Everything PhotoPass & Memory Maker

[JoanneAZ]

Just an FYI. I’m currently at WDW and was trying to download on ride photos without success. I can view them with the app on my iPhone which was updated to version 5.0 but, it won’t let me download them. It wants me to purchase Memory Maker even though I did that before my trip. When I tried to link my MM number, it said that number was already linked to an account and gave a phone number to call (the number they gave is actually the number to the special events ticket line). However, I can view and download them on my iPad which is still the old version 4.1. I called and spoke with a rep in Disney’s IT dept. She said they are aware of the problem and are working on it. Just wanted to pass the info along in case someone else was having the same issue.

 

[Tomh]

I have the Memory Maker. They do not. They have no photos for me to want to see. I thought that since she is linked to me and and has the ability to see my photopass photos then her family's MBs would be included as well. It appears that isn't the case.

I'm not completely sure what you are trying to accomplish.

There is a difference between being able to SEE someone's photopass photos, and being able to DOWNLOAD them as part of the Memory Maker. You do not need to have Memory Maker to see someone's photos. As long as you are connected to them via MDE Friends and Family, you can see their photos, and they can see yours (depending on whether you have checked the box for sharing Photopass Photos). However, that connection must be direct.

If there are 3 people going to Disney World. Person one is connected to person 2 through Friends and Family. Person 2 is connected to person 3 through friends and family. Person one can see their own photos, and the photos from person 2, but can not see the photos from person 3. Person 2 can see their own, as well as those from person 1 and person 3. Person 3 can see their own, as well as those from person 2, but can not see photos from person 1.

If one person buys Memory Maker, that person can download any of the photos that they see, but no one else can download photos. So, if person one buys Memory Maker, he can download his own photos, and the photos from person 2. He can then give person 2 a copy of their photos. He will not be able to download photos for person 3. Additionally, person 2 can not download any photos, they can only get their photos from person one after he downloads them.

If person 2 were to buy Memory Maker, since they are directly connected both to person 1, and person 3, they would be able to download everyone's photos. If Person 3 were to buy the Memory Maker, then they would be able to download photos only for themselves, and person 2.

I hope that this explanation gives you the answer you are looking for, since I'm not 100% clear what it is you are hoping to accomplish.

 

[MousetersInc]

I'm looking at our PhotoPasses right now and just thought I'd share our experience and conclusion. Short answer: I regret not buying Memory Maker in advance.

We weighed the pros and cons before the trip and said, "Look, you only break even if you want more than ca 17 photos. We're not planning lots of character meetings, we'll bring our phones and point-&-shoot—maybe there will be the occasional must-have PhotoPass shot, but I don't see us wanting more than 17." Now that I'm counting them up, yes, there are only 7 must-haves, but about 22 would-like-to-haves. Things I didn't know beforehand as a first-timer:

1. Some of the most must-haves are ride shots; you aren't going to be taking your own of those! (Or I don't think it's smart to try, anyway.) They're like sports shots; in many of them you're making a dumb face and have your eyes closed. But a few capture that moment of pure terrified glee. (One tip that came in very handy: When you get off the ride and the TV screens are showing your shot, snap a phone pic of yours. I was doing so saying "Well, maybe we'll buy the real one later, but this way at least we've got a copy." That was incorrect rhetoric; the phone pics were blurry and undesirable even when the PhotoPass was desirable. But I had a couple of "not linked" photos, and it was very easy to fill out Disney's lost photo form and say "oh, here, I'm attaching a snapshot of the actual photo, showing the ID.")
2. Having Memory Maker in advance would have changed our picture-taking behavior. I'd imagined we would have been solicited by photographers at popular spots, but no, you have to ask (and often wait) for them. If we'd paid a flat rate in advance, I'm sure we would have stopped for more PhotoPass shots. This would have slowed us down, but I think not by too much and in a good way, and would have made the purchase that much more worth it (in a kind of self-fulfilling circular way).
3. Know when to fold 'em. We figured, "the photos we take ourselves are mostly going to be missing one family member. Let's ask a photographer for at least a couple with all four of us." And of course we handed them our camera too to get "free" whole-family shots. But both times, it was afternoon and the sun was right in our eyes, and there's only one keeper out of dozens of shots. The Cinderella's Castle ones are just ridiculous; we were yelling at the girls not to complain about the sun in their eyes and both parents have their eyes closed or squinted or contorted in every one. Grab your planned PhotoPass shots at sunrise, sunset, whatever gives a nice light that isn't in your eyes.
4. We only did one character meeting, and it was unplanned ("Look Daddy, the line for Jasmine is like 10 minutes"). Instead, we had a lot of character meetings during dining experiences—Snow White, Cinderella's Royal Table, and Tusker House. Word to the Wise, the at-your-table meetings (in our experience) don't come with a photographer in tow. Our PhotoPasses are the Evil Queen (keeper) and Cinderella downstairs—no Snow White, Dopey, Grumpy, or any of the princesses upstairs. Have your cameras ready, take good shots, and use flash (assuming you're using a phone or point-&-shoot and not packing a fixed focal length SLR). Tusker had nice natural light and came out great, but the others are grainy. Yes, flash looks awful, but it might make the difference between keeper or not.
5. Memory Maker includes videos. Most of the videos are just taking your still shot and adding some animated characters walking across it, but Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Tower of Terror produce an excellent video that really commemorates the ride experience and captures your expression in slow-mo. These are not purchasable individually. (True, I found that it's relatively easy to download them in 720p, which is probably full res. The steps to do so are, I feel, non-intrusive enough that they're perfectly ethical, but I'm not going to detail them here; suffice it to say that the video is publicly available as a whole file and not save-protected. But it would be a bit easier to be able to download them along with the stills.)

