Memory Maker vs Photo Pass?

[gib4]

My daughter (age 12) and I are arriving at WDW in 2 weeks. We will have 4 days and I can't decide if we should pay for the Memory Maker or just use Photo Pass? Am I understanding that we can get a Photo Pass CD for $29 or am I losing my mind?! I feel like I have read so much that I don't remember was is accurate anymore!

 

[sharonabe]

My daughter (age 12) and I are arriving at WDW in 2 weeks. We will have 4 days and I can't decide if we should pay for the Memory Maker or just use Photo Pass? Am I understanding that we can get a Photo Pass CD for $29 or am I losing my mind?! I feel like I have read so much that I don't remember was is accurate anymore!

I don't think they offer the CD anymore at all. There are CDs available on the photopass site, but they are CDs of STOCK photos from the parks, not your photos. My advice is to go to the website ( https://mydisneyphotopass.disney.go.com/ ) and see what products are available. If the calendar or photobook or a few photos will be enough, then you probably don't need Memory Maker.

 

[siskaren]

PhotoPass is the photo-taking service, so even if you get Memory Maker, you're still using PhotoPass. If you think you'll only want to buy a few pictures, you can buy individual downloads for I think $15 a piece. And if you're not sure if you would get enough pictures taken in 4 days to make it worth it, I just went to Disneyland last month, and while they don't call it Memory Maker, they have a thing where you can get all of your PhotoPass pictures for a week for $78, and even though I only got pictures taken for 4 of the 7 days I was there, I got about 70 pictures (photographers will typically take 3-4 shots) and even at the price for MM, that's still only about $2 a picture.

 

[Haley R]

We always get memory maker. Even though it seems expensive, we get tons of pictures out of it. The pictures the photographers take are always better than the pictures taken off my phone.

 

[maryj11]

We always get memory maker. Even though it seems expensive, we get tons of pictures out of it. The pictures the photographers take are always better than the pictures taken off my phone.

You can still buy the pictures individually without buying memory maker so beside your phone you still have those for around 15.00 each photo. We usually get memory maker though.

 

[Haley R]

You can still buy the pictures individually without buying memory maker so beside your phone you still have those for around 15.00 each photo. We usually get memory maker though.

I think that would get costly for us with how many pictures we get taken. We love the ride photos!

 

[Missish]

We had Memory Maker included in our park ticket package on our most recent trip, and while it was great to have all of the photos, I personally wouldn't bother buying it separately. We felt as if we were going out of our way to have photos taken just to make the most of it. The PhotoPass photographers are happy to take photos with your own camera/phone, so you can still get the shot you want (except for any ride photos, or magic shots).

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

I'm trying to decide on it as well. However, I am going splits on it with our other family members so it's only half the cost for me (Canadian dollars though).

How many of the rides have photo pass? Any ride videos?

Edit: Nevermind, found them

http://www.disneyaddicts.com/which-attractions-at-disney-world-have-photopass-ride-photos-1996/

 

[KenHutch]

We always get MM because a on our 1st trip we managed almost 500 pictures and on the last one over 1400.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

Our family members are doing Cinderella's Castle breakfast and Be Our Guest dinner, so I'm assuming they will want the memory maker for those. We are not doing any character meals.

I have to admit, it might be nice not having to experience my DD9's interactions with characters through my camera lens, but instead I can enjoy them with her if get MM.

 

[bffdisney]

Our family members are doing Cinderella's Castle breakfast and Be Our Guest dinner, so I'm assuming they will want the memory maker for those. We are not doing any character meals.

I have to admit, it might be nice not having to experience my DD9's interactions with characters through my camera lens, but instead I can enjoy them with her if get MM.

Character meals only use photo pass for a photo at the beginning -- either with Cinderella at the Castle or Beast at BOG. One photo at each. Other than that you are on your own.

I like Memory Maker because you get lots of CANDID photos meeting characters which you wouldn't normally take with your phone. Then you also get the nicely posed ones.

