Phone Screens in Dark Rides

[mousehockey37]

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

You telling people to put their phones away is a waste of your time. You're nobody, honestly (as in authoritative force), and you're chances are 50-50, and if it goes the wrong way, you may end up with ed off guests that will make your ride a living hell by getting out MORE phones/devices, just to get to you more.

They sadly do make it clear though. The ride announcements do tell people about no flash photos. Also, there are several bloggers that go and take video on the rides for their podcasts/livestreams/etc... I'm not defending, but if you ever watched a YouTube video of a ride, that was someone with a camera rolling on a ride (now did they have the lcd screen on or off? you'd have to ask them).

This is just one of those fights that there's no winning. Did your complaining to Guest Relations render anything or what happened there?

 

[GeoffR]

You telling people to put their phones away is a waste of your time. You're nobody, honestly (as in authoritative force), and you're chances are 50-50, and if it goes the wrong way, you may end up with ****ed off guests that will make your ride a living hell by getting out MORE phones/devices, just to get to you more.

They sadly do make it clear though. The ride announcements do tell people about no flash photos. Also, there are several bloggers that go and take video on the rides for their podcasts/livestreams/etc... I'm not defending, but if you ever watched a YouTube video of a ride, that was someone with a camera rolling on a ride (now did they have the lcd screen on or off? you'd have to ask them).

This is just one of those fights that there's no winning. Did your complaining to Guest Relations render anything or what happened there?

Perhaps, and yes I know it's the bloggers of the world doing these things, typically. I'll still hope for some change eventually though.
My fiance and I went to Guest Relations at Hollywood Studios. We prefaced by saying we love Disney and are huge Disney goers etc. We told them about the experience on TGMR, and how it ruined the ride for us totally. We said we understood it's hard to enforce anything, but mentioned how one woman was told not to take flash pictures any longer; by the the guy playing the 'gangster' on the ride. And we said if they just did that here and there it would really help. We were upset because it had been happening a lot and it was our last day there.

The castmember was really nice, like they all are, but basically did nothing. He said he was sorry that that had happened and that we were upset, and thanked us for letting him know. So basically, nothing. We knew that going in though. My point in doing it was if one or two more people tell him the same thing, then he actually remembers it, mentions it to other people, and then you have actual people in charge discussing it. So, though it made zero difference, I'm still glad I did. Hopefully more people do so they start realizing it's an issue.

Geoff

 

[Smiley/OCD]

This has gotten ridiculous. I think Disney needs to ban phones on rides all together. The flash pictures are out of control, the phone screens being illuminated is out of control, and there could potentially be a reason to ban due to safety concerns. Dropping the phones on ride tracks, dropping phones and injuring other guests, and overall annoyance of phones beeping, buzzing, and lighting up everything is enough to just ban them.

Banning phones will NEVER happen and would never work, but I certainly wish they'd take the safety angle and at least try to ban them on rides, particularly rollercoasters and an attraction like Tower of Terror. You could easily drop your phone, fall faster than gravity, and have it land on someone's head.

On a rollercoaster, a phone dropped and landing on a track wouldn't be great.

We just had a woman at SF/Great Adventure in NJ hit in the face and injured by a flying phone on a rollercoaster...everyone thinks it's a BIG joke...welcome to the world of entitlement 2016!!! At GA, there are signs before you enter about phones, they have cameras throughout the rides, and if you're spotted with one, you're asked to leave. If you make an example out of a few, it WILL lessen (it'll NEVER stop). Signs in the queue and a CM at the end with a radio,,,that;s all it takes.
Oh, and by the way, if you're one of the knuckleheads who drops their phone while on the ride, you have to wait until the next day to call to see if was retrieved...if it's broken from the fall, you're SOL!!
Unfortunately, sometimes WDW is more worried about the potential lawsuit from a guest doing something against their policy than exceeding the "law abiding" guests expectations.

 

[POLY LOVER]

It would be great if they could disable phones when the ride starts. The technology is there but people would raise wholly (;&@@ if they did.
I do find something ignorant about people texting, viewing or taking picture while performers are trying to do their jobs.

