Photopass Superthread!

[Kiwigirls]

Welcome to the Photopass Superthread,
There are lots of questions about this really useful service from Disneyland, so I thought I'd try and gather all the info into one place and create a step by step guide for everyone!. If people have other info or advice please feel free to post it and I'll update the main posts as we go.

I will cover Photopass, Photopass+ and Attractions+ in this thread.

What is Photopass?
Photopass photographers are stationed in certain areas around the park and will take your photograph on their camera. They then 'attach' the photo to a photopass card, which you take with you. Other Photopass photographers can also take photos of you and attach their photos to the same card. There is no obligation to purchase anything. The photographers are also happy to take photos on your camera at the same time, again for no cost.
You can then view these photos (more on this later), and purchase either individual prints, or a CD with all the photos on it. You can also purchase photo 'gifts' like mugs, tshirts etc.

Quick glossary:
Photopass +: Note: As at 3rd January 2016 it appears you can no longer purchase Photopass+ either online or in the parks - it has been discontinued. Similar to the above but while at the parks you 'prepurchase' a package for $99.95. In addition to the CD of all your park photos, you get an additional CD with stock photos of the Disney park, all your character meal photos, and as many ride photos as you like during the 14 days your pass is valid for. (This used to be available to buy before heading to the parks at a discounted price, but as at 24th November, 2015 this has been discontinued).

Attractions +: Attractions + also appears to have been discontinued as at January 2016. With the Attractions+ package you pay $44.95 and can collect the digital copies of all your ride photos, for up to 14 consecutive days. If you are only interested in the ride photos, then this package is better for you.

Magic Shots: Photos that the photographers can set up, and add some magic to digitally, these could be some Mickey balloons, Tinkerbell sitting on your hands etc.

Ride photos: Photos taken on certain rides by Disney. At this stage these are only offered on: Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, California Screamin' and Radiator Springs Racers. These photos can be purchased after your ride, and usually cost $14.95 each.

Character Meal Photos: The photo taken at the beginning of your character meal, usually with a character. The CM's will come around and ask if you would like to purchase a package of these photos in a cardboard 'frame'. These usually cost $39.95. Photos are taken at: Goofy's Kitchen, Ariels Grotto, Minnie And Friends, and Surfs Up. Note that at Minnie & friends meal (at Plaza Inn) Minnie is not in the photo with you.

Check out Judy from Boise's 'Photopass poses - The cheesier the better' thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1954446 for some great examples of fun poses and all the borders, magic shots, etc you can get using photopass.

 

[Kiwigirls]

Collecting photos When you see a Photopass photographer (they are usually wearing a khaki vest and blue trousers) you can ask them to take your photo. The first one will give you a photopass card that they load your photos onto. When you go to additional photographers they will load the photos they take on to the same card. If you don't bring the card with you, or your group splits up, you can get multiple cards and add them to the one account when you get home. If you purchase the photo package at a Character Meal it will also have a code that you can add to your photopass account at home (to get a digital version).

Photopass locations: Photopass photographers can usually be found in the following locations:

DL
In front of the floral Mickey at the entrance
Town Square
At the Partners statue in the hub
In front of the castle
Haunted Mansion
At permanent Meet and Greet locations e.g. Mickeys House in Toontown, Royal Hall in Princess Fantasy Faire, Pixie Hollow, Winnie the Pooh & Friends in Critter Country


DCA
Buena Vista St
Carthey Circle Fountain
Carsland Entrance
Route 66
Partners Statue
Grizzly river Waterfall
Permanent Meet and Greet locations e.g. Carsland, Toy Story

These links have a list and maps from Disney as to where photographers are:
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/guest-services/photo-pass-service/
http://www.disneyphotopass.com/aboutdpp_map_dl.aspx

Photopass photographers may also be at 'experiences' like Jedi Training Academy and Bibbidi bobbidi boutique.

Ask for magic shots! Different locations will have different magic shots that they can do. They will get you to pose in a certain way and then when you view your photo some Disney magic will have been digitally added to the shot. They are lots of fun! The photographer may offer, or you may have to ask, and not all locations will have magic shots available, but it is worth asking!

There is no obligation in getting these photos taken. You can get them done and then wait until you view them to decide if you wish to purchase one, some, all, or none of them!

Viewing/Buying photos: You can view your photos in the park by going to either of the photo shops in DL or DCA. (Main Street Photo Supply in DL, or Kingswell Camera Shop in DCA. ) You can (I think) buy copies of the photos and or a CD of the photos there.

