How do I do this? Re: Photopass+

[mommy2mygirls]

We're going to WDW in about 3 weeks. I already pre-ordered the regular photopass before the price increase, so I got it for $99. But now I'm thinking it might be worth paying for the photopass+ because we are doing 4 of the character meals that are included, plus I'm sure we'll do all of the rides. So buying pictures at each of these would cost way more than the extra $100 of the photopass. But how exactly does it work? Do I need to do something before I leave? Do you get the photopass+ while you're down there and do I request a refund of my pre-purchase photopass? I'm just confused on how this one works and I couldn't really find any answers on the Disney Photopass website. Thanks!

 

[OceanAnnie]

We're going to WDW in about 3 weeks. I already pre-ordered the regular photopass before the price increase, so I got it for $99. But now I'm thinking it might be worth paying for the photopass+ because we are doing 4 of the character meals that are included, plus I'm sure we'll do all of the rides. So buying pictures at each of these would cost way more than the extra $100 of the photopass. But how exactly does it work? Do I need to do something before I leave? Do you get the photopass+ while you're down there and do I request a refund of my pre-purchase photopass? I'm just confused on how this one works and I couldn't really find any answers on the Disney Photopass website. Thanks!

You get the character meal photos with Photopass. At least the character meals we went to, we did. The rides are a new addition since we went.

You don't have to purchase any *paper* pictures. You have purchased the rights to all of the pictures taken. This is what I did. I came home. I put the bells and whistles on the pictures I wanted. Submitted. Waited for the discs. Then I uploaded the pictures to Wal-greens and used them to print my pictures. They have great deals, a fraction of what you would pay at Disney. Great quality too. Never had a bad picture from them. Crystal clear. You can choose which store, and to pay on pick up. And you can get your pictures in an hour. Love it!

I got a family pack of some of my favorites. It included wallet sized pictures. Wal-greens has free 8x10s sometimes too. Sign up with their photo shop (I guess you call it that) if one is near you. Once you are on their list, they will e-mail you all sorts of deals. They do 7 days of deals which is really nice. Lots of times it's free photos. Gotta love that!

HTH! Photopass is so much fun. A great value for us!

 

[Reddy]

We're going to WDW in about 3 weeks. I already pre-ordered the regular photopass before the price increase, so I got it for $99. But now I'm thinking it might be worth paying for the photopass+ because we are doing 4 of the character meals that are included, plus I'm sure we'll do all of the rides. So buying pictures at each of these would cost way more than the extra $100 of the photopass. But how exactly does it work? Do I need to do something before I leave? Do you get the photopass+ while you're down there and do I request a refund of my pre-purchase photopass? I'm just confused on how this one works and I couldn't really find any answers on the Disney Photopass website. Thanks!

you have to sign up for it there bring a copy of the reciept/email to prove that you already paid the $99 (remember the account name/password in case you have to sign in for them - I'm not sure what they have you do)
make sure you do this first thing otherwise anything done before you got the photopass+ card won't be included -- ask a castmember for exact location unless someone else chimes in with it here

 

[mommy2mygirls]

Thanks! If the character meals are included on the regular photopass, then I think I may just stick with it. The rides would be nice, but they aren't a have-to-have for me, so if any of them are outstanding, I'll just buy them separately. Not worth the $100 just for that. This photopass+ thing just has me so confused!

 

[dzorn]

Thanks! If the character meals are included on the regular photopass, then I think I may just stick with it. The rides would be nice, but they aren't a have-to-have for me, so if any of them are outstanding, I'll just buy them separately. Not worth the $100 just for that. This photopass+ thing just has me so confused!

No character are not included in the regular photopass unless it comes with the meal. CTR photos are included because they come with the dinner. Ohana or 1600 park fare or CM are not normally included with the meal. If you purchase the print package at the meal then you can add it on to your regular photopass.

When we were down in April they said you could upgrade to photopass+ and just pay the difference.

Denise in MI

 

[ladeeesquire]

So where do I sign up for the photopass+??

