Getting away with a POV...

[Jay20016]

I too have a question: I'm also a huge Waterpark enthusiast and always read the guidelines and the rules to see if there is anything about bringing loose articles on rides. If the guidelines don't say anything about bringing camcorders, or any loose articles onride, is bringing a camcorder on a waterslide permissible? Lets say if all the lifeguards at a waterpark let me film going down all waterslides, is this okay, should I contact the park owner first, or is it just not allowed at all?

 

I work in aquatics, and a thing that most people fail to really comprehend is that slides are not indestructible. We're very particular in what can and cannot go down our rides at my park, simply because if we're not careful, especially on the speed slides, a small, almost minuscule fracture/scratch/indention can do a number on someone's skin at 60 mph.

 

Throw in the expected ride position and how holding onto a camera takes you out of it, and I'd bet you'll be hard pressed to find a lot of parks that will allow it. We just recently shot a TV spot that required a pretty expensive rig for the camera operator to wear while going down due to the rides nature, requiring one to hold on to the handles.

[_Brandon_]

This summer I will be going to Six Flags Great Adventure, Hershey Park, and Carowinds. Do you know if these parks allow people to bring video cameras on their coasters? Thanks.

[Erik Johnson]

You cannot bring a camera on any of those coasters in any of the parks you listed. Pretty much the only parks you are allowed to bring a camera on are some of the smaller parks and most of them do not allow cameras anymore.

[coastercrutchfield]

Elitch Gardens was pretty nice about it...

Thank you for writing to us at Elitch Gardens! It is fine if you come to our park and do onride and offride filming and photography. Please let us know what day and time you will be coming because we need to set up someone to escort you through the park while filming. I hope this helps and please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any more questions or concerns. We look forward to seeing you soon!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jillian Hart

[robbalvey]

I also want to just re-iterate something I was told from Elitch Gardens about this very subject...

 

Robb,

 

On-ride footage is only permitted when supervised by someone from the Operations and Marketing Department. If someone would like to set this up then they contact the park directly and make arrangements. Otherwise photography and cameras are restricted from our rides. No need to be a member of a media – just interested in filming and have safe equipment!

 

Can you please re-iterate that point for us?

 

Thanks!

 

Zach Harig

Guest Arrival and

Park Services Manager

[themeparkman25]

Speaking from the other side of the fence, and I am sure Robb would agree, the main reason parks do not allow cameras on rides is from a safety stand point. Though I would say most responsible, mature adults can hold on to a camera, the act of filming sets a "tone" for others in the park, others that may not be able to hold on to their own cameras.

 

So, for example's sake, lets say an older gentlemen brings a camera on a ride and exits the ride with his camera in his posession. However, a 12 year old sees that person doing it and decides he can do it too, so now you have a less mature individual on a ride with a camera. Things happen and next thing you know, said camera is falling off the ride. At this point, it has the possibility of injuring another guest on the ride, perhaps that very guest, or even, maybe, a guest in the queue line or on the midway. Next thing you know, you have a distraut guest with a broken camera and an injured guest that got hit, two alarming situations. I believe that is the reason cameras are generally frowned upon on rides, though, naturally, they still come out.

 

Let's just watch Robb's videos anyways, they are better.

[coastercrutchfield]

Speaking from the other side of the fence, and I am sure Robb would agree, the main reason parks do not allow cameras on rides is from a safety stand point. Though I would say most responsible, mature adults can hold on to a camera, the act of filming sets a "tone" for others in the park, others that may not be able to hold on to their own cameras.

 

So, for example's sake, lets say an older gentlemen brings a camera on a ride and exits the ride with his camera in his posession. However, a 12 year old sees that person doing it and decides he can do it too, so now you have a less mature individual on a ride with a camera. Things happen and next thing you know, said camera is falling off the ride. At this point, it has the possibility of injuring another guest on the ride, perhaps that very guest, or even, maybe, a guest in the queue line or on the midway. Next thing you know, you have a distraut guest with a broken camera and an injured guest that got hit, two alarming situations. I believe that is the reason cameras are generally frowned upon on rides, though, naturally, they still come out.

 

Let's just watch Robb's videos anyways, they are better.

Sure, maturity can be a factor, but you also have to think how much experience somebody has filming. You can be an adult, and still drop a camera, and you can be 12 years old and still drop a camera. The reason why people deny younger people is that they assume that they will drop a camera because they are not as "strong" as an adult, but ANY body that has no experience whatsoever, could drop a camera on an unexpected drop or turn. Who would a park turn away, a 22 year old that has never took a pov in his life, or a 16 year old that has years of experience filming onride videos? Yes, holding a camcorder still on a roller coaster is VERY hard, and it must be A LOT harder for people who happen to be not as strong as me. I've never had a problem with my age, but that may be the reason that I am just as large as an average adult if not larger (I am 6' 0", 215 lbs, and a football player.) So most parks think that I have the ability to hold a camera on a thrill ride. Plus, I have experience filming POVS. So that helps me even more. It may be different for all people, but trust me, being a bigger, stronger than average person helps.

