Memory Maker Feedback

[jomass]

I am curious to know how folks feel about the Money….ummmm…I mean Memory Maker photo package. Now that you did it, do you feel it was worth the money? Is this a solid value? Where is it lacking? What exactly did you end up with that made it worth it? Are there other “hidden” fees associated with printing or saving certain pics and videos? Was it of professional quality? I honestly like the idea of capturing pictures on some of the rides, character dinners, etc. Not having to worry about myself pulling my phone out left and right, and hoping I get good shots, makes this worth considering. But it’s pretty expensive and I’m not sure that it’s really worth it. I know all things Disney are $$$$, but if this were like in the $100 range as opposed to double that, it would be a little easier to swallow.

 

[mom2rtk]

"Money Maker"........

 

[aaarcher86]

We enjoy it. We get roughly 1,000 pictures out of the trip. Last trip a bunch of stock photos of the MNSSHP were added in that I loved of the villains and parade and fireworks.

I like that the photographers capture candid and action stuff. It let's me just enjoy the moment instead of snapping pictures. The ride and meal photos are fun.

There's always one picture that makes the entire thing worth it for me. It's such a small portion of our overall cost that we will continue to get it. The photos aren't professional quality but they're often better than my phone.

No hidden cost aside from whatever it costs you to print your photos after downloading.

 

[seltzer77]

I'll second that...it's so tough to get a good family picture, and we'll generally get 100's of them, so for the cost ($170 in advance, or $200 when you get there), I find it to be completely worth it.

 

[Cando86]

We ended up doing a Memory Maker share and so the price was split about nine ways. I don't think I'd get MM without doing a share. I was happy with some of the pictures we got - I liked having the ride pictures and one of our favorite pictures ended up being taken by a Photopass photographer (though she also took the same one with my phone so...). I think the price is ridiculously high. I was actually shocked at the quality of some of the pictures, especially for the prices you're paying. I like the magic shots too, those are cute. But, again, I don't think the positives justify the price at all.

You could always just get a selfie stick and call it a day

 

[jomass]

It’s interesting to see the different perspectives. I suppose that everything is relative and if you spent a boatload for Disney, then it would be only a small percentage. In our case, other than the park tickets, we didn’t spend a lot to go. So for us it’s a much bigger percentage.
Cando, what you’re saying is kind of what I was suspecting.
Overall it sounds like a roll of the dice. If you get a few of those priceless shots, then I can see where it might be worth it. But if you end up with 998 digital duds, I can’t see it being justified.

 

[Kirk]

Wonderfully convenient!

 

[DisneyFive]

We've had it all four of our family trips, and are glad we did. We always split the cost with another group though. Now, with the higher $170 pre pay price, and the fact that we will be paying it in full, not sure if it's worth it. We'll probably get it just so we don't miss one of those "cornerstone" family photos... like my favorite in my Avatar. <------

Dan

 

[AngiTN]

I've never gone on a trip without it. I love it and it's as important to my trips as food or tickets. I think of it as a cost as part of the trip, just like those too.

 

[klo1335]

I am on the fence if I want to get it or not. We have a GoPro and my daughter just got an awesome digital camera (point and shoot) for her bday. Interested to see if there are people that didn't like it.

 

[AngiTN]

My reasoning for getting it isn't related to the quality of our equipment. DH brings our DSLR and takes good pictures with it. He offers it to the photographers and we get them to take both with theirs and ours. My reasoning is I like both sets of the candid shots and really love the magic shots, something we can't do at all on our own. I've gotten some very good candid shots from their library. Do I like all of the pictures they take? No, not at all. But I do love more than 10 and if I'm going to get 10 pictures, I may as well buy them all. And I've never not liked enough to at least pay for MM. If that makes sense. The trip I don't get enough to cover the cost of MM is the last trip we buy it.

 

[AngiTN]

I am curious to know how folks feel about the Money….ummmm…I mean Memory Maker photo package. Now that you did it, do you feel it was worth the money? Is this a solid value? Where is it lacking? What exactly did you end up with that made it worth it? Are there other “hidden” fees associated with printing or saving certain pics and videos? Was it of professional quality? I honestly like the idea of capturing pictures on some of the rides, character dinners, etc. Not having to worry about myself pulling my phone out left and right, and hoping I get good shots, makes this worth considering. But it’s pretty expensive and I’m not sure that it’s really worth it. I know all things Disney are $$$$, but if this were like in the $100 range as opposed to double that, it would be a little easier to swallow.