I have the exact issue as the OP but have already decided to upgrade to the plus for our sept trip --we'll be there 13 nights and are doing a character meal each day so it will definitely be a good value for us.

 

[mommy2mygirls]

No character are not included in the regular photopass unless it comes with the meal. CTR photos are included because they come with the dinner. Ohana or 1600 park fare or CM are not normally included with the meal. If you purchase the print package at the meal then you can add it on to your regular photopass.

When we were down in April they said you could upgrade to photopass+ and just pay the difference.

Denise in MI

Those are 3 of the 4 meals we're doing that are included on the photopass+, so I guess it would be worth upgrading then!

So I guess my question goes back to where can I go to purchase the upgrade?

 

[PoohsFan1]

you have to sign up for it there bring a copy of the reciept/email to prove that you already paid the $99 (remember the account name/password in case you have to sign in for them - I'm not sure what they have you do)
make sure you do this first thing otherwise anything done before you got the photopass+ card won't be included -- ask a castmember for exact location unless someone else chimes in with it here

Thanks for this info...I am going to go and print my pre-order receipt and put it with my other Disney information .

OP, I have read that you can upgrade your photopass at any photopass kiosk, not sure if that means at just the parks or if you can do it at any of the locations in each of the resorts (if you are staying onsite of course).

 

[mommy2mygirls]

Thanks for this info...I am going to go and print my pre-order receipt and put it with my other Disney information .

OP, I have read that you can upgrade your photopass at any photopass kiosk, not sure if that means at just the parks or if you can do it at any of the locations in each of the resorts (if you are staying onsite of course).

Thanks, I just saw that too, to go to the photopass kiosks. I've actually never been to a photopass kiosk! I've always just taken the photopasses home and looked at everything after we got back. Does anyone know where any are located? I'm assuming there would be one on Main Street? We are staying onsite at POR. Do they have a photopass kiosk? I'm going to go print my preorder receipt before I forget!

 

[PoohsFan1]

Thanks, I just saw that too, to go to the photopass kiosks. I've actually never been to a photopass kiosk! I've always just taken the photopasses home and looked at everything after we got back. Does anyone know where any are located? I'm assuming there would be one on Main Street? We are staying onsite at POR. Do they have a photopass kiosk? I'm going to go print my preorder receipt before I forget!

Yes there is one on Main Street, it used to be right next to Tony's Town Square, right where Mickey and the Princesses M&G, but I am not sure if they moved it since they have the M&Gs there....if you go to disneyphotopass.com, they tell you where all the kiosk locations are at. As for the resorts, there are kiosks in all the main lobbies.

 

[ladeeesquire]

Yes there is one on Main Street, it used to be right next to Tony's Town Square, right where Mickey and the Princesses M&G, but I am not sure if they moved it since they have the M&Gs there....if you go to disneyphotopass.com, they tell you where all the kiosk locations are at. As for the resorts, there are kiosks in all the main lobbies.

do you know for sure that there's one at All Star Movies?

 

[PoohsFan1]

I did some checking around and I guess I was wrong about all the different lobbies having the kiosks. However, most Deluxe Resorts have them in their lobbies. Sorry for the confusion . Don't know what I was thinking

 

[Raenstoirm]

Just did it last week. It was a MAJOR pain, but might be worth it to do it again. I went to the photopass store at MK (in the same door as Tonys, Mickey and the Princess). They had to call headquarters to verify my preorder, wait on hold, then had me fill out this form to do the upgrade (I had paid $99) and then pay the extra $100. It took about 20 minutes by the time I was set to go. They might have the process streamlined by the time you go though since it had only been available for 2 weeks when I signed up.
My real issue is standing in line at each ride. There is no photopass plus area. You have to get in line at each ride to "buy" the photo just like people that are actually buying. Our first few days the park was really busy and I just skipped a few pics since I wasnt willing to stand in a 20 minute line to get my pic after standing in a line to ride the ride. The splash que was maybe 20 people deep one day and that is just not worth it for us! I am hoping disney makes as "express" line for the photopass plus people at some point, kinda like test track used to have or just a way to cut into the real line to get your card scanned by the teller person since it only takes 20 seconds.

