Disney thinks photographers are terrorist - harassment of tourist even on entry to parks is up

[2Design]

http://williambeem.com/?p=330

Previously, only one security guard would approach me and we’d have the same discussion. On the fourth and final encounter, I was approached by several guards and their manager, Don. I don’t know Don’s last name, since Disney only puts first names on their name tags.

I explained to Don that I’d been approached three times previously. He said that he knew. All of those guards worked for him and they had apprised him of their discussions with me. I asked Don why he approached me and he said that there were complaints about me. He never said what complaints he’d received, though, and never brought up complaints again. I struggled to think what I could’ve done to cause complaints. My photos were of buildings, not people. I didn’t ask anyone to move or change a thing. In situations like that, you just sit and wait for the best moment to take your photos. After all, everyone else has just as much right to be where they want.


......
When you enter the park even without a camera you are treated as a criminal with extreme bag search and fingerprinted

[Aviation Pro]

1. You paid money, right?

...don't give the motherfuckers anymore of your business or money.

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Been to Disneyland many times with my camera. Took a lot of photos...

I've never been questioned even once.

Bag searches don't bother me.

[arcadian]

16. Family photos right?

These were family photos in the OP. Same thing has happened to me. If you take pictures of anything otgher than "family" photos in this country, you are a terrorist.

[Ozymanithrax]

23. No. I photograph scenery (especially the trains).

I've photographed buildings, scenery form inside rides, those that do not specifically say do not take flash photography. I photograph what ever takes my fancy.

We will go again in June and I look forward to taking a lot more.

[spinbaby]

3. They started doing bag searches after 911

They don't search PEOPLE, they just search bags. The "fingerprint" is biometric access to ensure that multiple people don't use the same pass. Biometrics do not store fingerprints, they map points on your finger, convert the points to a number, and compare that number to the number they have on file.

[arcadian]

17. Your post contradicts itself.

"Biometrics do not store fingerprints, they map points on your finger, convert the points to a number, and compare that number to the number they have on file."

[Lance_Boyle]

29. I see no contradiction there.

They store the number derived from mapping points, not fingerprints.

[tammywammy]

22. I worked at Six Flags during high school

From summer of 1997 through Aug 1999, and we searched bags then. It was for weapons or gang paraphernalia. I think they had started a couple of years earlier at least. There's also metal detectors.

And yes, people did try to bring in things like knives into the park. Also not allowed would be full face masks, and they'd be collected as well (more prevalent during Halloween time). Things were collected and people were given a ticket for the item and were allowed to collect it when they left the park.

[cherokeeprogressive]

4. Having grown up in So. Cal. and going to Disneyland literally hundreds of times...

I've never been mistreated in any way.

I've taken still cameras and video cameras into the park.

I've NEVER been fingerprinted, nor have I been searched.

[KansDem]

5. Fingerprinted?

When did Disney start doing this? :shrug:

And what's the point?

[msanthrope]

8. "Fingerprinted" is an overstatement--when you first swipe your

entry card, you are asked to place a single finger on a reader. When you reenter the park, or go to another one (Disneyworld), you use the same card and same finger. It's biometrics--it prevents theft, fraud, and transfering the ticket.

[arcadian]

18. That is the definition fingerprinted

It's not overstated at all

[Lance_Boyle]

30. no, you are wrong.

Fingerprinting has a specific definition. That is *not* mapping points on the finger, deriving a number from that set of points, and storing that number. What they are doing is "fingerprinting" in much the same was as drawing a crayon stick figure of a person is equivalent to photographing that person.

[Gormy Cuss]

31. It's been a fingerprint since 2006.

That's when the current technology was installed. Prior to that it was more like the crayon stick figure.

[AnArmyVeteran]

20. Why not just allow Disney to brand your forehead with a 'D' to prevent fraud?

THIS COMMENT IS NOT DIRECTED AT YOU, but the fingerprinting is just another form of corporate intrusion...

I am often amused at conservative extremists who whine about government intrusions, but say nothing about the massive attacks they get every day from corporations. They eagerly give out all of their personal information to a corporation which will then use that information against you, sell that information for profit and have their affiliate organizations target you relentlessly.

I haven't seen one tea party protest against corporate assaults against their freedoms. For years corporations have been getting customers to sign away their constitutional rights to sue them by agreeing to settle any disputes through arbitration. But since 95% of the arbitrators come from within businesses guess which side they tend to favor? It is also much more expensive to go through an arbitrator, but that is your only recourse. When you sign a credit card application, cell phone company agreement you are signing away your rights to even take them to small claims courts. Conservatives LOVE the fact that businesses are allowed to abuse people at will, knowing it would be a huge expense if they tried to get justice. Conservatives whine about always wanting tort reform, totally ignorant that every time they give corporations more power, their rights are taken away. It is baffling at how profoundly stupid conservatives are. They never look at the consequences of their blind obedience to corporations.

