i am so thrilled that I discovered this website! I am learning so many new things.
So the photo pass, I have seen it mentioned a few times. How do you get it? Do you get it once you go to the park and ask for the cd option and they put it on a disk right then and there? Or do you have to order it once you get home? I went to Disneyland.com but it was not too helpful, and the chat options wasn't available.
Please help
First of all, beware - this website is addictive! You may 'think' you are only coming on for a few posts to help plan your next trip, but you will find that the lure of the DISboards is too much to bear and you will find yourself visiting over and over again!
Anyway, as for PhotoPass, here is a link to our PhotoPass photo thread, entitled "Photopass Poses: The Cheesier the Better":
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1954446
The way PhotoPass works is that you can either get a (free) PhotoPass card from any of the 3 DLR hotels, or as soon as you set foot in the parks. Each PhotoPass photographer has cards with him/her and when you take your first pictures, they scan a little area on the card to code in your photos. You take that same card with you to every PhotoPass photographer you see (and it is a good idea to take a picture of the back of the card or jot down the Card's number so in case it gets lost at some point, you can enter in the number on the PP website and access your photos) and they will scan it each time. You can get thousands of photos on one PhotoPass online account/CD. Ask for "magic shots," and you will suddenly find Tinkerbell in your hand, Stitch popping up out of the ground, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy flying overhead, Minnie sitting on a bench next to you, and many more. You can also get a PP card for each person in your group, if you all plan to split up, and then collect all the cards at the end of the trip and enter in all the numbers to your PP account so the photos will be on one CD. Sometimes characters are hanging around the parks with a PP photographer in tow, so look for those. During the holidays, there are special PhotoPass opportunities.
Now, you have a few choices - Option One is that if you do not wish to buy the CD, you can just order individual prints of the photos you like. You can go onto your PP account and add in special effects and Disney borders, make black and white pictures, zoom in or out, crop, etc. Each copy of the photo is saved as well as the original, so you can literally get dozens of versions of the same photos onto one CD.
Option Two would be that you could stop by one of the photo-viewing shops in either DL or DCA and view your pictures there, onsite. You cannot add any effects or borders to them that way, but if you need to buy the CD on the spot, you can do it there.
Option Three - the most popular way is to collect all the cards and create your online PP account when you get home and edit your pictures how you wish, and then order the CD, which costs $59.95 plus $7.00 shipping (for U.S. orders; a bit higher for international orders). Then you have the rights to do whatever you wish with those photos from there on out, and can copy them or have them printed for eternity. You can share them, Photoshop them, whatever, as long as you buy the CD.
Once you get home form DLR, you have 30 days to create an online account. Once you do, you have another 30 days to actually make a purchase before they delete your photos. So you are basically looking at 2 months to view, edit and share the photos (there is an e-mail "Share" option so you can send smaller versions of the photos to your friends and family).
PhotoPass is a really good thing to use as a back-up for our own picture-taking, along with the benefit of getting all the magic shots. There are always times when a battery might die or a picture doesn't come out as well as you thought it might, so PhotoPass is a great way to have back-up photos with everyone in your party included in them, so no one has to be left out while taking the photo! They will also take pictures with your camera, but without the magic shots. Plus, it is just fun to take silly pictures in wacky poses!