I visit the parks a lot by myself and when I do my phone is always on vibrate. You can't hear the ringer over the noise of the parks and I don't have to remember to set the phone to vibrate when I'm on a ride or in a show. I don't use my phone a lot and when I do it is always in an appropriate area. A lot lately I've been texting quietly from the parks, arranging to meet up with a friend or something like that.
February wrote:It is rude to stop dead in the middle of main street and cause the wheelchair behind you to collide with two strollers because you're trying to turn the volume up on your phone so you can hear over the parade.
That's just stupid. The parades are way to loud to make any kind of phone call during, there's no way to hear the call.
It was worse to me (louder) before people started texting more in public- those damned Nokia phones with their *(!(&^ beeping every two seconds. I was happy to see that cell phone use actually seemed to be down on our last trip- and I don't understand why WDW can't put in designated cell use areas- like when they used to have banks of pay phones and if you wanted to use them, you had to go find them.
I hate to break it to you but Disney uses Nextels everywhere these days (the beep-beep phones). All managers carry at least one (sometimes more, mine carry 2 or 3 on different channels usually). Coordinators, custodial, some character attendants, Dream Team all use them. The buses have them and the monorails have two in the cabs. The Safari trucks have them as do the parking trams. I know I'm probably missing half the places they are used.
Nextels are the phones that beep every time you or someone on the same channel pushes the button on the side.
We use them all over my area, the three carts each have one, Uptown Jewelers has 2 (one in jewelery and one in pins), the Confectionery, Chapeau, and Expo Hall all have two, the Firehouse has one as well as Uptown Gallery, the stockers carry them on there person as do the coordinators and managers. At least in my area they are wonderful tools, it allows us easy communication to each other. There are times where nobody is at our area's desk so Nextels are a necessity to reach our leaders as calling on the phone won't reach somebody sometimes. The Nextels are the only communication we have at the carts with anybody else. Today somebody threw up right on the main path by the Train Cart (and of course didn't tell any one and I didn't notice for a few minutes). I grabbed the Nextel and called my manager and asked them to call custodial. A few minutes later custodial shows up after receiving the call on their Nextel. A Dream Squad member even stopped by to see if she could help as she heard the call out on her Nextel (I guess she listens to whatever channel custodial uses).
From being around them so much I can hear the beep-beep of an active Nextel very easily. I need to be able to on the carts, especially if the weather is dicey in case management decides to shut them down. The other week I was on the Train Cart when I heard management call the carts telling them that severe weather was coming in and to be ready for a quick close down. I got the cart ready as best I could (moved things farther in and left only a few twists on the hooks for the ropes that roll up the sides). A little while later it starts raining and a few minutes after that management calls for a shut down of the carts so I quickly drop and zip the sides and hightail it inside before the bottom completely dropped out.
It took a few seconds to realize what had really happened.
:p: