Help me decide whether to get Memory Maker or just do regular Photopass

[mickeyluv'r]

Thank you so much for all of that feedback, it is greatly appreciated! One other thing, so you pay the set amount, and no matter how many photos get taken of you, you get access to all of them for the original price? Can you get these photos printed at a CVS or a Target? How does that process work?

Yes, you can et them printed elsewhere, often at a lower cost. the WDW versions of things like ornaments sometimes have an extra Mickey doodad.

You can go on the website now if you like to see prices and options. Also non-WDW sites.


Every WDW trip is about choices. Simply put, you don't have time to do it all. That's the beauty and the agony. Some folks spend all day seeing characters, others ride the TTA over and over.

How much time you spend getting photos is up to you. It could be zero, or it could be much of your day.

Photopass locations are (kinda) marked on the park maps. They aren't always in the marked spots, but are almost always in certain spots. Almost any time MK is open, except during fireworks or parades, you can get shots on Main St w/the castle in the background.

Characters take periodic breaks, and some only appear at certain times. Disney used to have more surprise characters, there are still a few, but not like the past.

Extra characters are what I call a 'soft' attraction. If the parks are extra busy, WDW will add some extra characters to divert guests. Those days used to be best for rare characters. It was part of the magic. these days, WDW has kind of gotten away from (paying?) extra staff.
HEY- this is my 8,000th post!

 

[verleniahall]

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/skins/100147/help/AboutDPP-Maps-Tips.pdf

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Just curious, you said you have close to 200 pics in 2 days. Where exactly are you getting photographs at? And how often? Cause i'm considering getting MM, but only if I get a lot of pics taken of my girlfriend and I. I would want at least 200 photos for out week long stay.

We'd have far less...but then- as I've been saying- we aren't ones to hold the line up.

it also depends on your group size. We pooled with friends, and they weren't with us the entire time, so we each had ride shots. A few of our ride shots were mistakes- most our Buzz shots were of other folks. At least all the ones from one night. The line was short, so we rode multiple times.

Most of the live PP staff will take a bunch of rapid fire shots. The best of them will show up in your account. (as in, they eliminate the blurriest ones, etc.) It also varies by personality. Some take more shots than others.

 

[AngiTN]

Thank you so much for all of that feedback, it is greatly appreciated! One other thing, so you pay the set amount, and no matter how many photos get taken of you, you get access to all of them for the original price? Can you get these photos printed at a CVS or a Target? How does that process work?

You have all the photos downloaded to your computer - so you can print as many as you want (CVS, Walmart etc) and you can put them on a cd. You can crop them, add borders and edit them any way you want. You end up with tons more photos than originally taken.

Right. Worth noting, so everyone is clear, when you purchase from Disney's PP site you are also given the rights to the photo so you basically own it at that point and can do whatever you want with it. If you were to encounter any company that gave you grief over copyrighted materials all you have to do is email them the release Disney provides you.

 

[jmkjr72]

They snapped like 30 when I proposed. Right now there are photographers all over Epcot because of flower and garden festival so we have stopped at just about every one out there by the topiary we have them from several different spots with the ball in front of the land by the fountain a view of the eifel tower in France. Today we stopped at a couple spots in front of the castle behind the castle the guy took a lot and of course any time we see a character. When I have been part of a party of 12 they sent us home with 2 disc one year. If you watch and your willing to stop there are lots of places to get your pics taken

 

[k1koala]

There is also another option that no one has mentioned, its the "Attractions Plus PhotoPass" option. This can be purchased at the end of any ride photo kiosk.
I have done this on my last 2 visits because for us the MM just was not worth the money. Basically you pay $49.99 and it includes only the ride photos at all 4 of the Disney parks. However, it does not matter how many times you ride them they are all included. And just like the MM if you have family or friends linked to you reservation their ride photos will also show up as well. I always end up with 3-4x the amount of photos once I have added borders or stickers to them before downloading them. Then I can print them any place that I want. So if I wanted to purchase 2 ride photos, this would already be paid for!!
Secondly, when there is a photo-op that I would like to take I always have the Disney photographer take the photo with their camera as well as with my own camera. I have never had a problem with this. Sometimes I like mine better! Actually this trip, I think there are 2 photos that they took that I "may" purchase only because the 7 Dwarfs is not included.
I find that when the MM is purchased their is so much time spent in lines waiting and looking for the photographers. This way we ended more relaxed and finding them more when not even looking.

