Is photopass worth it?

[TheMadScrapper]

Will I regret it if I don't get the disc? This is our first WDW vacation and I don't want to regret not getting it. Is it really worth the money?

I know how it works generally but how many photo spots are there and is there a lot of waiting for your turn to be photographed? What about pics with characters?

 

[Lynn5700]

I think it is worth it..we get it all the time. We take a ton of photopass pics though...this year we left with over 300.

There are certain spots all over the parks..for character pictures you have to wait in line.

 

[Aliceacc]

I'm pretty sure you can pre-order the photopass for $99, and then decide whether or not you want a refund afterwards.

I took this from www.stitchkingdom.com:

"PhotoCD - There are a couple of big ways to save on the PhotoCD. First is by pre-purchasing PhotoCD before your vacation. By doing so, you will save $25 off the price of PhotoCD. You will be emailed a coupon code specific to you that will zero out the cost of the PhotoCD when you're ready to order it. The best part is, it's satisfaction guaranteed. If, after your vacation, you decide you no longer want to purchase the PhotoCD, you can get a refund (restrictions apply, see site for full details)."

 

[natebenma]

From what I have read, you don't even have to decide before you go. Get a card (it's free) when you get to a park and get as many photos as you want or is convenient for your family. At the parks or when you get home, you can look at the photos, make any edits or embellishments you want and when you are ready, THEN pre-order the CD before you check out. You will get a pre-order code to use when it is time to pay.
We had maybe a dozen or twenty photos taken. I had a free 5x7, so I looked at the pictures mid trip and most were not that great. In fact, the CM who helped me told me to go back and retake photos and commented that "you're daughter looks terrible in that one". I have sons.
The photogs will take the picture with your camera as well if you ask. One photog even offered without me asking.
Lines for the photogs were never long and it didn't take much time to snap a picture- we were there last week and in most of our photos we are wearing ponchos.

 

[burberryplaid]

I think it's worth it, especially since it's your first trip.

My rcommendation, check out the bargains board on this website and see if you can get in on a Photopass Share. We did this successfully last trip and for $20 we got all of our photopass CD's. I will definitely be doing a share next time.

 

[The Sweetness]

I didnt get the disc, I made the album online. I cant think about much less look at this beautifull souvie without getting a little teary. Best $80 (about that) I have ever spent. EVER!

 

[puffkin]

We preordered it but then decided that we wanted to do the photo movie instead.....we had no problem getting refunded for the CD.

 

[hiwaygal]

I'm currently editing the photos from our recent trip...I think I'm going to end up with over 400 pics!

Anyway, for me, yes it was worth it! I was able to get a lot of pictures of DH and me with the "icons" and the characters (who knew DH loved the characters so much?? ).

You have to be commited to finding the photopass people and using that service to it's fullest extent! We actively looked for the photopass photographers in every park (you can get a list of where they are) and we also scheduled a resort portrait session too!

I'm considering a photo book but I'll end up getting that from another company (just because of timing...I still have film to develop).

 

[Tanzanite]

I looked at my pictures this morning if you add a border do you also get a picture with no border.Also how many borders can you have say i use one border then i want the same picture wiith a different borderIlooked at the bordersi noticed it put it in the corner can it be moved somewhere else .Please help i am scared to mess this up. I would like to have pictures for all of them with out borders as well thanks.

 

[skifast22]

Are on-ride photo's included, such as test track, splash mountain, etc?

 

[becky_AK]

Are on-ride photo's included, such as test track, splash mountain, etc?

I would say it is definitely worth it! We got so many pictures of DH & I that we would have not been able to get without the photopass.

Test track is included, but I think that is still the only ride.

 

[MouseDaddy]

Is anything at WDW really worth it? If you don't have enough of your own photos then you may value it. The individual prints seem expensive compared to your own shots but not compared to having your picture taken by any other photographer. I would weigh the price of getting the individual pictures you really want against the price of the CD. If you only really want a few that may be the way to go.

Also look on Google for a discount code - I have always found one for our trips.

 

[hiwaygal]

I looked at my pictures this morning if you add a border do you also get a picture with no border.Also how many borders can you have say i use one border then i want the same picture wiith a different borderIlooked at the bordersi noticed it put it in the corner can it be moved somewhere else .Please help i am scared to mess this up. I would like to have pictures for all of them with out borders as well thanks.

The way I understand it is you can edit each picture up to 4 times...so in essence you can get 5 "copies" of each print (the original plus 4 edits).

And we took well over 500 pictures with our own camera in addition to the photopass ones. Getting pics of your whole group (not everyone minus the photographer) at key spots or with characters is worth it.

I certainly wouldn't pay for the individual prints (at $13 a pop it gets really expensive) that's why it's better (for us) to pre-purchase the CD. I get the all the prints (originals and edits) and can print them whenever and where ever I want later for a lot less.

 

[bradk]

The way I understand it is you can edit each picture up to 4 times...so in essence you can get 5 "copies" of each print (the original plus 4 edits).

not really true. that was the case when there was a maximum of 4 borders per photo and one size, but that's no longer the case (hasn't been for a while).

and that doesn't take into account that you can crop or add filters to images creating even more variations.

 

[momandseandodisney]

From what I have read, you don't even have to decide before you go. Get a card (it's free) when you get to a park and get as many photos as you want or is convenient for your family. At the parks or when you get home, you can look at the photos, make any edits or embellishments you want and when you are ready, THEN pre-order the CD before you check out. You will get a pre-order code to use when it is time to pay.
.

How do you do the embelishments? Do you have to do them there? Where? Is that not time consuming

 

[momandseandodisney]

but the CD is jsut he one fee right, then you bring it home and can print as much as you like?

 

[hiwaygal]

How do you do the embelishments? Do you have to do them there? Where? Is that not time consuming

According to http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disneysphotopass/

Here, however, there is a significant difference between purchasing PhotoCD in the parks and online. In the parks, you are NOT able to add borders and enhancements to individual photos. While the parks used to allow this, it proved to be too time consuming for Cast Members to assist guests doing this. Only online are you able to enhance each photo by editing/cropping and adding border/enhancements. In theory, 100 Disney's PhotoPass photos can 'easily' be turned into 500 or more. So as you can see this can be a time consuming process - one you'll be glad you can put on hold and get back to later on every now and then.

 

[hiwaygal]

but the CD is jsut he one fee right, then you bring it home and can print as much as you like?

Yes.

 

[momandseandodisney]

According to http://www.stitchkingdom.com/disneysphotopass/

So you can add boarders etc at home?

 

[hiwaygal]

So you can add boarders etc at home?

Yep! That's what I've been doing the past few nights! It's exhausting!! So many options to choose from and what is available can "change" based on if there is a character in the picture, which park you are in, etc.

And by doing it at home you have much more time to do it!