Most people wait until they get home to view them. You only have 30 days (from the day the first photos were taken) to log on and claim your photos, after which they are deleted from Disney's system. Once you have added the photos to your account, you have another 30 days to make any edits and purchase what you want. (NB: you can purchase a 15 day extension online)

At home you go to www.disneyphotopass.com and sign up for an account. Once you are logged in the first page has a space to enter the number from your photopass card. Once you have entered the number it will load the photos from your account (remember you can add multiple cards if you have more than one). You can then edit the photos, add fun borders and order prints, CD's or other photo products.

Editing photos:If you are purchasing the CD (or digital download) of all your photos it is a great idea to edit them before you purchase the CD. You can add fun borders, character signatures, logos etc to your photos. When you edit them and save a new version, you get the original as well. You can have as many photos as you like, so many people do multiple edits with different borders or 'additions'. Some of the borders or additional things you can add are limited to a certain time or event, so if you have seen some in the past, they may not always be there when you do your photos. If you are planning to print photos once you get the CD it is also a good idea to think about what size you are going to print them at and save additional versions at the different sizes (e.g. 4x6, 5x7, 8x10), so that you have the right size for your print. (This mostly applies if adding borders to the photos).

Also to note, if you buy the CD (or digital download) Disney gives you the rights to print and use the photos as you wish as long as it is not for commercial purposes (they put a release on the CD), so you can take it to your local store to print the photos you want.

Problems Disney seems to usually be quite good at sorting out any potential problems with the photopass. A first tip is to take a photograph (with your camera, or smartphone) of your photopass card number. If your card gets lost this can help track it down. Go to either of the photo stores and they should be able to help find your photos and attach them to a new card. If you don't have a copy of the number, still go to the stores, and if you can give them some clues as to approximate times and where you had photos taken they may well be able to track them down.

Similarly if you check your photos and some are missing, give Disney a call (714-781-7485) , provide them with as many details as possible (location, time, people in photo, what they were wearing) and they may be able to track the photos down again. Obviously the sooner you do this, the more likely they are to find them, the photos do get deleted periodically.

 

[Kiwigirls]

As at 3rd January 2016 it appears that the Photopass+ package is no longer available for purchase in any form. If you have already purchased it prior to this date Disney will honour your voucher but no new purchases are possible.
The Photopass+ is the same as the Photopass for the most part, but because you prepay for it, it provides some 'extras' as well. Lots of people seem to agree it is one of the best value deals at DLR!

Cost: Purchased at Disneyland $99.95 (there used to be a cheaper 'pre-order'option but as at 24th Nov 2015, that has been removed).

What do you get for your money?
A CD of stock photos photos taken by Disney of characters and DLR, the parks and hotels.
A lanyard and photopass card to collect photos while in the parks
Your CD of photopass photographer photos when you return home
Character Meal photos - hard copy and digital copies, of any character meals you attend.
Ride Photos digital copies of all ride photos that you want to add. As many as you wish. Note, you do not get the hard copies of the ride photos.

Timeframes:

14 days to add the + photos (ride and character meal photos): You have 14 days from the day you first purchase it in park to add any ride photos and/or character meal photos. After 14 days you cannot add any more, but you can still add photos from the normal photographers around the park.

Other timeframes are as above (30 days to claim online, and 30 days to purchase)

People have reported going to the photo shops later in their trip to purchase the photopass+ (at the $99.95 price) and getting refunds or a discount off the cost of it by presenting receipts for ride or character meal photos already purchased on that trip. So if you realise you are spending a lot on photos that may be an option.

Step by Step:

What you receive in the 'pack':


A CD case that contains a CD of stock photos.


Taped to the outside of this CD case is a voucher that you exchange for your PhotoPass+ card and lanyard.



Inside the CD case is a booklet, and on the inside of that booklet is a code. Keep this safe as you will need it to redeem the CD of your photos once you get home.



(I have blacked out the bits that relate specifically to my photopass so that noone can use them!)

To purchase at the Parks:

Once you arrive at DLR you will need to purchase the Photopass+ package. There are 2 main places that this can be done-

In Disneyland:

Main Street Photo Supply at the hub end of Main Street in DL. On your right as you face the castle, near Plaza Inn

Photo taken from http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/showphoto.php/photo/42543/title/main-street-usa-dl-59/cat/933

In California Adventure:

Kingswell Camera Shop at the turnstile end of Buena Vista Street, on the right. Behind the Red Car Trolley Stop. Next to the locker area.

