Can someone please explain Memory Maker to me?

[uandmfan]

Hi

I'm on the fence about this. We are doing a fair bit of character dining so not that many meet and greets (at least planned - who knows what we will end up doing) but we were still thinking of getting Memory Maker for shots in the park, maybe some of the ride pictures, etc. Is it still worth it? What have your experiences been with it?

Thanks!

 

[virgo-queenxx]

We usually purchased memory maker before our vacation at the "discounted" price. Anyone who is linked to the MDE account of the person who purchased memory maker can use it, which is great for larger groups or groups that want to split up. Basically you can download every picture that Disney photographers take for you or that are captured on rides. We always make a conscious effort to take as many pictures as possible to get our moneys worth. If we see a photographer with no line we will have a mini photoshoot with them. I like memory maker because it takes a lot of stress out of having to carry a camera and one person in the party worried about capturing the moment instead of living in it. The photos are usually pretty good quality. Some of the candids they take are quite funny. The longer the vacation, the more value memory maker has. Good luck!

 

[RLGNC]

I really liked having it for several reasons. For one, the ride photos are awesome (I'm not 100% sure, but I think you only get those on Memory Maker, and not regular Photopass?). Also, it feels good during the vacation being able to have as many photos taken as you want, and knowing you will get all of them in the end. And finally, having all of the photos available to you when you get home, and not having to select out just a few, is great. Only drawback, by the end of the trip my family was getting pretty tired of me dragging them to any Photopass photographer I saw!

 

[kayak32]

We did it last time and are again in December. We do both meet and greets and Character dining. You are correct most dining experiences might have one photo op. That said we ended up with hundreds of pictures last time. Just about everytime we saw a photographer we stopped and got a picture taken. For example evertime we were leaving Epcot we had a shot taken infront of the Spaceship Earth sphere. I was able to spend more time having fun with my kids than being a shutterfly. You get pictures with "magic" as well if you ask, my kids liked those. You get piucture rides also. The only place we really had to be sure to get pictures were at the meals.

 

[mountdew1]

It's really up to you. Do you think you would buy 10-12 pictures from Photopass? That's roughly the current breakeven point for Memory Maker. Character dining for the most part (to me at least) is a toss out. Not all of the photo opportunities have characters (I believe Tusker House, Akershus, and CRT do, Chef Mickeys & Ohana have photo op w/o character, and 1900 Park Fare, Cape May Cafe, Garden Grill, Crystal Palace, Hollywood and Dine don't have anything), and there aren't photographers during the meal. The ride photos can be cool, and some such as 7DMT really need to have a valid MagicBand tagged to an MDE account to show up, if you don't have Memory Maker you can still buy them individually. I usually find the most value for Memory Maker (and Photopass in general) to be at M&Gs and also for nighttime shots. Unless you schlep a tripod with you, and know how to properly set your camera up, and nighttime pics you will take will most likely end up not exposed to the best they could be, while Photopass will (as long as they set it correctly) expose both your party in the fore ground, and the illuminated icon in the background. And at M&Gs, they are usually ready to grab that great shot of your child running up to hug Mickey/Minnie/Anna/Elsa/whomever that you might miss because of schlepping bags and autograph books. And they are also setup to properly expose based off the lighting in the M&G area if it's indoors.