We've all seen the countless POVs from major parks, coaster reviews, local media, etc. However, there seems to be a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to the reasoning behind why hands free cameras (GoPros) are not allowed. Why is it that a major park like the Busch Gardens franchise can allow GoPros on their rides, when other major parks like Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, Holiday World, Kenywood, Hershey Park, and several others around the world won't even allow them? Every guest relations person I've talked with says they are unsafe and won't even be open for discussion. I've tried to get answers, but no one is willing to shed light on the subject. The parks that do not allow them basically cannot give an answer other than safety, which Busch Gardens has clearly proven that they are in fact safe. When I mentioned this to a park like Silver Dollar City for instance, a guest relations manager seemed to get defensive and wouldn't even be open for a discussion believing that GoPros stored properly are in fact safe. So if we are going to try and create a friendly GoPro policy that ALL parks can compromise with, then we need to understand the reasoning why GoPros aren't allowed.
1) Perception becomes a reality.
There are lots of careless people out there who want to be cool, get a selfie while riding a coaster, and different ways to film. It is for this very reason that parks naturally will have a blanket safety policy for not allowing GoPros on their rides, even when clearly they are NOT a loose article if properly mounted. In order for parks to change, the perception of GoPros needs to change and promote them in a safe way. GoPro did not help the cause several years ago when they posted a picture of someone using a selfie stick to take a picture while riding the Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas. First of all that should NEVER have happened and it was clearly unsafe! What made it worse was that instead of GoPro disapproving of the picture, they supported it and made it their picture of the day. So naturally, parks are going to see the carelessness of any hands free devices and, as a result, their perception of being unsafe becomes reality.
What are some ways to help change parks' perceptions on hands free cameras in a way that promotes them that they are safe? Busch Gardens has already addressed this with their hands free camera on ride policy. There is a ride attendant who is trained at the major rides who checks each guests' setup for safety and that it meets the park's on ride camera policy. Another way to change a parks' perception is promoting safe GoPro use through education of not only the park staff, but everyone who is going to use a hands free camera.
2) Park Liability Insurance
All amusement parks have some form of liability insurance to keep them from getting sued and to keep their guests safe. A park first has to adhere to the ride manufacturer's specifications before an insurance policy is issued. If the ride manufacturer doesn't have anything against hands free cameras being used on their rides, then clearly they should be allowed. However, there seems to be no rule against hands free cameras not being allowed on rides from park insurance companies. It really comes down to the parks' discretion on how they want to proceed. I would be curious to know if major ride manufacturers like B&M, Intamin, Vekoma, Premier Rides, Rocky Mountain Construction, MACK, and others even allow cameras on their rides. If the answer is no, then technically ALL of these POVs and any on ride videos ever made professionally or by armatures has been against the manufacture's specifications, which a parks' insurance company would clearly NOT support. If a park allowed hands free cameras on their rides, would their liability insurance go up, stay the same, or go down? As of now, people are always going to try and sneak cameras on. Some parks have gone to the extreme by spending more money to setup metal detectors, lockers, and additional staff to prevent loose articles from entering onto a ride, which is the case at both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in Orlando, FL. However, if you allowed GoPros and had a strict policy for how they were mounted, then a park might have a better time of monitoring ride safety. There will however always be those people who will pull their cell phones out and want to take a video and a selfie, but they are just endangering themselves and other rides at what cost? Wouldn't it just be safer for them to spend the extra money for an action camera that is not only safe, but provides a better quality picture/video?
3) Copyright
Many parks have ride themes under copyright like Six Flags for instance with all of their superhero and comic characters. However, what about smaller parks like Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, Holiday World, etc.? I spoke with a ride operator at Dollywood one time about why GoPros weren't allowed and she exclaimed that it wasn't so much of a safety issue as a copyright issue. I guess a park is afraid that they will loose money by allowing POVs of their rides all over the internet and no one will come ride them. After speaking with a representative from Soaring Eagle, who makes rides like the zip lines, saddle sling, etc., he exclaimed that parks get a percentage of revenue for every video and picture that is taken of their rides with their trademark on it. I guess if major parks allow people to ride and take video they would lose money, because anyone could sell it etc. Traveling carnivals however get free publicity from allowing their guests to use GoPros. They are not as strict unlike many major parks.
So how does Busch Gardens get away with allowing their guests to bring a camera on their rides? This is what we need to find out in order to gain support of promoting a GoPro friendly park.
From all the parks I have been to, clearly the Busch Gardens franchise is the best I've seen not only for their guest relations, entertainment, food, but even for their ride staff. They are not as strict when it comes to GoPros being allowed on their rides like other parks, in fact they even encourage it! I hope that in the future we would begin to see other parks follow the Busch Gardens model. As of now, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, VA is still the number one most beautiful park in North America and my personal favorite park that I've been to.
