Getting the most from Photopass?

[pjlla]

Any Photopass "experts" out there? I would like to make the most of my Photopass opportunities on our upcoming trip and wondered if there were any tips or secrets you could share.

And I need to make sure I understand how it works......

My first day I receive a card with my Photopass number. They scan (?) my card and take my picture. From that point on everytime I see a Photopass photographer and want my picture taken, I show them my Photopass card. They scan it and take my picture....etc, etc.

When I get home after my trip I can view my photos online and order a CD of ALL of the photos at a set price.

Do I have it right? What happens if my party splits up one day? If I just give my DH a slip of paper with the Photopass number on it would that work?? And this doesn't apply to ride photos, right?? Those I have to buy while at the ride.

Let me know if you see any glaring errors in how I think this works. And let me know if you have any great suggestions for maximizing my Photopass photos............... Thanks in advance!................P

 

[justintime]

I would also like to know if the photopass photographers wander around, or if they are in set spots. If they are in set spots, is there a way to find out where they are located, so I can make it a point to find them.

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

They are almost always at set spots, in front of the castle, tree of life, hat, etc.... they are always at the character meets, and they are also in any good picture spot. They are very easy to spot. You can have as many cards as you want but then you have to keep up with them. Right now only Test Track offers the chance to put on your photopass, when you get off of the ride you just scan your card under your pic.

Everything sounds good to me.

This site is loaded with photopass info
http://stitchkingdom.com/disneysphotopass/

 

[wewantmore]

I would recommend you and your husband EACH getting a photopass card. Then at the end of the trip you can put both (more if you have them) phototpass card numbers onto one account and one CD.

Michelle

 

[xanman]

Don't forget that if you go to MNSSHP or MVMCP or P&P they will take your pics there too these are added at no charge. Also, we found that it worked best to have everyone get there own card in case you split up and have lots of pics taken. If you have 1 taken in front of the castle, you can go a few feet and there will be another photog, have it taken again, the differences in the photographers can be significant.

 

[xanman]

Found that the best looking pictures were when we did not wear shirts with too much printing on them. In a couple of my pics where they put Tinkerbell in my hands, she disappears into the background printing on my shirt.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

My only tip would be to get in on a group that is doing a Photopass together. Usually the Photopass (to get a cd with all the photos) is around $100. If you go with a group you should only have to pay $20 - $25. There are always people starting up a Photopass group on this board.

We like the Photopass because we can all be in the photo together; Mom isn't always taking the photos.

 

[mybabesuz]

Do the Character Meals... Like Crystal Palace; Liberty Tree CD; Donald Breakfast; Hollywood & Vine...
have photopass photographers or do you need to take your own pictures at these?

 

[FoundMyPrince]

You'll need to take your own photos there.

 

[ranthony]

1. Read the stitchkingdom.com site. Everything you'd want to know is there.

2. Wear matching (or at least solid) shirts. It makes a huge difference.

3. Pre-purchase the CD. You save $25 off the bat and if you don't feel like you're satisfied with the photos Disney will refund your $--so no risk.

4. Tell the photographers that you pre-purchased the CD and ask them to snap away. Most likely they will take more shots of you if they know this in advance.

5. Make a point to stop for photographs whenever you can.

HTH

 

[Pumbaa_]

We did a photopass for the first time last year. There were 9 of us for my parents 45th anniversary. Paid ahead of time to get the discount. Told each family how it worked and to get as many pics as they wanted. We ended up with about 80 pcitures.

Loaded them up when we got hime and spent HOURS cropping, adding borders, and finetuning what we wanted before ordering the CD. It was one of the best souveneirs we got from this trip. And so eas y too!

 

[Promomx2]

I read somewhere that you can have a special photo session at a resort added to the photopass for only $25, but I looked on the photopass site and didn't see anything about it. How do you do that?

 

[Kycha]

Any Photopass "experts" out there? I would like to make the most of my Photopass opportunities on our upcoming trip and wondered if there were any tips or secrets you could share.

And I need to make sure I understand how it works......

My first day I receive a card with my Photopass number. They scan (?) my card and take my picture. From that point on everytime I see a Photopass photographer and want my picture taken, I show them my Photopass card. They scan it and take my picture....etc, etc.

When I get home after my trip I can view my photos online and order a CD of ALL of the photos at a set price.

Do I have it right? What happens if my party splits up one day? If I just give my DH a slip of paper with the Photopass number on it would that work?? And this doesn't apply to ride photos, right?? Those I have to buy while at the ride.

