Cell Phones!?!?!

[jaredkari]

My wife and I are at WDW as I write this post. It has been a little over a year since our last week long stay at WDW and we have really began to notice cell phone use is way up.

Now I have a cell phone myself and I text and check messages and everything like that, BUT, I do not wait in line for an hour for an attraction only to sit there and text or check the lastest baseball score throughout the ride ruining it for people seated behind me!!!!! I just do not see the logic in that!!! Also you are on vacation put the cell phone away and spend time with your family.

And it is not just teenage kids doing this. It is adults ignoring their children throughout dinners and yelling at their kids when they try to interrupt them while they are texting someone very important (hint of sarcasm).

Sorry I just had to get this off my chest but cell phones are just getting ridiculous!!!!! TURN THEM OFF!!!!!

[K8screen]

I absolutely agree! There should be a ban on using them on rides, like there is in theatres and cinemas, and like there was on flash photography.

[laprana]

I agree and I noticed the exact same thing on our trip in May. There were soooo many people of all ages (even young kids!) with their noses practically pressed to their cell phone screens. I just kept thinking, "These people paid all this money for a Disney vacation and all they're going to see is their cell phone!" I just don't get it.

[LVT]

Cell phone manners need to be developed to go with the extensive usage.
I do not see this developing soon, though.
It seems to me like there is a vanity tied to our strong social ties. We want people to like to hear from us and be friends with huge groups.

Look at driver use, even strong laws don't seem to be making much dent in it.

[DVC2004]

Well, unfortunately it's like this everywhere. You seldom go anywhere anymore and not see people of all ages paying more attention to their phones than their surroundings or friends/family. People feel the need to be constantly entertained/distracted or whatever.

[DisneyDINK]

The good news is Disney can stop theming the queues because everyone's faces are burried in their cell phones. That ought to save them some money. Why try so hard to entertain them when they can entertain themselves.

There ought to be more adds for Disney apps and websites within the parks so Disney doesn't lost gift shop revenues to people engrossed in their cyber world. Why didn't Epcot or Tomorrowland see this coming?

How many ride wait time apps are there now for WDW anyhow?

[KylesMom]

Sorry I just had to get this off my chest but cell phones are just getting ridiculous!!!!! TURN THEM OFF!!!!!

Couldn't have said it better myself. There's nothing worse than trying to enjoy an attraction when someone is either yapping on their phone or turning a dark ride into an entirely different experience - like a light one. To me, it's the same as using external lighting or flash on a "no flash" ride!

[Mickey'sGirl]

I agree. The most important people in my life are with me, and anything else can wait until I have a chance to check my messages.

[Melanie]

I will admit I'm on my phone a lot when I'm at Disney, and mainly it's to tweet. Just trying to bring some Disney magic to our Twitter followers. I do try and be courteous though, and am very aware of lighted screens, etc.

[Rosanne]

Whenever I want to whip out my phone while at the parks (other than to tweet or post a photo) I think about Walt Disney. Walt Disney created "The Florida Project" and Walt Disney World because he felt that Disneyland offered too many distractions right outside the gates. He said that he hated that you could see the traffic on the highway from Tomorrowland. He bought all the property at WDW because he wanted to keep up the show. He wanted people to be fully immersed in the experience. Unfortunately, since the invention of cell phones, it has become completely impossible to do so.

[biodtl]

I never use my phone during rides, nor do I talk loudly or do anything to ruin other people's experience, but I do occasionally send updates to twitter and facebook. But most of the time, I am checking email, etc.

It would be nice if everyone could just "turn them off" but unfortunately, many people have to stay checked in with work. I work for a wonderful company and have a lot of vacation and benefits, but my work is very client based and deadlines are deadlines. If I waited until there was no work to take a vacation, I'd never get to go. My husband is self-employed and he too has to check on things when we are gone.

If someone is interfering with your enjoyment of a ride, then it's understandable to get upset, but if they are not bothering anyone, then what's the problem? If they are wasting their money by being on cell phones, it's their problem.

