Selfie Sticks

[gwynne]

Timely article on the subject...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/trav...heme-parks-20150125-story.html#navtype=outfit

Maybe post a couple of lines with general view of the article?
Orlando sentinel has a paywall for their "premium" content.

 

[DisUniversal]

Maybe post a couple of lines with general view of the article?
Orlando sentinel has a paywall for their "premium" content.

That's odd...I don't pay for anything and I can see the article, yet it is tagged with the '+' thing indicating premium. Can you get to it by clicking directly from their "Daily Disney" page?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/

 

[gwynne]

That's odd...I don't pay for anything and I can see the article, yet it is tagged with the '+' thing indicating premium. Can you get to it by clicking directly from their "Daily Disney" page?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/the-daily-disney/

I clicked on the link above. It's still blocked by their "premium" content paywall.

 

[DisUniversal]

I clicked on the link above. It's still blocked by their "premium" content paywall.

Ok...here's a few lines from the article....few as in all. Can't help with the video.


While visiting the Magic Kingdom, Maria Guerrero used a "selfie stick" to take a photo of herself, her mother and her cousin with Cinderella Castle looming in the background.

"I have been taking selfies, like, all day for three days," said Guerrero, a 15-year-old from Peru.

Orlando's theme parks are hotspots for the popular camera attachments — and sore spots for some visitors.

The hand-held rods, which hold a smartphone or camera on one end, can telescope out a few feet to create distinctive angles for photographs. The cameras can be aimed back toward the holder, allowing for a self-portrait — the infamous "selfie" — or a group shot with the photographer in the frame.

Selfie-stick users range from teenage girls to gadget-driven dads. But naysayers complain that selfie sticks invade their personal space. Twitter accounts are dedicated to mocking the devices, also dubbed "narcissticks."

Some visitors have more serious reservations.

"If you want to carry a stick around all day in the park, then that's your thing," said Justin Goelz, an annual passholder from New Paris, Ind. "But when it affects other people … safety is the big thing."

On a recent trip to Disney's Animal Kingdom, Goelz said a man in the row in front of him pulled out a selfie stick to record the ride aboard the Expedition Everest roller coaster.

"The only thing I could think of is, 'What if it comes out of the mount? … That thing is flying back in my face,'" Goelz said. "As a guest at a theme park, do you say, 'Hey, sir, can you not do that because I don't want to die?' What is appropriate?"

Similar actions, some of which have been posted on the Internet, could lead to new restrictions at the parks, said Dennis Speigel, president of International Theme Park Services Inc. Attractions operators have discussed the selfie-stick situation, he said.

"My bet is that it's going to be banned for use on rides or in shows in attractions and parks," Speigel said.

"They are all really guided by liability," he said.

The standard "keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times" guidelines apply.

"They're in the same category as cameras and canes and things of that nature. When you get on a vehicle such as an attraction or a tram, you have to stow it." said Marilyn Waters, a Walt Disney World spokeswoman.

"I take pictures of everything … and myself," said Pedro Ramirez while using his GoPro-brand stick at Universal Studios. His favorite shots were scenes from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Diagon Alley, including the dragon atop the Gringotts ride, he said.

But he did not use the equipment on any rides, said Ramirez, who lives in Bolivia.

"It's not allowed," Ramirez said a park employee told him.

Loose objects have concerned Universal in the past. Injuries aboard Islands of Adventure's Dragon Challenge may have been caused by airborne items. The park has since adjusted the timing for its dueling tracks to avoid overlap. In recent months, team members stationed at thrill rides have reinforced the regulation prohibiting loose items, including cellphones, keys, hats and coins.

SeaWorld Orlando's safety policy prohibits items such as weapons, glass bottles, sharp objects and "any hazardous items or materials."

Selfie-stick regulations have popped up internationally. Two London soccer teams banned them from their stadiums on game days. "Unregistered" users in South Korea face fines because the government considers them part of a communication device that must be regulated.

The monopods generally fall in the $30 to $60 price range. They continue to infiltrate the market, spreading into Central Florida drug stores for as cheap as $10.

Tomer Haik of Boca Raton said he used the selfie stick on slow rides such as the monorail and the train that goes around Magic Kingdom. He mostly likes the convenience of the device, he said.

He can snap photos himself "instead of asking somebody to help me out. It's much more convenient," he said. "I do love it. It's a great idea."

Aruneesh Salhotra's new selfie stick allows him to join the fun, he said.

"I'm the cameraman of the house, so I was never in the pictures," said Salhotra, who was visiting Orlando with friends and family from Long Island, N.Y.

Speigel said the parks have dealt with this kind of situation before.

"There's always going to be things that come along in our industry as innovation occurs, which we love … but sometimes it just doesn't work."

When video cameras became popular in the 1970s, parks were quick to outlaw them from thrill rides, he said.

"It's not new; it's just a new item. It's an old discussion."

The selfie sticks are social-media sensations.

Guerrero posted the photo of her family in front of Cinderella Castle to her Instagram account, which was getting "fantastic" response from followers, she said.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

These should be banned from the parks. Talk about selfishness, holy crap.

 

[DisUniversal]

These should be banned from the parks. Talk about selfishness, holy crap.

Yes....especially bad if you're at a parade or show and the person in front of you decides to get a better view with their selfie-stick. Makes me want to come up with something based on this...

...to knock them out of peoples hands.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I haven't had an issue with selfie sticks, but iPads are a different story!

 

[dvcfamily41801]

I can't stand them or the pictures people are posting with their mouth open. They seriously look like they are catching flies.

