Gorillapod Mobile by Photojojo

by D’land  Hubby

Disclaimer: Photojojo.com sent Diva a Gorillapod Mobile for review. We took the tripod to Disneyland for a full shakedown.

I’ve visited Disneyland Resort over 425 times since purchasing my first Annual Pass. The parks are our families favorite place to spend time together. We go on attractions, eat, catch shows and did I mention eat? I, personally, started to get into photography about a decade ago and love using a digital camera so that I can make as many mistakes as I want and just erase the bad pictures without having to develop film. As my camera has been slowly replaced by my cell phone, it has allowed me to not only continue taking pictures, but video. Getting a great picture or video can be quite challenging because the park doesn’t always offer perfect lighting. One option to help you on your quest for the perfect park picture might be the use of a tripod.

The Gorillapod Mobile is a very small tripod that is designed specifically for cell phones. The unique design allows for almost any cell phone to be inserted into the tripod holder by an elastic cord (think a cross between a big rubber band and a hair band). The legs are what makes this tripod unique. The legs are designed to grip objects since its legs wrap. I wanted to give it the ultimate Disney test so I took it out for a day at the parks. My goal was to test the tripod while videotaping. I wanted to see how well it would do while on attraction vehicles.

Test #1:Monorail

We started our day taking int he Monorail into Disneyland. I didn’t have a location where I could wrap the legs but I was able to use some of the interior space on the windows to hold the tripod still. This made for some interesting shooting as I was able to get the corner of my cell phone slightly outside of the monorail (about 1/2 inch) just to allow the camera to videotape without having to worry about the “close spaces ahead.”

 

Test #2: Autopia

We used the Gorillapod to wrap around the handrail on the front of the Autopia car. It did pretty well but I was a little worried it would slip so I kept my hand on the base of the legs. The video did come out quite bouncy, but this was an issue with the cars and the bumpy road.

 

Test #3: Buzz Lighyear

My thought was that an attraction based on the Omnimover system would work better. I attached the tripod to a handrail to get the Buzz audio-animatronic video taped in the cue. This worked great! The line moved fast so I only got a small video. On the attraction, I wasn’t able to find anything to wrap the legs around. I opted to hold the tripod on the “top” of the ride vehicle between the two lasers. It gave me a steady surface and the height of my cell phone would have been similar to a regular tripod sitting on the bench.

 

Test #4: Stroller View (Carsland)

A few years ago I had this bright idea where I had my son sit in our stroller and placed the tripod around him. We took a ride down Carsland, zig-zagging in and out of people. It turned out to be a really cool video because the stroller kept it very steady. I wanted to see if I could get the same action from the Gorillapod. I wrapped the legs around one of the stroller handles. The height was about the same as it was before. This was a little bouncier than before, but it worked.

 

 

Test #5: Luigi’s Flying Tires

I used the Gorillapod Mobile and wrapped the legs around one of the hand rails on the front of the tire. The Gorillapod really did well on this attraction. I decided to let it go while we were moving to give it the ultimate test. We bumped into various tires and had no issue. My cell phone decided to turn off in the middle of the ride so the video is quite short. A traditional tripod would work in this attraction but you’d have to hold onto it the ENTIRE time.

 

Test #6: The Little Mermaid-Ariel’s Undersea Adventure

One of the favorite attractions in the D’land family. I used the Gorillapod to wrap around the attraction vehicle. The vehicle has a handle at the front. This attraction, D’land son took control of the tripod and was able to get some shots of Ariel and her adventures. A traditional tripod would work in this attraction, but it might get a little uncomfortable with the tripod and two adults in the same attraction vehicle.

 

Test #7: Phineas & Ferb

Phineas & Ferb have a short show that they perform multiple times throughout the day. We noticed that the performers were coming down the parade route and I pulled out the Gorillapod Mobile and placed it on top of a trash can. This was a very easy way to have a tripod ready for parades. Placing the Gorillapod on the ground could also work but the viewing angle may seem a bit strange. Using a wall or a trash can for parades would work great! This is a nice switch to carrying around a huge tripod all day for using it just once or twice.

 

Test #8: Mickey’s Fun Wheel

Mickey’s Fun Wheel is a great place to get some video and photography in California Adventure. The hard part is that each gondola is completely covered in metal cage to avoid people, or things, leaving the gondola. A traditional tripod would have a hard time dealing with this because you would see the metal cage. The Gorillapod legs were able to slide into the openings (without fear of falling) and with a little patience you could get the camera lens to shoot through the cage (no wires!). D’land son decided he wanted another try and using the tripod to record video.

 

Pros

• Very small
• Inexpensive ($15)
• Easily fits into pocket
• The way the Gorillapod Mobile clips your phone into place makes it fit most cell phones

Cons

• I was a bit worried the clip wouldn’t support the cell phone (my correction, keep the case on the cell phone while using the Gorillapod).
• Legs don’t always fit around the attraction vehicle bars. Might need to hold the tripod while your on the attraction.

 

The Gorillapod Mobile is a great little device. It will add a lot of stability to those shaky videos but doesn’t require a lot of space/weight that you will have to carry around all day. If your worried about the legs not gripping the attraction vehicles you can upgrade to the King Size Gorillapod.

 

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If you would like to purchase a Gorillapod Mobile, click here!