camera question

[phazan]

i have a question for one of the Alveys.

 

do you have permission to bring a camera on the rides or do you sneak them on?

[benzo41190]

Like in a prevous post it was said that they ask for permission to take them on. And if you sneek it on and you are caught you could be ejected from the park and might have your pass taken away. You are way better of asking, I went to SFGAm this weekend and I got permission for almost all the rides except for Superman UF and V2.

[phazan]

really?!? the people at sfmw on the rides were telling people to not bring cameras on rides. the ride op and a guest started arguing. and that was on most rides to they were saying that. i guess maybe that was just sfmw. i have never asked anywhere else.

 

^there is no way i could have found what was said in another post even using the search

[benzo41190]

http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1605

 

here is the forum page.

[robbalvey]

Two comments:

 

1. I just did a search for "camera on rides" and I found the thread very easily.

 

2. Most parks these days are NOT letting people on board with cameras. Those days are pretty much gone. You'll need to contact the park. That being said, they don't let just anyone film. You need to have some credentials. For us to film on Powder Keg, for example, we contacted the PR department, and they walked us onto the ride and around the structure. This footage may end up being used by both the park and S&S.

 

If you are doing this for an established website or other news medium that's one thing, but if you're just doing this for your own personal enjoyment, you will only be wasting the park's time.

 

Keep in mind that when I say 'established,' Theme Park Review has been around for nearly 10 years, and last year for example, we saw nearly 17 million page views. Those are the kind of credentials you will need when contacting a park for them to take the time out to allow you to film.

 

I don't mean to sound cocky, but it's taken us a LONG time to build up relationships with parks where we can call up and get filming access. It's not something you can just request out of the blue.

 

--Robb

[benzo41190]

I went to SFGAm this weekend and I asked the ride ops and they didnt seem to mind except Superman UF and V2. But.......the park was very dead and I do work there but I wasnt working when I filmed.

 

Nothing exciting happened for a TR.

[Coaster Junkie]

It also depends a lot on the park you're going to. Last year I took my camera to Adventureland in Altoona, Iowa and I just asked the ride-ops. They all said, "That's fine, but if you drop it then it's gone." On The Tornado, the op even gave us (me and a buddy of mine, two college kids) tips on how to get the best video.

 

On The Outlaw, one of the ops even watched the video we shot right there on the station (before you blast them on it, there was NO ONE else in the park and the only people riding The Outlaw were my buddy and me, the train cycled when we asked them to).

[robbalvey]

^ Sweet! I like it when parks are cool with cameras. Knoebel's is the same way.

 

--robb

[coaster1]

Dollywood was ok with it, but it was raining when we rode Thunderhead and Tennessee Tornado most of the time .. so yeah didn't do it.

[BarryH]

^The last time I was at Dollywood, there was a big sign at Thunderhead saying "No cameras on the ride."

 

With most parks, there will be a big sign saying no cameras on ride. Other parks will make an annoucement. Most of the time, the park will make it very clear if you can or can't bring cameras on rides.

[CoasterFanatic]

Dollywood is pretty adamant about the whole "no camera" thing.

 

Speaking of cameras, I just went to Cedar Point on Wednesday and I must have heard them tell someone to put a camera away in every station. They have obviously been trained to NEVER allow cameras on the rides there and asking will not help you at all. Put them down as a never without prior arrangement park.