Disappointed with PhotoPass

[TJSchulte1]

We just returned from a week long trip to Disney and I have to say I was very disappointed with PhotoPass. We spent full days in each of the 4 parks, and I would say that we did not have more than 15 pictures taken in the entire week. While I will say that we skipped the "character photos", which would have likely presented more opportunities, I guess I expected the photographers to be at more of the Kodak Perfect Picture locations. I did prepay for the CD, but will likely request my money back. The $99 is a worthwhile spend if you plan on buying more than 9 photos, since I think buying them individually costs $12.95 each....but since I took most of the shots with my own camera too, I don't see much of value in paying the $100. Maybe since it was a slightly slower time, they don't have the crews out in full force...but I guess I was just expecting more. Am I missing something?

 

[k5thbeatle]

I never understood the big push from Disney promoting the photopass deal? In this age almost everyone has a camera. Even cell phone cameras are becoming quite sophisticated. I just don't see the big deal of having Disney take photos? Instead of promoting the photopass deal so much they should go back to making sure each guest gets a free pin lanyard so they'll get addicted to collecting pins... a big moneymaker! It worked on us anyway!

 

[trac96]

We got it once but wouldn't get it again. We were there for 10 days and had taken a ton of pictures but i still don't think it's worth it when I also had my camera and the photographers were more than happy to also take the same picture with my camera.

 

[TandLMommy28]

We had almost 80 pictures in our Photopass account at the end of the week. Now, there were 3- 5 poses from the same photographer on some of them but we definitely got a wide variety with ours. Especially on our MNSSHP night when we had pictures down with 7 different photographers... the last one was my favorite of the whole week... he made us stand there and wait FOREVER and he kept saying "It'll be worth it, it'll be worth it. Just wait with me."

So we stood there smiling like idiots forever and finally he said "here we go!" and he snapped our picture just as the small fireworks went off on the stage for the Villains show! THe pic came out really awesome--and it was worth the wait.

I think that if you want a lot of photopass pics you really have to seek them out. I did some reading beforehand about where to find the ones that do the "magic" poses and we hunted down several of those. Plus, there are at most of the character meet and greets so if you do a lot of those, you end up with more pictures (we probably had 15 pictures just from the kids meeting Buzz and Woody!)

 

[skyfranks]

We did the Photopass in January 2009 and I loved it. I take my DSLR everywhere and take 100's of pics a day but I really like having a little "insurance" by having extra shots to choose from. You never know who will get the better shot. I will seek the photographers out and we do the character meet and greets so we should be covered. I know $99 is stiff but I love to have extra shots in case mine were out of focus, badly lit or something.

I prepaid for our trip in November.

 

[DreamLiveLoveDisney]

I never understood the big push from Disney promoting the photopass deal? In this age almost everyone has a camera. Even cell phone cameras are becoming quite sophisticated. I just don't see the big deal of having Disney take photos? Instead of promoting the photopass deal so much they should go back to making sure each guest gets a free pin lanyard so they'll get addicted to collecting pins... a big moneymaker! It worked on us anyway!

I always thought it was a great idea! To get a picture of our family, we would always have to have one of us left out of the shot to take the picture, or seek out some random person to take our picture (and hope they got a good shot). With Photopass, we got a ton of great pictures of our family without having to bother other people, or leaving one of us out.

 

[mjp12831]

Photopass is good in that it allows you to get photos of everyone in your group (no one taking the pic). If you read up and find where to go for the magic shots and find the character locations you'll get plenty of worthwhile pictures. Best tip is that if you know you're buying it, use it. There are plenty of photographers out there in the parks. Also, Test Track allows you to put the ride photo on it.

Also remember, while these folks are better than average photographers, they are not professionals.

