Memory Maker- Is it Worth it?

[DTW2WDW]

My daughter loved meeting characters so it often required a bit of juggling between bags, getting out the SLR, autograph book, etc and I felt like I was missing the moment just so I could 'capture' the moment. In any case, we're going next month and we'll have memory maker and I'm very much looking forward. We'll also have the mindset that we'll seek out the park photogs where we didn't really do that last trip.

 

[kittyab]

We did for both of our trips, and the photos are wonderful. Not to mention the photos you get on rides are also included. I would do it again.

 

[mernin]

For the first time, I got it for our last trip - 5 days at the parks & christmas party. We got over 300 photos. I take enough photos on my own to not get it but I wanted to be in some for family photos and it was nice to get a different perspective. I loved the ride photos which I wouldn't normally buy. There were plenty of not great shots, but I think it was worth the money. I loved getting some of the reaction shots of my daughter to meeting characters - I wouldn't have got these because I was beside her in the line. There were plenty of posed photos. We had about 10 or so magic shots and a few magic videos which is a nice touch.

I forgot about the borders & stickers (rookie mistake) so my photos are just photos. Not a big deal but would have been nice to add some of them before they were gone from photo pass.

I would get it again.

 

[amytong]

I have enjoyed having it and will get it again this year. It frees me up from taking the DSLR and I just shoot with my iPhone. Makes it easier and I treasure the photos.

 

[floridadream]

I think it depends on the type of trip. If you're doing a quick trip, I don't think it's worth it. However, if you're doing a longer or multi-generational trip, I absolutely think it's worth it. We got so many photos and ride videos that came out great. Plus, the kids love the magic shots

 

[Wes1stTrip2016]

My Disney vacation photos have always been a priority and my favorite souvenir from the trip. I take lots of pictures! I do take advantage of the photographers, but always ask them to use my camera and it's never been an issue.
A friend of mine (who is also a photographer herself) said she got MM on her last trip and loved it.
I'm still unsure if it's worth the money though. I always found many of the photographers to be a little on the amateur side and found that you have to get lucky to find someone good.
Can anyone share their experiences with MM- positive and negative. Tia!

I'm still on the fence about whether it was "worth it" to me or not. We paid the reduced $149 rate thankfully. I took a TON of photo's with my phone (which takes great pics). Some of my favorite photo's from our trip are the ones I took, which yes do exclude me (except for the occasional selfie), BUT what I found about MM is that almost ALL of the pics are simply staged family photos. Stand & smile in front of this or that. The only value I find in MM are the ride photo's and the magic shots. I love the 4 magic shots we got and some of the ride photo's are great too - but you can not account for who is doing what in your photo (think splash mountain) or is who is blocking your child's face on a ride photo (you can not see my son for the very large person sitting in front of him on TOT).

 

[Heidi K]

I'm still on the fence about whether it was "worth it" to me or not. We paid the reduced $149 rate thankfully. I took a TON of photo's with my phone (which takes great pics). Some of my favorite photo's from our trip are the ones I took, which yes do exclude me (except for the occasional selfie), BUT what I found about MM is that almost ALL of the pics are simply staged family photos. Stand & smile in front of this or that. The only value I find in MM are the ride photo's and the magic shots. I love the 4 magic shots we got and some of the ride photo's are great too - but you can not account for who is doing what in your photo (think splash mountain) or is who is blocking your child's face on a ride photo (you can not see my son for the very large person sitting in front of him on TOT).

Whether or not they are "staged" seems to depend a lot on the photographer and the experience. Yes, our "landmark" pictures are staged (in front of Epcot ball, the castle, etc) but our photos from character greetings include many candids. We have an adorable one of my daughter in an intense conversation with Anna, and other cute ones of the kids banging away on drums in Animal Kingdom. When we met Pluto, he pretended my son's toy was a doggie chew toy and "stole" it from us--and the whole cute interaction was caught on camera by the PhotoPass photographer.

 

[Sevey13]

I have enjoyed having it and will get it again this year. It frees me up from taking the DSLR and I just shoot with my iPhone. Makes it easier and I treasure the photos.

As another DSLR enthusiast, I'm curious on your opinion. I'm going solo for the first two days of my trip. I have MM and I haven't ever brought my DSLR, but I am really considering bringing my DSLR and just using it on those first two days, then leaving it in the room for the rest of the week and enjoying the parks not through a lens. Is it worth it? If I brought a tripod, would that be too much? What do you do with the camera on thrill rides?

