So they ban selfie sticks...

[Pixieish]

If you look at my signature line we will have four generations one our next trip. (Last trip too.) The youngest will be 3 1/2, my mother will be almost 89, so we will have both a stroller and wheelchair. We do use a "manual" wheelchair for my mother though, I don't have enough liability insurance to turn her loose on an ECV.
Hmmm..... Maybe if she had a selfie stick she could swing that thing around and clear a path.

My FIL had a stroke many moons ago and wound up needing assistance getting around...he was darn near LETHAL with a scooter! I took him to Walmart with me with my son one day...we're shopping and looking at stuff...and POOF! He disappeared. So there I was, so pregnant I was ready to pop, dragging my 5-year-old behind me as I SPRINTED through the huge WAREHOUSE SIZED store looking for my now-non-verbal FIL who apparently took it upon himself to return the scooter without letting me know. I consider myself (and everyone else in the store that day) lucky that my water didn't break.

 

[Amidala]

I just have to pipe in with the fact that selfie sticks represent so much of what is wrong with our society. How anti-social are you that you can't ask someone walking by to take your picture with your family or friends? Are we that vain.............well, yeah it seems.

How many of us remember the days when it was incredibly common to ask a complete stranger while you were on holidays to take your picture and no one ever turned you down? They won't bite you!

Honestly cannot tell if this is a joke, but if it's not, this is a bit of a reach, isn't it? How do you get vanity from not wanting to inconvenience strangers? Selfie sticks are convenient and they don't preclude asking someone to take a family picture...you can take multiple pictures on your vacation from all different angles, and most families do exactly that.

That being said, though...Definitely a huge difference between selfie sticks and lightsabers. Like people have already said, a parent can put their foot down and confiscate a lightsaber from their kid if it becomes dangerous or a nuisance to the people around them....but 99% of the time it's the parents who are being obnoxious with the selfie sticks. And I'd much rather be bopped in the leg with a plastic, hollow lightsaber than a metal stick with a phone on the end of it. I think it's also that selfie sticks obscure the view. If you have 10 people with selfie sticks out standing in front of Cinderella's castle, the view down Main Street isn't going to be very nice.

RE: The lightsaber discussion, I do think adults complain...a little bit too much about relatively harmless toys that "disturb" their vacation. If it's not a legitimate hazard, it's not a big deal IMO. You get bumped with a lightsaber or get some bubbles in your face from a bubble wand and you move on.

Apparently Disney did consider the lightsabers a minor weapon at one point, though, because as a CP a while back, we literally weren't allowed to take lightsabers back to the complexes. They've since lifted that rule, but I always thought it was kind of funny that the lightsabers were okay'd in the parks but barred from houses full of adults.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Honestly cannot tell if this is a joke, but if it's not, this is a bit of a reach, isn't it? How do you get vanity from not wanting to inconvenience strangers? Selfie sticks are convenient and they don't preclude asking someone to take a family picture...you can take multiple pictures on your vacation from all different angles, and most families do exactly that.

During the Happily Ever After show there was a girl that literally took 30 seconds with her selfie stick right in front of me to take a picture. She was adjusting it, not for the angle of the fireworks, but for taking about 10 different pictures and picking which one she looked the best in to post on Facebook. Yes, there was a time people communicated with each other and asked total strangers to take a picture of their family and no one in my entire life brushed us off for that, everyone did it.

Come on people raised in the 1980s and 1990s and before, back me up, we used to do this right?

 

[Goofyernmost]

During the Happily Ever After show there was a girl that literally took 30 seconds with her selfie stick right in front of me to take a picture. She was adjusting it, not for the angle of the fireworks, but for taking about 10 different pictures and picking which one she looked the best in to post on Facebook. Yes, there was a time people communicated with each other and asked total strangers to take a picture of their family and no one in my entire life brushed us off for that, everyone did it.

Come on people raised in the 1980s and 1990s and before, back me up, we used to do this right?