 

[Tomh]

I'm looking at our PhotoPasses right now and just thought I'd share our experience and conclusion. Short answer: I regret not buying Memory Maker in advance.

We weighed the pros and cons before the trip and said, "Look, you only break even if you want more than ca 17 photos. We're not planning lots of character meetings, we'll bring our phones and point-&-shoot—maybe there will be the occasional must-have PhotoPass shot, but I don't see us wanting more than 17." Now that I'm counting them up, yes, there are only 7 must-haves, but about 22 would-like-to-haves. Things I didn't know beforehand as a first-timer:

1. Some of the most must-haves are ride shots; you aren't going to be taking your own of those! (Or I don't think it's smart to try, anyway.) They're like sports shots; in many of them you're making a dumb face and have your eyes closed. But a few capture that moment of pure terrified glee. (One tip that came in very handy: When you get off the ride and the TV screens are showing your shot, snap a phone pic of yours. I was doing so saying "Well, maybe we'll buy the real one later, but this way at least we've got a copy." That was incorrect rhetoric; the phone pics were blurry and undesirable even when the PhotoPass was desirable. But I had a couple of "not linked" photos, and it was very easy to fill out Disney's lost photo form and say "oh, here, I'm attaching a snapshot of the actual photo, showing the ID.")
2. Having Memory Maker in advance would have changed our picture-taking behavior. I'd imagined we would have been solicited by photographers at popular spots, but no, you have to ask (and often wait) for them. If we'd paid a flat rate in advance, I'm sure we would have stopped for more PhotoPass shots. This would have slowed us down, but I think not by too much and in a good way, and would have made the purchase that much more worth it (in a kind of self-fulfilling circular way).
3. Know when to fold 'em. We figured, "the photos we take ourselves are mostly going to be missing one family member. Let's ask a photographer for at least a couple with all four of us." And of course we handed them our camera too to get "free" whole-family shots. But both times, it was afternoon and the sun was right in our eyes, and there's only one keeper out of dozens of shots. The Cinderella's Castle ones are just ridiculous; we were yelling at the girls not to complain about the sun in their eyes and both parents have their eyes closed or squinted or contorted in every one. Grab your planned PhotoPass shots at sunrise, sunset, whatever gives a nice light that isn't in your eyes.
4. We only did one character meeting, and it was unplanned ("Look Daddy, the line for Jasmine is like 10 minutes"). Instead, we had a lot of character meetings during dining experiences—Snow White, Cinderella's Royal Table, and Tusker House. Word to the Wise, the at-your-table meetings (in our experience) don't come with a photographer in tow. Our PhotoPasses are the Evil Queen (keeper) and Cinderella downstairs—no Snow White, Dopey, Grumpy, or any of the princesses upstairs. Have your cameras ready, take good shots, and use flash (assuming you're using a phone or point-&-shoot and not packing a fixed focal length SLR). Tusker had nice natural light and came out great, but the others are grainy. Yes, flash looks awful, but it might make the difference between keeper or not.
5. Memory Maker includes videos. Most of the videos are just taking your still shot and adding some animated characters walking across it, but Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Tower of Terror produce an excellent video that really commemorates the ride experience and captures your expression in slow-mo. These are not purchasable individually. (True, I found that it's relatively easy to download them in 720p, which is probably full res. The steps to do so are, I feel, non-intrusive enough that they're perfectly ethical, but I'm not going to detail them here; suffice it to say that the video is publicly available as a whole file and not save-protected. But it would be a bit easier to be able to download them along with the stills.)

Lots of valuable lessons here, thanks for sharing!

This is the first time I've heard the suggestion of snapping a photo of the display monitor so that you could use that in the event of a ride photo not linking properly. Great idea!

The sun in the eyes is going to be a very common theme with outdoor photos. The reason why is two fold. Number one, if the sun is behind the subject (you in the case of Photopass) it will cause the photo to expose poorly. The sun will be bright, but everything in the foreground (which again, will be you) will be very dark, and underexposed making for a poor photo. Number two, kind of the same idea, but if the sun is behind the photographer, then that means it is shining directly on their subject (again, you, sadly, in your eyes) and giving them fantastic lighting. For this reason, the vast majority of outdoor photos will be shot with the sun behind the photographer, and directly in your eyes. My suggestion, wear sunglasses for your outdoor photos. While that means your eyes won't be visible, it also means you won't be squinting, and listening to your kids complain about the sun in their eyes

You are correct that character interactions at your table during dining events does not include a photopass photographer. Handlers, and waitstaff are often willing to use your camera to grab a family photo if you ask though.

