Breaking NEWS PHOTO SESSIONS!!!!!! :-)

[pjstevens]

ok, I already preordered my cd and made my appointment. Some one tell me that I am goign to be able to add my photos to that same cd without no additional cost!!! PLEASE!!!

 

[Kiki Lime]

ok, I already preordered my cd and made my appointment. Some one tell me that I am goign to be able to add my photos to that same cd without no additional cost!!! PLEASE!!!

When did you make your appointment? If it was before today, your session will cost you $25. If it was today, it will be $75. You won't be able to add your photos to your cd for no cost as the sessions are no longer free. Hope that answers your question!

 

[pjstevens]

When did you make your appointment? If it was before today, your session will cost you $25. If it was today, it will be $75. You won't be able to add your photos to your cd for no cost as the sessions are no longer free. Hope that answers your question!

I already made my appointment a couple weeks ago (my visit is 9/13). Last year we just paid the $25 when we checked in and when they were done they put all our photos on photopass. Will that be the same this time, since I got in before the increase?

 

[bear74]

So is it 75.00 if you want it on your cd? Or just for the photosession? If I prepurchase the cd how much am I paying, because I am getting it confused.

the CM I talked to on Friday said that it would be 75 for the shoot and they burn those pictures to a CD for you right their.

 

[Ohana90]

I called the line yesturday to inquire about the increase and this is the information I rcvd. (called 3 seperate times)

If you pre-order the CD for $99.00 then the sitting fee is $75.00. The pictures will be on another CD, not with your Park pictures and NO enhancements. I was going to order it but due to the increase and no enhancements I am better off taking them myself. Oh well. No biggie. I'll be at the poly anyway for the breakfast so I'll just roam around and snap my own shots.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I called the line yesturday to inquire about the increase and this is the information I rcvd. (called 3 seperate times)

If you pre-order the CD for $99.00 then the sitting fee is $75.00. The pictures will be on another CD, not with your Park pictures and NO enhancements.

Wait a minute - so now we're paying more and getting less?

I know I shouldn't be surprised by this, it is Disney afterall, but that SUCKS! Now that they don't offer enhancements and are burning your disc on the spot are they giving you any prints with it? Before, if you got the disc right away instead of with your prepaid PP CD you got like 3 5x7's or something. That's a rhetorical question really - I know they're not giving us anymore for the money.

OK - so who do I have to write to about this? Anyone have an e-mail address or phone number? This is ridiculous.

D4D

 

[Ohana90]

Wait a minute - so now we're paying more and getting less?

I know I shouldn't be surprised by this, it is Disney afterall, but that SUCKS! Now that they don't offer enhancements and are burning your disc on the spot are they giving you any prints with it? Before, if you got the disc right away instead of with your prepaid PP CD you got like 3 5x7's or something. That's a rhetorical question really - I know they're not giving us anymore for the money.

OK - so who do I have to write to about this? Anyone have an e-mail address or phone number? This is ridiculous.

D4D

I am uncertain if they are selling photos, I only inquired about the pre-order since I had already purchased one. Might want to check out Brad's site...stitch kingdom.

 

[Marshay]

I did one of the photopass sessions at the GF (Sep 07 - FREE w/CD purchase!!) and the Poly (May 08 -- $25 w/CD purchase) and had been a great proponent of doing this. The value of the pictures compared to the cost was really good (see previous posts for pics).

Both times we walked away with 1 or 2 great photos; 3-4 really good photos and the rest which were anywhere from good-ok-fair... and a few really bad photos (shadows, lighting, etc). With edits, borders and titles, it was even better.

However, after reading about the increase, I cannot recommend the photosessions any longer. The cost of $75 (plus the $100 CD) for just 20 -30 minutes really is quite expensive compared to the value of the photos.

My experience (with only 2 photographers plus seeing photos on this thread) shows that Disney is not ready to enter the "professional studio" photography business for these Photopass sessions. They are improving but to be rushed through the photos in less than 30 minutes, having many photos that won't work -- shading, lighting, people in background, etc, is not good photo business.

I'm extremely disappointed in Disney but understand that they seem more interested in making money on this than providing a worthy and valueable product to all/almost all families.

The cost is too high for the average family to afford and the value does not hold. $25 is reasonable...maybe as much as $40. But unless Disney increases the time to at least 45 minutes or an hour and improves on the quality of the photos, I cannot see paying more than that.

I will no longer recommend this to my friends and family.

 

[Ohana90]

Wait a minute - so now we're paying more and getting less?

I know I shouldn't be surprised by this, it is Disney afterall, but that SUCKS! Now that they don't offer enhancements and are burning your disc on the spot are they giving you any prints with it? Before, if you got the disc right away instead of with your prepaid PP CD you got like 3 5x7's or something. That's a rhetorical question really - I know they're not giving us anymore for the money.

OK - so who do I have to write to about this? Anyone have an e-mail address or phone number? This is ridiculous.

D4D

Pulled this from Brads site. Hope it clarifiys for everyone.

"" Please note that as of August 23, 2008, Portrait sessions at the resorts are a separate entity from the Disney's PhotoPass system in the theme parks. While both Parks and Portraits use the same system for their photos, they are separate products. As such, the pricing structure has changed dramatically. There is no longer a discount specifically for guests who pre-order Disney's PhotoPass. Guests who pre-order the PhotoCD or purchase it within the theme parks can reserve a Portraits session for $74.95 with proof of purchase (either email or receipt). Guests wishing to purchase only the Portraits session on CD can do so for $149.95. Alternatively guests who purchase the Portraits session but then wish to combine photos from the Parks may do so by bringing their CD and PhotoPass cards to any resort location for a fee of $49.95 (bringing the total to roughly $200). Note that Disney's PhotoPass enhancements will not be available for Portrait session photos or any photos from the theme parks combined with it. Additionally, guests will no longer have the option of receiving their Portrait session photos on a Disney's PhotoPass card.""