Yes we did, because we didn't have any choice. I hated asking others to take my picture and I likewise hated trying to take someone else's picture with a camera I wasn't familiar with. It wasn't an awful thing, but, there are many instances where the selfie stick is good. At least until people get over the current obsession with making sure everyone pays attention to them.

 

[seabreezept813]

During the Happily Ever After show there was a girl that literally took 30 seconds with her selfie stick right in front of me to take a picture. She was adjusting it, not for the angle of the fireworks, but for taking about 10 different pictures and picking which one she looked the best in to post on Facebook. Yes, there was a time people communicated with each other and asked total strangers to take a picture of their family and no one in my entire life brushed us off for that, everyone did it.

Come on people raised in the 1980s and 1990s and before, back me up, we used to do this right?

I still ask people to take our picture if necessary.. personally think selfie sticks are foolish, the angles tend to be strange..

 

[ninjaprincesst]

people don't stick light sabers out while on a ride, and they also dont stick their laptop sized smart phone on them to record a show or parade blocking everyone behind them's view.

 

[21stamps]

When I have bought my son light sabers, they tape the top of it and told us we weren’t allowed to open it in the park. Did this change recently?

 

[Amidala]

During the Happily Ever After show there was a girl that literally took 30 seconds with her selfie stick right in front of me to take a picture. She was adjusting it, not for the angle of the fireworks, but for taking about 10 different pictures and picking which one she looked the best in to post on Facebook. Yes, there was a time people communicated with each other and asked total strangers to take a picture of their family and no one in my entire life brushed us off for that, everyone did it.

Come on people raised in the 1980s and 1990s and before, back me up, we used to do this right?

I mean, I think the only issue there is that she was using a selfie stick and blocking your view of the show–that's the reason they're supposed to be banned in the first place. Whether she wants to take selfies or not isn't really anyone's business but her own. For me personally, I don't see why anyone would care how complete strangers choose to enjoy themselves on their own vacation. Like @Goofyernmost said, the only reason people had to ask strangers to take their pictures in the 80s and 90s is because there were no more convenient alternatives, not because they were all-around better or more sociable people.

It just seems like making a mountain out of a molehill to me. On my vacations at WDW or while working there, I talk to people constantly in lines, on rides, etc. and always find that most people (including younger people) are eager to carry a conversation. If you take a selfie at Disney, it doesn't mean you never socialize with anyone ever again...it just means you took a selfie.

 

[NelleBelle]

Come on people raised in the 1980s and 1990s and before, back me up, we used to do this right?

We were at Yellowstone this summer and we had a very pleasant exchange with a lovely young Japanese couple who asked us to take a picture of them...with their cell phone. Then they asked if they could exchange the favor and take a picture of DH and myself with our camera. It made for a nice exchange and a great couple of pictures we wouldn't have really gotten otherwise (kiddos take some pretty crazy shots when we ask).

I see the argument that selfie-sticks are convenient (we actually don't own one, although I admit it would be handy to have occasionally), it's still really great that people are still willing to snap a few pics of you and your family as a favor to your fellow tourist. We try to offer whenever we can.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Yes we did, because we didn't have any choice. I hated asking others to take my picture and I likewise hated trying to take someone else's picture with a camera I wasn't familiar with. It wasn't an awful thing, but, there are many instances where the selfie stick is good. At least until people get over the current obsession with making sure everyone pays attention to them.

It'll NEVER happen. Impossible to roll that back now.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

I mean, I think the only issue there is that she was using a selfie stick and blocking your view of the show–that's the reason they're supposed to be banned in the first place. Whether she wants to take selfies or not isn't really anyone's business but her own. For me personally, I don't see why anyone would care how complete strangers choose to enjoy themselves on their own vacation. Like @Goofyernmost said, the only reason people had to ask strangers to take their pictures in the 80s and 90s is because there were no more convenient alternatives, not because they were all-around better or more sociable people.