 

[Flamingomo]

We got the $99 Photopass last time we were there in 2007 and we LOVED it!!! I ended up with over 400 photos and by the time I was done editing over 700! We got a ton with the characters and some magic shots as well. Anytime I saw a photographer, I went right over. I never seem to get in too many photos with my kids, so having pics of the entire family means alot to me. We will be getting it again this year for our 3.5 day trip including MVMCP and I hope to find a photographer who can get a night shot of all of us in front of the lit up castle. I am a bit of a picture freak, so the more, the better!

 

[nytimez]

I think it's a great deal if you use it well. It's also the best way for most of us to get real nice nighttime shots.

 

[ratlenhum]

We love photopass. I like being in the pictures for a change and refuse to hand off my camera to anyone. Camera and lens are worth about $1200. I don't even let my husband use it. LOL

We always tell the photographer, "we prepaid for the CD so take lots" and they snap quite a few shots, have us do fun poses, take my son alone, us alone, family shots, special shots (holding Simba, Tinkerbell etc.) We stop at every photopass photographer we see unless the line is really long, and we just check back each time we pass. One time there can be 10 people in line and a little while later the photographer is just standing there.

Sometimes my shots of my son are better, sometimes theirs are. We had well over 150 pictures on our last CD. I also love them at the water park. We do have a water proof pocket camera but again, I like getting a good family shot.\

If it were not for photopass we wouldn't have these 2 pictures of my son, which are of my favorite memory from that trip. We were at Character Connection. We had just seen Minnie and were waiting for the next one. The kid with Mickey was still with Mickey and Minnie was just standing there. She came over, grabbed my son and started dancing with him. I was so surprised and smiling enjoying the moment I didn't pick up my camera and take pictures. The photopass guy was on the ball and got these 2 shots.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

We had almost 80 pictures in our Photopass account at the end of the week. Now, there were 3- 5 poses from the same photographer on some of them but we definitely got a wide variety with ours. Especially on our MNSSHP night when we had pictures down with 7 different photographers... the last one was my favorite of the whole week... he made us stand there and wait FOREVER and he kept saying "It'll be worth it, it'll be worth it. Just wait with me."

So we stood there smiling like idiots forever and finally he said "here we go!" and he snapped our picture just as the small fireworks went off on the stage for the Villains show! THe pic came out really awesome--and it was worth the wait.

I think that if you want a lot of photopass pics you really have to seek them out. I did some reading beforehand about where to find the ones that do the "magic" poses and we hunted down several of those. Plus, there are at most of the character meet and greets so if you do a lot of those, you end up with more pictures (we probably had 15 pictures just from the kids meeting Buzz and Woody!)

That happened to us 2 years ago and the picture alone is PRICELESS. My was 2 1/2 yrs old and when I show people that pictures they love it so much and think I paid alot of money for photo effects.

If you were to prepurchase a CD, I would try to get the most of it. I try to get at least 50 photos a day...meeting a characters (especially Epcot character meet and greet I got over 75 pictures b/c I told all the photographer that we prepurchase the CD...they take from the time my son walks up to the characters and his expressions, when he asked for their signature and the posing with him and then a family pictures and one time Chip and Dale was playing hide and seek and Goofy dancing around...great pictures).
We went to see Mickey and it was our son 3rd birthday and the CM had a private meeting with Mickey for 10 mins and Photopass photograher captured 40 pictures.
We had alot of good experience and alot of not so good but if I can get a few pictures and especially great family photo op then I'm happy and makes it worth it. In a few years the pictures is what you'll always have and look at.

 

[Avery&Todd]

our first trip to WDW we didnt use the Photopass - and Im not even sure I really knew about it until we got there....

but I realized when we got home that we had one "family" picture - and it was from our dinner at Ohana's...and that was it - every other picture we were missing someone..

so, the trip this year, I bought the cd ahead of time and DH and I were on the lookout for photograpers and every morning on the way into MK, we had our picture taken - and we had it taken in front of the Castle..you see, I was on the hunt for the PERECT picture to be our Christmas picture..and I got it!!

for our 5 day trip we eneded up with like 50 or so pics taken, and after I edited and changed them, I got like 80..and to me it was worth the $99..

and Im making picture calendars for the grandparents again this year, and I'll be able to use those pics in the calendar too!