[jaredkari]

I am glad I am not the only one who feels this way. I just don't understand why WDW could not make an announcement before the ride stating no cell phone use during the ride like they do with flash photos or video (although that doesn't usually stop people) At least it might discourage it a little.

[btharvey]

The good news is Disney can stop theming the queues because everyone's faces are buried in their cell phones.

This is good news?

[caryrae]

I don't think they can be called cell phones anymore since they do much more then make phone calls. I do take my iPhone with me but I use it to take pictures or video and have the phone part turned off because I don't need phone calls while on vacation.

[BrerGnat]

I am 100% okay with people using smart phones in lines. Lines are boring. I see people reading books in line, kids playing on handheld video games. Nothing wrong with either, I don't think. Honestly, sometimes you just want some time to veg out, and while in line for a ride seems like the perfect time to do so. No one likes waiting in line. And, if you spend ALL DAY with your family anyway, I don't see the harm in doing something non productive and non-interactive while in a line. Everyone needs some alone time each day.

Now, I HATE to see parents on their phones during meals with their kids when the kids are obviously making an effort to engage the parents. HATE it. Put the darn phone away while you're having a meal. There's no need for that.

However, I do admit to using mine during mealtimes sometimes. I can't help it. I often go out with my 2 sons alone to meals when my DH is away. Both my kids have autism, and "socializing" isn't something that they do, even at the table. They basically ignore me (us). If they are not kept busy with something, they just simply can't sit at the table more than a few minutes. So, we rely on our phones to provide entertainment for them, or we show them family photos/videos or whatever (same goes for attraction lines). You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. I wish my kids would talk to me and have normal conversations and stuff, but they don't.

I think, as a society, we need to either loathe the technology (and NOT use it), or if we are going to use it, accept the changes that it brings with it. Times change, and you can mourn the loss of the "old way", but if you refuse to embrace the "new way", you'll eventually just get left behind.

My kids both struggle very much with social skills, but their ability to use and innately understand technology (real technology, as in computers, not iphones) fascinates me. And, I don't necessarily find it a negative. If that's the way the world is going, I'm happy my kids will have at least those skills at the ready.

[Ramblingman]

Sadly, this is merely a microcosm of the world as we know it today. Go to any theater and you will see plenty of cell phones lighting up and ruining the experience for others despite a dozen reminders on the screen before the movie starts.

Watch any road nowadays. Drivers have completely forgotten how to merge. Turn lanes are a device for speeding past others in order to jump over right in front of them just before you slam on your brakes because of traffic.

People will push into checkout lines. Speed checkout lanes for 10 or less items will have full carts in line.

Anywhere there are a gathering of people, you are guaranteed at least one person who is yapping away on their phone loudly enough for everyone to hear their conversation, and the louder they are is inversely proportional to how interesting they are.

There was a story a couple of weeks ago about a woman thrown off a train in Seattle. She had boarded the train in Oakland, went into a "quiet" car that expressly forbids cell phone usage, and talked...for 16 hours straight before almost getting into a fight with other passengers who were complaining.

Okay, I'll hop down now and put away the soapbox. I'm beginning to sound like the grumpy old man that I am.

[kakn7294]

I have to disagree to some extent. I do think that it's rude to be on the phone while on an attraction but otherwise, if it doesn't directly affect you and they are polite about it, then why does it bother everyone so much when someone is on their phone? If someone wants to spend their time talking or texting, that's their business and not mine.

[brian2000boston]

Kathy,

I fully agree!

[ransam]

i can honestly say that i haven't noticed people on their cell phones. I'm too busy having fun!

[AmandaChan]

I don't see anything wrong with checking them while you're in line but not on an attraction. Haha some people might just need a little break from their families considering you hardly get any privacy or time to check your email at the hotel probably. I never check my phone at dinner or let my spouse do so. He's not the cell phone type anyways... Half the time I didn't want to dig out my cell phone or was too busy with LO to do so. I can't really say I noticed a lot of people using their phones a few weeks ago. Sorry you are having bad luck!