We saw someone walking through the mall with one the other night. I can't tell you how many people they walked into because they were not paying attention. It is the mall, people.

 

[LBIJim]

We were in Universal the first week of January. We kept laughing that the go-to Christmas present was the Selfie Stick as there were so many of them. Everywhere you turned somebody had one. I could not understand why anybody would want to walk around all day carrying that silly stick.

Some of the sticks did not look like they retracted, so I don't know how they got them in the lockers for rides.

It seemed such a pain to carry all day just for a few pictures.

Just for a few pictures? More like just for a few pictures every minute.

I really didn't notice many at Universal last October. But at a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game, there were these two flighty college girls a few rows ahead of us with a selfie stick. They would extend it straight out in front of them, slightly over the heads of the people in the row ahead. The second and subsequent times they did it, the people in front started photobombing, or raising a middle finger into camera view. The usher finally came over and told them in no uncertain terms to put the selfie stick away or it would be confiscated. The girls left their seats after the first period and never returned.

 

[mom2rtk]

Just for a few pictures? More like just for a few pictures every minute.

I really didn't notice many at Universal last October. But at a Tampa Bay Lightning hockey game, there were these two flighty college girls a few rows ahead of us with a selfie stick. They would extend it straight out in front of them, slightly over the heads of the people in the row ahead. The second and subsequent times they did it, the people in front started photobombing, or raising a middle finger into camera view. The usher finally came over and told them in no uncertain terms to put the selfie stick away or it would be confiscated. The girls left their seats after the first period and never returned.

LOL. Forget "street justice". Loving the "seat justice".

 

[ms.yt]

I don't get all the hate for the selfie sticks. I five high school students to Washington in the fall and we wouldn't have any pictures of all of us together if it hadn't been for our selfie stick. We only used it about five times on one of our touring days, but it was nice to have. I also used it a couple of weeks later when I took my son to New Orleans to take his senior pictures. Again, we wouldn't have had any snapshots together without it. I'm not handing my cell phone to a stranger to take a picture of us.

 

[Squirlz]

I don't get all the hate for the selfie sticks. I five high school students to Washington in the fall and we wouldn't have any pictures of all of us together if it hadn't been for our selfie stick. We only used it about five times on one of our touring days, but it was nice to have. I also used it a couple of weeks later when I took my son to New Orleans to take his senior pictures. Again, we wouldn't have had any snapshots together without it. I'm not handing my cell phone to a stranger to take a picture of us.

That's why you're not getting the hate.

 

[robinb]

Again, we wouldn't have had any snapshots together without it. I'm not handing my cell phone to a stranger to take a picture of us.

Why not? Will they get cooties on your phone?

My issue with selfie sticks is when people walk with them. I almost got smacked in the face a couple times in December.

 

[Schmeck]

I don't get all the hate for the selfie sticks. I five high school students to Washington in the fall and we wouldn't have any pictures of all of us together if it hadn't been for our selfie stick. We only used it about five times on one of our touring days, but it was nice to have. I also used it a couple of weeks later when I took my son to New Orleans to take his senior pictures. Again, we wouldn't have had any snapshots together without it. I'm not handing my cell phone to a stranger to take a picture of us.

I have to ask - why did you have to go to New Orleans to take his senior picture(s)?

 

[ckay87]

Why not? Will they get cooties on your phone?

My issue with selfie sticks is when people walk with them. I almost got smacked in the face a couple times in December.

Because cell phones are expensive and some people are dishonest.

I definitely see a use for selfie sticks. Have taken some cool trips all by myself and have no photos of myself on those trips. I mean, I'll live, but it may have been cool to have the option.

Just like ANYTHING else, certain people don't use them properly or respectfully.

 

[Luv'sTink]

I work at a store that sold these this holiday season. They actually sold out long before the holiday and people called daily looking for them.

 

[25eels]

I was at WDW last February and seated in front of me on the Small World boat was a man with a camera on a stick. At the time I'd never seen anything like it. He was slowly photographing or filming the ENTIRE ride with the stick hanging over the side of the boat. I was afraid he was going to take out a couple of dolls in the process!

 

[palmtreegirl]

I don't get all the hate for the selfie sticks. I five high school students to Washington in the fall and we wouldn't have any pictures of all of us together if it hadn't been for our selfie stick. We only used it about five times on one of our touring days, but it was nice to have. I also used it a couple of weeks later when I took my son to New Orleans to take his senior pictures. Again, we wouldn't have had any snapshots together without it. I'm not handing my cell phone to a stranger to take a picture of us.

I don't get it either, people get all uptight & judgmental about the strangest things.

 

[robinb]

Because cell phones are expensive and some people are dishonest.

I guess I'm more trusting of strangers . I usually pick someone from a family. I have even taken pictures of people on their phones. I haven't lost *or* taken a phone yet!

 

[mom2rtk]

I guess I'm more trusting of strangers . I usually pick someone from a family. I have even taken pictures of people on their phones. I haven't lost *or* taken a phone yet!

People ask me to take photos of them all the time (I suppose because I walk around with a big DSLR and fairly large lens). I'm fine with a point and shoot, but cell phones are so lightweight I can't take a good photo to save my soul (my heavier camera steadies my hands in a way a cell phone cannot). I always pass the cell phone photo requests off to the resident expert in our group....... the 14 year old girl.

I did hear for a while that some photopass CMs were declining to take photos with cell phones. I'm guessing they might have dropped 1 or 2 along the way or something (those things don't have a good spot to grip like most actual cameras do). But I imagine they have given up on that by now.