just had an awesome trip to WDW in August. It was fantastic, but the only issue I had the whole time I was there was the cell phone use on dark rides. On The Great Movie Ride, Frozen, and The HauntedMansion to be specific is where the issues occurred. On TGMR, and Frozen someone literally recorded the entire ride. On Frozen the photo of the ride has a woman holding phone ruining the entire picture. My fiancé and I were so aggravated after TGMR (someone literally held their phone up the entire time and recorded everything including the movie at the end) we complained to Guest Relations.
I understand it's hard to police, but it's out of hand now. They should ban video and flash on all dark rides. If that's what it takes, so be it. A picture or two is harmless. But it's gotten our of hand. During our trip, a cast member told a woman to put her phone away and she did so all it takes is a little stronger policy and enforcement and people will respond. Because there is essentially no enforcement people do whatever they want and ruin it for everyone else on the ride. They need to take the selfie stick approach and ban it altogether. It's just my opinion but I don't want to look at someone's illuminated phone screen.

Geoff

I agree but it won't work. With the huge cell phone network provider deal for Disney, and the MDE app, Disney WANTS the phones there, but alas, you can't have your cake and eat it too. They won't be banning phones anytime soon, and if they were to stop ANY ride, anytime someone did something with their phones, you would maybe get through 1 ride.

As we said back when with the thread, this kills it for those of us who know how to use our cameras responsibly in the dark.

I always think that fireworks is the worst... it's just a sea of monitors/tablets/etc....

 

[GeoffR]

Well said. It's a pipe dream, but knowing Disney I'm sure they'll figure something out to make it work. It's still a new technology if you really stop to think about it; the ability to take quality photos on a mobile has only be around about 5 years. And all it takes is a few really angry people to make noise to them to stop and think.
I don't want it to turn into Universal, but I'm not big into taking pics on rides, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing. Again, I think it comes down to enforcement. I sat through The American Adventure without issue, because before the start a Cast Member tells people to not do X, Y, and Z. I think a personal feel makes it more effective, than say, an automated voice recording that plays over and over so much that no one actually listens. Just a thought,

Geoff

 

[mousehockey37]

Well said. It's a pipe dream, but knowing Disney I'm sure they'll figure something out to make it work. It's still a new technology if you really stop to think about it; the ability to take quality photos on a mobile has only be around about 5 years. And all it takes is a few really angry people to make noise to them to stop and think.
I don't want it to turn into Universal, but I'm not big into taking pics on rides, so maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing. Again, I think it comes down to enforcement. I sat through The American Adventure without issue, because before the start a Cast Member tells people to not do X, Y, and Z. I think a personal feel makes it more effective, than say, an automated voice recording that plays over and over so much that no one actually listens. Just a thought,

Geoff

Again, it's not unreasonable to want people to actually listen to the instructions on the recording, but remember... "I paid X thousands of $$ to be here, I'll do whatever the hell I want" is what you'll get from the offenders... that or "No Ingles"....

The MDE app is where it's at. As long as people are using that, Disney will just stick with their recordings. If you look at when this thread actually originated, this was out of hand a long time ago too... So this is nothing new.

 

[GeoffR]

Again, it's not unreasonable to want people to actually listen to the instructions on the recording, but remember... "I paid X thousands of $$ to be here, I'll do whatever the hell I want" is what you'll get from the offenders... that or "No Ingles"....

The MDE app is where it's at. As long as people are using that, Disney will just stick with their recordings. If you look at when this thread actually originated, this was out of hand a long time ago too... So this is nothing new.

LOL, the 'No Ingles' thing is hysterical!! It's so true!! On TGMR there was a family of about 8 people from India and one of them recorded the entire ride!! I get that them app promotes mobile use, but it doesn't mean people need to use it on the rides themselves. I'm not saying that's what you meant, I'm just adding to my initial point. I'll keep telling people to put them away, and I'll be more than happy arguing or trying to communicate with them lol. I still think Disney should be more assertive. Just make it clear, the mobile use ends with the ride, 'For Que use only' or something like that, lol

Geoff