 

[GeoffR]

I just don't get why people need to take photos/video of everything. They never see it for themselves, they only see it through a screen. I was at fantasmic and this kid was snap chatting the whole thing, never actually saw it for herself. I'm so sick of it all

Geoff

 

[POLY LOVER]

I just don't get why people need to take photos/video of everything. They never see it for themselves, they only see it through a screen. I was at fantasmic and this kid was snap chatting the whole thing, never actually saw it for herself. I'm so sick of it all

Geoff

Numb desensitized people.

 

[Jeff456]

It really does have quite a negative impact on the ride, i wish there was something Disney could do.

 

[bunnyman]

A couple of years ago some idiot held his phone over his head, with the flashlight on, the entire duration of Expedition Everest. Everyone on the ride was screaming at him, but he didn't care one bit. When leaving the ride, to a person most of the riders complained to a Disney manager standing nearby, who did absolutely nothing about it. So if Disney isn't going enforce anything, then that's that. Disney has cameras everywhere, so they know what is going on. However, since they push the My Disney Experience app so much, my feeling is they're taking a corporate stance of willful ignorance. I remember years back you'd hear a magical voice from above tell you to keep your hands in the boat on say IASW if you reached out to the walkway near the water.

 

[jloucks]

I just don't get why people need to take photos/video of everything. They never see it for themselves, they only see it through a screen. I was at fantasmic and this kid was snap chatting the whole thing, never actually saw it for herself. I'm so sick of it all

Geoff

I can sorta see why. Well, not snapchat, but photos and video. For some people a visit to WDW is a once in a lifetime event (or at least rare). They want to relive it over and over again via photos and video. I keep telling myself, take more video, as I always slack on that for the exact reason you mentioned. ...and I always regret it later. My trip here soon I am going to force myself to shoot more video.

 

[jloucks]

Don't get me wrong, I would never condone dark ride phone screen shenanigans. Many have said it, but I'll restate for emphasis, our society is becoming very selfish. A minority of people do whatever they want, and could care less about others. It happens every day. A great example is regular old traffic behavior. You know the guy, this guy...

The roads are filled with them. Their time is far far more valuable than yours. Your concerns are none of theirs. These are the people that will fire up their cell phones on a dark ride or movie theater without a second thought. They feel you can learn your place in their world as subordinate to them.

The super irony here is that many who complain about the phones on dark rides drive like the above. Hypocrisy is rampant. Caring about your negative impact on others is not only relegated to a single act or situation. ...believe it or not.

 

[DrummerAlly]

First of all I can't stand any light on a dark ride. It's a dark ride for a reason. Sadly there are a number (fortunately small but still it only takes one) of selfish people who honestly don't care about anyone but themselves. I often wonder why they even bother with an attraction they don't want to fully experience. The good news is that if you have your experience spoiled by another guest a ride host or hostess will normally issue a readmission if you bring it to their attention. Perhaps if enough people did this there might be a change in policy.

I wish I had done this during my last trip. I rode Frozen using a fastness with my 4 year old daughter who LOVED it and later on in the trip wanted to wait in the 70 minute line to ride it again. Considering she's a 4 year old who was willing to wait patiently for 70 minutes, thats what we decided to do. On this ride, after waiting in that horrendous queue for 70 minutes, we had to ride with this lot.

Row 1: Teenage Girls who videoed the entire ride on their IPAD! They also talked very loudly and narrated in a different language.

Row 2: Family who also didn't speak English, videoing, standing, talking. Young girl in the middle (ducking in this photo) stood for half the ride causing the cast member to come over the loud speaker to tell her to sit twice. Because they didn't speak english, the first time it went over their heads and the second had to be a very loud and stern announcement to get the point across. Dad videoed the entire thing on his camera. Meanwhile my 4 year old in row 3 there could barely catch what was going on over all of that.

I wish I had complained to a cast member but honestly, after the wait we had, I was just glad to be done with it.