Scheduling Portrait session

[mmouse50]

Wanting to schedule a family portrait session - the full session (2 locations and add the sunset) - how far in advance should I book the session? Do you pay when you book or when you arrive at the session. I am assuming that these aren't photopass photographers so do you tip them?

 

[woody64]

Following as we are interested in the same thing. We go in July.

 

[carone0318]

Hello. I made my reservation for the photo session (40 minute one) in January for our May trip. I called Aulani directly to make the reservation. You do not pay for the session in advance, the lady told me the instructions. I believe you pay for the session earlier in the day and then you show the photographer the receipt at the time of the session. You are entitled to a 10% discount if you are a DVC member. I asked about being able to go to different spots during the session and I was told that the photographers don't do that. The session is mainly set up on the beach, but they may be able to do some shots with some greenery in the background, but I definitely got the impression that you cannot walk around the resort and have pictures taken where ever.

She also said that if you purchase a photo session, that you can then purchase the photo pass length of stay photos for $50, which is half price from the normal $99 price tag and that you can wait until the end of your stay to decide if you want to purchase those pictures.

Lastly, I am under the impression that they are photopass photographers, maybe just a little more skilled (or seasoned) than the other photographers they have throughout the resort.

 

[woody64]

Thank you for the reply. A few years ago we did a family portrait session at Yacht and Beach Club at WDW and loved the results. Since we will have our adult boys with us we thought we would do another session at Aulani.

 

[carone0318]

Thank you for the reply. A few years ago we did a family portrait session at Yacht and Beach Club at WDW and loved the results. Since we will have our adult boys with us we thought we would do another session at Aulani.

I have my adult kids coming too and their boyfriend/girlfriend, so I wanted to do family photos and couples photos as well. I told each couple to pick a color to feature. My husband and I are doing blue/teal, my daughter & her boyfriend are featuring pink and I'm not sure what color my son's girlfriend has picked out for them. So we will be colorful, I hope it turns out ok when we are all together.

 

[SueInBoston]

I have my adult kids coming too and their boyfriend/girlfriend, so I wanted to do family photos and couples photos as well. I told each couple to pick a color to feature. My husband and I are doing blue/teal, my daughter & her boyfriend are featuring pink and I'm not sure what color my son's girlfriend has picked out for them. So we will be colorful, I hope it turns out ok when we are all together.

I am planning the exact same thing for August and I like your color scheme idea.

p.s. Thank you for the detailed response above, I didn't know that I can save on PhotoPass with a portrait session.

 

[heidica]

I booked a 20 minute sunset photo session yesterday for April 8th, which was 39 days in advance. This is my first visit to Hawaii and Aulani, so I can’t speak to whether availability like this is normal. When I was making the reservation she did say that April 8th was the day with the most availability during our stay. It is our last night at Aulani.

 

[BecBennett]

Where can I find info on the portrait sessions?

 

[carone0318]

Where can I find info on the portrait sessions?

You can go to this link:

Photography Services | Aulani Hawaii Resort & Spa (disneyaulani.com)

 

[Helyna Huft]

I just called and booked a mini Magic session. This is the mini portrait session for $225 for 20 minutes and all of the edited (color and brightness). The Magic part is that it's closer to the evening sunset. The actually sunset times were booked already but they got me a time at the beginning of magic hour just prior to it at 6:45pm which is $50. There was no fee to hold the reservation. We will pay the total $275 the day before the session and then will get all photos for digital download the day after.

 

[mmouse50]

What Hawaii time did you call to schedule your session. Have tried a couple of times today but got a recording to leave a number and they will call me back. Because of the time difference I didn’t leave my number so I was just wondering what was a good Hawaii time to call?

 

[heidica]

What Hawaii time did you call to schedule your session. Have tried a couple of times today but got a recording to leave a number and they will call me back. Because of the time difference I didn’t leave my number so I was just wondering what was a good Hawaii time to call?

I called around 10 am Hawaii time and had to leave a message. They called back in about an hour.

 

[jotan82]

i just got back from aulani in January. I booked a golden hour session for the family 2 months in advance.

 

[Mhansen]

Hello. I made my reservation for the photo session (40 minute one) in January for our May trip. I called Aulani directly to make the reservation. You do not pay for the session in advance, the lady told me the instructions. I believe you pay for the session earlier in the day and then you show the photographer the receipt at the time of the session. You are entitled to a 10% discount if you are a DVC member. I asked about being able to go to different spots during the session and I was told that the photographers don't do that. The session is mainly set up on the beach, but they may be able to do some shots with some greenery in the background, but I definitely got the impression that you cannot walk around the resort and have pictures taken where ever.

She also said that if you purchase a photo session, that you can then purchase the photo pass length of stay photos for $50, which is half price from the normal $99 price tag and that you can wait until the end of your stay to decide if you want to purchase those pictures.

Lastly, I am under the impression that they are photopass photographers, maybe just a little more skilled (or seasoned) than the other photographers they have throughout the resort.

Thank you for the info!

 

[carone0318]

What Hawaii time did you call to schedule your session. Have tried a couple of times today but got a recording to leave a number and they will call me back. Because of the time difference I didn’t leave my number so I was just wondering what was a good Hawaii time to call?

I always call between 3-6pm EST, I'm on the East coast, so that is usually between 9-12pm their time.

 

[heidica]

Since we are speaking of time differences, just a reminder that Hawaii (and Arizona) do not participate in Daylight Savings. So after next Sunday, add an additional hour to your time difference from Hawaii.

During Standard time, Hawaii is 5 hrs behind Eastern time (1 PM Eastern time is 8 AM in Hawaii). After Daylight Savings, 1 PM Eastern will be 7 AM in Hawaii. It's a little easier for me because I am in Pacific Time, so right now I'm 2 hours ahead of Hawaii and after next Sunday it will be 3 hours.

 

[SueInBoston]

I can't decide between 20 or 40 minutes. We are 6 easy going adults and I figure about 7 pose combinations. I want sufficient time and don't mind paying a bit more for the 40 but from a previous post, it sounds like you don't get to move around and just stay in one spot. I don't want to end up with 50 pictures of the same background and outfit (not matter how nice)...lol

what did your family pick?

 

[tntstults]

I was curious if there are enough photo pass photographers that if we don’t book a portrait session we can just walk up and have pictures taken?

 

[carone0318]

I was curious if there are enough photo pass photographers that if we don’t book a portrait session we can just walk up and have pictures taken?

I was watching an Aulani vlog, can't remember which one, but you could actually see the photographers and there seemed to be a line of them on the beach, but the ones for the 20/40 sessions looked like they had lighting and such set up.

 

[gatechfan99]

I was curious if there are enough photo pass photographers that if we don’t book a portrait session we can just walk up and have pictures taken?

Yes, there were definitely multiple PhotoPass people on the beach. We walked up and just had to wait for one family to finish their pictures. They don't use all the equipment that the reserved sessions have, and they don't walk you around to multiple locations, but it's very convenient with quality pictures for much cheaper.

I'm not sure exactly what trick my wife did, but the photopass downloads were supposed to be $99, but she went through the Disneyland App and got it for $19.99. That might have been a one-day download vs length of stay price. Regardless, much cheaper than the scheduled sessions.