Memory maker - yes or no?

erin1715

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 1, 2006
I’ve been going back and forth about whether to buy memory maker for our upcoming trip. It will be myself, my husband and our 14-month-old daughter. This will be our daughters second trip. We are DVC members so this isn’t a one time trip.
My reasons to buy it - the memories of course lol. Expanding on that, we waited 8 years to be able to have our daughter so it’s extra special for us to experience Disney with her. Kids grow so fast.
Reasons against it - expensive. Not sure if she’ll even like the characters, we will have to unstrap and strap her into a stroller a lot to pose for pics. She won’t be doing any of the bigger rides that have pics included.

What say you??
 
No first hand experience but we are going in March and it will be DD's first trip and for the first time we are getting memory maker. DD will turn 10 months during our stay but like you, DW and I waited a long time, not by choice, before having DD and we want to remember this even if she won't. Plus, when it was just DW and I we would usually find a frame while on vacation and print a picture from the trip to put in it and now we'll have a lot more to choose from, and ones that aren't predominantly selfies. And this trip is an extended family trip too, so since everyone is linked to us on MDE one memory maker covers everyone's pictures which is a bonus, but DW and I were going to get it regardless of that. After this trip we'll see how much we really got out of it and decide for future visits at that time.
 
I would get it! It's not just characters, but photgraphers are stationed throughout every park! They are really talented, and capture some great moments. Many times there are not long lines, or lines at all, and you can get pictures of your entire family. The magic shots, which you have to ask each photographer if they have any, always turn out cute. The photographers won't tell you what the magic shot will be, just how to pose, and it was such fun seeing what shows up! There is a special thread on this board telling about the current magic shots.
 
I have purchased it for all of our trips and never regretted it! In fact I make an extra effort to make sure we get the pics when I see a photo pass photographer.
 


I would get it! I'll be going in May for one day and my son will be 7 months old. I'm going to get the 1 day memory maker to get the nice pictures with him. We waited 3 years for our little guy and want to cherish all the moments.
I got it on the last trip my husband and I went on together and we got a lot of nice pictures. Can't wait to get pictures of my little one with characters as well as some family pictures.
 
100% recommend. Like others have said you can just get family shots throughout the park, but if you do characters and have a good photographer you’ll get some amazing candid shots. And if you don’t like the photos like in front of the castle you can go 30feet and try again with another photographer. You’ll be amazed how many photos you end up with!
 
I love memory maker, but pictures are so important to me. I have so many beautiful, fully joyous pictures of my children, ranging in ages from 6 months to 9 years that I never would have captured otherwise. I'm going to include one, here, zoomed in to show my then 6 month old DS pure wonderment:
 

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My family is also trying to decide whether to buy the memory maker. Can the photographer just take a picture with your phone to instead of purchasing the memory maker?
 
One reason I love the Memory Maker is that it can be where I'm not. So if DH takes a kid on a ride or to see a character while I go get food or ride something else, I still get the photos. :) (And trust me, that would not happen if I had to rely on DH taking the photos. :) ) Plus it's nice not to focus on taking photos all of the time. And it allows me to put my phone away on rides instead of trying to get a pic and possibly losing or breaking the phone in the process.

And I do agree that the family pictures are really nice to have! When DH & I first started going as a couple, it was still back in the day where the photographer took your pic and then you went and paid for it, and you'd get one print of one pose and it would cost a pretty penny. So we'd get one good pic of the two of us per trip. (This was pre-selfie days, peeps, we're old. ;) ) So for us, the Memory Maker seems like such a great deal in comparison. :) And DH loves that we're not trying to get a bunch of pics ourselves. :)
 
I find the value of memory maker in the ride photographs. Almost all of the others are ones I can get on my phone, but you can't get pics of your family on SDMT with your phone. (Selfie sticks are prohibited for safety reasons, and I don't think anyone else could safely get that close.)
I think if I were taking my baby, I would skip out on it since the various photographers are willing to use your phone.
 
My family is also trying to decide whether to buy the memory maker. Can the photographer just take a picture with your phone to instead of purchasing the memory maker?
The photographer will take a picture with your phone if you want. They have no problem with it.
However, I'm another vote for memory maker. I've gotten it every trip and have never regretted it, especially as the mom who is rarely in any pictures!
 
Highly recommend memory maker. We got it the last 2 trips and the one that we have planned.
1) you do get a lot of nice photos from the rides.
2) you by default get everyone in the pic. you don't have all teh pics of dad and kids, or mom and kids.
3) Magic shots are really cool. Lots of different ones to do.
4) generally the shots come out really well. Even if they're not full on"Pro" photographers, they have a lot of experience taking those specific shots and enough training to adjust it to make it come out good.

I think the big thing is, if you plan to do memory maker, use it every chance you get. if you see a photographer, grab them and do it. Do some nicer ones and some silly ones and some magic ones.
The other thing I recommend is to make a photo book when you come back. Shutterfly or whatever your choice.
We have in the past, though the last trip, life got in teh way. But its great to take the trip again flipping through the book.
 
I think it's totally worth it. We went when our first was 14 months and it was so nice to not have to think about it. We grabbed some photos on rides, a few posed in front of the castle, AK tree, etc. It was nice. A splurge? Sure but worth it.
 
Just a different opinion than the others here. Memory Maker isn't required to buy the photos. I usually find that the ride photos aren't that great. One of us is looking somewhere else or has an odd - but not funny - look on our face. Or we're with other people.

We don't seek out the photographers often, so we don't end up with a lot of photos. It just isn't our goal when touring.

If we really like a ride photo or character photo, we just buy that. As of August, I think you could buy the digital rights to the photo for just under $20. I've probably bought at most 3 or 4 photos from a single trip, so Memory Maker absolutely isn't worth it for us.
 
We like it. We have thousands of pictures from all of our trips. And while some ride photos are mediocre at best, we have some absolutely hilarious ones because my kids know where all of the cameras are located.
 
We did it last time, and we'll probably do it this time (technically it's in our order). Sure they'll take pictures with your phone, but I would rather not fumble with getting the phones out.

For some of the pics, our daughter stayed in the stroller.
 

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