Memory Maker and Toddlers

[tley]

I've been going back and forth on whether the Memory Maker is worth it for my upcoming trip - so I figured I'd ask here to get others' opinions.

For this trip it will be me, DW and our two DD's - 4 and 2. They are both > 36" so we'll be able to do some of the rides with photos, plus the princess things and photopass pictures, along with solo rides on RnRC, ToT, EE, etc.

Would it be worth it? Looking at the price, it's basically like buying 10 pictures from the photopass...but with the MM, we get all the pictures already...right?

 

[LSUfan4444]

We didn't do it until ours was at least tall enough for Splash Mnt, Tower of Terror, etc.

But, "Worth It" varies from person to person. At the meet & greets and photopass experiences you have the option of having your own camera (which we always do anyway) so for us, it was not worth it.

 

[shelbyf31]

The first time we went, my kids were 4 and 22 months. There was no memory maker. I purchased photopass and we ended up with 300 pictures from our camera and 600 from the photpass photographers. Last year the kids were 5 and 3 and we purchased photopass plus. Once again we ended up with 500 pictures from the photopass photographers. They do alot of candid shots when the kids meet the characters. They are some of our best pictures. We do alot of character meals and the second time the kids went my daughter did Jedi Training and BBB and they both did Pirate's League. It was well worth the money. You do get to download all of the pictures.

 

[ArmyVet80]

My DW and I got the memory maker on our trip in September. It was well worth it even if you don't get the ride pictures. We had over 200 pictures taken throughout the different parks and such. That comes out to less than $0.50 per picture. They are your pictures. They normally take 2-3 pictures each time you stop at a photo pass location. I recommend that if you do ride rides that take pictures that you write down the # on the picture for each ride. We had a few rides that took "our" picture but it wasn't us so we had the numbers to go to the photo people with for them to exchange the picture with a picture of us. This happened on Splash Mountain and Expedition Everest.

All in all if you want the Main St. USA pictures and other pictures around the castle or around the other parks it is well worth it. Especially for the $149.99 or whatever the cost was. Since they are your pictures you can take them to a local Wal-mart, Meijer or photo place and print whatever pictures that you would want.

 

[txnana]

We have always purchased the Photopass and now Memory Maker for our trips. Remember that the photopass photographers are snapping candid shots of your kids before they even get to the characters! Some of those pictures are priceless. For those who are handing off their camera to the PP, while they are explaining the use of the camera, those candid moments are happening and are being missed!

 

[BuzzinDownToDisney]

We got it with our 3yo who was only tall enough for Buzz as far as ride photos. I feel this was the single most bang for our buck we got all trip. If they jacked up the price to $200 I would still pay it for my upcoming trip (No one tell the powers that be). In the end we came home with 300 photos of all the M&Gs at every iconic overlook and a bunch of fun magic shots. I also got the ride video of me on ToT, which they also have on SDMT now. Also it was nice to have me in pictures again as I am usually taking the picture (and not very good at it)

Finally the photogs have an amazing knack to catch "moments" I must have at least 20 pics like this that capture an amazing second in time.

 

[asbyrneva]

The first time we went to Disney I wish i had bought the package! Im not in any shots. DS was 3 and I didnt know he would gravitate to all the character meets like he did. I easily spent $100 on individual photos and I could only get about 1/10 of the pics I really wanted! As you said its about the equivalent of 10-15 photos purchased separately. That's a few meet and greets maybe buzz and Seven dwarfs "Icon" photos at each park and one "magic shot" each child. You can see how it is easy to get 10 pictures without even trying. As other posters have said you have all the candids not just the posed say cheese shots.

We have about 30 photos from a roving photographer a couple years ago of my son and Push the trash can. This wasnt staged or anything just happened to be following the entertainment and they had a good 5 -10 minutes of solid entertainment. There is a close up shot of my son throwing his head back in laughter that I was too amused to actually capture myself and it wouldnt have been half as good. I would have bought all 30 shots separately but thank goodness I had the package!

Personally I understand its an investment but you have the pics forever.

They continue to improve this with videos ride shots and magic shots so I think its worth it. HTH

 

[ktlm]

For us, it was most worth it when DD was little. If you plan on doing a lot of character meet and greets, most of them have photopass photographers with them. We always wound up with hundreds of photos. It is also great to be able to get a family shot anytime you see a photopass photographer. If you get it, be sure to take advantage of the opportunities when you see a photographer. Some of our favorite pictures from our last trip are around EPCOT world showcase. We wouldn't have stopped and taken family pictures in those areas on our own, but since we were on the lookout for photographers since we paid for memory maker and wanted to make the most of it- we noticed the photographers, stopped when we saw them, and got some great shots. Also, if you do it be sure to get more than 1 set in front of the park icons. There are some great photographers, and some not so great. Plus, where the sun is can really affect a photo. Also, sometimes you may not know what face your kids are making until you see the photo- DD has ruined quite a few when she wasn't in the mood for a photo or when her eyes were shut in the photo. Also sometimes you think you know what the background is going to look like with the icon, but the photo might look closer or farther away from the icon than you thought- or the photographer could have zoomed in and not got the full icon- or some stranger might have stepped into the photo behind you (we've got some interesting bad ones from people who did not realize they had moved right behind us and close to us and photographers who did not care).

 

[worm761]

I agree with the others. It is worth it just for the candid shots. DD was tall enough but not brave enough for the big rides this past trip. So we did a ton of character meets.