It just seems like making a mountain out of a molehill to me. On my vacations at WDW or while working there, I talk to people constantly in lines, on rides, etc. and always find that most people (including younger people) are eager to carry a conversation. If you take a selfie at Disney, it doesn't mean you never socialize with anyone ever again...it just means you took a selfie.

I still say they are vain. You can tell how vain a person is by looking at their Facebook profile pictures. If they are littered with selfies then you have your answer.

 

[xdan0920]

I am for banning ECVs and strollers as well. Been run over by both and get the oh sorry look. I want give them the "oh sorry hawaiian punch!!!" to see how they like it.

You won't. You are just an internet tough guy.

 

[LAKid53]

During the Happily Ever After show there was a girl that literally took 30 seconds with her selfie stick right in front of me to take a picture. She was adjusting it, not for the angle of the fireworks, but for taking about 10 different pictures and picking which one she looked the best in to post on Facebook. Yes, there was a time people communicated with each other and asked total strangers to take a picture of their family and no one in my entire life brushed us off for that, everyone did it.

Come on people raised in the 1980s and 1990s and before, back me up, we used to do this right?

Yes. And we used to talk to each other face to face, say please and thank you, apologize when we ran into someone, etc. We've become self-absorbed and somewhat narcissistic as a society. And selfie sticks, in my opinion, epitomize this behavior. Probably started with my generation, but Millenials and especially the Internets, have taken it to an art form.....

Do you REALLY need to use a selfie stick to take a picture of your plate of food?

 

[LAKid53]

people don't stick light sabers out while on a ride, and they also dont stick their laptop sized smart phone on them to record a show or parade blocking everyone behind them's view.

THIS

 

[LAKid53]

I'm half-way kidding but I'd sorta like to see them ban double-wide strollers. I can understand the double-depth ones when you have multiple little kids but the double-wide ones just take up so much room horizontally and make it really difficult to get around them. Factor in people walking 2+ wide around double-wide strollers and forget about it. I also see people using some of these strollers as nothing more than freight carts for all of the items they seem to think they need to survive in the parks.

I've noticed a few guests bringing in the little red wagons to both haul a young child in and stuff. One of the kind you can either push or pull. Genius to me. More maneuverable. And perfect for a kid too old for a stroller but whose legs will poop out after a couple of hours. And they don't have that "get out of my way!" attitude I've noticed with some parents and their strollers.

 

[larryz]

Yes. And we used to talk to each other face to face, say please and thank you, apologize when we ran into someone, etc. We've become self-absorbed and somewhat narcissistic as a society. And selfie sticks, in my opinion, epitomize this behavior. Probably started with my generation, but Millenials and especially the Internets, have taken it to an art form.....

Do you REALLY need to use a selfie stick to take a picture of your plate of food?

I see people using selfie sticks to take pictures of other people... think about that for a moment...

 

[Walt Disney1955]

Yes. And we used to talk to each other face to face, say please and thank you, apologize when we ran into someone, etc. We've become self-absorbed and somewhat narcissistic as a society. And selfie sticks, in my opinion, epitomize this behavior. Probably started with my generation, but Millenials and especially the Internets, have taken it to an art form.....

Do you REALLY need to use a selfie stick to take a picture of your plate of food?

Yeah this is one of those times I can't just blame Millenials. Us Gen Xers are self absorbed too and don't give anyone the time of day anymore. I now realize there are people on this board who can honestly not remember the days when it was normal to ask a complete stranger to take your picture, you know, your head, arms, legs, family members and whatever was in the background. Makes me feel old, and I know I'm not.

 

[Cameron1529]

<s>Coming soon to Disney stores park wide </s>

I don't necessarily agree with any of the rulings, however Disney is a business (a successful one too). The introduction of selfie sticks for sale into the parks is purely due to them opening themselves up to a new market, which they will make money off.