Magic Kingdom Photoshoot Questions...

[MrRomance]

I know I can probably hunt the answers to these questions down with DFTW but I figure I'll get a lot more information, a lot faster from my fellow DISer's!

The Magic Kingdom Photoshoot... how much? what do you get with the package? Is it worth the money?

We're considering it (well, I don't want to go there but DW clearly really wants it) so I just wanted to get some info and other people's experiences before I go ahead.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

I know I can probably hunt the answers to these questions down with DFTW but I figure I'll get a lot more information, a lot faster from my fellow DISer's!

The Magic Kingdom Photoshoot... how much? what do you get with the package? Is it worth the money?

We're considering it (well, I don't want to go there but DW clearly really wants it) so I just wanted to get some info and other people's experiences before I go ahead.

So..the shoot is $1500 (or Euro 1,071). Included you get 1 hour of shooting time with a 12 print 5x7 album, 4x6 keepsake prints and a proof book. The album will be personalized with your first names.

Here's my take. We were lucky enough to do a 2 park shoot...MK and EPCOT and we feel blessed to have had the ability to do both.

But...if someone held a gun to my head and told me to pick one, now, after seeing the pictures, I think we would have picked EPCOT.

Not for the money..but it is cheaper....half the price. But the colors were richer, the different countries provided some amazing shots. The castle is iconic Disney..no question and maybe your DW wants nothing else but that. And don't get me wrong..we have great great great pictures from MK.

But, EPCOT for us was a big winner. And people who have had shoots at AK of DHS feel the same about those parks.

I could see a very well done shoot in both England and the American Adventure, to play off of your 2 country life!

Ultimately, it's up to you and your very lucky wife, but those are just my thoughts from someone who had a shoot in both parks.

Overall..no matter which park you pick, the experience is worth it. Our caveat is that Regina made the day so fun, but that is a once in a lifetime experience that we wouldn't have traded for anything.

Best of luck.

 

[belle2211]

I honestly don't remember how much it was...but it was definitely worth it! I am a CM so I've been in MK several times without guests, but this experience was just so amazing! (and Regina helped!) And the pictures turned out beautiful!

 

[PrincessTinker11]

The cost of the MK shoot is 1100 which includes the proofs and the album. You can add on another park for I believe 350...now I planned this over a year ago and had my shoot like three weeks ago, prices may have gone up a bit. We love our shots, I will have them posted in my PJ as soon as I get the disc of images sent to me. I have my online viewing and cannot wait to order some prints to frame!

Is it worth the money? It is all about priorities...the pictures were BIG for me and DH so we wanted to do it. I find Disney photography to lack imagination (thus the reason I brought my own photographer for our Disney wedding) and that was no different for the photo shoot. I had to be a bit pushy to get the shots I wanted and felt for the money I spent that would not have been the issue...but overall I love my shots...

 

[Ember]

The MK photoshoot was the only thing I truly regret about my wedding. I might as well have taken my money and burned it. To be fair, I received 1/2 my photos out of focus and then had a terrible experience with Disney Photography trying to get some sort of resolution. I am still both heart broken and utterly pea green with envy when other couples get such beautiful photos from their shoots.

I bring this up on threads like this because I think it's important to go into this realizing that you may not be happy with the results. Even without the technical issues my pictures had, many couples are not happy with the quality of Disney Photography. They are known for their hit and miss skills and it can been a crapshoot as to what your end result is. Had I known this when I was planning my wedding, I wouldn't have spent the money on the possibility of good pictures. For what Disney charges, these photos should be great every time.

 

[PrincessTinker11]

The MK photoshoot was the only thing I truly regret about my wedding. I might as well have taken my money and burned it. To be fair, I received 1/2 my photos out of focus and then had a terrible experience with Disney Photography trying to get some sort of resolution. I am still both heart broken and utterly pea green with envy when other couples get such beautiful photos from their shoots.

I bring this up on threads like this because I think it's important to go into this realizing that you may not be happy with the results. Even without the technical issues my pictures had, many couples are not happy with the quality of Disney Photography. They are known for their hit and miss skills and it can been a crapshoot as to what your end result is. Had I known this when I was planning my wedding, I wouldn't have spent the money on the possibility of good pictures. For what Disney charges, these photos should be great every time.

