sgmom said:
Can you tell me what photopass is? I've heard about it, but who takes the photos and when?
At all 4 parks, Disney has photographers standing around. There are usually many, or at least several, within view of each of the 4 main icons of the parks (Cinderella Castle, Spaceship Earth, Tree of Life, Big Stupid Hat). They aren't limited to those spots, though. I've had PP pics taken at the exit of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in MK, in Asia with Expedition Everest in the background across the lake in AK, in front of Mission:Space at Epcot, in front of Rock 'n' Roller Coaster at MGM, etc. All PP photographers wear the same uniform, so you can learn to spot them.
You go up to a photographer and ask to have your pic taken. They take your pic. They'll ask if you have a PhotoPass yet. If you don't, they give you one. It's credit card-sized thin plastic, and has a barcode. They then scan your card, so that your pics are identified as yours.
Later that day, you can go to a shop near the front of the park to view your photos, and buy them if you want. However, what, in my opinion, is most convenient is you can wait 'til you get home and access all of the photos on the Internet.
If you leave your PhotoPass in your room one day, no problem. Just get another one. At a later time you can link all of your cards into one account. Two trips ago we had 4 cards, and this last trip we grew better memories and needed only 2 cards. On our last trip, we had 85 photos in our account; most shots were taken 3 times (slightly different angle, tighter shot AND wider shot, etc.), so there were about 30 unique photos. We decided to buy the CD -- we ordered it about 2 weeks ago and we're still waiting for it.
There is no charge for any of this (getting the photos taken, viewing the photos online or at a park). You can buy individual photos (for example, 5 x 7s are $12.95). You can also buy a CD of ALL of your photos for $99. If you buy the CD, you also get, in writing, the copyright to the photos, meaning you can get them printed anywhere.
This thread is about Disney's PhotoMovie, where they take your still photos and add music and some interstitial animation and neat transitions to make it into an entertaining way to present your photos. They can be your own photos or PhotoPass photos. However, the website is down until sometime in January. I plan on buying one at that time, and since I already bought the Photopass CD I'll have access to all of my PhotoPass pics for inclusion in the movie, but most of the movie will be comprised of pics we took ourselves.
I'm use to going to the local theme parks that hand you the slip of paper and then we never go back because we know the way the photos will look! And with our own group shots, I'm usually the one behind the camera.