Let me know if you see any glaring errors in how I think this works. And let me know if you have any great suggestions for maximizing my Photopass photos............... Thanks in advance!................P

First of all, I would pre order the Photopass CD. By preodering you would save $25. My understanding is you can have unlimited photos. Plus, you receive the copyright release. Which means you can take the CD to Wal-Mart or Walgreens(or wherever) to have prints made with no problems.
http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx

Second, you can have numerous photopass cards. Once you get home and access your photopass account, you can add all the card numbers to one account. So, you can have a card, your husband can have a card, each of your kids can have a card. One tip I have, make note(I usually just take a picture of each card number) of the card numbers in case the card gets lost. You can still access the photos if you have the card number.

Finally, I know there are some rides that allow you to use the photopass. I know Test Track is one(I don't know about any others). When you exit the ride and get to the bank of photo viewing monitors, there should be a machine somewhere nearby to scan your photopass card.

I suggest you read stitchkingdom's photopass page(as per pp). It has all the info you could possibly need.

Have a great trip!

 

[pjlla]

Thanks for so many great responses! I think I understand it more clearly now.

Okay..... I have gone to the photopass website and "prepurchased" my photo cd. Now I just wait until I am in the parks next week and get a photopass card and start having my pictures taken, right?? And then when I return home I can upload the pictures and start editing, etc.... right?

Thanks again........................P

 

[Illuminations_Rocks]

I copied this from here on the dis:

Additionally, you can schedule a 20 minute one-on-one session with a PhotoPass Photographer at the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. The two package options are:

$49.95 - Sitting Fee only
$124.95 - Sitting Fee plus all of the PhotoPass pictures taken by PhotoPass photographers throughout your stay on a PhotoPass CD
The Grand Floridian session must be booked 30 days prior to arrival. The number to call is: 407-824-1700. If you order this with the pre-arrival savings offer, you pay $24.95 for the sitting fee, a 50% savings. Note that this is the only resort currently offering this service.

And yes, just go to the park and start getting your pictures taken! If you do get more than one card, when you go to enter your photopass numbers you just put them all under the same account. You can also preview any of your photos at the stores in the parks.

 

[pjlla]

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to respond. I think I have a good understanding of how it all works and I look forward to having lots of photos of the WHOLE family for a change! .........................P

 

[Kycha]

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to respond. I think I have a good understanding of how it all works and I look forward to having lots of photos of the WHOLE family for a change! .........................P

It is not necessary to use Photopass to get photos with your whole family. All the photopass photographers will take your pictures using your own camera. DH and I do this all the time. And it would save you some money by not having to purchase the cd. Just wanted to let you know that! Have a great trip!

 

[kitsymmouse]

Thanks for all the great info!! Our pictures always look so bad plus someone
is always missing. Now I don't have to worry about carrying a camera in the parks. Photopass is a great thing.

 

[Tink_Or_Belle]

we always get as many photos as we can on our Cd by having them do a group picture then doing teh group being silly then just the kids (and sometimes just the kids being silly too) unless theer are people waiting for the photographer then we don;t like to take too much time

 

[kate0305]

I just got off the phone with a photopass rep because I was having lots of problems over the weekend. I looked at the discussions on stitchkingdom, and it seems like these were common. So here are the answers I got from her, which may help someone else.

1. available enhancements: they come and go- the advice given was to clear out cookies- this did not work in bringing all of them back. The rep said that there was a time when all enhancements were available, but that crashed the server. Now there can only be 20 options at any given time, and these may change depending on where the photo was taken.
2. Failure to load pictures on site: the sessions kept timing out when I was trying to load the pictures to enhance. The rep said that it was a site problem, but that it was fixed as of this morning.

Other helpful info she gave me. . .a CD only holds about 300 images so if you have more than that, they will put them on 2 CDs at no additional charge! Also if you have 350-400 pictures, the site will move very slowly with loading the pictures and saving enhancements. Also, there can be some compatibility issues with Norton Antivirus firewalls, so if you feel comfortable temporarily disabling your Nortons, this can help solve some problems as well.

The rep I spoke with was fabulous, very helpful, and I just left the message last night, so also prompt with her return call. She gave me a number that she says they answer during normal business hours unless they are on another call with a guest (407-560-1039) if I was to have any future problems. She also extended my pictures for another 3 weeks (for a total of 5 weeks, because I had already requested one extension). The feedback on stitchkingdom.com was fairly negative with regards to customer service, but I had a great experience. However, I have also found that the friendlier and less demanding I am, the service that I get is better than average. I guess there is something to the adage 'You catch more flies with sugar than vinegar'.