Memory Maker worth purchasing or not?

[disneybliss2]

While considering purchasing Memory Maker, I've ran across a couple of threads regarding the logistics of it. Most people don't seem to like it (on the threads I read). There seems to be a problem with getting your pictures downloaded. Others have also said it's not Mac compatible, which we have. I asked the online help if this indeed was the case to which she replied it is Mac compatible if you have Adobe Flash.

Have others successfully used a Mac with Memory Maker?
Is there a trend of not being able to get all of your photos?
Anyone have a positive experience with it?
Should we just stick to Photopass we're familiar with because it's better at having your pictures?

My title may not be a good one. I'm not asking if Memory Maker is worth the hefty $149. I realize that's overly expensive, but I like being able to get lots of pictures with my family with everyone in them, the magic shots, etc. My question isn't in regards to value for your money, which I know is subjective. My title of "Is it worth it?" is geared more on is it a good program, or does it have too many glitches and I may risk not getting all of my family's photos. We never had a problem with Photopass and loved it.

 

[nyygirl44]

We just came back from a trip using memory maker and we loved it. On our first day, the first couple hours we were in Epcot we didn't see a photopass person and we became frustrated. But in the afternoon they were everywhere and everyday after we had no problem finding them. Some of the times we would tell them we already pre purchased and they would take extra pictures. A lot of them would also do the magic shots for us. It was nice being able to get all of our ride photos, which I doubt we would of done had they not come with the package. I have a Mac computer and had no problems with the pictures. After 8 days and adding borders we have around 1000 pictures. Memory maker is definitely something we will be purchasing again for our next trip!!

 

[barbaraann]

I purchased a vacation package with a free Memory Maker. A good opportunity to try the product. I loved Photopass, but quite frankly thought it was much too expensive. Same thing for Memory Maker. It will be nice to take full advantage of the service, and the product at no cost to me.

 

[ariel326]

We loved it- and we had zero issues downloading/ viewing pictures.
Our goal was 150 pictures, and we got well over 150. Close to 200 actually. 250 if you count all the boarders and embelleshments I added. And we were only there 3 days.

We stopped at many photographers, as even if it is was a similar background (castle, spaceship earth, etc) as one we already had. Some photographers we had better chemistry with, some were overall better photographers and some had better natural lighting to work with (on a few of them the sun was on the castle so it was hard to see, but on others it was better)

We did lots of character meet and greets and got lots of ride photos.
It was the best with the characters because they started taking pictures the minute my son starting interacting with the character. So with each character we got 5-7 shots.

We also got all the enchanted tales with belle photos, our chef mickeys photo and a few magic shots.

I brought my laptop computer and viewed the pictures every night and kept a running total of how many pictures we had.

SO- it is really up to you- we had fun looking for photographers and didn't mind standing in line for a few minutes to take our pictures with them. We knew we were going to do lots of character meet and greets, so we knew it would be a priority

And finally we had NO issues with lost photos- there was one set of photos that were missing and I called the memory maker phone number and told her approx. what time we were at that M&G and she found them and had them upload in minutes.

No probably here at all.

 

[henry72]

Have others successfully used a Mac with Memory Maker?
Is there a trend of not being able to get all of your photos?
Anyone have a positive experience with it?
Should we just stick to Photopass we're familiar with because it's better at having your pictures?

I have read tons of threads about Memory Maker before deciding to add it to our trip in June. (I just purchased it a few days ago.) I know people with iPhones and iPads have mentioned problems with viewing photos but not sure if that pertains to all Mac computers.

Most threads I read where photos were missing, they were "found" by the Memory Maker people. But this isn't new. It happened to us when we used Photopass too.

And you ask if you can just stick with Photopass - I am not sure what you mean. Memory Maker replaced Photopass. Yes, you can still buy individual photos but there is no Photopass package or Photopass plus - just Memory Maker.

 

[ariel326]

I forgot to add I downloaded our pictures on both my Mac and PC laptop's.
No issues at all

 

[disneybliss2]

Great to hear others have had success with it. I was concerned about how well it worked saving your photos & downloading based on a thread I had read.

I forgot to add I downloaded our pictures on both my Mac and PC laptop's.
No issues at all

Super!!! Very glad to hear this information.

And you ask if you can just stick with Photopass - I am not sure what you mean. Memory Maker replaced Photopass. Yes, you can still buy individual photos but there is no Photopass package or Photopass plus - just Memory Maker.

I do think they're marketing Memory Maker more, but Photopass is actually still available. You can purchase it for $169, $20 more than Memory Maker. Like in the past, it includes the CDs that are sent to you and I may include stock photos (I can't remember). It doesn't include the ride photos that Memory Maker does. There's a link to access either on the Walt Disney World site.


I really don't want to pay $20 more just to get a hard copy, but would if the other system had too many glitches. Glad to hear MM is working well for others, especially that it was indeed Mac compatible. I think we'll go for it! Thanks everyone!

 

[KelleyK75]

I just got back from our trip and had MM. While I had a little trouble getting it set up because I choose the will call option, it all worked out and I ended up loving having it. We came out with 186 pictures. The photographers capture some things you can't. I had my 6&4 year old nephews with me, and while I was getting them up to the characters and getting my camera ready, the photographers would capture them getting hugs from the characters that I couldn't get. It was also nice to be able to get in the picture since I was the main photographer of the trip.

I just downloaded the pictures, and they will come in the form of a zip file. I have Vista, which is just not a great thing to have, so I had a little trouble figuring out how to convert the zips, but once I figured it out I was able to get them all into a folder on my computer.

