Disney Photo Session PART II

[2Tiggies]

I booked a couple weeks ago & emailed them earlier this week to confirm I'll still get the $99.95 price. They replied last night saying that I would. I'll definitely be watching my credit card to make sure they put the charges through correctly.

I am just thinking you should be fine. No harm checking but last year a week after I booked ours, they removed the prints from the $99 package. But since I had booked before the change they said they would honor it - and they did, without me making mention of it on the day.

 

[Sapper383]

I can't believe how much it's gone up.....do people still think its still worth the price???

 

[Lisa S.]

It's all about one's personal definition of worth. I don't have any recent pictures of me and my mom together - especially at one of the Disney resorts, so even at the increased price if I can get even one good shot it's totally worth it to me. What the price used to be, and what one got for that price really has no meaning for me.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I can't believe how much it's gone up.....do people still think its still worth the price???

Personally I wouldn't have done it before for the lesser price because it was Photopass photographers. Not all Photopass photographers are novices but I've seen so many that are. Our last prepurchased Photopass CD had over 200 pictures on it. I think 2 or 3 of those were worth printing. None were frame-worthy. To me, risking $50 (or whatever the price used to be) on something I hope will turn out good is more disturbing than spending $150 for a quality product.

If ending up with truly great portraits is an absolute must I would recommend splurging for the full shabang because you get the benefit of retouching & editing. Any private photographer (not Sears or Walmart or those kinds of studios) will charge at least the amount of the hour-long session. You'd be hard-pressed to get a cd with all those retouched/edited images on it and a copyright release for that little. That's just my perspective, tho.

 

[2Tiggies]

I can't believe how much it's gone up.....do people still think its still worth the price???

It's all about one's personal definition of worth. I don't have any recent pictures of me and my mom together - especially at one of the Disney resorts, so even at the increased price if I can get even one good shot it's totally worth it to me. What the price used to be, and what one got for that price really has no meaning for me.

It's not that it's not worth it to me - it still is. It's just that I had not budgeted for that kind of price hike overnight. I am not oblivious to the fact that prices are being adjusted everywhere and would have had no problem with a $20 or so increase but I am not sure that I am willing to cough up the extra $50 for the same thing I had last year. We were fortunate in that we had a fantastic photographer last year, so where it is true that it is hit and miss, we definitely struck gold with ours. Although I have not written off the idea entirely, it now has me thinking that it would be cheaper to just do an extra MNSSHP and dedicate the greater portion of that evening to Photopass shots - something that we didn't do last year as DD was more interested in the rides, trick or treat trails, dance parties and parade/fireworks. Now I know that this is totally different, but the fact that I am contemplating the above as an alternative given the price hike is indicative of just how this is bothering me.

The other alternative is to blow the budget right out of the water and spend the $400 for the big session and add the CD to that. In a way, I think that this may well be better value, although certainly not an option for everyone. Decisions, decisions

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Yikes - a price jump already.

 

[wdwmaw]

Posted this on other thread also, just wanted to vent I guess but we will not be doing this again. We loved our photo sessions in the past but this year has changed our mind. I hope to hear we just had a really bad experience and hope to hear that others are pleased with thier session. Here is what I posted on another thread....

Just back from our vacation and our GF mini photo session was on June 7th at 6pm. We have done the photo session 4 seperate time ( first one way back when it was $25 add on). We have gone through the price changes and had done sessions at GF, Poly and WL.

First I have to say that this was the worst we've every had. I honestly want to complain and feel like we waisted our $100. My DH said we would never do this again. I had been their before and the GF was our favorite photo session so I was looking for specific spots. The last time their we had photos (30 min), we took pictures as a group and inviduals ......
in Leather chairs
in front of windows
second floor balcony
reverse of DD and flower arrangement in mirror
lawn
fountain
beach ( hammock, standing with Poly in back ground and standing around with palms)


The photographer this time ( 30 minutes) was very slow, talked an bunch ( could not talk and shoot at same time), took forever to pose us ( 4 people) and then took forever to get the lighting just right. We shot one pose for multiple shots and didn't even get the kids together or individual....
on the beach sitting ( no poly back ground)
in leather chair
the worst window picture ever

She was 5 minutes late and repeated how sorry she was and that she would take more time if she didn't have another family right after us. Now that we are home the photos are awful. I don't even think I have one good one for our family holiday cards this year.

We won't be doing this again. I hate to complain and never do but I really want to complain about this one.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Wdwmaw, did you send your negative experience particulars to the Fine Arts Photography people? I've also read another review that said the photographer had problems with their camera which cut into their time on one of the 30 minute sessions. I hate to hear that. If you haven't written an email or letter you should. Personally, I'd include a blurb about how disappointed I am to have to share such a horrible review in the online community. That should make an impression...maybe even prompt them to do something to right the situation, as they should.