Photo taken from: http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/showphoto.php/photo/74746/title/buena-vista-street-091/cat/1419


If you have a character meal:: booked before you are going to enter the parks (e.g on arrival day) then people have also been able to purchase the Photopass+ package at their meal - particularly at Goofy's Kitchen.

TIP: Once you have your photopass+ card, take a photo of it on your camera/phone, so that you have the number in case it gets lost.

Adding Ride photos: When you get off the ride go to the photo spot, find your photo and note down the number. Go to the checkout, show them your card, tell them the photo number and they will add it to your card. You can add as many ride photos as you wish.

If your group has split up and the riders do not have the Photopass+ card they have 2 options- have them take a photo of the ride photo (specifically the number), or note down the number. The person with the Photopass+ card can come back later and get the photo(s) added to the card. There are mixed reports as to how long you have to get back to get the photos, but within 24 hours should be safe. Some people have reported success with having people take photos of the Photopass+ card on their phones, and showing that to the ride photo checkout people, and they have been able to add the photos to the card just using the photo of it.

Another tip is to get the receipt from each of the ride photos (even though you aren't paying for them) as if any are missing later it will be easier for Disney to find them!

Adding Character Meal photos: Get your photo taken as usual when arriving at the meal. When they come around to show you your photo and sell it to you, just tell them you have the Photopass+, show them the card and they will give you the photo package, and take the card to add the digital copy to it. You can also show them the Photopass+ card when you first get the photo done.

Getting photos around the park: As for the normal photopass service. Give them your photopass+ card and they will take your photos and add them. It has been reported that photographers will take more time and do more photos with you if they see the Photopass+ lanyard, as they know you have already purchased the photos. Some photographers can 'roam' and may therefore be able to follow you around a bit and do a 'mini photoshoot' with you and your family!
As mentioned previously if your group splits up others can get normal photopass cards with photos on from these photographers and you can add them all together at home, or at the photo shops, before ordering the CD.


Once Home
Log into www.disneyphotopass.com. On the first page you will see a place to enter your card number, do that and it will add all the attached photos into your account. You can also add any additional photopass cards you may have collected.
Do any edits, additional sizes etc, that you may wish to do to the photos.

Now you will need the code that came inside the CD case. Add the Disney Photo CD to your cart. Just add the CD and it will automatically contain all the photos. Don't try to add each photo to your cart or it will charge you for each photo individually.
You will enter the code to get a 'discount' of the full cost of your CD. Do not enter any dashes or spaces that are shown in the code, just the code itself.
If you only purchase the CD there is no shipping cost within the United States. If you live overseas there is a shipping cost of approx $15(US). However you can also choose the “Digital Download” option from the shipping options. If you choose this there is no shipping cost and you just download the photos. If you choose the Digital Download option the download is not immediate. You will get an email that tells you that the download is ready, and gives you instructions. This may be a few hours after you have 'ordered' it.

If you choose to make any of the photo products that Disney has on their site, then obviously there is a charge for those, and for the shipping of those.

If some of your photos are missing, contact Disney as soon as possible and give them as many details as possible about the photos in order to help them track them down. (date, time, location, people, clothing, etc). They may or may not be able to find them, but people have reported success at times.

 

[Kiwigirls]

As at January 2016 it appears Attractions+ is no longer available for purchase. Ride photos can be purchased individually.

Attractions+ gets you only the digital files of all your ride photos taken within a 14 day visit. It can be purchased from the Photo sales points at the participating attractions/rides for $44.95

Once purchased photos would be added in a similar manner to Photopass+ above.

Once you arrive home from your vacation, you can view and download all the high resolution photos plus a limited license agreement, which allows you to print photos at any local photo shop.

Disneyland Resort Participating Attractions
- Space Mountain
- Splash Mountain
- Radiator Springs Racers
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- California Screamin'

 

[Kiwigirls]

Photos at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique -

From what I have heard photographers no longer take photos during the 'transformation' at BBB. There is still the photoshoot that can be done at the end in a room with little animals and a carriage.

If you purchase the more expensive package this photoshoot is included in the cost. Or you can purchase it as an add-on to the other packages.

When we went with Photopass+ this package was not automatically included but what we were able to do was pay for one photo package and still get photos of both girls in our party.
I asked and we were able to buy one package of photos with the printed photos to have both girls in the photo together. However they still also took individual photos of each of them in each of the poses. These were added to our photopass card as well so we were able to print out all the photos of them individually as well as together.