To let you know, since you listed it, there are no PP Photographers at Character Meals. There are some meals that have a photo taken outside before the meal but none inside at any meal.

 

[austinsmommie]

We have had it everyone of our trips. I always say next time we won't do it, but every time I end up with things that make it worth it. My daughter's face on rides for her very first time riding. Pictures of her dancing with the Beast dressed in her Belle dress after BBB, I was able to record it and the photographer took a ton of pictures. These are just a few example of things from our last trip. Plus I get to be in the photos with my family. My kids get a little annoyed with me about taking photos, but they love when we get magic shots and the videos now are a nice addition. My daughter was on a mission on our last trip to get as many magic shots as she could!

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I usually prefer taking my own photos. I always get a photopass, just in case one of the photographers gets something I missed, but I don't usually buy any of their photos. Normally, there's no way I'd bother with Memory Maker. But, this time I'm traveling in a group with 3 other families, some of whom are not as good a photographer as I ame. I want all their photos! All their videos! Whether I'm touring with them or not! So, in this particular instance, I'm getting value for Memory Maker.

 

[jomass]

How many magic shots and videos do you get?

 

[DisneyFive]

How many magic shots and videos do you get?

As many as you want. Certain CM's taking photos can do the magic shots. Just ask a photographer about it and they can point you to who can do them. You get the ride photos and videos each time you ride an attraction that takes photo/videos. Not sure if it's still this way, but where you exit the ride, they show the photos and you pick the one with you in it and they link it to your account right then and there.

Dan

 

[calismic]

I purchased it for our upcoming trip solely so I could be in the photos. I'm tired of being the one behind the camera!

 

[AngiTN]

As many as you want. Certain CM's taking photos can do the magic shots. Just ask a photographer about it and they can point you to who can do them. You get the ride photos and videos each time you ride an attraction that takes photo/videos. Not sure if it's still this way, but where you exit the ride, they show the photos and you pick the one with you in it and they link it to your account right then and there.

Dan

With Magic Bands you don't even have to do that. The rides have short range RFID readers and they can read your MB and the ride photos appear in your account. Videos too on Mine Train and ToT. Some people find it misses some every now and then. We did not find that to be a problem.

 

[Mikie]

I have gone with it and without. I know the first time I bought, I was choking on the price, but after the fact, when my sunburn had faded and all I had were great memories and photos, I didn't question it one bit. Here's my list of things that make MM very worthwhile (in my opinion). For each one of these that doesn't apply to you, the value falls a little:

- you scrapbook and/or display photos in your home
- you are interested in stopping at many photographers (iconic castle, tree of life, epcot ball, lots of other areas throughout the parks)
- you remember to ask for "magic shots"
- you are traveling with family or friends, especially if they'll split the cost with you
- you are doing character meals that have the posed photo prior to being seated (CRT, Akershus, Chef Mickey for example)
- you plan to meet characters at their meet and greet spots
- you ride the rides that take photos (Splash, Space, 7 dwarfs, Buzz Lightyear; Expedition Everest, dinosaur; tower of terror, Rockin roller coaster; test track)
- you plan to do Jedi Training Academy, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, a Pirates League - they takes tons of photos at these!
- you enjoy being in the pictures with your group
- your trip is on the longer side

My last trip all of these applied and we got about 300 pictures before edits. I'd say we liked about 120 of them very well (some were bad shots, some were multiples very nearly the same & we just picked the best one). After adding borders, digitsl character signatures, stickers we easily had 300 again.

One trip where very few of the above applied, we had purchased Photopass+ (old name for it) and only had about 20 really good ones. Obviously less satisfied that time, but the $149 at the time still was a savings over buying 20 at $15 each.

 

[prmatz]

Can someone please clarify for me - will the in-ride videos only work for the main account holder? Or would anyone in my friends and family have the videos link up, even if I wasn't on the same ride with them? I've heard both versions and not sure which is correct.