 

[luvmyguyz]

It would be cool if they had self-service kiosks at the ride exit so people can add their photo to their photopass+ on their own and cut down on the wait time. Of course, I guess that means weirdos could then load other people's pictures onto their cards....hmmmm

I read that "print packages" for some dining locations are also included when you get photopass+. Does that mean you get the photos right away as if you had paid for them sperately (like when you buy the Chef Mickey photo package?) If so, I think that photopass+ is worth the extra $100. But it seems like a big hassle to get an upgrade from a pre-purchased photopass cd, so maybe it's better to avoid doing that and just buy the photopass+ when you arrive at the park?

 

[mommy2mygirls]

Just did it last week. It was a MAJOR pain, but might be worth it to do it again. I went to the photopass store at MK (in the same door as Tonys, Mickey and the Princess). They had to call headquarters to verify my preorder, wait on hold, then had me fill out this form to do the upgrade (I had paid $99) and then pay the extra $100. It took about 20 minutes by the time I was set to go. They might have the process streamlined by the time you go though since it had only been available for 2 weeks when I signed up.
My real issue is standing in line at each ride. There is no photopass plus area. You have to get in line at each ride to "buy" the photo just like people that are actually buying. Our first few days the park was really busy and I just skipped a few pics since I wasnt willing to stand in a 20 minute line to get my pic after standing in a line to ride the ride. The splash que was maybe 20 people deep one day and that is just not worth it for us! I am hoping disney makes as "express" line for the photopass plus people at some point, kinda like test track used to have or just a way to cut into the real line to get your card scanned by the teller person since it only takes 20 seconds.

Hmm, maybe it would be better to just request a refund of my pre-order, then just buy the photopass+ when we get there? I don't think my kids will be happy standing around for 20 minutes when we get there!

 

[hicksticks]

Ok, just got back from out first WDW trip (April 27 - May 7) and this is my first post.

Photopass+ was totally worth it for us. We had a pin for the Dining Plan, and this being our first ever trip we did 7 Character Meals (maybe overkill but it was fun). We got actual physical Photos at each character meal that are included with the Photopass+. We got one at Ohana, Chef Mickey, Tusker, CRT (included anyway), Akurshus (excuse my spelling) and 1900.

The only one we didn't get a photo for was Garden Grill, but they don't take one.

I was just expecting the picture to be added to my photopass account, but the actual photo and frame at each restaurant was a nice surprise.

Also, we got lots of ride photos (they are just added to the photopass account - not physical photo) but I could download them as soon as I got home last night.

We also did the Pirate's League, and were given physical photos there too, but I'm not sure if that was because of photopass+ or just the actual Pirate League package.

 

[JMSMommy]

I upgraded on 4/28 - it took at least 15 minutes. I did it on a day we weren't trying to get to something quickly, and Dh went ahead and got Fast Passes for Space Mountain.

Adding the ride photos WAS a pain sometimes because you had to wait in the same lines as people purchasing a physical photo. The CMs were able to process it quickly, but limited number of CMs and more and more people doing the PhotoPass+

Also, we did Pirates League, and we showed them the PhotoPass+, we got the physical photo in a folder and a receipt we had to take to the photopass kiosk at the front of the park and they added the rest of the photos from it. We were told they were "testing" that feature.

We did NOT do any dining with photos this trip.

I would totally do it again too. Ride photos are going to be FUN in our scrapbook this time.

 

[nannye]

Hmm, maybe it would be better to just request a refund of my pre-order, then just buy the photopass+ when we get there? I don't think my kids will be happy standing around for 20 minutes when we get there!

It probably won't take 20 min to upgrade from your preordered photo pass to photopass + . It is when you get the ride photos, if you want them you'll have to wait in line for them like anyone else.

 

[Miksma]

I prepaid 149.99 for the photopass CD and album. If I want to upgrade to plus, will they charge me $50 and I forfeit the album, or do they assume $99.99 went toward the CD and charge me $100?