If you take advantage of getting a lot of pictures, I think it's totally worth it.

Question for anyone that might know - I didn't have a lot of time after downloading, but I didn't see an option for the borders, etc. Where is that located?

 

[ariel326]

I just got back from our trip and had MM. While I had a little trouble getting it set up because I choose the will call option, it all worked out and I ended up loving having it. We came out with 186 pictures. The photographers capture some things you can't. I had my 6&4 year old nephews with me, and while I was getting them up to the characters and getting my camera ready, the photographers would capture them getting hugs from the characters that I couldn't get. It was also nice to be able to get in the picture since I was the main photographer of the trip.

I just downloaded the pictures, and they will come in the form of a zip file. I have Vista, which is just not a great thing to have, so I had a little trouble figuring out how to convert the zips, but once I figured it out I was able to get them all into a folder on my computer.

If you take advantage of getting a lot of pictures, I think it's totally worth it.

Question for anyone that might know - I didn't have a lot of time after downloading, but I didn't see an option for the borders, etc. Where is that located?

If you log in under https://mydisneyphotopass.disney.go.com/ it should be right on the right hand side. Just make a copy of the photo before you decorate so you have your original. It saves the borders on the pictures pretty quickly, if you are not careful. So I always made a copy and then decorated.

 

[Alicatt]

Does anyone have any recent experience with MM and an ipad? We're bring ours and I would like to check the photos at night, just to make sure they're there. Thanks!

 

[morethananyonex]

Keep in mind reading this, using Memory Maker was our first real Photopass purchase, other than purchasing a few photos here and there on previous trips, so to us Memory Maker wasn't a downgrade.

We really liked it, and thought (close your eyes, Disney execs) it was good value for the length of our trip. Per day it broke down to be between $10-15, which is very reasonable IMO. I don't know that I would get it for a trip that's only a few days long, but for us it was good value.

The biggest complaint we had was the lack of roaming photographers. There were tons at park entrances, and depending on our luck we would find some around the parks, but that was hit or miss. I think that Memory Maker is great for families who do lots of character meets, want ride pictures and meal pictures, and like having lots of family photos in front of the main Disney landmarks.

As for Mac issues, I didn't encounter any. I was able to edit pictures, add borders, and download without issue.

 

[Duck77]

I assume that once you've downloaded the pictures, you are free to print these anywhere (such as Costco, etc?)

 

[KelleyK75]

If you log in under https://mydisneyphotopass.disney.go.com/ it should be right on the right hand side. Just make a copy of the photo before you decorate so you have your original. It saves the borders on the pictures pretty quickly, if you are not careful. So I always made a copy and then decorated.

Ok cool, thanks. I will have to recheck it. Is it obvious that it's the option for borders? I did download all of the pictures into a folder on my computer, so I assume if I use what's on the site to put borders on then it should be ok? Thanks again!

 

[KelleyK75]

Does anyone have any recent experience with MM and an ipad? We're bring ours and I would like to check the photos at night, just to make sure they're there. Thanks!

I didn't use an ipad but did use my iphone every night to check it and didn't have any problems seeing the pictures.

 

[DisneyDreamingInMI]

Does anyone have any recent experience with MM and an ipad? We're bring ours and I would like to check the photos at night, just to make sure they're there. Thanks!

We used an ipad to check our photos at night and we didn't have any trouble seeing them. Once I got home and viewed the pictures on my PC, I realized that all of website features were not fully functional on the ipad. But for just viewing the pictures at night to check that they were showing up and were all there, the ipad worked just fine!

 

[barbaraann]

We used an ipad to check our photos at night and we didn't have any trouble seeing them. Once I got home and viewed the pictures on my PC, I realized that all of website features were not fully functional on the ipad. But for just viewing the pictures at night to check that they were showing up and were all there, the ipad worked just fine!

This is really good to hear since I will be bringing my iPad on my vacation with me.

 

[ariel326]

Ok cool, thanks. I will have to recheck it. Is it obvious that it's the option for borders? I did download all of the pictures into a folder on my computer, so I assume if I use what's on the site to put borders on then it should be ok? Thanks again!

yes- it pretty obvious- there is a button for boarders and one for stickers, there is also a spot where you can crop and flip photos around. I can't long in anymore since my photos have expired, but it should be all on the right hand side. I think each button has sub categories like holidays, or celebrations, princess, or park theme or whatever. There were quite a few options to choose from. That is also where we found the stickers to label our ride pictures.

Once you have it decorated and saved, you can download the individual picture instead of having to download all of them again. It does a zip folder again which you have to open and then move the one photo to your folder on your computer

I made a folder right onto my desktop so I could easily slide photos from the opened zip file to my Disney folder on my desktop.

 

[Alicatt]

We used an ipad to check our photos at night and we didn't have any trouble seeing them. Once I got home and viewed the pictures on my PC, I realized that all of website features were not fully functional on the ipad. But for just viewing the pictures at night to check that they were showing up and were all there, the ipad worked just fine!

Thank You!!

 

[Ravenne]

Will Photopass photographers, and character still take pics for you with your own camera?

 

[barbaraann]

I have always liked the addition of photo pass photographers in the parks. Since I do most of my trips solo, it is nice when the photo pass photographers are nearby to take my picture. They have many times did double duty. Taking pictures with both their camera, and with mine. I now come home with many pictures. It's great to be in my own pictures.