Selfie sticks are now prohibited in Disney parks across the US. Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong and other Disney parks around the world are also expected to follow suit.
“We strive to provide a great experience for the entire family, and unfortunately, selfie sticks have become a growing safety concern for both our guests and cast,” said a representative from Disney.
Visitors with selfie sticks will now be asked to temporarily leave the accessory at the entrance. Originally park management planned to prohibit the device on rides only, but some stubborn visitors still managed to sneak them in and take shots while onboard an attraction.
Reasons for the Ban
On rides, the device can pose a serious threat to safety, as they could fall out of a carriage and possibly damage the ride’s mechanism. It could also injure guests on the ride, as the pole could accidentally strike them while they’re moving at high speed.
For other park visitors, people with selfie sticks can turn out to be a major nuisance especially during shows and performances. Think about it: in order to get a good photo of yourself with the performers in the background, you’d have to spin around and shove your selfie stick into someone else’s face or at least somewhere in their personal space. While many people do have the decency to not bother others while they’re enjoying a show, there are a few who would do anything just to get that perfect snapshot to share on social media.
Taking Pictures the Old Fashioned Way
Of course, you can always ask a park employee or a friendly stranger to take a photo of you and your family at the park. If you’re afraid of someone running off with your pricey smartphone, there’s almost zero chance of that happening especially with the tight security in Disney parks.
While using a selfie stick does have its advantages, you can still get good shots using the built-in devices we all have – our arms. Sure the phone might be a bit closer to your face and you might not capture most of the background but at least you won’t be endangering others or annoying anyone.
Alright. I’m totally not in support of somebody taking one of these on a ride, but lets just say somebody snuck one on the ride. What’s going to happen? They’re going to take a picture of themselves, obviously when the ride isn’t going fast at all, and that’s it. I wanna see selfie sticks in the Disney parks, but maybe if you develop a strict policy as to what might happen if one is used during a ride and you’re caught using it.
First of all, of course you shouldn’t be able to use a selfie stick during a show or during a ride. That’s common sense. But I totally disagree with banning selfie sticks while in the middle of the park where nothing really could happen. Whose space would you violate in the middle of the park? That’s public space there, so if you can take a picture on the street, you should be able to take one there as well. Not during rides though, definitely not.
I think it’s common sense to not use selfie sticks on rides – well for most people it is, but banning selfie sticks altogether? That’s a big no-no. I do think they should come up with a better solution than this because a lot of people use selfie sticks as they are very helpful when it comes to taking pictures at certain angles.
It’s fair enough that they’ve banned the sticks.
They can be intrusive and not suitable for having out while on a ride.
It’s more social and adds to the experience to ask someone else for a snap. Some old things just shouldn’t be replaced
I have never been a fan of selfie sticks and this just proves they are dangerous too. These sticks are usually made by cheap Chinese manufacturers and I am not about to put my $600 phone into it. Overall I hope these things fall out of favour completely.
I think that whoever invented the selfie stick must be ridiculously rich – because it was the answer that everyone was looking for when it comes to nobody having an arm long enough to create a good picture! But I do agree that they are dangerous, and I think that there were many people who had issues with them right from the beginning. It would now seem that the craze has died down a little bit, so hopefully this was just another thing that will pass, and will never really be seen again!
I can definetly see why they are doing this, I personally have had some (bad) experiences when it comes to selfie sticks and the invasion of personal spaces, it can make things so unconfortable! specially if you’re trying to do your stuff or just enjoying a show and someone is recording or taking pictures of themselves with those things when you’re in the middle… that can happen without the stick but you get my point,lol. Let’s just see how people react to this.
I don’t mind the banning of selfie sticks in Disney parks. The things I’ve seen people do just to get the perfect pic of themselves . . .
To be honest I think most people go overboard with selfies. No one really cares if you post a hundred selfies on social media. So why bother?
My wish is that more theme parks should ban selfie sticks.
I don’t really mind the selfie sticks and I’ve never seen someone be pissed off about a person using one, but I do agree that it can pose a threat to the people who use it while on rollercoasters/fast rides. You can still take decent photos with your device alone so I guess it’s not the worst thing that can be banned, it’s better to be safe rather than taking the perfect picture.