 

[GetGlowing]

Definitely write a letter of complaint. If they're going to charge professional private photographer prices, then you should receive professional private photographer service. Period. Don't be afraid to ask for a refund or a partial refund of the fees you paid.

The fact that you have a lot of experience with the photo sessions should lend more weight to your complaint. (One would hope, anyway).

Sorry this was such a bad experience for you! I hate that they've changed it. We had such a great photo session a couple years ago and I recommended it to many people. I would not recommend this based upon what I've heard.

 

[wdwdancerwannabe]

wow --- i have to say --- if that happens to us -- we have plenty of time left in our vacation to go back and do it again --- I would call and demand a "repeat" for free --- all the supervisor has to do is SEE your pics!

 

[toniosmom]

I would definitely complain immediately. They have a copy of your photos on file -- I found this out because I was unable to view the CD until we got home (they don't show it to you) and was concerned that there might be a problem. I was assured that they would simply send me another CD, which led me to believe they have the photos on record for a while. Since you just went, they must have yours now. You should definitely call and complain. They can tell by the amount of photos that were taken, not to mention the quality, that there was a problem during the session.

I had a session with my son at BCV this past April and had planned to do another with extended family in November. However, with the price hike, I seriously doubt I will go ahead with it.

 

[wdwdancerwannabe]

oh.... i specifically asked if we would be able to view the pictures, and they told me over the phone that we would be able to view at their stand at Poly.....

 

[wdwmaw]

Thanks everybody for the support. I had tried to let it go and not check on your responses but with all the support to email I am going to. I did look on their site for contact information and will let everyone know what I hear back. We did do the session toward the end of the trip and I could not get DH to do it again so I let it go during the trip. We even picked our CD up at the POLY and was hoping to see the photographer we had used on 2 previous trips but he was not their. We really liked him and trusted him and I was going to say something to him but he was not there.

SweetPea_1993 thanks for the tip about the blurb on the online community.

Getglowing I agree with you, before I got a good deal and great pictures, this time I went into it feeling like more of a contract thing with a professional contract and walked away sick. I had seen so many wedding photos posted on here and thought WOW!! thats not some photopass photographer. We got out oportunity, or so I thought, to have some of that photo magic and received the worst pictures we have ever had.

 

[brianheather]

We booked the Mini Session at Animal Kingdom Lodge. (We were staying in Jambo anyway) I was a little nervous about the whole thing and almost changed it to the 350.00 session.. But then came to my senses..
We had about a half hour session and got a total of 65 pictures between the four of us.
I think the pictures came out pretty good. I am just a little disappointed that they do not give you prints anymore. And now that I see that the 99.00 price jumped to 150.00, I don't know how they can justify not including an 8x10.
So here are a few of my favorites.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

wdwmaw, I'll be crossing my fingers for you. I sure hope Disney does the right thing on this one.

Brianheather, your pics are gorgeous! The last one is my favorite...so sassy! Love that!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Thanks for sharing your pictures brianheather!! I think they came out great! I'll be happy if we come out of it with one or two nice shots. I'm a bit nervous about the $99 package that we booked at the Beach Club in November but your photos make me feel a bit better about it. Thanks!!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Great photos Brianheather! Did you pay for the retouching or are those straight out of the camera? They turned out really great!

 

[brianheather]

Great photos Brianheather! Did you pay for the retouching or are those straight out of the camera? They turned out really great!

Straight out of the camera... we had a great photographer... I didn't want to spend the kind of money they charge for the retouching...

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Straight out of the camera... we had a great photographer... I didn't want to spend the kind of money they charge for the retouching...

Wow, that's great to know!!! The color looks great on them. Do you happen to remember your photog's name?

 

[toniosmom]

oh.... i specifically asked if we would be able to view the pictures, and they told me over the phone that we would be able to view at their stand at Poly.....

When I picked up our CD at the end of the day (our session was in the morning), the guy at the desk said he was only there to give out the discs and had no way to show them to me, even though they had computer screens scrolling various photo sessions.

With the price jump to $150, they should replace the CD with a DVD. Doesn't really add a cost factor for them, but then we would have the ability to play the disc on the TV at the resort, rather than waiting to get access to a computer.

One piece of advice I can pass along......go with whatever the photographer says regarding the background. I had primarily wanted pictures on the beach (which we did do), but then he brought us around under the pirate ship slide and had me sit on a the rock-wall with my son next to me. I thought he was nuts, but those photos are the ones I like the best. Perhaps it was the lighting....who knows.