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

i think we did over 300 pictures. We stopped everytime we seen them haha

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

You're not missing anything.

Most of our images from the last week of September were out of focus and/or dark.

Never again.

 

[Raenstoirm]

Another huge fan here. I wouldnt go without it. It is usually just Dh and myself so getting two of us together is a pain. This trip we had 2 pics that were too dark to use, but that is the first time in over 700 unique photos (over the course of a few years) so I cant complain. Most of the best pics come with the characters though, I will say. This past trip (9 days- 2 adults- 3 mnsshp) we ended up with 102 shots. I think I printed about 40 or so. Well worth the price imho.

 

[supersuperwendy]

It's a shame you only got 15 pictures. We try to stop and get pic taken by nearly every photopass person we see. We do some of just the kids as a group...or just hubby and me, or all of us..or some of the kids individually. That gives us LOTS of pics on our CD. My hubby is our fastpass runner and he gets a lot of himself when he's off getting fastpasses. They are so funny and some of my favorites. We have tons of him with Stitch We even found a photopass photographer in the Wilderness Lodge lobby who took some beautiful family portraits that I LOVE! We are big photopass fans!

 

[GBBTomorrow]

I like Photopass for long trips, or for a 'special' trip where I want insurance that I'll have the keepsake photo I need/want. We went for ten days last year, shared a Photopass CD with brother-in-law's family, and we had over 300 pictures among us, which was over 500 by the time we finished editing. For such a long trip, we felt it was a great value. We even used one of the prints for our Costco photo Christmas cards, since they give you the release form that allows you to make your own prints. Especially splitting the cost between two families, for us it was a bargain.

Now, we're going for a weekend trip soon, and I don't think I'll pop for a CD just for a few days.

 

[Sorsha]

I am glad we used it... it was nice to have pictures with EVERYONE in them.

I think by the time I got done editing and adding borders there were about 150 pictures in my account. We did the prepay CD thing, but we also went as part of a Grand Gathering Group, and each of the three sub-groups had their own card - we combined them into one account at the end of the trip. When you consider that the 150 (post-edit) pictures are the result of *3* (!!) cards, that means not very many pictures were taken. We did not take advantage of any of the character opportunities (except once at MNSSHP one night) - we just are not that interested in the characters, and we were short on time this trip.

We used the cards the most at MNSSHP. It was very nice to have the option to use it then. Let's face it, most people's cameras/cell phones don't take very good pictures at night/in the dark unless you have invested significant money into your equipment. We have wonderful shots of the party and everyone in their costumes thanks to PhotoPass.

I do think, however, that they need to have PhotoPass photographers in MANY more varied locations. I would like to see them in some of the more hidden areas of the parks, so that if we want our picture taken by the Tikis or the Jungle Cruise in Adventureland, or in front of Space Mountain in Tomorrowland, someone is wandering around there to do it. It would also be nice to have one wandering around in each of the countries on Epcot to capture the hidden gems of the architecture and the special things there. One at each resort would be nice too... most people spend an exorbitant amount of money on their resort choice, I am sure they would appreciate the chance to have pictures taken there too.

 

[dmccarty]

Wow. I did not know Photo Pass costs $100.

Where I go the camera goes so we have never looked at Photo Pass. Always wondered what it costs.

I looked at Disney jobs a few months ago. Photographers started at around $10 an hour. I was shocked that the pay was that low.

Later,
Dan

 

[Tiger926]

We also don't find value in it either. We have exceptional digital cameras, and take better photos than the Photopass CMs, who are not professional photographers anyway.

It could be good for family shots in which all members are present, as lots of times, people are missing from shots.

I also don't understand when people get excited about how many shots they have after editing. It's the same shot!

We find the quality of the photos not to be great - they also lower the resolution big time, which is a big pet peeve of mine.

Tiger