Just returned from 14 days in all parks. Last year, we bought the pre-order CD for the 1st time, and did the GF photo shoot. We were not that impressed with many of the photos, but for the price, we didn't mind. This year, the CD went up, shipping to Canada is outrageous, and photoshoot went up in price, so we made the choice not to purchase Photopass CD months ago. That being said, since we love photos (I'm also a scrapbooker), we made some observations:
1. Attitudes - Some of them were downright rude and short with guests. They seemed to be bothered everywhere we went. Some guests were asking about magic shots, and some Photopass CMs were very sarcastic and rude about the shots. One CM was so rude on Friday, that the Character handler with Mulan shot him a dirty look. Another one at Epcot refused to take a photo with our own camera, and many of them could be seen sighing and looking annoyed. I can understand getting a bit frustrated if people keep handing you their cameras, and you don't get to use your Disney camera, but this is part of their job, and also, CMs were even annoyed with people who had Photopass cards available. I know it must be hard to do this job as people are constantly wanting you to pose them, kids not cooperating, etc, but it's not that hard... I know most of them aren't professional photographers, so perhaps this is where the problem lies...?
2. Availability - Could hardly find Photopass CMs in certain areas of parks. Some of them were just wandering around at times too, even though there were some guests waiting on photos. It was a bizarre scene at times...
3. Quality - We got about 45 photos on a few cards, and the quality was horrible! Even worse than last year - I would not be spending money on any of these photos at all. We have the exact same photos with one of our 3 cameras (Panasonic bridge SLR type, Nikon P & S and Canon G10), and the Canon G10 photos blow them all away! Seriously, the CMs are all about snappping, and that is it! They don't centre the photos, nor, take the time to get people ready. So many of our shots are ruined because of this, and I suspect this is the case for most guests. I know Disney is a busy place, but if the photos were a bit better, there would have been several that I would have paid individual shot prices for.
4. Photopass Shoots - Didn't see hardly any photopass shoots taking place at the resorts either. Talked to a CM who said it's been very slow in this regard.
All in all, we felt badly for guests who were looking for Photopass CMs as they had bought the pre-order CD. Like I said, between the attitudes, general lack of unavailability of Photopass CMs, and horrible quality of photos, not sure how this program will stay in place? Although, as with many things Disney, people still seem to pay for subpar quality items, as it's Disney!
Hopefully, they revamp this program soon as it has the potential to be better than it is.
Good luck to all of those who use this service in the future, Tiger
1. Attitudes - Some of them were downright rude and short with guests. They seemed to be bothered everywhere we went. Some guests were asking about magic shots, and some Photopass CMs were very sarcastic and rude about the shots. One CM was so rude on Friday, that the Character handler with Mulan shot him a dirty look. Another one at Epcot refused to take a photo with our own camera, and many of them could be seen sighing and looking annoyed. I can understand getting a bit frustrated if people keep handing you their cameras, and you don't get to use your Disney camera, but this is part of their job, and also, CMs were even annoyed with people who had Photopass cards available. I know it must be hard to do this job as people are constantly wanting you to pose them, kids not cooperating, etc, but it's not that hard... I know most of them aren't professional photographers, so perhaps this is where the problem lies...?
2. Availability - Could hardly find Photopass CMs in certain areas of parks. Some of them were just wandering around at times too, even though there were some guests waiting on photos. It was a bizarre scene at times...
3. Quality - We got about 45 photos on a few cards, and the quality was horrible! Even worse than last year - I would not be spending money on any of these photos at all. We have the exact same photos with one of our 3 cameras (Panasonic bridge SLR type, Nikon P & S and Canon G10), and the Canon G10 photos blow them all away! Seriously, the CMs are all about snappping, and that is it! They don't centre the photos, nor, take the time to get people ready. So many of our shots are ruined because of this, and I suspect this is the case for most guests. I know Disney is a busy place, but if the photos were a bit better, there would have been several that I would have paid individual shot prices for.
4. Photopass Shoots - Didn't see hardly any photopass shoots taking place at the resorts either. Talked to a CM who said it's been very slow in this regard.
All in all, we felt badly for guests who were looking for Photopass CMs as they had bought the pre-order CD. Like I said, between the attitudes, general lack of unavailability of Photopass CMs, and horrible quality of photos, not sure how this program will stay in place? Although, as with many things Disney, people still seem to pay for subpar quality items, as it's Disney!
Hopefully, they revamp this program soon as it has the potential to be better than it is.
Good luck to all of those who use this service in the future, Tiger