Ember,

I believe I remember seeing your photos and it was a shame what they gave you in terms of product! I was VERY nervous about that but I must say our pictures are amazing. Although creativity was not Disney's strong point (which is shocking, I mean it is DISNEY!) I am also currently at odds with them b/c they gave me such a hard time about having balloons at my shoot, I wanted a dozen baby blue/pink and they made me feel like I was asking for the stars...my DH and I had to leave Epcot the night before to go to MK to pick up all the balloons we could manage on the buses, which was 4. Now, after all the hassles and to be honest grief Disney has informed me they would be offering the balloons to future brides...REALLY? After I was put through all this? I am completely besides myself over that but the pictures I did get were amazing...I am surprsied they didn't offer to redo your shoot? they said DH and I could if we wanted to and they would have our dozen balloons there...I am so over the whole wedding thing I was like ummmm NO LOL

I do hear very good things about Regina and Amy...we had Stephanie and like I said creativity was not there (lots of stock photos, not wanting to jump off of that ship kind of thing) She was, however, extremely talented.

 

[princessK30]

current prices are $1500 for just the MK, & $1700 for the MK plus another park....(just booked ours within the last few months for January 2012)

 

[lurkyloo]

I think a good rule of thumb for deciding on the Magic Kingdom shoot is whether or not you were compelled to hire an outside photographer for your wedding based on style. From what I've seen on the boards over the last six years, generally it's those of us who hire outside photographers for our weddings in pursuit of a specific style who are most frequently disappointed with Disney's Magic Kingdom bridal portraits. Whereas people who are fine with Disney photography for their weddings (or chose outside photography to save money but are less concerned about the style of photography) usually seem to love their MK photos. It seems DPS is aware of this distinction too, judging by the reactions some of us got when our MK photographers found out we used non-Disney photographers for our weddings.

Of course there are exceptions to both rules—this just seems to generally be the case from what I've observed and might help you decide whether it's right for you.

 

[Ember]

I was VERY nervous about that but I must say our pictures are amazing. Although creativity was not Disney's strong point (which is shocking, I mean it is DISNEY!)

I am so glad it worked out for you! While I own to being pretty darn jealous of the beautiful photos some brides get, I would wish for stunning pictures for every couple.

I think a good rule of thumb for deciding on the Magic Kingdom shoot is whether or not you were compelled to hire an outside photographer for your wedding based on style. From what I've seen on the boards over the last six years, generally it's those of us who hire outside photographers for our weddings in pursuit of a specific style who are most frequently disappointed with Disney's Magic Kingdom bridal portraits. Whereas people who are fine with Disney photography for their weddings (or chose outside photography to save money but are less concerned about the style of photography) usually seem to love their MK photos. It seems DPS is aware of this distinction too, judging by the reactions some of us got when our MK photographers found out we used non-Disney photographers for our weddings.

Truthfully, I thought Disney was improving when it came to photography. I know several of us brides from 4-5 years ago were very disappointed, but then it seemed like things were getting a lot better. Only in the last while there seems to be issues popping up again. I know I've had a few brides contact me privately asking me about how to deal with disappointing pictures and there have been some threads as well, which is sad.

I also know this issue is a sore spot for me (for obvious reasons). But until Disney starts offering a consistently good product, I will feel compelled to warn others that they may not get what they're looking for out of these shoots. When you think that the cost has more than doubled since my wedding in 2007, I think that's a problem.

I think your idea about wanting an outside photographer for stylistic reasons vs. DPS is pretty sound though.

 

[PrincessTinker11]

current prices are $1500 for just the MK, & $1700 for the MK plus another park....(just booked ours within the last few months for January 2012)

Wow...and then you have to buy the disc of images separately if you want them? They are getting insane with these prices...