 

[Marshay]

I called the line yesturday to inquire about the increase and this is the information I rcvd. (called 3 seperate times)

If you pre-order the CD for $99.00 then the sitting fee is $75.00. The pictures will be on another CD, not with your Park pictures and NO enhancements. I was going to order it but due to the increase and no enhancements I am better off taking them myself. Oh well. No biggie. I'll be at the poly anyway for the breakfast so I'll just roam around and snap my own shots.

Oh, and now you can't even do the enhancements??? This was one of the HUGE benefits to doing the CD.

I repeat...this is not worth it anymore and I will not recommend to my family, friends and DISboarders.

 

[janloz]

Pulled this from Brads site. Hope it clarifiys for everyone.

"" Please note that as of August 23, 2008, Portrait sessions at the resorts are a separate entity from the Disney's PhotoPass system in the theme parks. While both Parks and Portraits use the same system for their photos, they are separate products. As such, the pricing structure has changed dramatically. There is no longer a discount specifically for guests who pre-order Disney's PhotoPass. Guests who pre-order the PhotoCD or purchase it within the theme parks can reserve a Portraits session for $74.95 with proof of purchase (either email or receipt). Guests wishing to purchase only the Portraits session on CD can do so for $149.95. Alternatively guests who purchase the Portraits session but then wish to combine photos from the Parks may do so by bringing their CD and PhotoPass cards to any resort location for a fee of $49.95 (bringing the total to roughly $200). Note that Disney's PhotoPass enhancements will not be available for Portrait session photos or any photos from the theme parks combined with it. Additionally, guests will no longer have the option of receiving their Portrait session photos on a Disney's PhotoPass card.""

We won't be doing our planned session in Dec now, not at those prices We will just use the photopass ALOT more in the parks.

 

[Marshay]

We won't be doing our planned session in Dec now, not at those prices We will just use the photopass ALOT more in the parks.

This seems like the better way to go -- definitely!

Also, make sure you get to the "roving Photographers" in the parks (if they still do this). We were in Mexico and the guy took some pics in front of the pyramid, then we went over to the water, then we got pics with sombreros on in front of the outside store...also saw someone taking pics in the green foliage.

These pictures don't feel as "staged" and got really good!

 

[Ducky4Disney]

BTW: does anyone know if the pre-order option is still available? I was just at the PhotoPass site and didn't see it. Can anyone confirm this or let me know what I'm missing?

That would make a PPCD $125 and a resort portrait session $75 for a $200 total. Two separate discs and no enhancements on the resrot session.

Or $150 for a separate resort session only - still no enhancements.

Or $150 for a resort portrait session and $50 to later add your PP pics to that CD - a $200 total - and still no enhancements (on anything for that deal it seems).

Based on those numbers I am under the impression that the $99 pre-order is gone for now. Which means I will still buy the CD (shame on me for not ordering it earlier - I'll pay the $25 as a lesson-learned) and I WILL NOT be doing the SSR photo session.

I have a tripod and I know how to use it!

D4D

 

[Marshay]

Did you use this link?

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx

 

[fairestoneofall]

I cannot believe that Disney has raised the price of this. That really makes it over-priced and not worth it. I've said it on other threads, that I wish that Disney would hire true professional photographers to do this. I don't consider people with experience in department store studio photography to be pros either. They are merely trained to press a button and most don't have any real experience.

Sunspots and bright sunlight are not acceptable. Under-exposed images and those with white balance issues are not acceptable. Out-of-focus images are not acceptable. Most of what I've seen just looks like it was shot on one of the Automatic settings (and by that, I mean full Auto or Portrait and such, which are NOT Manual settings). These sessions have such potential if Disney would bring in photographers who understand posing, composition, proper exposure, aperture/shutter speed/ISO, lighting, etc.

Instead, it seems that, because of the low price, these sessions are popular. So, Disney opens up more resorts, triples the price and lessons the offerings (no enhancements) with no real change to the quality of photographers. And that's unfortunate.

No thanks. I'll be bringing my tripod on my November trip and setting my camera to timer.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

Did you use this link?

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx

Ah-ha, I was not using that link. Very helpful - let me order this sucker now before it does go away! I just went to the PhotoPass website and looked for "special offers" like I did a month ago to find that deal. I couldn't find it just by looking at the site... hmmm.

D4D

 

[HALEYSMOMMOM]

Does anyone know if we got in on the old deal ($25 ) if we can still have everything on one cd and do enhancements without any additional costs? Just like it used to be???

 

[TyRy]

Count us as ones that had planned on doing this, but now that the price has gone up you can no longer add to your photopass CD and the enhancments are gone, we'll just be using our camera and the roving photopass photogs. We had some really cute shots with them last time, just thought this might be nice since we are going with DIL's. Not worth it now.

Ty

 

[Ducky4Disney]

It will be interesting to see if bookings for this suddenly fall off...

D4D

PS - for those that have had a portrait session all ready, see my poll!
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1931302

 

[grumpysmrs]

Here you go:

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx

Thanks for the link, my folder of printouts is getting bigger and bigger.