Long before the selfie stick ban at Walt Disney World parks, I was having a hate/hate a little less relationship with selfie sticks. The thing is, seeing people walk around using selfie sticks annoys me. Yeah, it’s a personal problem. But at the same time I totally see the usefulness of these contraptions. Let’s face it, even with the selfie mode on our smartphones, it can be tough to get the perfect group selfie or desired solo selfie with just an arms length reach.

But during my past 2 visits to Disney World, I encountered selfie stick users who were mad with power and were using their sticks with reckless abandon. In February, one of the offenders was in line somewhere behind me for Rock N’ Roller Coaster. When the group of us was let into the studio for the ride pre-show, I saw her phone floating around in front of several of my fellow guests’ faces while she giggled and squealed with excitement. She had to be asked 3 times by a Cast Member to stop recording in this room as they ask that there is no photography or video recording of Aerosmith during the pre-show. Once we were queued to get onto the coaster, I looked over to find her 2 rows away from me with her selfie stick leading her onto the ride car. Another Cast Member had to come over to tell her that she had to put that thing away for the ride.

Then in March, I encountered a couple at Downtown Disney who was pretty much everywhere that I went and using their selfie stick to take pictures of themselves at each store or restaurant. No big deal…until I realized they were also taking pictures in front of people who they deemed were wearing something ugly or funny looking. Or at least that’s what they did about 4 times when I was passing them. I heard the woman, then the man taking turns saying stuff like “Oh! Get us with that man wearing the sandals with socks!” Then they took a selfie with the man in the background. At the Lego Store, they were taking selfies with the Lego sculptures then all of a sudden I hear “Wow, look at her hair. Get us with her!” Then, Click, selfie with some random stranger they seem to be making fun of. I eventually backtracked my path to get away from them because they were really annoying me and I also didn’t want to be the target of one of their mean selfies because I’m not trying to start an argument that will end up escalating and getting me kicked out of Disney. I’m not THAT crazy!

At Magic Kingdom on our last day of family vacation another selfie stick bandit was using his stick to record the Festival of Fantasy parade. Again, no big deal, until he worked his way to the front of the crowd (and right next to me) and proceeded to wave that freaking stick around enough to get in the way of several of us. I was most annoyed that he was in some of my video of the parade as I tried getting Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs (even though Jiminy Cricket is next to her). Snow is my favorite and as she got close to where I was standing, all I could get was this….

Ugh. Dude, you were right in front. Why did you need the selfie stick? Maybe I’m just bitter because his stick was in my entire footage of Snow White as you can see…

Again, I get why people use selfie sticks. But sometimes this use intrudes on people around the user and can be really be a pain in the butt. That’s why what I’m about to say is shocking.

I bought a selfie stick.

Yes. I really did buy a selfie stick.

Me.

Ms. I-Kind-of-Pretty-Much-Hate-Selfie-Sticks-Even-if-They’re-Useful.

I didn’t even plan on buying one but I ran across one and saw how inexpensive it was, and I had just been planning some videos for my YouTube channels and didn’t even realize that a selfie stick was the answer to how I was going to record some of the things I have in mind.

Even if there wasn’t a ban on selfie sticks in Disney Parks, I wouldn’t use it at the parks just because it’s a little too much in crowds like that. But there’s no denying that I am now among the ranks of the selfie stick owners, and all I can do is strive to wave my wand in the least annoying way possible. Wish me luck!

See Ya Real Soon!