Stupid Guest Tricks

Shorty82 wrote: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.

That's exactly how I use my phone out in public. The only time my phone is actually on ring and not vibrate is at home and in the car (and sometimes when I'm hanging out with close friends and not in a public place). It's a pity, though, because I have a bunch of custom-created Disney ringtones on my phone. Each friend has their own...
And like Hobie, I once left my phone on vibrate while driving, it went off and scared the CRAP out of me. It fits very nicely in a little cubbyhole in my dash, so it had JUST enough room to vibrate and bounce off of every surface of the cubby very loudly.

While in WDW, the phone is either back in the hotel room or in my pocket on vibrate. (Or sometimes if I'm carrying a backpack, it's in one of the small pockets) If I'm making plans to meet up with someone while in the parks, I prefer text messages because it's more convenient to dash off a quick message and hit send. And if I'm on the receiving end, text messages can get through in places with low signal where a voice call wouldn't (or you'd be subject to random dropped calls). And if you're inside an attraction without a signal, you get the message as soon as you come outside rather than dealing with missed calls or having to dial into voicemail.
There have only been a few times that I've had real phone conversations with people while in the parks, and I've always sought out a quiet place to hold it. While on my solo trip last June, I needed a breather and decided to call my friend who's just as big of a Disney nut as I am and get him caught up on the trip so far (and that I'd just seen a porn star walking in the park, but that's another discussion topic entirely...) :D: I went down into the little garden area of the UK pavilion behind the Tea Caddy to hold my conversation. Noone else around to bother, and we had a good 30+ minute chat. (Mary Poppins did walk through on the way to her greeting set out in front of the pavilion. I waved as she walked by)

-Rob

I also use text messaging when I'm at the parks quite a bit. If I'm with the family we are usually together so it goes on vibrate, in a zip lock in my backpack and about all I use it for is making dining reservations or as a watch. When I'm solo I check in with my GF so she knows I'm OK or when my sister was there I would text her youngest daughter because shes the texting queen and I would get an answer pretty quick but never in a show or on a ride.

One place thats great for the cell phones, at least at DL (DCA) is Turtle talk with Crush, he will comment if your phone rings during the show, not like the SG's who failed to silence their phones get it anyway but its fun. I have Yo Ho as a ringtone and thought about playing the ringtone during Turtle talk just to see what he would say. My last trip to DL phones rang twice during the show and Crush would tell the people to answer it and tell the person on the other end that they were talking to a turtle and they would never call back. I thought it might be funny to answer and if he said the same thing tell him they wanted to talk to him.

Steve

svickersart wrote:I also use text messaging when I'm at the parks quite a bit. If I'm with the family we are usually together so it goes on vibrate, in a zip lock in my backpack and about all I use it for is making dining reservations or as a watch. When I'm solo I check in with my GF so she knows I'm OK or when my sister was there I would text her youngest daughter because shes the texting queen and I would get an answer pretty quick but never in a show or on a ride.

One place thats great for the cell phones, at least at DL (DCA) is Turtle talk with Crush, he will comment if your phone rings during the show, not like the SG's who failed to silence their phones get it anyway but its fun. I have Yo Ho as a ringtone and thought about playing the ringtone during Turtle talk just to see what he would say. My last trip to DL phones rang twice during the show and Crush would tell the people to answer it and tell the person on the other end that they were talking to a turtle and they would never call back. I thought it might be funny to answer and if he said the same thing tell him they wanted to talk to him.

Steve

Thats why Crush has a mike in the room, so he Can hear whats going on.
Crush is not a AA, he is based on a whole new technology.
If you get his attention, he Will respond.

I remember an anecdote from Readers Digest from several years back. Guy complained that his work desk kept vibrating, but nobody could figure out why. There had been no earthquakes, nobody else's desks were shaking, etc.. Finally, they opened his desk drawer, to find a cell phone, set on vibrate, with 12 unanswered messages on it....which had been missing awhile....

albino_pygmy wrote:When I was at jungle... Do you know how long it would take to go down to Radio Shack to see if they have parts to a 1971 audio system?

Ooh, man, gotta give a shout-out to the good jungle CMs and the good scripts out there: THANK YOU. Last trip I had the guy did a whole "did you know insertanimalnamehere can run over 45 miles per hour and jump 10 feet in the air? They're the only animals that can do that." Of course, he did this with each big animal, including himself. Did a nice job of it, too.

I think part of the appeal IS the ancient sound system, it adds ambience. Don't think it would be the same with 5.1 surround sound...

thomaskr wrote:I think part of the appeal IS the ancient sound system, it adds ambience. Don't think it would be the same with 5.1 surround sound...

I happen to agree. Now on safari, on the other hand, I get people all the time from Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and even Rwanda who, at the end of the safari, tell me I need to drive safaris in real Africa, where they have air-conditioned trucks and good sound systems.

There are days when it gets really, really hot that I just want to take them up on that idea...

thomaskr wrote:I think part of the appeal IS the ancient sound system, it adds ambience. Don't think it would be the same with 5.1 surround sound...

I do agree with you there, but if they're going to have a crappy audio system, at least keep it maintained to where it delivers decent sound without it cutting out on you at random times or having feedback come out of the speakers whenever you're trying to spiel. It gets old, fast, especially for the poor guests who waited 2 hours for bad jokes, and all they hear is "If you look over on your left side, you'll see . . . . . . we call it Inspiration Fa . . . . . . stare at it long enough, it insp . . . . . . . . go"

On our Cruise last trip, I was sitting right next to our Skipper, listening intently, and still had a hard time hearing everything :( The sound quality was part of it, but I think our Skipper probably could have gone a little slower and pronounced a little more clearly for us OLD folks!:p :)
If only I hadn't played that Barry Manilow music so loud when I was a kid, I might have better hearing....

thomaskr wrote:Maybe it's because of the recent innovation in cheap or free roaming or maybe it's because the Gainesville crowd was having Spring Break, but this year I noticed (I'm a guest, not a worker) a hell of a lot of people with cell phones glued to their ears WHILE IN LINE and ON THE RIDES. Yup, people talking idiotic stupidity while riding on an attraction at Disney World.

Is this something I haven't really noticed before, is it increasing or was it just that particular day? Whatever the reason, it's annoying for a lot of reasons and I hope that WDW puts some limits on cell phone usage in the park.

Maybe I'm just being an ass, but for some reason, it pissed me off.

I never have a cellphone glued to my ear. Really hard to type that way. I do use my cell to keep in contact with my dh in the parks. That way if we separate I can find him or him come to where I am. I'm waiting for one I can actually sign back and forth to my friends on.

When I am attending characters I sometimes have a Nextel. Nice to know I can silence the beep, which I will. I hate them.

If in the park with family, we sometimes separate and will call when we need to get back together. Always on vibrate, never answer inside, in the queue it is just "Meet you at x in y minutes". Any other calls are made or taken in as private a place as possible.

Please note: regular phones have an audio feedback from the mic to the earpiece. This keeps you from talking too loud. Cellphones don't have this, which is why people tend to talk louder than normal. Remember that a whisper can be heard over the phone, so raising your voice is unneeded. If you feel like you must raise your voice, you are in a too noisy area and should find a quieter place.

Oh, and check out Larry David at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp6H9hR4nIM (slightly NSFW)