Lost PhotoPass Card - I am just sick.

[MCBWHITE]

We purchased the PhotoPass disc at the parks during our visit last month because with three little ones, juggling a camera, too, is not always easy. When I went to load our pictures a couple weeks ago, I realized our PhotoPass card had been misplaced. I then started the email process of having them try to retrieve our pictures/card number.....with no luck. it has now been 30 days since the original picture was taken (our first day in the parks was 10/25) and though the help desk has said that if I can give them any more specific info to help locate the pictures (ie: dates, times, outfits, etc.) they would be happy to continue looking, I am concerned because I have read that pictures are purged after 30 days.

My question: is there any hope of recovering my photos? Has anyone been in this situation and had a successful outcome? Any tips for what to do now? I am absolutely sick about this and I know that it is completely our fault. I am generally a pretty organized person and it makes me sick that I have dropped the ball when it comes to probably losing out on some really great photos of our kids, not to mention the wasted money.

Really, really hoping someone has an encouraging story to share!

Thanks!

 

[ShaunaM]

I feel your pain. I lost mine last month. I was able to isolate my last picture from a text I had sent my sister else where in the park. That said I went to photo store and from the time and location I was able to help visually find my pics. Honestly it was pretty cool.

Good luck .

 

[swooshbear]

I lost my PhotoPass+ card once, but luckily I took a picture of the code on the back. I thought the lanyard that came with the card was a bit flimsy so I took a picture just in case. Good thing I did so I was able to go to the photo store in DCA and they were able to transfer my pictures onto a new card. They initially asked us for the receipt that showed we redeemed the card but we didn't have it. So hang onto your receipt just in case!

 

[Geemo]

That is devastating for sure!!! I can only imagine how you feel. I hope Disney is able to fine the pictures.

Good luck

Geemo

 

[I❤MICKEY]

So sorry. I would be crushed too. I will say that it is my understanding that it is 30 days after you load the pics. I just loaded my pics from my 11/17-11/23 visit two days ago and they expire 30 days from yesterday.

I lost my PhotoPass+ card once, but luckily I took a picture of the code on the back. I thought the lanyard that came with the card was a bit flimsy so I took a picture just in case. Good thing I did so I was able to go to the photo store in DCA and they were able to transfer my pictures onto a new card. They initially asked us for the receipt that showed we redeemed the card but we didn't have it. So hang onto your receipt just in case!

When I picked up my card/lanyard they asked me to take a picture of the back immediately. They also advised there have been problems with the cards falling off the clips.

 

[ValpoCory]

As soon as I get a PhotoPass+ or PhotoPass card, I text my wife the number, just in case. They are easily misplaced. OP, I'm sorry for your trouble and wish you luck.

 

[bumbershoot]

Its odd they haven't found any...we have had great luck with finding missing pictures. Last time I even uploaded a picture of my son that I took that day, to help them find a missing picture.

They are kept a bit beyond that thirty days. Just keep trying. Did you take any pictures of your own at all? If you only used one card, once they find one picture they'll have the card number and that will get them all.

 

[basketlacey]

Tell them exactly what you were wearing on one of your days. They can find them.

 

[jory29]

I hope they are able to find the pics. Good luck!!

We take a photo of our photopass when we get it, just in case... but this won't help you now, sorry.

I have a hunch they will find the photos.

Edited to add: Another idea - next time you are at the park (again, sigh, too little too late, sorry) see if they mind taking a photo or two with your camera as well as theirs - this way, at least if something happened to the photopass photo card or photopass photos, you would have some memories saved on your own camera.

 

[MCBWHITE]

Thanks for all the responses. I am a bit surprised they haven't found them because one of the pictures I emailed to them was a photo we took with our personal camera of our three kids and Tink in Pixie Hollow right alongside the photo pass guy. So, it showed exactly who was in the photo, what they were wearing, etc. Of course, it wasn't date/time stamped, which would have been really helpful, but I am certain of the date that photo was taken and pretty sure of the time. They said they looked within a two hour window on that day and could not find them.

I am one of the least tech-savvy people I know, but it would seem like they would have some kind of photo-recognition software where they could just scan in a photo, like the one I emailed, set some filters (date, time, etc.) and the computer could just spit out any matching/similar photos. Or do they seriously manually search through all those pictures? Yeesh. Does anyone know how they look perform their searches?

I am going to call them tomorrow and hope someone can help that way. Thanks again for the responses....I haven't lost all hope of retrieving my pictures!

And thanks for the good ideas about keeping track of PhotoPass numbers. Though your ideas can't help with this issue, they are really good ideas and ones I'll definitely keep in mind next time!

ETA...we did only use one card, so it should be an easy search as far as that goes.