 

[Disney_Alli]

Excellent thread. Just a note about the Character Meal photos: you can always add the digital images to your Photopass account if you have the print copy. On the back of the 8"x10" there is a code the same as on a Photopass card. You can simply add it to your account as you would any other Photopass card to be able to edit the image online.

 

[HydroGuy]

Great thread Kiwi! Thanks for all the effort and attention to detail.

 

[momof4fans]

This is a great thread! Very informative!

One question about photopass+, I've read on this forum that if your family splits up you can use a picture of the bar code to add photos to your photopass+ account. For example, I'll be at BBB with my 2 DDs while my DH and 2 DSs are in DCA riding rides. I want those ride pics. I read that if my son has a picture of the photopass+ card on his phone he can have ride photos added to it without the actual card being in his possession. Have you experienced this? That would be awesome! Thanks!

 

[zakasmom]

Great thread!!! Thanks for all the info!!!!

 

[seobaina]

Thanks

I was just wondering if anyone knew what magic shots are available in DLR and DCA and where they are? I know for WDW but have no clue for these parks.

Thank you

 

[Rubygoose]

Thanks for starting this thread. One thing I didn't know about photo pass is that they take photos during the Jedi Training Academy. My daughter was in the show and I had done her hair in Princess Leia buns. Later in the day, as woman in line commented on her hair, and I mentioned that she was in the show. The woman told me that her daughter had been in the show before and that she "just had to buy the picture." I guess we left before the photo pass photographer came to show us the prints. The next day, I went to the photo shop in DL and told them the day and time of the Jedi show. They also asked me if she fought Vader or Maul. She was the first to fight Vader, so it was easy to find her shots. We looked through all the photos and got them added to our card. DH says this one is his favourite picture of the entire trip.

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[Rubygoose]

Here's a photo pass picture we had taken in front of the castle. Instead of going to the photographer in the middle, we saw the photographer off to the right of the castle, as she had no line up. This turned out to be a much better spot because our bodies blocked all of the people walking through the castle. Also, this was at 8:30am, so there was less traffic.

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Turned out way better than our photo on our 2011 trip. Check out the weird boy and his dad to the right, and the hairy guy to the left! It's a good idea to look at your photo pass pictures online or at the photo shop before you leave. We did another picture that year, but I still like this one because it's funny!

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[Rubygoose]

Thanks

I was just wondering if anyone knew what magic shots are available in DLR and DCA and where they are? I know for WDW but have no clue for these parks.

Thank you

The tinkerbelle in hand one is in front of the castle.

 

[Rubygoose]

This is a great thread! Very informative!

One question about photopass+, I've read on this forum that if your family splits up you can use a picture of the bar code to add photos to your photopass+ account. For example, I'll be at BBB with my 2 DDs while my DH and 2 DSs are in DCA riding rides. I want those ride pics. I read that if my son has a picture of the photopass+ card on his phone he can have ride photos added to it without the actual card being in his possession. Have you experienced this? That would be awesome! Thanks!

Haven't tried that, but you could always go back and get the ride photos later. I noticed that the photo people at Splash take FOREVER, so we just took a photo of the photo screen with the number and asked for it later when they didn't have a line up. Also, we rode RSR during EE and didn't want to wait for our pic. We rode again with a FP and got both pictures added at the same time. You can also go to the photo shop with ride, date, and approximate time and they can look it up and add it.

 

[MsMinne]

Are the only places you can redeem the photopass+ located in DL?

Our first day will be at DCA and we will be making the most of the early morning start as we are staying on site (trying to get RSR). Would we have to leave DCA and hop over to DL in order to get it? Would that mean missing out on getting photos at all of the DCA rides we do before getting the pass?

 

[Kiwigirls]

Kingswell camera shop is in DCA, see post 3 on page 1. I'll update it though to make it clearer that it's in DCA.

 

[MsMinne]

Awesome!

Appreciate all you went to in posting this up for everyone.
It now makes complete sense to me

 

[Rubygoose]

And you can get pictures before you redeem your voucher for your pass. You can get a regular photo pass card and add it onto your account, or you can add the ride photos on after you pick up your card. If you go to Goofy's Kitchen the day before you enter the park, you can pay for the photo package, keep the receipt and then get reimbursed when you get your pass.

 

[seobaina]

The tinkerbelle in hand one is in front of the castle.

Thanks

 

[Californiacicle]

Great info, thanks!