Disney joins growing number of venues banning selfie sticks

If you're looking to create an artful self-portrait with that famous mouse at the Magic Kingdom, you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way -- with your arm.

The land of Mickey and Minnie Mouse is banning the selfie stick.

Word on the popular "selfie" device came from Disney officials Friday.

Citing safety concerns, the sticks will no longer be allowed inside any of Walt Disney World's four Florida parks and two Disneyland parks in California, as well as DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive in Orlando. Disney hotels and resorts will still allow the devices.

The selfie-stick ban in Disney's U.S. parks starts Tuesday. The sticks will be banned from Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disney on July 1.

"We strive to provide a great experience for the entire family, and unfortunately selfie sticks have become a growing safety concern for both our guests and cast," Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty said in a statement.

Selfie sticks – which attach to smartphones or cameras and allow users to take self-portraits, or "selfies" – have steadily grown in popularity the past few years, especially among vacationers wishing to capture their special moments and post them to social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Disney joins a growing list of attractions and stadiums around the world banning selfie sticks, citing safety hazards or view obstructions. They include: the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, all 19 Smithsonian museums and galleries, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Getty Center in Los Angeles, Rome's Colosseum, Brazilian soccer stadiums, the Kentucky Derby, the Wimbledon tennis championships, and the Lollapalooza and Coachella music festivals.

They have been the subject of growing concern at Disney's theme parks. On Wednesday, Disney California Adventure's California Screamin' roller coaster was stopped mid-ride when a passenger pulled out a selfie stick. Passengers were evacuated from the ride, which was stopped for more than an hour.

Disney World's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad roller coaster has had to be stopped several times when passengers pulled out selfie sticks.

The sticks have always been banned on rides and earlier this year Disney officials began posting "No Selfie Sticks" signs at the entrances to attractions to remind guests, but the park-wide ban will keep them off the premises entirely. Guests bringing selfie sticks to the gates at the parks' entrances will be asked to check the devices there, according to Disney.

The move was mostly applauded on social media, with users equating the new rule with Friday's Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriages.

Pizza Hut took the growing concern over selfie sticks to a new level recently with a mock-public safety announcement online video. In the video, a female narrator warns of "selfie stick abuse" as images show elongated sticks protruding from convertible cars and overturning roadside lemonade stands or breaking through windows at parties.

"Bigger parties mean bigger selfies which lead to bigger selfie sticks which lead to bigger parties and bigger pizzas," an anxious pizza delivery man says in the video.

The narrator adds: "When can we say, 'Enough is enough?'" The video ends with the plea: "Please Selfie Responsibly."