Thank you for NOT sharing your methods for downloading the video. I will have to respectfully disagree about it being ethical. They are creating, and selling that video as part of their business to earn money. Downloading it without paying for it, no matter the methodology, is not something that we view as being ethical, and not something that we are going to discuss here on the DIS.

 

[wvjules]

Thanks Tom. I think I get it. I don’t care if anyone but me can download pictures. That’s no big deal.

Using your scenario...person 1 has Memory Maker.

Person 1 is connected to person 2. Person 2 manages persons 3,4,5,6 (who do not have their own MDE).

When persons 3, 4,5,6 gets photos taken will they show up in person 1s photos?

I’m probably not explaining this well lol

Also, if I plan to get an AP when I arrive should I cancel MM now and get a refund or will they do that at the time of the upgrade?

Thanks for all of your help.

 

[Tomh]

Thanks Tom. I think I get it. I don’t care if anyone but me can download pictures. That’s no big deal.

Using your scenario...person 1 has Memory Maker.

Person 1 is connected to person 2. Person 2 manages persons 3,4,5,6 (who do not have their own MDE).

When persons 3, 4,5,6 gets photos taken will they show up in person 1s photos?

I’m probably not explaining this well lol

Also, if I plan to get an AP when I arrive should I cancel MM now and get a refund or will they do that at the time of the upgrade?

Thanks for all of your help.

You explained that much better, I understand what you are driving at now. In order for person 1 to see the photos for person 3, 4, 5 and 6, they would still need to invite those persons to their friends and family list, and have person 2 accept those invites. Even though person 3, 4, 5 and 6 are managed by person 1, they still need to be treated as separate people for the purposes of photo pass sharing.

In short, if a person isn't listed on your Friends and Family list, you will not be able to see their photos. If you can't see their photos, you will not be able to download them.

 

[TinkPearl]

Hello. I just got back from my trip and downloaded my pics. I've done Photopass many times in the past and have always been able to add cute borders with the year, etc. to our pics. Is that not an option anymore?

 

[sherlockmiles]

Hello. I just got back from my trip and downloaded my pics. I've done Photopass many times in the past and have always been able to add cute borders with the year, etc. to our pics. Is that not an option anymore?

Correct.

 

[Mrjoshua]

I've been looking back in some of the posts regarding missing photos, and was wondering if there is a specific email or tech support number that I can contact. Some of my photos are missing, and I wanted to inquire about them.

 

[Tomh]

I've been looking back in some of the posts regarding missing photos, and was wondering if there is a specific email or tech support number that I can contact. Some of my photos are missing, and I wanted to inquire about them.

https://mydisneyphotopass.disney.go.com/help-and-support/lost-media

 

[erionm]

Hello. I just got back from my trip and downloaded my pics. I've done Photopass many times in the past and have always been able to add cute borders with the year, etc. to our pics. Is that not an option anymore?

It's still an option using the Apple version of the MDE mobile app.

The Android version of MDE and the MDE website no longer support editing.

 

[Tomh]

It's still an option using the Apple version of the MDE mobile app.

The Android version of MDE and the MDE website no longer support editing.

I had no idea it was still working on Apple. Thanks for sharing that with us!

 

[Mrjoshua]

https://mydisneyphotopass.disney.go.com/help-and-support/lost-media

Thank you very much!

 

[rider7]

Is there a way to only purchase one video from one of the days instead of purchasing the full memory maker?

 

[Tomh]

Is there a way to only purchase one video from one of the days instead of purchasing the full memory maker?

I know you can purchase just one Photo, I'm not 100% certain about the video's though.

 

[rider7]

I know you can purchase just one Photo, I'm not 100% certain about the video's though.

I found out that if you purchase a photo for the ride with the video, the video automatically comes with it for free.

 

[Tomh]

I found out that if you purchase a photo for the ride with the video, the video automatically comes with it for free.

Great piece of info, thanks for sharing! I was not at all certain how that worked.

 

[michellelovesthemous]

Sorry if this was asked before But I am getting ready to purchase our MNSSHP tickets and I was wondering if I add memory maker to it to get it out of the way it does not begin until I use it for the first time on August 18th right? It just sits there paid but inactive until then?

 

[Robo]

Sorry if this was asked before But I am getting ready to purchase our MNSSHP tickets and I was wondering if I add memory maker to it to get it out of the way it does not begin until I use it for the first time on August 18th right? It just sits there paid but inactive until then?

Yup.

 

[Tomh]

Sorry if this was asked before But I am getting ready to purchase our MNSSHP tickets and I was wondering if I add memory maker to it to get it out of the way it does not begin until I use it for the first time on August 18th right? It just sits there paid but inactive until then?

Memory Maker actually does not become "activated" until you download your first photo. You could buy a memory maker today, go to the parks tomorrow, and have some photos taken, and decide that you don't want any. As long as you don't download them, the Memory Maker will sit there waiting for you. You could then take a trip in October, and have photos taken then, and at that point, download your first photo, and that would be when the Memory Maker would become active.