Conservatives are so duped into believing corporations are like gods by right wing radio and Fox News.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox now :) and I'm back to normal! (but that's debatable to some)


BTW, I refuse to go to any event where I have to be searched or be forced to buy only their drinks and food once in an event. I found it refreshing when I went to St Louis last August to watch a couple of baseball games. I bought tickets outside the stadium from a legal scalper for $5 each and I bought food and drinks with me to the game and was allowed in. In Houston, the corrupt owner, Drayton McClain searches every package when you enter the stadium and then forces you to buy lousy, unhealthy food and watered down drinks once trapped inside.

I used to like going to the Sylvia Woods Pavillion in Houston to listen to live music in an outdoor amphitheater, but the last time I went last summer I was searched, forced to give up my cheap camera, and had my drink seized. It was a very hot summer day with a heat index of 115 and I couldn't find one water fountain. So to drink I had to pay NINE DOLLARS for a bottle of water. Once inside you are trapped. You can't leave and return. They have you in virtual prison. Because of the heat I ended up buying over 40 dollars worth of water. That is criminal and I will never subject myself to such inhumane, cruel corporate criminals again. (Even though my cheap camera was seized, everyone with iPhones and other smart phones were taking pictures and videos all night. The quality of the pictures from my cheap camera is low compared to an iPhone)

Okay, NOW I'm off my soapbox!

[msanthrope]

25. Dude. At Yankee Stadium, you can still bring in food, in clear plastic bags. And they don't

want bags, otherwise.

I went to a Series game a month after 9/11. Fucker Bush was showing up....so let me tell you, the search was extensive.

But I still was able to bring my sammich from Arthur Avenue.

We sat in the section that was the entry point for the roof postion for the snipers. Good times, good times.....

[AnArmyVeteran]

28. Houston is RIP-OFF CITY! Anytime there is a concert they rip you off & treat you like a prisoner....

In Houston, promoters treat people like prisoners to be exploited once inside their publicly built and paid for stadiums and facilities. In Reliant Stadium in Houston they charge you $20 to park on a parking lot that was built in the 60s. And that's the cheap parking. To get closer you have to pay $50. The Reliant Stadium is like a prison once you enter. If you are thirsty you have two choices: pass out and die from dehydration or buy one of their high priced drinks. They won't let you bring coolers in.

The Astrodome sits just a hundred yards away from the Reliant Stadium and it was a perfect place to watch concerts, football, baseball and everything else. The University of Houston played UCLA there in the game of the century. Elvis played there. The annual rodeo was there. The seats were all padded and very comfortable. Now, when you go to the Reliant Stadium or Minute Maid field you sit on hard wood chairs that bite into your back.

I'm tired of the prostitution of American by corrupt corporations. How were we able to have stadiums around the country with cool names like the Astrodome, Candlestick Park or Soldier's Field and still have the performers/teams still make profits? If they could do it then, they could do it now. But greed is the driving force behind everything that is happening today. If I had the money I would build my own stadium and make a mockery of the naming of it. I would call it the Tampon Stadium or Feminine Hygiene Spray Field or Anus Ointment Arena. But seriously, any and ALL stadiums should be owned completely by the people. Everyone in a county or city should have the right to buy shares in the stadium and in the teams that will play in the stadium. No one should be allowed to own more than 1% of the total shares. That way all of the money would go to the people, instead of a handful of ripoff thugs who rape the consumer. And just think... if 30,000 people in a city or a county owned a part of a stadium or team attendance would go up. They would not only be 'owners', but fans too. And as owners they could hire the people necessary to run the team and stadium, with strict guidelines that their customers would not be ripped off. But that idea is too socialistic I guess. I proposed this idea in a conservative blog and was savagely attacked. They all cheered on team owners who used taxpayer money to enrich themselves.

Lastly, Bud Adams was the owner of the Houston Oilers and Drayton McClain is owner of the Houston Astros. Their teams both played in the Astrodome. But then they demanded that the country taxpayers spend 55 million to renovate the Astrodome or they would leave. The taxpayers had 55 million stolen from them and the renovations were made, and then the teams moved away anyway, leaving the stadium empty and the taxpayers screwed. After 40 years of operation the Astrodome was still not paid for because greedy team owners funneled off every dime of profit. Conservatives seem to like it though because it's 'free' enterprise.

[liberal N proud]

10. Finger scan at turnstiles

Matches your fingerprint with your ticket to reduce sharing unused days with others.

[Kerrytravelers]

6. We are passholder to Disneyland.

While I've not been harassed in this way, I'm not terribly surprised by the story.

[liberal N proud]

7. Been to Disney in Florida and California in recent years, many times

Never had any problems. Open your bags, let them poke around and move on. If you don't have any bags they let you bypass the checkpoint all together.

I have never seen any Disney cast member (that is what they call themselves)treat any guest with anything but grace and accommodation.

