Disney World bans selfie-sticks

(Image credit: Mariah Wild/Disney Parks via Getty Images)

published 26 June 2015

Sorry, Disney World goers: If you want to take a selfie with Mickey Mouse, you're going to have to do it the old-fashioned way. That's because Disney just banned selfie-sticks from its theme parks, water park, and gaming attraction DisneyQuest, citing safety concerns. The prohibition has been added to the company's policies and will take effect on Tuesday, The Orlando Sentinel reports. Visitors' bags will be checked at the parks' entrances, and if a selfie-stick is found people will have the choice of either leaving the stick at the entrance for pick up later, or returning to their hotel rooms or cars to stash their sticks.

This policy has been a long time coming, and selfie-sticks had already been banned from rides. (Earlier this week, Disney had to temporarily shut down a roller coaster after a rider pulled out a selfie-stick.) Moreover, Disney isn't the only one nixing the selfie-stick trend. Other public spaces, such as museums and stadiums, have increasingly adopted policies banning the sticks because they obstruct people's vision and can supposedly pose a safety hazard. The selfie-stick ban will also go into effect at Disneyland Resort in California on June 30, and at Disney's parks in Paris and Hong Kong on July 1.