However, with the advent of digital cameras, photography has become more versatile and compact. Many guests don't see the point of purchasing a grainy, out-of-focus, expensive picture of themselves on a ride when they can snag their own picture for free.
To combat this problem, parks have gotten creative with their on-ride photography. Roller coasters such as Top Thrill Dragster and Maverick include two photographs of the rider at different ride intervals. Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit includes a full music video of the ride with a synchronized song of the guest's choosing.
What does the future hold for on-ride photography? HD photos? High-speed cameras (see video below)? 3D videography recreating the ride experience with you on it? They could include a pair of 3D glasses so that you could enjoy the ride experience and relive the memory from the comfort of your couch.
How would you improve on-ride photography to prevent it from becoming obsolete?
Example of high-speed camera:
The high speed camera option ( excellent video of the owl by the way ) is possibly a good way to go. But at what cost ?
They might even decide to examine ways of prohibiting the use of personal cameras on rides if the sales drop But as that would mean handcuffing riders or positioning nets to limit how far you can raise your arms up then I'm sure that's a non-starter.
I'd be happy to buy into the slo-mo video footage but only at a realistic price.
Still, the parks make money because most people want one photo of the group on a good ride and, therefore, will settle with buying a $10-20 photo package.
I wouldn't pay more than $5 for the photo technology they currently use. Until they update or innovate the on-ride photo, I'm sticking with off-ride digital memories.
That seems to be the general consensus to every theme park problem I encounter these days (other than the Yeti) - my expectations are too high. I don't see how they could be considered too high. I paid $10 for an overexposed, improperly centred photo last weekend at Cedar Point. $10? For $10, you should expect something of higher quality than the pictures I take myself with my own camera. The only reason we bought it was because my friend demanded one and we all chipped in for it.
Requesting a multi-million dollar coaster every year from your local amusement park is having high expectations. Asking Disney to build another Orlando park now is having high expectations. Getting a reasonable value on your dollar for things like food, lockers, and photos is not a high expectation.
When you pay for a vacation at a theme park, ideally, you shouldn't feel annoyed at any point. Yet I find myself constantly filled with minor disappointment because of rip-offs like lockers, poor food, parking, and poor on-ride photos.
Back on topic, ride photos need to be upgraded so much. Yes, they're usually overexposed or for some reason end up being really out of focus.
The photos are way over-priced even more than the beverages and food that we buy in Theme Parks. Most food is at least decent, and the water/ sodas are standard due to the brands used. But the photos just look like you could have set up a cheap Point & Shoot from Wal-mart and just take a pic as you go by whatever section of a ride.
So maybe my expectations as well as Joshua's are higher than most people. But we're not getting the value we expect out of those photos based on the money spent to purchase them.
As for 3D video to take home, I'm totally against that as I'm not a fan of 3D movies in the theater or at home. I enjoy the short 3D... er "4D" stuff in theme parks, but a full length movie? It doesn't add much to the experience.
I think a high-speed camera video would be great. Guests wouldn't necessarily purchase the video itself, but would rather have an opportunity to scroll through the slow-mo video after the ride at a podium and be able to manually select a digital frame of their choosing for printing.
