Is Memory Maker right for me?

[mgellman]

Apologize if this is duplicative. I did try to search the forum before posting.

We (me, hubby and kids 10, 9 and 7) are going in Oct. for 5 days (2 at MK and 1 each in the other 3 parks) Staying off site. Going to MNSSHP. No character dining planned. Want to do lots of character meet and greets, and Enchanted Tales with Belle, probably not jedi training. Should we do Memory Maker? What about the ride videos? I heard you only get those if you have a Magic Band and we weren't planning on getting MBs. Could I get away with getting just one MB to get the videos? Likely we'd be all riding the Mine Train and ToT together. I read a review where the woman showed some pretty bad photos taken by the MM photographers so I am worried about spending $170. On our past trips to DL, I just took my own camera and asked the MM photographers to snap a shot using my camera.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. This is probably the only time we will go to WDW.

 

[Jadyreen1282]

Memory maker is right for everyone in my opinion. You get magic pictures all over. All the a castle ride pics and lots of entrance and waterparks pics. They are great quality and you get videos too.

 

[MommaBerd]

Personally, I think MM is worth every penny. But, if you were happy with the pictures the photographers took with your camera, then you may not find value in it. I liked not taking my camera and I felt like the photographers we encountered were conscientious of getting a "good" shot. You won't always get the perfect shot, even with your own camera.

 

[Alessandra Gabriel]

We just got back from our trip and purchased Memory Maker. In my opinion it is worth every single penny! We have over 500 pictures that were taken, and they were all great quality. We also have the videos from Mine Train and Tower of Terror. Those videos are priceless! Seeing my daughters face on those rides are absolutely hilarious and something I know we will look at for years to come.
The memory maker package is great because you get your entire family in all of the pictures and you can get some really cute magic shots-just ask the photographer. I cant even begin to tell you how nice it was to not have to worry about taking pictures with my camera and my cell phone and then asking every photopass photographer to take an additional pic with my camera. The first day I brought my camera into the parks and that was the last day I brought it in. There was honestly no need to have it...I still wanted to have candid shots, so we used our phones for those but it was so nice to not have to worry about getting the camera out and then putting it back along with our phones. We have so many pictures now from our trip with only using our iphones and the photopass people.

 

[Kingdome8]

My thoughts were what's another 170 bucks after the amount we already paid.
We live to look at all of pics from last trips.

I think it's so worth it. Loved all the editing and add ons my wife did. Well worth it. We downloaded all the pics and even paid extra 30 bucks for disk.
The memories is the best part of trip.

 

[dfb]

If you and folks in your group like photos taken I would get it. If most are reluctant to have photos made then I would just get the PPPs to take photo with your camera. The ride photos and videos are neat and help make the cost bearable but not worth it alone. The best photos we have at Disney are when with a group having a blast and excited about being there and excited about getting photos made. If you find yourself dragging everyone to get photos - not so good! We try to get a photo made everytime we pass a photog(we don't wait if there's a line), even if we have several of same already made. We try to do different poses, we ask the photogs for different ideas, etc. Some will look at you like you have three heads and some will come up with some neat ideas. The photogs on a tripod are constrained to the icon shot they're are set up to do but you can still come up with some creative poses and they have some magic shots (with animation). Photogs not on a tripod may have a little more flexibilty to try different things, poses, magic shots, animation etc. I usualy offer a Disney prize (a gift or treat of some kind) to the one or ones in our group who get the best photo!

Call Disney photopass services about the technical questions on MBs, time limits, locations, editing, account questions, etc. The rides recoginze the MBs and aquire the photos for your account but I'm sure there could be a way to get without MB?? Minetrain would be the question? In any case check your photos on the website at the end of each day to make sure all photos are attached to your account. If any are missing call PPSs they are good about finding lost photos.

The photopass photographers usually do a good job. Some photographers are real photogs and some are college students or individuals with minimal training. So some photos are not so good. Again in this case, I think depends as much on the subject as the photographer.

Have a good one!

