"Please do not obstruct the view of others around you with your smart devices" - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
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PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
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So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
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"Please do not obstruct the view of others around you with your smart devices"
IMO, this is definitely a "sign" of our times. It's not a sentence I ever thought I'd hear but it's really kind of sad that people have to be told that (I guess it's true Common Sense is truly dead). Now that I've heard it, though I wonder how many shows at Disney have had to rerecord their show intros to include this line. On top of that, I wonder how many people ignore it (would that be a case of smart devices, stupid users ). Me, I'm still not that into all this technology. For all my memory making, I'm going to stick with my good old point and shoot camera and SD card enabled camcorder. No iPad photos or videos for us
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The last time we saw Wishes, there were so many people holding up tablets to record it that it was difficult to even focus. Add in several children swinging light sabers. Your eyes can't adjust to light coming from so many directions. I held my hands up the whole time trying to block the light from those things.
And my favorite was and the guy in front of us, who needed a wider image for his iPad so took two huge steps backward and seemed surprised that other people were behind him --- not magical.
I don't see how WDW could control it , though. In theaters I've seen them tell folks to put away cameras or recording devices. I was checking my phone battery before the show at the Monster Laugh Floor and a CM asked me to put the phone away. But he could easily reach me. In the sea of people on Main St it seems hopeless.
Sadly, it is smart devices in hands of sometimes selfish people.
This trip we've made an ADR for California Grill so we can watch in peace.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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In March we were in Key West waiting for the sunset at Mallory Square. It was amazing the number of people using iPads to capture it. It was seriously distracting and they were in the way of anyone behind them. The worst was this older couple trying to figure out how to actually use theirs and holding it up in front of us and some other people. Someone finally asked them if they could help them get the photo. Once they got the photo, they put it away. But it was seriously taking them ages to figure out what to do.
I told my DH and DS who haven't been to WDW in a while, that that is what it's like during Wishes now too.
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Darlene, we're with you on this issue. I have had several near-misses with folks walking around with the iPad held out in front of them so that they couldn't really see where they were going. I own an iPad and a point and shoot Nikon, and my husband has a really nice Nikon camera outfit. I would never choose to take my iPad to a park for the purpose of taking pictures. My little iPod can do movies actually, and is much less obtrusive (I tried it out one year on IASW), and my husband can set his camera to take movies too, so there is no reason to take such a bulky item. Just shoot your pix or movie from a camera, and upload from the SD card.
I also feel very sorry for those people who miss out on the magic because they are too busy trying to capture it electronically. Be there now, folks!
I don't recall anything like that being added into the announcements (at Wishes, Fantasmic or IllumiNations) when we were there last month but it certainly wouldn't surprise me if it is added. Though, as many seemingly ignorant people as there are there on a daily basis, I seriously doubt that anyone would really listen to the request.
I am always mindful of where my camera is in relation to anyone behind or around me. Well, that is unless you snuck in and shoved yourself between me and DH right after the Main Street Electrical Parade started and continually shove me in an attempt to get in front of us AND OUR KIDS the entire length of the parade . . . in that case, the camera will go nearly in front of you because you are rude. )
I was only able to get ONE photo of Wishes when we attempted to see it from the middle of Main Street one night and DH took it because he is taller than me and I couldn't see much. We were also thankful that we were going to see it unobstructed later in the week as we were doing the Tomorrowland Terrace Dessert Party. Because of the guy in front of us recording Wishes on his iPad, his girlfriend next to him recording it on a big Samsung phone, a lady in front of them recording on a large phone/small tablet and their buddy a couple of people behind them (and pretty much beside me) recording on a camcorder . . . none of us were really able to see much of any of the show that night unless it was way above the castle. DS was the only one who could see pretty much unobstructed because he was on DH's shoulders.
It is one thing to record on your phone as long as you aren't holding it clear up away from you . . . it is quite another to be holding a big iPad a foot or two over your head.
This sort of thing is partially why we leave photography to the professionals and just take "mind photos" ourselves. I'd rather experience things NOW than after the fact anyway.
The YouTube pro videos of parades and shows are much better quality than most amateurs can achieve anyway.
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That photo is really pretty (the fireworks and castle part) but I am thinking "No way, thank you" to standing in a massive crowd of people trying to film and watch these productions. I am 5'4".
Especially when you consider how long everyone has been standing around waiting for the show to start. We can be doing other things with that time, I hope.
I actually did this with my enormous, er, Enormously Awesome Samsung Galaxy Note II phone last year, but I had some consideration for those around me and held the darn thing at chin level so I wouldn't block anyone's view. Of course, as I'm 6'-4" tall, chin level for me is above the crowd
The video turned out pretty crappy, actually, because the phone has no manual focus, no optical zoom, lousy stabilization, and the ISO is much lower than my P&S camera, which shoots awesome video. But I had foolishly left the P&S in my room that night, figuring that I'd be shooting stills of Wishes with my SLR and wouldn't need the P&S. I won't make that mistake again!
I'm getting to the point where I'm ready to upgrade my SLR for one that shoots video, even though it's only four years old. I just hate having to carry a whole extra camera any time I want a few minutes of video footage.
I have seen people with iPads at the parks - I understand it if you have smaller kids and they want to play games while in a stroller. But using it to record and take pictures???? I find that a bit ridiculous and I own an iPad.
My thought: if you have a tablet, chances are you'll have a smart phone, too. It's easier to use the phone and more considerate. If you want fabulous pictures, invest in a still camera!!!!
I was amazed and dumbfounded watching people using their tablets to take pictures last time I was at Disney. The tablets are so large and bulky, I can't imagine using them as a camera for your vacation. When on my European River cruise last month a number of people were using their iPads as cameras. Again, I just didn't get it.
The problem we had in May was people using there phones in the shows like a bugs life, the screen would be lighted up and it was very distracting. Even my 23 yr old DD thought it was crazy.
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What makes me laugh is that no matter how good that picture looks on your phone or tablet once you try and make it into a true picture above a 4X6 it is very pixelated. A cell phone and tablet have very small cmos sensors that do not translate well into the printed form sadly. So unless you are just going to keep that picture on your device it is pretty pointless to use it to take pictures while away on holidays.
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What makes me laugh is that no matter how good that picture looks on your phone or tablet once you try and make it into a true picture above a 4X6 it is very pixelated. A cell phone and tablet have very small cmos sensors that do not translate well into the printed form sadly. So unless you are just going to keep that picture on your device it is pretty pointless to use it to take pictures while away on holidays.
Yeah, but that's one of the reasons why so many people are taking pics with their phones and tablets and never notice the lower quality - they never put the pics on paper and never look at them on anything bigger than a tablet screen.
The problem we had in May was people using there phones in the shows like a bugs life, the screen would be lighted up and it was very distracting. Even my 23 yr old DD thought it was crazy.
I agree! It's so frustrating in a dark place to have bright lights popping up all over the place. The easiest thing for those who DO wish to use these devices is to dim the light! I am relatively new to the smart phone realm and my iphone but even I know how to dim the light. DH likes to sleep at night while I'm wide awake lying there beside him so I play game on my phone until I feel sleepy too. I always dim the screen so it doesn't bother him.
I also don't understand using these devices with such low quality on print but whatever.
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). Me, I'm still not that into all this technology. For all my memory making, I'm going to stick with my good old point and shoot camera and SD card enabled camcorder. No iPad photos or videos for us 
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