 

[sambycat]

we did the MK shoot - we wanted to do two parks actually and you should be aware - it is in the contract but it seems to be a continuing issue - that DFTW can and sometimes needs to change the time/availability of the shoots. EVEN IF YOU ARE ALREADY BOOKED AND/OR CONFIRMED.

we got a handful of amazing pics from our MK shoot. is it worth the $$? probably not - but of the pics i liked, i loved them (whereas the arndts, who did our wedding, i’ve got more than 800 pics and a handful - maybe - i don’t love).

there are many variables to consider, just go into it with open eyes!

 

[princessK30]

Wow...and then you have to buy the disc of images separately if you want them? They are getting insane with these prices...

I can only say how it works with escape brides, if you upgrade your photography package to one that includes the Cd, all of your wedding pics including the MK photoshoot ones are included on the High res disc.

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

I personally changed my entire wedding due to the photography. It just was not worth it to me to pay the mark up. I am still doing a shoot at DHS most likely but I might scratch that one too. Disney to me is charging way to much for what they give you and the service they give you.

Teresa

 

[PrincessTinker11]

I can only say how it works with escape brides, if you upgrade your photography package to one that includes the Cd, all of your wedding pics including the MK photoshoot ones are included on the High res disc.

They must have really changed everything around b/c mine was 1100 and that included the 5x7 print book and I got the disc for 350....

 

[lurkyloo]

The price for the shoot has gone up, but Escape couples can still get a disc of all images from their weddings for less than $400 if they give up the prints and album that come with the Escape package.

 

[MonicaMonicaMonica]

current prices are $1500 for just the MK, & $1700 for the MK plus another park....(just booked ours within the last few months for January 2012)

We have our MK shoot booked for Valentine's weekend. I didn't know about the second park add-on until I started reading this board a few weeks back. So do we split the scheduled hour between the two? or are they back to back hours - just starting extra early? or is it on two different days? How does it work? I think Italy would be just gorgeous and Germany would be fun.

We just got married on Dec. 3rd. Regina, Chris, and (I think) Brittany(?) were our photographers. We haven't seen our photos of The Day yet of course, other than our little sneak peek card, but we had a great time with them.

 

[maddiesdaddy]

We have our MK shoot booked for Valentine's weekend. I didn't know about the second park add-on until I started reading this board a few weeks back. So do we split the scheduled hour between the two? or are they back to back hours - just starting extra early? or is it on two different days? How does it work? I think Italy would be just gorgeous and Germany would be fun.

We just got married on Dec. 3rd. Regina, Chris, and (I think) Brittany(?) were our photographers. We haven't seen our photos of The Day yet of course, other than our little sneak peek card, but we had a great time with them.

With a second park, you get another hour and it will have to be coordinated to make sure there is enough photographer time, etc. You would start earlier but not sure if you could move MK earlier depending on if there is already a bride scheduled earlier. So, it could potentially be other park first if the photrapher isn't already allocated.

Your best bet is to call and indicate you would like the add on and they will tell you the options for the day. EPCOT really has so many colors and great architecture. It is a great park for pictures.

 

[TabZ]

The price for the shoot has gone up, but Escape couples can still get a disc of all images from their weddings for less than $400 if they give up the prints and album that come with the Escape package.

Lets hope this holds out for the next three years!!!

 

[MonicaMonicaMonica]

With a second park, you get another hour and it will have to be coordinated to make sure there is enough photographer time, etc. You would start earlier but not sure if you could move MK earlier depending on if there is already a bride scheduled earlier. So, it could potentially be other park first if the photrapher isn't already allocated.

Your best bet is to call and indicate you would like the add on and they will tell you the options for the day. EPCOT really has so many colors and great architecture. It is a great park for pictures.

Awesome. I emailed Dara. The upgrade is $300, but is an additional hour in another park, with double the amount of proofs and keepsake prints. And the album is 30 5x7, instead of 12 5x7 images. I'll work on the husband tonight. We've been married six days and he has yet to say NO to anything I ask. Let's put it to the test. HS looks awesome and AK has some great spots in Asia too, but I think Epcot may be the way to go.

 

[PrincessTinker11]

Lets hope this holds out for the next three years!!!

I am a Disney Cruiseline bride and got the disc for 350, just negotiate with them