 

[lei8809]

I am not really familiar with photopass as I've never used it and probably won't for our upcoming trip but I thought I would chime in about your own photo. As long as the picture you took with Tink and your family was with a digital camera it IS time stamped; just not on the actual picture.

Upload your photo onto the computer and (assuming you have Windows) right-click the photo and hit Properties on the drop-down menu and it will tell you the time and date you took the picture.

As long as you had the correct time loaded on the camera then it will be saved on the properties file even without the red time and date on the picture itself.

Hope this helps...

 

[theluckyrabbit]

Yes, they can find your photos after 30 days. Highly recommend calling and walking through the retrieval process with a CM. We did that last month, giving all details on clothing, appearance, location, etc. The CM kept looking and found all our photos (plus some others that were on our card but weren't ours!). They gave us a one time courtesy extension and put all our photos on our DVD. It is posslble that some of your photos are logged onto someone else's card number (although it is highly unlikely that all your photos are misplaced like that). But the CM should still be able to find your photos based on the date, time, location, and general description of the subjects. Hang in there and good luck!

 

[dmband]

I am not really familiar with photopass as I've never used it and probably won't for our upcoming trip but I thought I would chime in about your own photo. As long as the picture you took with Tink and your family was with a digital camera it IS time stamped; just not on the actual picture.

Upload your photo onto the computer and (assuming you have Windows) right-click the photo and hit Properties on the drop-down menu and it will tell you the time and date you took the picture.

As long as you had the correct time loaded on the camera then it will be saved on the properties file even without the red time and date on the picture itself.

Hope this helps...

Although true most of the time, not always
Some cameras allow you to set it so it will not save data

 

[MCBWHITE]

Upload your photo onto the computer and (assuming you have Windows) right-click the photo and hit Properties on the drop-down menu and it will tell you the time and date you took the picture.

As long as you had the correct time loaded on the camera then it will be saved on the properties file even without the red time and date on the picture itself.

Hope this helps...

Yes! It worked! Thank you! The date marked on the photo was correct and the time was only a half hour off from what I had told them (I had told them the photo was probably taken between 1:00 and 3:00 PM, the photo was marked at 3:33 PM).

I did try to call them and they would not help me over the phone, they said that it takes hours to look for the photos and that I had to email the new information. So, I did that and hopefully early next week will hear that they found our photos! Thank you all so much for the words of encouragement to keep on this and for the photo properties tip.....it may just have found our photos! Still crossing my fingers!!!

 

[MCBWHITE]

Yes, they can find your photos after 30 days. Highly recommend calling and walking through the retrieval process with a CM. We did that last month, giving all details on clothing, appearance, location, etc. The CM kept looking and found all our photos (plus some others that were on our card but weren't ours!). They gave us a one time courtesy extension and put all our photos on our DVD. It is posslble that some of your photos are logged onto someone else's card number (although it is highly unlikely that all your photos are misplaced like that). But the CM should still be able to find your photos based on the date, time, location, and general description of the subjects. Hang in there and good luck!

Thank you! I tried calling, but the CM said they couldn't help with that over the phone, that it just takes too long. Either I got a dud CM or you got someone really fantastic and helpful, but in any case, I did email them again with more specific information and hopefully this time, it works!

 

[OHDisneyMom]

I am not really familiar with photopass as I've never used it and probably won't for our upcoming trip but I thought I would chime in about your own photo. As long as the picture you took with Tink and your family was with a digital camera it IS time stamped; just not on the actual picture.

Upload your photo onto the computer and (assuming you have Windows) right-click the photo and hit Properties on the drop-down menu and it will tell you the time and date you took the picture.

As long as you had the correct time loaded on the camera then it will be saved on the properties file even without the red time and date on the picture itself.

Hope this helps...

Posted from Disney Forums Reader for Android

 

[GeneralTso]

Oh NO! What a horrible feeling, I'm sure.

Crossing my fingers they work their magic and find your shots.

Really good tip is to take a quick shot of the back of your PP w/your phone. I had 2 PPs going last trip, and had both #s just in case. I realize that doesn't help you a whip right now, but I have a feeling you'll start doing it

Please post back WHEN they find your pics.

 

[lei8809]

I'm so glad the properties tip worked to at least get you the right time. I seriously hope that it will help get your photos back to you. Hopefully soon..

Like everyone else said, keep us posted!

 

[MCBWHITE]

Yay! I am so happy! Thank you all so much for the notes of encouragement and especially to Lei8809 for the tip about photo properties - I do believe that is what ultimately led them to locate our pics! thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

[firecracker725]

Yay! I am so happy! Thank you all so much for the notes of encouragement and especially to Lei8809 for the tip about photo properties - I do believe that is what ultimately led them to locate our pics! thank you, thank you, thank you!

This is so great to hear! I love a happy ending!