Memory Maker with Teens

[mmbrad02]

This is strictly just an opinion/what have you done thread. I'm curious and in the meantime trying to make my own decision for our upcoming trip.

We did full week Disney trips with my DD when she was 4 and 6. Some partial trips at 9 and 11. Two cruises at ages 10 and 13. For both full week trips we purchased Memory Maker with zero regrets. For both cruises we bought all digital images with no regrets.

We are going to Disney for a full week this summer and DD is now 13.5. She is the one begging to go and is super excited. But pictures? characters? It's anyone's guess as to how many characters we will visit - I know we will see the Fab 5 but princesses are most likely out.

I'm the photo lover in the family and my crew knows pics in front of all the parks is a must. They know a photo with Mickey is a must. And so forth. They will do the stops when I say "Hey lets get a pic here!".

But I'm just torn on whether, at this age, it's worth the investment. What has been your experiences?

 

[DeeBee3]

I would just use my own phone or camera. I have done the same with you. We took a special Christmas trip and used Memory Maker. Also when we did the first trip. After that the cost was not worth it for us.

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

My DS is 21 and my DD is 19. My DW and I are doing MM for our planned trip this summer. We have done MM our last 2 trips and we really enjoy the pictures and the quality pictures that the photopass CMs take. We stop ocassionally with a photopass, and have a few pictures taken and move on. We really enjoy having the MM. I think it is money well spent, but that's just me.

 

[Smrtalec33]

I like MM because otherwise I don’t get pics with me in them!

 

[Mermaidtails1323]

For us, it's usually the ride photos we love the most! We have gotten so much value out of photo pass that I end up always getting it for our trips!

 

[IndyToThere]

We don't do a lot of character pictures these days, but we still do our share of scenic pictures. As was mentioned above, it's a good way to ensure you are in the photo as well, plus the Disney photographers are generally good about getting the light right to make the picture really stand out.

 

[Shughart]

Our last trip mine were 13/16 and it was actually the first year we invested in MM and it was a blast! We made it a goal to hit as many photographers as possible and my kids enjoyed it. More so than our usual once a year family photos lol. Some of my favorite photos are from that trip. I wish we'd gotten it every trip.

 

[Becky2005]

I'm pro Memory Maker but that is me. I love photos and looking back on old trips because memories do fade a bit and that can jog some of them. My last trip was just myself and DS who turned 20. I know he wouldn't have cared, but it made it fun to stop and get those iconic pictures. I would forget to take pictures otherwise. One of my favorite memories from the trip came from getting photos as he can be unexpected sometimes and the look of surprise and laugh they captured was great.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

This is strictly just an opinion/what have you done thread. I'm curious and in the meantime trying to make my own decision for our upcoming trip.

We did full week Disney trips with my DD when she was 4 and 6. Some partial trips at 9 and 11. Two cruises at ages 10 and 13. For both full week trips we purchased Memory Maker with zero regrets. For both cruises we bought all digital images with no regrets.

We are going to Disney for a full week this summer and DD is now 13.5. She is the one begging to go and is super excited. But pictures? characters? It's anyone's guess as to how many characters we will visit - I know we will see the Fab 5 but princesses are most likely out.

I'm the photo lover in the family and my crew knows pics in front of all the parks is a must. They know a photo with Mickey is a must. And so forth. They will do the stops when I say "Hey lets get a pic here!".

But I'm just torn on whether, at this age, it's worth the investment. What has been your experiences?

My grandkids at her age loved the ride photos more than what they call park photos and they wanted Memory Maker for that reason

 

[Obi-J Kenobi]

I will add one more comment to the OP about MM with teens.

My approach with our kids is to tell them that Dad wants them at least once or twice on vacation to take a couple of pictures for us -- the parents. Not every day. Not every hour. But, just a couple of times on the trip take some pictures together so that Dad and Mom have a nice memory of the two of you together.

When I approach it like that to the teenage kids, and I stay true to my word that 1-2 times we ask for picture sets. The kids are happy and don't complain and we parents can claim complete and total victory over them.

 

[Minniebee]

My teens actually love getting photopass pictures (even DS who doesn't normally like having pictures made!) They like to find the magic shots and special effects ones (the 360, zoom, etc.) They also love to look at pictures from previous trips. I almost always buy Memory Maker, it's well worth it to me to have so many fun pictures of all of us--and I get to actually be in the pictures instead of taking them!