 

[DavidNYC]

It can be. You really have to ask yourself how you'll use it. For us, we usually end up with 500+ pictures (we had nearly 1000 one year) with the kids and grandparents with characters, on rides, etc. and we make photo books for holiday presents. We always tell the photographer we bought memory maker and they usually shoot continuously getting some great candid moments (which we usually like better than the posed photos). It's not cheap but but if you take advantage of it you can get some great stuff. But if you're going to want 10-20 pictures over the trip you can always buy a couple of great photopass ones and have them take pictures with your camera. I know not a definitive answer but like so many other things at Disney - you really have to base it on what you want since I'd recommend it or not recommend it to different people.

 

[notrub98]

I wish I could say that I had a good experience with MM, but my pictures sucked. Yes, there were tons of them, but they just did not come out very good and I was very disappointed. I know LOTS of people have had great experiences with it, and I am willing to try it again for my next trip.... but was it worth it to me the first time? No.

 

[TheWorld101]

So I can split the cost with another family that is going?

 

[Misha72683]

The problem with MM - they are all posed pictures, and they are very repetitive. We get it every few years, but much prefer the impromptu picture that we take of one another when no one knows that their picture is being taken. That is the true "magic" caught forever. The good moments and the bad, they remind us of who we are, not just where we are.

I's funny, my favorite MM pictures are improtu ones. The one of DS4 squeezing my hand as he waits to meet Donald, a look of awe on his face, the one of DS2 marching towards Minnie with a look of determination or the one of me kneeling and tlaking to the boys as we wait to meet Mickey. These are shots I would never think to take and. I treasure them.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Totally Worth It!!

 

[Kimberly9701]

I don't agree with the posts stating it's only worth it for longer trips...or that it's only posed photos.
I was there 8 nights in September and purchased MM...We will be there 3 nights, post cruise in November, and I purchased it for that as well. In my opinion $150 is a bargain for what you get with this.- bargains when talking about Disney experiences anyway..lol.

This photo was taken at Ohana..right after LILO hugged my son's Stitch stuffed animal...it was such a special moment. (Sticth is his favorite character and one of the main reasons we stayed at the Poly, and he was over the moon that LILO liked his stitch)I would have NEVER gotten this shot.. And it's one of my absolute favorites from our trip.

 

[Hazy27]

We purchased it 2 years ago on our last trip. My wife enjoys the ride photos more than anything, and the quality of the shots from in front of the castle, and the other parks made it worth it's while.

That being said...we are booked for a trip back this July and the debate has begun as to whether to shell out the $150 again. It's almost as though it needs to become part of the planning of the trip in an odd way.

 

[Kimberly9701]

We purchased it 2 years ago on our last trip. My wife enjoys the ride photos more than anything, and the quality of the shots from in front of the castle, and the other parks made it worth it's while.

That being said...we are booked for a trip back this July and the debate has begun as to whether to shell out the $150 again. It's almost as though it needs to become part of the planning of the trip in an odd way.

I agree it becomes part of the planning..I factor that into my budget right away when looking at room rates. Compared to amusement parks- the ride photos and videos alone make this package worth it.

 

[Parker Clan]

I think it's worth it for photos like this
And I truly love the ride photos!
For us it's worth it because there's just two of us and we hate asking strangers to stop and take our pics.
In a span of a week we got about 200 photos, so they may not all be great quality, but the majority are!
I am a MM supporter

 

[Kimberly9701]

View attachment 158128 I think it's worth it for photos like this
And I truly love the ride photos!
For us it's worth it because there's just two of us and we hate asking strangers to stop and take our pics.
In a span of a week we got about 200 photos, so they may not all be great quality, but the majority are!
I am a MM supporter

Love this!!!!!!!

 

[angierae]

I love it - but I specifically ask for candid shots when I hand over my card/get my band scanned. Also, I love magic shots and one of the most fun things we did on our long trip was magic shot hunt!

 

[BarbieGal457]

For us, DEFINITELY! We have used it 3x now and will never go again without it. We took a lot more pictures than we would've normally because it was so fun to do quick pit stops. I also loved the idea that neither of us had to hand off our expensive phones and cameras to someone and risk them dropping/breaking it or stealing it (you never know...even at Disney). For the amount of photos we got, sometimes easily into the hundreds, it really worked out nicely for us. It was especially nice for MVMCP, where we were able to get tons of awesome photos without having to worry about showing someone how to use our camera etc, and the candid photos often came out awesome.