 

[ArielRae]

For my family since we go so often we don't do Memory Maker unless extended family members come. If there is a picture or two I need perfect quality of for printing I buy it other wise I just use screen shots from my IPhone to share with family and friends over social media as those pictures show up without issue. So they can be posted on Facebook and the like. I can also print the screen shots out without being fuzzy as long as the photos are no larger then 3.5X5

If anyone wants step by step instructions for how to do this PM me.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Make a list of the characters you plan on meeting and any other pictures you might want to get and then multiply it by 14.95 which is the cost for one download.
Then you'll know if it is worth it or not for you.

I've always gotten it but on my last trip, I had PP folks take pics using my camera instead of getting memory maker because when I added up the cost of the pictures I was planning on taking, I found out it was cheaper to go without. I did buy a couple of pictures from memory maker because the ones with my camera came out blurry but most of the ones taken with my camera were fine.

 

[NicciMouse]

Just came back from our trip. Sooooo happy with MM!! The editing and adding stuff to the pic after I got home, the awesome magic shots at every park. It was definitely worth it. They even give you stock photos of the rides, parks, etc on your acct. We had about 500 pictures when we were done!

 

[Parker Clan]

I'm going to echo what many PP's said because I'm a huge fan of MM!! We got many wonderful pictures, magic shots , & ride videos. The add-ons I did at home looked really great and I made 4 beautiful canvas prints from CVS! Definitely a must- purchase for this year too

 

[maryj11]

We bought the memory maker first time last May and I really liked it. There are a lot of different places you can get pictures. It is worth it !

 

[Princess Jes]

For my family since we go so often we don't do Memory Maker unless extended family members come. If there is a picture or two I need perfect quality of for printing I buy it other wise I just use screen shots from my IPhone to share with family and friends over social media as those pictures show up without issue. So they can be posted on Facebook and the like. I can also print the screen shots out without being fuzzy as long as the photos are no larger then 3.5X5

If anyone wants step by step instructions for how to do this PM me.

Is there any reason you use a screenshot of the picture on your phone rather than the actual picture taken with your phone?

 

[eyehartdisney]

Is there any reason you use a screenshot of the picture on your phone rather than the actual picture taken with your phone?

I think she means she takes a picture of her computer of the MM previews with her phone.

 

[Princess Jes]

I think she means she takes a picture of her computer of the MM previews with her phone.

Oh. I wouldn't have thought that would produce very good results.

 

[ArielRae]

Ok since your confused I'll explain more. (All this done on my IPhone) I go to the MM site click on a picture I am interested in. Size it to fill the phone's screen then take a screen shot of the picture off my phone by pushing the power button and home button at the same time. This saves what is on your phone's screen and puts it as a photo into your phone's photo album. Then go to that photo in your album and edit it to crop out unwanted borders so you only have the photo. Like I said the quality is excellent for sharing on social media and for printing at no larger then 3.5 X 5 photo size. If you want to print larger photos or use the picture for other printing needs then you should buy MM then so the photos will be clear for your printing needs.

 

[WDWFantasmicFan]

In my opinion, Memory Maker is certainly worth paying for. On our 2 week vacation last year, we got over 200 photos, including some awesome ride photos. As you are planning to M&G with lots of characters, you will be able to get photos from all of those. And seeing the videos from 7DMT and ToT they look fantastic - and yes, you should only need 1 MagicBand providing that MagicBand is in your vehicle. Providing you make the effort to go to PhotoPass photographers around the parks, Memory Maker is worth it - there are lots of different photos you can get around the parks!! If you don't have Magic Bands, you can link your on-ride photos by tapping your ticket media to the touch points on exit of the attraction - I believe all attractions that have photos, apart from 7DMT, have this option.

 

[lllGurulll]

Thanks for posting this. I nearly forgot to purchase mine. Question, my purchase shows up on my MDX page but it doesn't show our magic bands linked directly to it. Will this adjust once we have pictures tied to our bands?

 

[mgellman]

I got it! Thanks everyone!