Video taping on rides Allowed or Not ?

[DisneyMemories]

I recently purchased a Sony handicam with infrared nightshot for our upcoming trip to WDW are you allowed to video tape the rides? I'd love to tape the entire Haunted Mansion, It's a small world, Pirates, Etc. Some i've talked to said yes,others said you can't so any help is greatly appreciated and Thanks.

 

[Slipknot]

i believe it is ok just as long as there are no flashes or bright lights.

 

[jsfra209]

Slade is correct... As long as it does not disturb any guests it should be fine. Just be careful on the fast attractions. It's not unheard of for someone camcorder to go flying on space mountain or rockin roller coaster.. Not only will your camcorder be smashed, but it may hit someone and hurt them..

 

[marni1971]

Some attractions ban taping (more so than it used to be) for one reason or another and there seems to be some CM`s more stringent than others.

If you do, remember, SECURE everything. Use a wrist strap. Check the battery isn`t loose (or tape it) - even a lens cap can blind someone at 60mph.

And remember, don`t use the LCD screen, use the viewfinder, no external lighting, use manual focus and go for manual exposure (have a practice walking in and out of your house on a sunny day!) and charge them batteries!

 

[DisneyFreak529]

I tried to tape POTC but it was to dark and they told me I couldnt turn the light on. I did tap Winnie the pooh and it was funny. It's nicer to just ride, I hate to ride looking throw the camra, doesn't feel magical enough!!

 

[PBarton]

I purchased a Sony handicam with infrared nightshot for our last to WDW are you allowed to video tape the rides? I'd love to tape the entire Haunted Mansion, It's a small world, Pirates, Etc. Some i've talked to said yes,others said you can't so any help is greatly appreciated and Thanks.

I took my new Sony Handicam with me the last time we visited WDW in 2004. It was the first time I had used it (apart from checking to see that it worked!!).

I took aprox 17.5 hours of footage in the end! I have transfered it all in sequence to several VHS tapes for the moment. The first hour or two is a little shaky as I get used to handling the Camcorder, but it improves greatly as time goes on.

I used it no probs on most rides, as long as you don't use external lighting you should be ok.

We arrived at All Star Movies in the afternoon and after showering went straight to Magic Kingdom. I recorded all of Small World (the next day it closed for rehab) -that came out well, the haunted mansion however did not... to dark even with the nightshot :-( same for Pirates.

I did not use it on Space Mountain (due to safety reasons) . I did manage to record all of Carousel of Progress though! Most shows such as Country Bear Jamboree etc are no problem at all.

I recorded all of Wishes too - that came out really well.

Over at Epcot I recorded all of test track, again with no problems at all, some great footage of World Showcase too inc. the water rides. Sat on the front row of the boat throughout Living with the land - video taping is allowed there too! Took some great footage from the Monorail including a complete journey in the front cab from Epcot to the Transport and ticket center - the Monorail driver was happy for me to film.

Managed to record Reflections of Earth although we had a poor viewing point - the footage is rather boring!!

At MGM I recorded everything except TOT and Millionaire (of course!) recording is allowed on the Great Movie ride although I only recorded the Wizard of OZ section.

Fantasmic comes out really well if you get a central section seat also.

I even recorded Splash Mountain although I waited until at least half way through the holiday to atempt it, just in case the handicam got splashed! I put it away during the big drop of course!

I intend to edit it all down and burn the footage to a DVD - to condense it all down to 3-4 hours of really good stuff, although finding the time to do this is very hard.

Make sure that you take an extended life battery with you. Mine lasts for approx 12 hours on one charge, so you can keep recording throughout the day. My Handicam has been in its box since we got back... it probably won't be used again until the next trip - 2007.

Good luck with your recording, the footage will be great!

 

[ScrapIron]

External light includes the infrared night vision light on the camera BTW. Some rides have IR security cams, and monitoring CMs will see the bright light and not know that the guests around you don't, so thugs will be dispatched, chains produced, a body found, yada yada yada

Cheers

 

[The_CEO]

I waited until I had my own elevator on Tower of Terror to film. They said it was fine considering I was the only one on.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

Usually the best time to catch those darker attractions is at opening or at closing. CMs are much more laxed if you're the only one on the ride.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Most of the attractions allow video taping, but there are some where they tell you it is not allowed. I believe that external video lighting is prohibited on all attractions as well.