Disney wants you to take pictures, hell they even have signs that say picture spot on them. You taking pictures and showing your friends back home is what Disney is counting on to drive those back home to want to visit.

$$$

[walldude]

33. Agreed...

And all this hand wringing about "bags being searched and fingerprints", well, it's also true at all Six Flags, Universal Studios, Sea World, LegoLand, Water Parks, and any other theme park in America. Concerts, airports, stadiums, arena's... it's a part of life.

And I've never seen any theme park employee have a problem with a camera, in any situation. Hell if you ask em' they'll take the picture for ya.

on edit: Hehe.. I just went to the link, the guy wasn't in a park, he was in Downtown Disney.

[rsmith6621]

9. The Reality IS......

.......Disney is a PRIVATE PARK and such they can dictate whatever rules/conduct they want....AND DON is a paranoid abusive over authoritative A$$hole......that is unless there is something your not telling us...

[Echo In Light]

11. All of this dumb-ass $ecurity BS only fuels the assholism of those who yearn to wield power

[Lucian]

12. I'm never going there.

I mean, I've never been there before, but now I'll never go there (it isn't on my list of places to visit anyways, but still...)

[kenny blankenship]

15. If you live in the United States, you don't have to go to Disney land/world

to experience life in a corporate controlled simulation of civic community.
As the French fella said: Disneyland exists not to provide an escape into fantasy but to hide the fact that the country outside the Magic Kingdom is already a land of fantasy and virtuality. We inhabit an imaginary corporate designed theme park, a ride designed to simulate the experience of being a polis.

[Ian David]

13. The photographer was going to eat at House of Blues. That means he DOES support terrorism.

However, that still doesn't make Disney right.


See prior thread:

Landsdowne Street clubs sold to anti-gay Murder Music Purveyor, House of Blues
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=221x64055

[Nye Bevan]

14. The Disney bag check is a stupid, useless waste of time.

Without forcing the guests to go through a metal detector (which they do not) they are completely worthless. And they don't even pat guests down. I could have an enormous knife strapped to my leg or a gun in my waistband, both of which would not be detected by the cursory prodding they do of my daughter's diaper bag. And they only do the check at the theme parks. The Grand Floridian is Disney's flagship hotel in Florida, and anyone can go in there without having their bags checked. Why did they suddenly decide that Cinderella's Castle would be a tempting terrorist target, anyway?

And BTW that security guard sounds like your average pompous, jumped-up cop wannabe, intoxicated by the power of his uniform, trying to pretend that he is a Miami Vice cop or Kiefer Sutherland on 24, rather than a sad, overweight, low-paid middle-aged schmuck whiling away his twilight years in the soulless pit of Disney.

[AnArmyVeteran]

21. They are just trying to make sure you don't bring in food or drink, so you have to buy theirs...

I refuse to go to any event where I have to be searched or be forced to buy only their drinks and food once in an event. I found it refreshing when I went to St Louis last August to watch a couple of baseball games. I bought tickets outside the stadium from a legal scalper for $5 each and I bought food and drinks with me to the game and was allowed to take them in. In Houston, the greedy, soulless owner of the Houston Astros, Drayton McClain searches every package when you enter the stadium and then forces you to buy lousy, unhealthy food and watered down drinks once trapped inside.

I used to like going to the Sylvia Woods Pavillion in Houston to listen to live music in an outdoor amphitheater, but the last time I went last summer I was searched, forced to give up my cheap camera, and had my drink seized. It was a very hot summer day with a heat index of 115 and I couldn't find one water fountain. So to drink I had to pay NINE DOLLARS for a bottle of water. Once inside you are trapped. You can't leave and return. They have you in virtual prison. Because of the heat I ended up buying over 40 dollars worth of water. That is criminal and I will never subject myself to such inhumane, cruel corporate criminals again. (Even though my cheap camera was seized, everyone with iPhones and other smart phones were taking pictures and videos all night. The quality of the pictures from my cheap camera is low compared to an iPhone)

I wish everyone would stop allowing themselves to be violated by corporations and stop going to any event where they will be searched.

In your example they weren't looking for weapons. They were looking for food. They don't give a damn if someone shoots up the place as long as they can force a thirsty tourist into buying a $7 drink.

[Ozymanithrax]

24. I always take my own food and drink. Always. There are places you can picnic there.

When we go with my two children, we take enough food for 3 meals, snacks, water, and soda. They do not mind if you take food.

[msanthrope]

26. You can bring food and drink into Disney--not a problem at all. I've done it.

Heck--they even allow people with coolers to rent a locker to store them...cheaply.

Seriously. You can't bring alcohol into any of the parks, but you can purchase alcohol at fairly competitive prices at most of the parks. (Not the Magic Kingdom, though.)

[stray cat]

19. Then don't go

[arcadian]

32. Nice rightwing talking point

[Stevenmarc]

27. Off the top of my head I can think of a 100 places more interesting than Disney to photograph

It's been done