Walt Disney World reportedly banning selfie sticks from attractions

I will celebrate the day that they outright ban narcissticks everywhere in the parks. People are already idiots not paying attention. They don't need to be carrying clubs on top of that.

I'm 29, so I'm not one of those crotchety old people, but I can't remember the last time I took my phone into an amusement park. I can sit at my phone anywhere I want. When I'm at a park, I'm there to experience the park. It drives me crazy when I see people constantly checking their phones and not paying attention to what's going on.

Selfie sticks should be banned from the world. The UN should pass a resolution that says as much.

You would think, right? But I see families all heads down in devices constantly at WDW. It annoys the piss out of me. You're in this unique place that most people are lucky to go to once a year, pay attention! It makes me hate the world.

I always take my phone with me. It's a really, really good camera.

I always have mine as well. Usually for a quick pic or to use the park app to check wait times, fastpasses, etc. You won't find me lost in it on Facebook, listening to music on crappy earbuds, or playing games while there are experiences to be had, though.

I'll see so many families walk into the theater lobby when I'm working, each member of the family focused on the their phone and I wonder, why are they even there? They're not interacting with each other. Show goes up, they're watching the show. No doubt after the show they're right back on the phone.

I'm with GDdashROM. Ban the sticks.

I bring my iPod touch with me everywhere I go. Everywhere. I love taking pictures and videos of the rides.

However, any time I use it in a way that I need to offer it my complete attention for more than a few seconds, like checking e-mail, editing a photo or video, or playing a game, I make sure I am comfortably out of the way of walking traffic. I like to sit on a bench or at a table and relax during these times. I don't want to ruin the actual experience by spending all my effort recording the experience.

I might use it to pass the time in line.

As for selfie sticks, how stupid would a person have to be to be using one while on a ride?

LostKause said:

As for selfie sticks, how stupid would a person have to be to be using one while on a ride?

I ask the same about people that use their camera and phones on a ride. I have always disliked Disney's relaxed loose articles policy.

Is this being done for safety concerns? I remember a while back some people on PointBuzz were saying that Disney allows cameras on rides. I usually take my phone to parks with me, I check Facebook if there are long wait times, plus I use it as a watch, but time is not usually a factor when I'm at a park since I usually plan on spending the whole day there. I can use it for a camera if I want to take pictures, but not on rides. And I take it with me in case there is an emergency. However, my phone battery is terrible and I usually keep phone use to a minimum.

Jeff said:

You would think, right? But I see families all heads down in devices constantly at WDW. It annoys the piss out of me. You're in this unique place that most people are lucky to go to once a year, pay attention! It makes me hate the world.

Remember in the movie Wall-E where the people on the spaceship only talked to other people through computer screens, even if they were side by side? We are half way there!

Thabto, yes, the ban is being done for safety concerns.

The elongating sticks that guests use to take cell phone “selfie” pictures have been a huge problem since their introduction, with many guests sticking the rods out beyond ride vehicles and such at the parks, posing a major safety threat to themselves and other guests.

Super7*, I have wondered if those families I see are texting each other :-)

LK, if only everyone could be like you. It's not people checking their Facebook or whatever on their phone that annoys the crap out of me, it's people like the woman at the grocery store earlier today: she was captivated by something on her phone. The angle of her shopping cart and where she was standing meant no one could pass by her.

Admittedly I'm not without fault. In such cases, I don't say excuse me. I just stand behind the person and stare at the back of their head until they realize they're in the way.

super7* said:

Remember in the movie Wall-E where the people on the spaceship only talked to other people through computer screens, even if they were side by side? We are half way there!

The other half of that movie exists, too. Just take a look at any Walmart and count the number of people on scooters, who should be walking.

I like to reserve judgement in that case, because you don't know why some people are riding a scooter. It's none of my business why someone feels the need to ride one. They could have a reason that is not visible, like a heart condition that prevents them from walking a great distance, or a pulled muscle in their leg, or asthma, or anything else, really.

My poor mother needs to ride one, but doesn't look like she does. She's not overweight or in a brace or anything. She gets very embarrassed sometimes, and feels like people are staring at her when she rides in a scooter. She thinks people may be judging her. She can't get from one side of the store to another without one though. Sometimes she won't even go because of that.

At the Walmart in WV that I worked at, there was a cranky old guy who would complain weekly that we allowed people to ride them who didn't need to ride them. We got tired of hearing him argue about it every week.

While it's true - one of the few times I've set foot (HA! PUN, you'll see) in our Wal Mart is when I had a sprained ankle, was in an air cast and on crutches. I tried to use a cart, but was told I wasn't allowed because they were "for people who really needed them".

Well, hey, guys... Ummm... I think this is kind of one of those cases, but ok.\

Also, to be fair, we don't know why the people in Wall-e were sitting back in mobility scooters, either - but they are all obese, so we can assume that's the point they were making.

I suppose I'd rather the lady block my grocery aisle than drive behind me while staring at her phone, and you see plenty of that too.

I'm also bemused by those that are constantly attached to their device. Maybe I'm a crotchety old person (ahem!) but it's a sad sign of the times. It wasn't that long ago that we relied on land line pay stations for communication while out and about and the car radio for entertainment. In the meantime I'm afraid social skills and common manners have gone by the wayside.

Having said that, I'll add that I'm one who has his phone on him at all times. I may not want to miss a call or a text message, but I'm selective about how and when I answer or respond. Even at the park. I don't wear a watch and I also use one for photos.

And having said that, I'll admit I was an embarrassed offender at Dollywood. I was in a queue and while staring at my phone took a turn too early and about did a flip over the rail. I felt like that gal that did a header into the mall fountain, and I wanted to crawl outta there. The entertainment's free at Dollywood, folks.

My phone is, first and foremost, my watch (I have a pile of watches, all with batteries now long dead, on a shelf nearby).

The technology we enjoy today has brought us many wonderful things. But with that, yes, social skills and common manners -- and cursive writing (I read recently of siblings who found an older relative's diary in the attic, and had to find someone to read it to them. They couldn't decipher the cursive writing) -- are becoming lost.

Kids today don't know how hard it was. The terror and anxiety of being in middle school and wanting to call a girl, on a land line, is the worst thing anyone could experience. Now they send a crappy text message that says little more than, "Hey." No risk at all.

Why, I had to walk uphill, five miles, in a snowstorm, both ways, to use a land line.