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How is "My Universal Photos"?

ToyStory3

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 29, 2013
Hi - we are going for 2 days/2 nights and staying at Portofino. How is the My Universal Photos? If you used it - were you happy with it? Are there a lot of opportunities for pictures? I'm looking at the 1-day for $69 since we are only staying for 2 days. I believe the next option is 3-day. Interested in any feedback or thoughts on it.

Thank you!
 
there are less opportunities than at Disney, but we always get and always make sure to take advantage. We've always been happy with it. These are usually the only shots with both me and husband in them. At IOA entrance is a great place for several shots, and of course the ride pics. I can't really remember where else besides by the globe/water that they had photographers. oh - we met the Grinch and there was a photographer there.....
 
Overall I believe it is worth it. There are opportunities on most of the rides, including a pre ride photo for the Harry Potter rides and Spiderman. Other than at the entrance, there aren't many roving photographers. On weekends you can sometimes find one on the bridge between Hogsmeade and Jurassic Park. And some of the character meet and greets have them.
 


It's not good imo. I paid $150-$160 for it for the year and I might pay it again simply because I love to have photos but it's no where near what Disney offers for basically the same price. When I went last time most the characters out didn't even have a photo pass photographer. They were just out there so you could take pictures with your phone. It really made me a bit upset that ppl pay all this money for professional photos and they don't even bring out someone to take the picture.

A lot of the on ride photos are not very good also. I think the best one is probably Gringotts and that's a pre ride photo which is actually a pretty good idea. Although at Gringott's the photo person generally won't tell you where to stand and won't make sure you get a good photo before rushing you out the door. So it's entirely possible you'll end up with bad pictures of the best one in the park. I have one where my Aunt's eyes are closed and then another of our family where we are huddled together not center and it's just bad. Granted I go enough where I have a cpl I like also but since you have only two days you probably won't have that luxury.

Take a look at the photos of others on rides and see if that really interests you enough to get them. Because any of the interactions you can bring your own camera or use your phone and get those shots. Because tbh SOME of the photographers are not very skilled either imo.

Plus you can prob buy 2-3 photos for cheaper than the cost of the pass.

As for the rides with them, Off the top of my head are....

IoA -Hulk, Spiderman, Dudleys, Jurassic Park, Forbidden Journey(Tbh in a bad spot that usually comes out with a bad pic in my experience), In line at Seuss train(really fun goofy picture)
Universal - HRRR, Mummy, MiB, Gringott's, ET(After ride closet and bike picture)

TLDR: It's not worth $69. But it might be worth $69 to you if you really want a semi simple way to capture and keep some memories.
 
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Unless you really want all of your ride photos, I would pass. The only photographers that we saw the entire time we were there were at the entrance of each park. Even for the character meets there were no photographers. No really worth the cost to me.
 
I was wondering about this as well. We always get the photo pass at WDW and take full advantage. My kids know to stop and smile to appease me and the quicker they pose the quicker we're off to the next attraction. LOL.
Anyway, how does the pass work at Universal. Do you get a card for each member of the party with the purchase of one 3 day pass? We are going with my parents and will not always be together, so will we be able to load pictures on the same account if we're in different places?
 


I was wondering about this as well. We always get the photo pass at WDW and take full advantage. My kids know to stop and smile to appease me and the quicker they pose the quicker we're off to the next attraction. LOL.
Anyway, how does the pass work at Universal. Do you get a card for each member of the party with the purchase of one 3 day pass? We are going with my parents and will not always be together, so will we be able to load pictures on the same account if we're in different places?

Generally they give you one card. You can ask for more cards and they'll link more or if you get a card from a photo pass person you can have them just add all the photo cards to that and then visit the booth later to add them to your account. I believe you can also add them via the app but I've never tested it to see if it works and tbh Universal app and website and just about everything is much jankier than what Disney does. So I'm not sure I'd trust it but it could be worth a try.
 
I was not impressed at all when we got it last year. Lots of pictures missing. We went to see if they could find them. They ask you what time, what your were wearing etc. We got a few found but not all. Half the time I couldn't get the app to work on my phone. You need to check daily to see if you are missing any. They also put the magic shots in some weird places. We took a photo with Bumblebee from the Transforms (my favorite so I was excited ) and they ended up putting the logo they added on his head. Didn't get one good picture with him. That being said we did get some really good pictures.
 

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