Thanks ! Some great tips.
Do the resorts have pp photographers ?
Yes. I had heard that they were only for paid sessions, but in 2010 a photog approached us at the BC and did a ten minute session of us on the beach. They turned out to be my favorite pics.
I don't think that they normally have photographers. But I've heard that there is one at the WL at the Christmas tree at Christmas time. I'm not sure if that's true, though.
Currently the resort photo sessions are being done by Disney Event Photography, and cost a few hundred dollars. (The same people that shoot weddings) So there are not currently PhotoPass photographers staffed to take pictures at the resorts. During the holiday season, several of the resorts with the large Christmas trees with have photographers setup to take pictures. Typically this is GF, AKL, and WL. Yacht/Beach club had it at times, and one year we were told that they were doing it at one of the values as well.
I'm confused on the red pp+ card. I've always prepaid before I leave home and pick up a pp card from a photographer when I get to the first park. Should I be asking for a red card instead of just saying "give me a pp card"?
The "red card" is the PhotoPass+ card. If you had been prepaying in the past, you were just buying the Photo CD. The PhotoPass+ includes a Photo CD, but also a special card that entitles you to the ride photos, as well as the photos taken at some dining locations.
Can this be done with multiple photopass cards. We bring about 25 kids for senior trip and always got the CD. I would give them cards that were already listed in my account. Then when we got home, I would order the CD with all of the kids pictures. I am a little confused.
There are 3 things in play here. PhotoPass is the service that Disney offers to take pictures of guests in park. The Photo CD is the CD that includes a copy of every valid picture in your account. PhotoPass+ is a special PP card that entitles you to ride and dining photos. Buying the PP+ also includes a Photo CD voucher.
Since the Photo CD voucher includes all valid pictures in your account, you can add as many cards as you have. However, you are only given one PP+ per purchase. If you need a second, you would have to buy another PP+ package. So in your case, you would select one person to be the keeper of the PP+ card. Then if the other members of your party do rides in park that include photos, they would need to provide the photo number to the card keeper who can then go to the ride before they leave, and claim all the ride pictures they have numbers for.
I am afraid to try PP as the one time I looked into it you only have so much time before you can no longer get your photos. I am wrong with this info? I do not have much time once home from a vacation and it might be about two weeks before I get around to veiw any of the photos.
The last time I looked into PP was about 10 years ago. I might have missed on several improvements on it. Is this something I should think about looking into for our trip in August with the kids and grandparents. Would we still want to bring our cameras or will this give us the ability to leave them behind?
Thanx for any info.
There are two time limits on the pictures. The first is how long you have to claim the pictures. Once the pictures are taken and added to a card, you have 30 days to add that card to your account. Then once you add the pictures to your account, you have 30 days to do the edits. The timer on the pictures applies to each individually. So a good rule of thumb is to claim the pictures within 30 days of the first day of your trip, and then to finish all the edits within 30 days of adding the first card to your account. The earlier you can claim them the better, as if pictures are missing, they can only search through the past 30 days. So in your case, 2 weeks after to view the pictures is no problem. (Unless your trip was longer than 2 weeks. 2 week trip plus 2 weeks to claim = 28 days, pretty close to the 30 days to claim)
RE leaving cameras behind, I wouldn't do that. While PP does a good job, at times they have camera problems, pictures get lost, etc. But at the same time, they are often ready to grab that picture of your child meeting the princess and getting a big hug, while you may be off the side, blocked by another member of your party, juggling coats and autograph books, etc. They also are properly equipped for night shots, which most guests are not unless you bring a tripod. Yes your camera may have a flash, but to get the best shots of the some of the environmental lighting you need a tripod.
Would this be a good option for us? Since our DD loves characters and will go back to see them multiple times during our trip. (On our camera only I had over 100 pictures of character meet n greets and I know the PP got way more than I did). We also have 5 character meals... I know all do not do the photos so we have Chef Mickey's, 1900 Park Fare, Akerehus, Crystal Palace and Hollywood and Vine.
This is entirely up to you. The PP break even point is about 8 or so prints if you pre order. And making the jump from Photo CD to PP+ is about 1 1/2 dining/ride photos. If you do alot of characters, then it may definitely be a good idea. If you just do the Photo CD pre buy, you can get it refunded within a certain period (look at the current details when pre-buying) if you don't think you got your moneys worth. Just don't order the CD and tell them you didn't like the pictures. If you pre buy the PP+ you have no such option. Of your 5 dining choices listed, Crystal Palace and Hollywood & Vine don't have pictures I believe and Akershus is included in the meal price. So the PP+ would only be getting you the posed group shots before the meal as there are no photographers during the meal. But you would then also get to claim any ride photos that are applicable.
. I know it was probably the next color up and that he had probably memorized the color sequence, but it was cool! And I love our picture with the purple castle in the background....the orange one is pretty cool too...