 

[lizard1]

I think the worth of MM depends on the experience you have planned at WDW. If you are planning on trying to get value from MM by getting ride photos and pictures with the icons of the parks, I think you may have a hard time finding value in MM.

If you have experiences such as BBB, PL JTA, etc. planned or have many character meets planned, it is easier to get a quantity that makes it more worth it. Plus with more quantity it is easier to find more quality (usually) as well.

Last summer, we averaged about 50 pictures per day of our trip. We only stopped at an icon once or less per day. Howecer, we also did a lot of character meets, did PL BBB and JTA, did character meals (the picture in front of the restaurant is included), etc.

After adding borders, etc. to the photos, we ended up with about 75 pictures per day that we downloaded.

 

[Babsy]

On our last trip (just DH and me) we bought the photobook on the website. It included 20 pages for $79. worked out great! Saved $90 on MM and had lots of photos of just us.

When we go with extended family and grand kids we get MM. We have enough pics to make it worthwhile then.

 

[siskaren]

Well, you can't do regular Photopass so that should make the choice pretty easy. Regular Photopass is gone.

PhotoPass isn't gone; PhotoPass is the name of the photo taking service.

Now, Just a thought for you - you don't know if they are on a family reunion trip, a trip for a first time visit, etc... or maybe they just want a TON of pictures with everyone in them. Why do you care?? They have paid for memory maker (potentially) so they want to make the most of it.

I will raise my hand and say that was us in september on our first trip: i wanted one of both of us by an icon, then one of me, then one of dh, then maybe a magic shot. and i did that at EVERY photographer we saw. AND - I plan to do it on this trip as well. Just relax and enjoy - don't get stressed out about things. If the line is short for a ride, do the ride and come back.

I would care because that's very inconsiderate when there are other people waiting in line.

 

[AngiTN]

PhotoPass isn't gone; PhotoPass is the name of the photo taking service.

True. But OP was asking about ordering Regular Photopass. That is gone. You can no longer order Regular Photopass.

 

[siskaren]

True. But OP was asking about ordering Regular Photopass. That is gone. You can no longer order Regular Photopass.

But there was never a product called Regular PhotoPass. There was the PhotoPass CD, which included just pictures from the PhotoPass photographers (no ride or dining photos), and there was the PhotoPass+ CD, which included ride and dining photos in addition to the "regular" pictures. What it sounds like the OP means by Regular PhotoPass is just having their picture taken and deciding when they get home if they want to buy anything.

 

[AngiTN]

But there was never a product called Regular PhotoPass. There was the PhotoPass CD, which included just pictures from the PhotoPass photographers (no ride or dining photos), and there was the PhotoPass+ CD, which included ride and dining photos in addition to the "regular" pictures. I'm assuming that what the OP is calling Regular PhotoPass is the PhotoPass CD.

Yes, correct. Rather than go through all that it was just easier to say that the Regular Photopass is no longer offered. And the main point is neither option that used to have the word Photopass in the name can be purchased now.

 

[siskaren]

Yes, correct. Rather than go through all that it was just easier to say that the Regular Photopass is no longer offered.

Except it's bound to be confusing to people to say that Regular PhotoPass is no longer offered when that's not the case. I've seen plenty of posts from people who think that Memory Maker has replaced PhotoPass because they don't understand that PhotoPass is a service while Memory Maker is a product.