 

[CelticGal]

My friend videotaped almost the entire Splash Mountain ride - except for that one unexpected small drop at the beginning when the camera got all wet.

 

[PhotoDave219]

I recently purchased a Sony handicam with infrared nightshot for our upcoming trip to WDW are you allowed to video tape the rides? I'd love to tape the entire Haunted Mansion, It's a small world, Pirates, Etc. Some i've talked to said yes,others said you can't so any help is greatly appreciated and Thanks.

Good luck taping HM. Ive tried on many an occasion, trying everythign from a slow shutter to a tripod and i cant get decent results. The only one i know who has done some is Ryland... he's got a good video camera.

 

[drjny]

I remember one attraction where the videotaping policy has changed. On the Carousel of Progress one used to be able to tape (we taped it a few years back) but no there is no videotaping allowed. Just listen to the Cast Member as they go through their spiel at the beginning about "No food, drinks, smoking, [and sometimes no videotaping, flash photography, or video lights]".

 

[DisJosh]

I have pretty much every attraction I've been on, on tape. On my last trip I was taping the whole queue and pre-show to RnR and when I got to the limo the CM told me I wasn't allowed to tape. So I put the camera down in my lap until we pulled around the corner and proceeded to tape. It was pointless in the end because all you can hear is wind and all you can see is black lol.

 

[ntoeman]

My dad taped just about all of Splash Mountain, even the drop and had a clear plastic bag to cover the camera....didn't turn out so well.....but a good idea and the rest of the video was fine.

 

[Northgurl24]

Every year i go to Disney, my dad brings his camcorder. By now its a little older of a version, but still a nice camera. To date, over the 14 times i have been there, we have everything on tape. ToT to testtrack. The rides that he is told not to tape, he normally does anyway when its not distracting to other people. He even got the entire drop on Splash Mountain. He didnt care about a few drops on the camera. Its actually pretty sweet. Good luck taping.

P.S. Anyone going to be in Disney July 13th-July 16th??? let me know

 

[Tara Mae]

I've taped many rides.
Haunted Mansion was a bit dark, but it came out good.
Pirates came out better than expected.
Spaceship Earth...hell, i used lighting, almost everyone else did.
Original Journey into your Imagination: With and without lights...we once had the ride to ourselves, so we used all sorts of lighting.
Jungle Cruise, Dinasour *Hard to tape that one.* Tower of Terror, Muppets, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Adventures of Pooh, Snow White, Carousel of Progress....we've basically got every attraction that can be shot on tapes. lol

 

[Mansionfan]

I've been furiously videotaping WDW attractions since 1989 - originally starting with one of those big over-the-shoulder jobs - and so now have the good fortune of re-riding many now long-gone attractions like Horizons, World of Motion, JII, etc whenever I pop in a tape. In 1999 I got a Sony HandiCam for pretty much the sole purpose of taping Haunted Mansion in Nightvision mode and discovered the best way to capture it was to turn the exposure up as far as possible. The resultant picture is a bit on the grainy side, but it wound up revealing a wealth of set detail you don't ordinarily see...

 

[DisneyMemories]

Thank you to all for your posts, well i'll just hope for the best,sadly i'm not one who is able to get to Walt Disney World as often as i'd like so l thought this would be a great way for inbetween visits.

 

[maxime29]

I recommend not using Infrared lighting if your camcorder has it. While it allows you to see inside dark rides such as PotC and HM, it also exposes some of the flaws which the darkness hides. It sort of looks ugly in that case. If you want to film dark rides, adjust your settings manually such as what MansionFan mentioned above. (I know most consumer camcorders have limited options when it comes to this). Also, the people looking through the security cameras can see you are using infrared because on their monitors it looks almost like external lighting. The only ride where Infrared seemed to work decently for me was during the tunnel scene on Jungle Cruise.

Fantasmic is a real pain to record during the water scenes. I highly suggest using a manual focus during the water scenes. I had too many issues with that and the auto-focus settings on my Sony DCR-TRV38.