[Team Thriller]

^

It takes a lot of strength to hold a camera?

 

I've only taken a few POV's, and to be honest, it wasn't heavy or anything at all. It was easy. The only challenge was keeping it steady. (Especially with it being on a Vekoma)

 

--James

[Splash_Mountain]

^ Ok, since you don't seem to understand that it's not appropriate for people to come on a message board and brag about breaking park rules, we'll just make this one simple rule.

 

"If you're going to make a post bragging about breaking park rules, which includes but it not limited to: sneaking cameras on rides, line jumping, standing up on coasters, or any other park rule, you're account will be deleted and your IP address banned."

 

I can tell you that parks we have relationships with DO read these boards and if they were to see that we were allowing people to discuss how they intend on breaking park rules, we would not be able to bring you the updates we do. And I am NOT going to jeaprodize my relationships with the parks or our site because a couple of people want to go around breaking park rules, then come on here and brag about it.

 

Is that clear for everyone?

 

It's like I said, you wouldn't go on a Ford Mustang board bragging about how you just stole a brand new GT Convertable, so why would you come on this board bragging about how you are going to break park rules?

 

--Robb "I think that's fair, right?" Alvey

 

 

Totally agreed.

[Ccron10]

This is my biggest pet peeve whenever I go to a park. Whenever my site has a meeting at a park I stress it so much, whenever I'm at a park by myself or with my girlfriend and a guy has his camera out in front of me, I tell him or her to put it away since it could hurt somebody behind them.

The only rides I would think that POV would be okay on are Monorails, certain Sky Rides (Von Roll style), trains, and observation towers.

[BrandonR]

Can I just ask people who want to sneak cameras on coasters, why? I mean it's not like the ride you're on hasn't been filmed before dozens of times already, and probably with better footage with properly-mounted, professional camera equipment. I really don't see why someone feels the need to sneak a camera on a ride to get some shaky, blurry POV when there's a 99% probability that better footage is already on Youtube.

 

Not to mention it's dangerous. When I worked as a ride op on Titan I saw some pretty bad injuries people got from having loose articles hit them, including one person who got hit by a toenail clipper and came back to the station bleeding pretty bad (of course I'm still trying to figure out who would bring nail clippers to a theme park and on a roller coaster).

[coastercrutchfield]

^

It takes a lot of strength to hold a camera?

 

I've only taken a few POV's, and to be honest, it wasn't heavy or anything at all. It was easy. The only challenge was keeping it steady. (Especially with it being on a Vekoma)

 

--James

 

Let me rewrite that by saying that it is pretty tough to keep a camera steady (Like you said).

 

I have had great luck with the GoPro camera latley with the chest mount. I have been givin premission at SFMM, SFOT, and even most of the rides at Knotts.

[larrygator]

 

I have had great luck with the GoPro camera latley with the chest mount. I have been givin premission at SFMM, SFOT, and even most of the rides at Knotts.

 

 

Who gave you "premission" at SFMM and SFoT? If I come across as skeptical it is because I don't believe you.

Edited December 8, 2010 by larrygator

[BrandonR]

Probably the ride ops, who generally don't have the know-how or authority to grant such requests anyway.

[robbalvey]

Probably the ride ops, who generally don't have the know-how or authority to grant such requests anyway.

The sad reality is that it probably WAS the ride ops, which in that case it's not the guests fault because who are they to argue with an employee of the park?

 

Personally, I hate having to police such things on TPR because parks (especially Six Flags and Cedar Fair) have specifically told me that "even if a ride op has told someone they can film, that is the ride ops wrong doing and that is NOT allowed."

 

I'm told that if someone posts a video where "the ride op told them they can film", parks have requested that the action I take is to pull the video, try to find out who the ride op was, and report that to the park.

 

I kind of wish the parks would just simply have employees who could enforce their safety rules without us having to do it for them.

 

--Robb

[Ccron10]

Here's something I've been wondering about that I've been noticing more often. When I went to SFGadv I remember standing in line for El Toro and seeing a guy with earbuds in his ears and listening to music. Since the iPod is in his pocket and the earbuds are are connected with a wire going under his shirt, would it be considered a loose article? On the otherhand I guess it would kind of make the safety instructions hard to hear.

Kind of got me wondering about it.