 

[WickedMom]

We did MM in November and unfortunately had a few rainy cold days so we definitely got less shots than we wanted because who wants to stand around in the cold and if it was really rainy the photographers disappeared (I'm assuming to protect their equipment). We did get some nice indoor family ones (with Anna and Elsa and at BOG). I haven't decided yet if we'll do it for this trip but since it's in September at least we don't have to worry about it being cold!

 

[ScrapYap]

One final alternative -- don't pay anything for the same photos you would get with Photopass, but have them taken on your own camera. The shots you won't get are ride photos and the magic shots. Any Photopass photographer will cheerfully take your camera and snap the same photos at the photo op locations throughout the parks that you would get with Photopass. They are always very nice about this and may adjust your camera settings and get some fabulous shots. All it costs is a "thank you" to the Photopass photographer.

 

[agavegirl1]

As one of the last people on earth to purchase Photopass Plus, it is my understanding that PhotoPass is the generic name given to the photography by people set up in the parks. When you link your reservations, you will receive access to the photos for purchase individually. If you get memory maker, you will automatically receive the option to download every photo, video or whatever taken in the park (magic band or card required to be scanned) for download. Because they had to honor my PhotoPass Plus, I was able to customize everything and I got them all on a DVD mailed to my home after the trip. Now it is electronic. Because it was in a test phase, I also received the video for Mine Train on the DVD. The videos also show up on the MDE site.

PhotoPass exists only in the sense that if you show up without Memory Maker, you can purchase individual pictures from Disney for a price per pic. Memory Maker is the new Photo Pass Plus. See my trip report for how weird this turned out to be.

 

[IMDORY]

On our last trip (just DH and me) we bought the photobook on the website. It included 20 pages for $79. worked out great! Saved $90 on MM and had lots of photos of just us.

This is what I plan to do. We have been MANY times, my teenage son is NOT a fan of taking a ton of pictures, I don't need hundreds of pictures...the photobook for $79 will be a perfect fit for this trip. I will admit, when my son was younger and loved taking the pictures, I did get the $99 CD with all of the pictures and it was great. I think you have to look at the specifics of your trip. For some it is very much worth the money.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I did not know about the ride photos only option. THAT option might be worth buying, IMO, especially for a bigger group, or a child who is riding the big rides for the first time. Especially since single prints used to cost $20.

In a discussion of WDW photos, it is worth mentioning that the Disney Visa includes a free photo in Epcot. Generally, it also takes time to get the 'free' photo. First you wait in line for the characters (may be very short, might take a while), then you wait in line to pick up the photo. If you wait until late, the photo place gets a LONG line. (Is a picture worth an hour?) Normally, I don't think the free photo is worth the time, but it could be if the lines are short, and you are near Spaceship Earth before 9pm.

The funny thing is, when he looked us up - ALL our EPCOT photos connected to our MDE account showed up in the system! Not only ALL the images from our current visit, but ALSO the images from our prior visit -over six months prior!

It is both good and bad to know that WDW can (and maybe does) store your image as long as they want! Especially since your images are now linked directly to so much personal information: address, cc, email, kid's names and ages, family members...

 

[Good Deeds]

I really struggled with the decision to buy the MM option when we were visiting in March. My DD has a very nice camera and convinced me that we did not need it. She was right as we would just go to the spots where a photographer was set up waiting and ask him/her to take a picture using our camera. Most of them turned out great! The only exception was when we visited with Chip and Dale in AK and Dale got down on one knee and proposed to my daughter with my other daughter and Chip looking on. Those pics are priceless and were only captured by the Disney photographer.
That character visit cost me a fortune as I purchased every photo. So makes me smile.!

 

[My3Princez]

This is what I plan to do. We have been MANY times, my teenage son is NOT a fan of taking a ton of pictures, I don't need hundreds of pictures...the photobook for $79 will be a perfect fit for this trip. I will admit, when my son was younger and loved taking the pictures, I did get the $99 CD with all of the pictures and it was great. I think you have to look at the specifics of your trip. For some it is very much worth the money.

We've also purchased the calendar before. $25 I believe. Up to 49 photos can be added. Perfect for us.