Any first hand reports of Photo Pass box with Tink?

[rteetz]

We're planning my kid's first trip and I was really thinking about splurging on Memory Maker, which isn't something we'd normally do...gonna need to keep an eye on this and decide whether we should just save our $169.

Right now it is only Tink. It is supposed to roll out to 8 total locations but if there is backlash that might change. With only one currently I think Memory Maker would still be worth it but I would skip meeting Tink.

 

[rteetz]

Also, as an FYI, it seems Photopass changed their website last night. It appears the new site won't let you add borders. If that's true, it seems like another big downgrade in value.

Borders doesn't bother me much. That might be coming back in the future too since they just changed the site over last night.

 

[Ariel484]

Right now it is only Tink. It is supposed to roll out to 8 total locations but if there is backlash that might change. With only one currently I think Memory Maker would still be worth it but I would skip meeting Tink.

Ah, okay. That makes me feel a little better about it. The point the PP brought up about taking his own pictures rather than getting into the pictures with family is what struck me...we're so bad at getting pictures together and I was looking at Memory Maker as a way for us to get good family pictures (M&M, character spot, etc.). But I guess it would still be worth it for the non-character pics, so I'll likely still splurge.

Thanks for talking through this with me!

 

[mom2rtk]

Borders doesn't bother me much. That might be coming back in the future too since they just changed the site over last night.

Hopefully. But they lost the borders on the DLR site several years ago and they never really came back. Well, sort of a limited function on the ios app only, and only able to be saved by emailing each photo to yourself. Very convoluted.

 

[OSUZorba]

Ah, okay. That makes me feel a little better about it. The point the PP brought up about taking his own pictures rather than getting into the pictures with family is what struck me...we're so bad at getting pictures together and I was looking at Memory Maker as a way for us to get good family pictures (M&M, character spot, etc.). But I guess it would still be worth it for the non-character pics, so I'll likely still splurge.

Thanks for talking through this with me!

Right now it's just Tink that I've seen. I've gotten several really good photos elsewhere with the whole family.

 

[Ariel484]

Right now it's just Tink that I've seen. I've gotten several really good photos elsewhere with the whole family.

Good, glad to "hear" it!

 

[Shughart]

I will have to pay close attention to what people have to say about this in the coming months. I was planning to splurge on memory maker this year. We didn't last time and I regretted it. So many of the shots were amazing.

 

[Weedy]

Some have been installed
https://wdwnt.com/2019/02/photos-automated-photopass-cameras-installed-at-town-square-theater/

 

[galaxygirl76]

I don't know where the box was but we also had an actual photographer this last Sunday and we got great pictures of our daughter's meet with Tink.

 

[jimim]

So they got 2 setups it looks in those pics. One high and one low for smaller kids I guess. Looks so weird standing over to the side like that. Who knows maybe the pics will be better cause they will be justcrecording bs taking pics and clipping the pics out of the video they take? Maybe less blur with movement if the video is captured properly. Who knows. I still think it’s weird. Maybe cause it’s new.

 

[firefly_ris]

I'm at the airport now on our way home from our trip. We had Memory Maker and so tried to do a lot of character shots with the kids. The only one we visited with a box was Tinkerbell. She was great, the box was kind of weird... the photos are OK but they are all the same basically. All their other photos are much much better with different angles, close ups, etc that's not possible with a box mounted on the wall. If they move to this everywhere I wouldn't bother with character meets next time.

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

I'm at the airport now on our way home from our trip. We had Memory Maker and so tried to do a lot of character shots with the kids. The only one we visited with a box was Tinkerbell. She was great, the box was kind of weird... the photos are OK but they are all the same basically. All their other photos are much much better with different angles, close ups, etc that's not possible with a box mounted on the wall. If they move to this everywhere I wouldn't bother with character meets next time.

It might help if you sent your thoughts to guest services.

 

[Patches Lee]

I'm at the airport now on our way home from our trip. We had Memory Maker and so tried to do a lot of character shots with the kids. The only one we visited with a box was Tinkerbell. She was great, the box was kind of weird... the photos are OK but they are all the same basically. All their other photos are much much better with different angles, close ups, etc that's not possible with a box mounted on the wall. If they move to this everywhere I wouldn't bother with character meets next time.

This is making me rethink MM. DD10 is energetic and when she meets characters it usually comes with hops, hugs, and wiggles. CMs were good getting non blurred pics, not sure a box is going to be able to catch her.

 

[kgriffitts]

Does anyone have any idea when this is supposed to start at more meet and greets? We leave in two weeks and I'm hoping Tinker Bell is still the only place this is at. I have twin almost three year olds and just don't have much faith in a box.

 

[firefly_ris]

It might help if you sent your thoughts to guest services.

Yep I plan to do so this evening!

 

[firefly_ris]

I sent my email to guest services, here's what I wrote:

Hello,

We just returned from our week-long stay at WDW today. We splurged on the Memory Maker for this trip.

I just wanted to give some feedback. We experienced the new automated photo box at the Tinkerbell Meet and Greet in Magic Kingdom. While the photos aren't terrible, they are basically all identical and rather bland compared to all the rest of our photo pass photos that were all taken by live photographers. The live photographers were able to capture different angles, my childrens' reactions walking into meets and to the characters, and speak to my children to get their attention for posing.

The resulting photos are vastly superior to the automated photo box at the Tinkerbell meet, which are all the exact same shot with my children in slightly different arm/leg positions. Tink herself was wonderful, but the box leaves a great deal to be desired.

This one photo isn't a huge deal, but I wanted to express my thoughts -- we hope to return again soon, but if these automated boxes are going to be at more locations throughout the resort in the future, then I do not plan to spend money on photo pass or memory maker as the resulting images are not worth the cost.

We otherwise had a good and fun stay, but wanted to bring this to someone's attention as I don't think I'm the only person who feels this way.



I assume I'll get the standard "we value your feedback!" response but maybe it will help.

 

[OSUZorba]

Does anyone have any idea when this is supposed to start at more meet and greets? We leave in two weeks and I'm hoping Tinker Bell is still the only place this is at. I have twin almost three year olds and just don't have much faith in a box.

When I was there, week before last, I didn't see the boxes at any of the other meet and greets. Not that it would take long to install, though.

 

[unbanshee]

BlogMickey.com has a rundown of the process

http://blogmickey.com/2019/02/autom...t-tinkerbell-meet-and-greet-in-magic-kingdom/

 

[firefly_ris]

BlogMickey.com has a rundown of the process

http://blogmickey.com/2019/02/autom...t-tinkerbell-meet-and-greet-in-magic-kingdom/

It's sort of funny... so the article says the camera will use AI to detect when to take a photo -- so for our experience, they had a cast member standing next to the box and he would occasionally wave his arm in front of it -- like triggering a motion detector. Then it would light up and take a photo. I'm not sure that was the intended functionality but I probably wouldn't classify it as "AI". Maybe the way the blog describes it, it wasn't working properly when we were there or something (2/7).

 

[firefly_ris]

Response to my previous email -

"Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World Resort.

I sincerely apologize that the photos you received after meeting Tinker Bell at Magic Kingdom Park did not match the quality of other photos that you took during your visit. The Walt Disney World Resort strives to keep our Guests’ experience fresh and unique throughout the years. Our Guests’ feedback is vital throughout our Resort in preserving the magical experience that we so strongly wish to deliver. I truly appreciate your feedback and would like to ensure you that it has been shared with the appropriate Leadership teams."

Hopefully others email too if they aren't impressed with the box pics.