[coastercrutchfield]

^ It still sometimes confuses me on what is a loose article. Glasses and hats are still loose articles. Even if they advise you to secure, they cant force you too (at least glasses.) But they still can fly off and hit someone with the same chance as someone with a camera. I mean with technology these days, would some cameras even be considered as a loose article?

Would this be considered as a loose article?

[robbalvey]

^ It still sometimes confuses me on what is a loose article. Glasses and hats are still loose articles. Even if they advise you to secure, they cant force you too (at least glasses.) But they still can fly off and hit someone with the same chance as someone with a camera. I mean with technology these days, would some cameras even be considered as a loose article?

The issue with cameras is that many parks, like Cedar Fair, Six Flags, and Holiday World say "No cameras", and from what I have been told by their high level management, is that they don't care if that camera is stapled to your body, they don't want any cameras, of any kind, for any reason, on any of their rides. PERIOD.

 

It's not a "loose article" policy, it's a "no camera" policy.

 

--Robb

[coastercrutchfield]

Okay thanks for explaining about that Robb. Iv'e kind of always been confused with this whole ordeal about "Loose articles and Cameras". I always thought that they would be okay as long as it's not a loose article. I do think that I remember seeing the "No video equipment on this ride" thing on the ride warning signs.

[Topdrag]

I believe that the state of Ohio has even past a law which mandates that you listen to all posted rules or ride operator instructions. Failure to do so can result in a ticket by the police. I know that most if not all the parks in Ohio with the exception of at least Strikers Grove has a No on-ride photography policy. So that makes doing it literally illegal.

 

I would much rather let Robb take the POV's because for one, he gets the needed permission and two, he does one hell of a job at making the videos look great. Plus I am lazy and would rather have someone do that kind of stuff for me.

 

Anyways thats my two cents...

 

Robb keep up the nice work with your videos. I really enjoy them.

[Skycoastin Steve]

To clear things up, a BIG part of the "no camera" policy is tied to intellectual property. It's like pirating a movie. Sure, the movie might be available several places (just like ride POVs), but it's not an approved version. Years of planning and construction go behind every attraction, and parks don't want some Joe Blow recording them illegally, just like production companies don't want their films being passed around for free. There's admittedly plenty of gray area there (what if you're filming from the ground?), and I've even heard of parks not allowing people to film rides from the ground. As an operator, any time that I noticed someone had snuck their camera/phone on the ride and successfully filmed it, I stood there while they deleted the footage off their device. If they refused to delete it, then they were held in the station and security was called.

 

Obviously safety is the #1 priority behind "no camera" policies, but don't forget the intellectual property part of it.

 

 

As far as loose articles are concerned, anything extra that's on your body and isn't regular clothing is a loose article. Glasses, hats, iPods with earbuds, phones, cameras, jewelry, etc. are all loose articles (even if they are in your pocket, down your shirt, etc.). Each ride at each park has a different policy regarding these loose articles, usually dependent on manufacturer and company policies. Every park I've been at has a "no earbuds/earphones" policy on the larger coasters, simply because it's a strangulation hazard. Is it likely that you will get strangled by your iPod? No. But is it possible? Yes. And that's why the policy is what it is, eliminate the possibility of accidents, no matter how improbable. Now other rides might have "no glasses without a strap" or "no earrings" requirements and/or recommendations (you see coasters with OTSRs recommending no earrings on occasion, Maverick comes to mind), but as I said before, that all depends on manufacturer requirements. Hope that helps.

[Meteornotes]

Some posts were deleted from this thread, as bragging about breaking park rules is not allowed on TPR. Thank you.

 

dt

[Hilltopper39]

Just an observation on this topic, I've always found it odd how Disney parks are almost the complete opposite of almost every other park in the world when it comes to their on-ride photography and loose article policies. They don't care what you film or what your bring on a ride, I'm sure there is a reason that they are so lenient but for being one of the most safety conscience places I've ever worked it is strange that they allow the loose articles the way that they do.

[netdvn]

^ From what I've heard, it's a capacity deal. It takes time for people to stick things into lockers/cubbies and it's better for capacity to have guests place their bags in front of them/in pouches than for them to set them off to the side. On top of that, it would be a pain to have to step over tons of bags when you leave a ride (which may pose a trip hazard) on top of possible chances that someone else picks up your stuff.

 

Plus most of their coasters aren't very aggressive to begin with so you don't have to deal with stuff flying all over the place.

 

I can't say anything about the cameras though. It could be the potential for free advertising (people post POVs online to showcase their rides/attractions and entice others to come?)

[Jew]

Disney also lists themselves as the manufacturer of all their rides, so they can make their own rules. Other parks have to go by what the manufacturer has in the SOP, which for the most part does include a "no loose articles" rule just as a CYA precaution.