 

[_19disnA]

We were at Disney a few years ago with some other relatives and one of them bought the Memory Maker package. Ended up with WAY too many pictures at each location. The photo person would take multiple 'poses' each time which we have no interest in keeping. When our vacation ended, I had to help that other person download all of the pictures since there were all jumbled together on the Disney download site and not organized in any logical way. Once downloaded, you can use any online photo service to print the desired pictures for way less then Disney charges. If we go to Disney again, we would not buy Memory Maker. I thought ride photos were separate from memory maker.

Now that covid is over, I would just hand my camera/phone to a Disney person who always seem to be around and ask them to take a group picture every so often.

 

[Scubadaddy32]

This is strictly just an opinion/what have you done thread. I'm curious and in the meantime trying to make my own decision for our upcoming trip.

We did full week Disney trips with my DD when she was 4 and 6. Some partial trips at 9 and 11. Two cruises at ages 10 and 13. For both full week trips we purchased Memory Maker with zero regrets. For both cruises we bought all digital images with no regrets.

We are going to Disney for a full week this summer and DD is now 13.5. She is the one begging to go and is super excited. But pictures? characters? It's anyone's guess as to how many characters we will visit - I know we will see the Fab 5 but princesses are most likely out.

I'm the photo lover in the family and my crew knows pics in front of all the parks is a must. They know a photo with Mickey is a must. And so forth. They will do the stops when I say "Hey lets get a pic here!".

But I'm just torn on whether, at this age, it's worth the investment. What has been your experiences?

My wife and I always purchase memory maker. We don't get in any long lines for character meet and greets and usually just hit up the random photo spot as we walk through the parks. We always end up with hundreds of photos throughout the week without even trying very hard. In the end, the memories are well worth the cost IOO. You can't go back and remake them and it's hard to revisit them without the photos.

 

[sponica]

Ride photos are now included with Genie+, so if you'll be buying Genie+, you can take those photos out of the calculation.

I would literally just do the math and see what the break even is on the memory maker. And while you can get the photopass photographers to use your camera, there are some really cool magic shots that would require memory maker. Based on the photos I bought, it's 17 dollars a photo. So if you get 11 photos or more, memory maker starts to make sense. Over the course of a week, you'd basically need 2 non ride photos a day. I would do it.

 

[sb127]

We don’t do MM but we like to take photos we have taken in the past and recreate memories of earlier times. We have photos as far back as 1979 so many recreated photos with children and grand children. My son-in-law did a special photo he had done with his father and has one with my grandson.

 

[Jsharp13]

Let's say an individual picture is around $20, and I see that MM is $185. Break even is about 9-10 pictures.

Ride photos included if you get G+.

I have a 14 y.o. teen boy. He will take whatever pictures I ask, because he is obedient but neither of us will do formal character meets. The only magic shots we want to try is the Tiny World one at Epcot. Maybe I'll get a couple fun ones in Galaxy's Edge, day and night. A family one at the castle. For me, the cost isn't worth it.

Also, TBH, any Disney trip is pretty expensive. After all that money, memories are what you have! For me, with my funny teen, I have the best pictures on my phone, including selfies, that bring the memories back. Are they framable? Maybe not. Are we posed like models, in perfect lighting? Nope. But they still hold the memory for me.

Example:
First trip as a near teen, is he too cool for Disney at age 12? I have a great picture and video of his jumping on the bed when we first arrived at POP.
Later that trip, my favorite video is him spinning me on Tea Cups. I'm screaming as I get dizzy, he's laughing... like true belly laughing.
His trip as a 13 year old - selfies of us with alllll the storm troopers in the background on RoR. I can still feel that hair stand up on my neck when those doors opened!
Only I could capture those memories.

 

[MrsInsG]

I have found it to be 100% worth it. My girls are now 23, 19, and 16, and I get my money's worth from the Memory Maker. In addition to the obligatory family photos, ride photos, random characters, and times we split into groups doing different things, we usually average about 50-60 different photo ops with about 20-25 that I actually want/end up printing or putting in a photo book. I also like the access to the Disney copyrighted professional photos included when I download the photos of my family.

 

[Ohiostatefan606]

I'm all in on MM! We started going to Disney once a year when my son was 7. Our trip this year was in February, my son is now 15. The ride photos alone make it worth it, but without MM it would look like I wasn't on the trip. My family knows there are certain non-negotiables, and family pics is on that list. I always try to find a different spot for our castle picture and I switch up the time of day. I also look into the Magic Shots that are available. This year the Hitchhiking Ghosts were available. We love Haunted Mansion so having that photo was special. It is good money spent.