 

[Haley R]

Character meals only use photo pass for a photo at the beginning -- either with Cinderella at the Castle or Beast at BOG. One photo at each. Other than that you are on your own.

I like Memory Maker because you get lots of CANDID photos meeting characters which you wouldn't normally take with your phone. Then you also get the nicely posed ones.

Exactly this. We decided not to do mm last year and all we got were pictures of us smiling. The year before we got mm and those were so much better! It was fun to see our reactions when we walked up to certain characters.

 

[My3SweetSuns]

One of my absolute favorite pictures EVER of my daughter and husband were taken by a PhotoPass photographer & ended up on my MM.
We were standing nearby & had no idea he had taken a candid picture of the two of them. We asked him to take a family pic and then he scanned our band & we ended up with both pics.
I do wonder what would’ve happened to that picture, if we hadn’t asked him to take our picture and scanned our band. It’s one of my prized possessions.

Also, the PhotoPass cd is for purchase by people who have already purchased MM. We ended up with over 300 MM pictures last trip, I didn’t want to lose any of them, so I bought the disc. I WISH theyd offer it on a flash drive now.

 

[tlmadden73]

It's a little expensive for only two people -- it is a much better value when you use it for a large group or family (that often split up).

I feel it is worth it IF you plan on spending the time to get your photo taken .. either meet and greets or the "Photo Pass" spots. If you don't want to spend the time doing those things, all you really get is the ride photos (which are fun, but not worth the $100+)

That being said, when I get Photo Pass .. I specifically make sure we take time to get those posed photos at landmarks. You get some really great ones. Last year at Epcot (during Flower and Garden) we went out of our way to get maybe 6-7 different posed spots .. and that was okay (we weren't going on many rides anyway with a 5 month old). But we were also sharing the pass with three other families and made it quite affordable.

 

[Haley R]

It's a little expensive for only two people -- it is a much better value when you use it for a large group or family (that often split up).

I feel it is worth it IF you plan on spending the time to get your photo taken .. either meet and greets or the "Photo Pass" spots. If you don't want to spend the time doing those things, all you really get is the ride photos (which are fun, but not worth the $100+)

That being said, when I get Photo Pass .. I specifically make sure we take time to get those posed photos at landmarks. You get some really great ones. Last year at Epcot (during Flower and Garden) we went out of our way to get maybe 6-7 different posed spots .. and that was okay (we weren't going on many rides anyway with a 5 month old). But we were also sharing the pass with three other families and made it quite affordable.

Our pictures from flower and garden are some of my favorite pictures! We also try to take the best pictures on rides (space mountain being our favorite).

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

It's a little expensive for only two people -- it is a much better value when you use it for a large group or family (that often split up).

I feel it is worth it IF you plan on spending the time to get your photo taken .. either meet and greets or the "Photo Pass" spots. If you don't want to spend the time doing those things, all you really get is the ride photos (which are fun, but not worth the $100+)

There are actually 10 in our group, but only our and BIL's family are paying for it (we aren't making the grandparents pay).

We are planning on meeting as many characters as possible! And I think the ride photos are hilarious. I'll likely end up just getting, because, what's another $100?

 

[Haley R]

There are actually 10 in our group, but only our and BIL's family are paying for it (we aren't making the grandparents pay).

We are planning on meeting as many characters as possible! And I think the ride photos are hilarious. I'll likely end up just getting, because, what's another $100?

If you have that many people and want to meet characters, I would get it.

 

[Dashzap]

If you don't get Memory Maker and later regret it, you can still buy it after your trip so long as your photos haven't expired. It will be full price $199, not the advance purchase discount price $169.

 

[tlmadden73]

I'll likely end up just getting, because, what's another $100?

That's the attitude Disney likes to hear!

 

[ilovevacation]

We did for on our last trip for the first time since it was our son's first trip. I will also admit that I wanted it because I find myself being the family photographer and I'm not in any of the pics, I'm not really the selfie type. I did find myself taking time out to wait in photos line but I need to learn to slow down a bit ands remind myself life is about the journey and not the destination and vacation is a good place to start.