Need some help. Character dining at surfs up/photopass?

[superdeluxe]

i was hoping I could get some help. My understanding if you had a max pass you also got photopass for the day.

We entered Mickey surf up breakfast and there was a photographer taking photos, I noticed them and tried to give them my phone with my QR photopass code, they sort of waved me off and said they were only doing physical photos. Later a lady walked by with the photo package that cost us 35$. My wife didn’t want to pay 35$ for these photos, but they were the only professional photos as a family with Mickey.

Imagine my surprise when we did the Jedi youngling temple, they again told we could spend 35$ for a physical package, but when my wife went to the Main Street photo shop, she was able to get the digital prints without having to pay for the physical.

Then I just read a blog post about character dining, they mentioned you can use photopass with maxpass with the character diners.

I’m pretty confused here, did we get swindled? Are certain Disney photographers allowed to only do physical?

 

[Kender]

The way it works for the character dining is you show them in your app that you have MP activated for the day (for me, I show them I have a Sig+ that includes PP+). This is not done at the time the photo is taken, but when they come to your table with the physical photos.

They will then hand you a card that has the code to add it to your app. They do not scan your QR code in your app or any other media.

The mistake made was not telling them you wanted just the digital code because you already had MP which included PP+. Those physical packages all have a digital code included with them. You just need to be upfront with what you have and what you want.

If you missed getting your dining photos, you can still get them if you contact Photopass about it.

ETA: You will sometimes run into a CM who does not seem to know this, by the way. It's rare these days, but it happens. They have gotten a lot more strict, though, and do require proof. They usually do not take you at your word.

With my AP, they take it away to scan it and I get an actual receipt for $0.00 for the "purchase".

 

[Geemo]

i was hoping I could get some help. My understanding if you had a max pass you also got photopass for the day.

We entered Mickey surf up breakfast and there was a photographer taking photos, I noticed them and tried to give them my phone with my QR photopass code, they sort of waved me off and said they were only doing physical photos. Later a lady walked by with the photo package that cost us 35$. My wife didn’t want to pay 35$ for these photos, but they were the only professional photos as a family with Mickey.

Imagine my surprise when we did the Jedi youngling temple, they again told we could spend 35$ for a physical package, but when my wife went to the Main Street photo shop, she was able to get the digital prints without having to pay for the physical.

Then I just read a blog post about character dining, they mentioned you can use photopass with maxpass with the character diners.

I’m pretty confused here, did we get swindled? Are certain Disney photographers allowed to only do physical?

We went to a character breakfast on March 2nd and I was surprised too when the CM announced the cost.
I said, I had MaxPass on my AP and the photos were included, No Charge. She stumbled a bit about it.
But I insisted they were included with MP and I wasn't going to pay.

The CM then came up with a photo print of a digital code for me to do a digital download of the pictures.
I was able to download it just like all the other photos the photographers had taken during the trip.
Here's a picture of the card with the code.

 

[ParkHopper1]

Character Breakfasts being included with PhotoPass is fairly new hence some of the confusion.

But if I know about it by now I would assume all the Cast Members working the front lines should as well!

 

[Kender]

Character Breakfasts being included with PhotoPass is fairly new hence some of the confusion.

But if I know about it by now I would assume all the Cast Members working the front lines should as well!

Eh, sort of new. They've been included since October 2015 in the Sig+ passes (and formally the Sigs, but now just the grandfathered ones from before the MP change). So closing in on 2.5 years on that front. It's nearly a year newer that they include runDisney photos than the character dining.

Can't speak to the purchased Photopass as I never did that one at DLR, though, and MP is less than a year old.

It's honestly probably poor training for some of the CMs or they're told to not bring it up (in case more figure out you can buy MP for just one person to get access to PP+ for the day super cheap). Or a combination lol.

 

[sherilaine]

When you used to be able to buy the 10 day photo pass plus, maybe 4 years ago now, the full picture package was included, prints, folder the whole works! We have plenty! Now with the photo pass in MP you just get the digital which is all you really need. So not really new just different.

 

[superdeluxe]

We went to a character breakfast on March 2nd and I was surprised too when the CM announced the cost.
I said, I had MaxPass on my AP and the photos were included, No Charge. She stumbled a bit about it.
But I insisted they were included with MP and I wasn't going to pay.

The CM then came up with a photo print of a digital code for me to do a digital download of the pictures.
I was able to download it just like all the other photos the photographers had taken during the trip.
Here's a picture of the card with the code.
View attachment 308838

We never got that card. I didn’t argue because they were insistent that they only did the physical photos and I wasn’t 100% sure about the rules. I thought maybe they were right that character dining doesn’t come with the photo pass.

This isn’t right

 

[Skyegirl1999]

We never got that card. I didn’t argue because they were insistent that they only did the physical photos and I wasn’t 100% sure about the rules. I thought maybe they were right that character dining doesn’t come with the photo pass.

This isn’t right

Email or call Photopass with the date, time, description of people in the photo, etc. They can recover photos within 30 days.

 

[Kender]

We never got that card. I didn’t argue because they were insistent that they only did the physical photos and I wasn’t 100% sure about the rules. I thought maybe they were right that character dining doesn’t come with the photo pass.

This isn’t right

You simply got a misinformed/poorly trained CM. Sadly this happens. I've yet to run into it personally, but I've read accounts of it here. I'm usually prepared to pull up the fine print online if necessary to show what is included.

As mentioned, contact Photopass with the stated information and they'll be able to link the photo to your account. Be sure to tell them what you experienced as well as contact Disney customer service to let them know of the improper information you were given. You should have been given the code at your table.

I've gotten lucky with at least one complaint I made about bag check and it resulted in obvious retraining of those stationed there. It could happen with this situation as long as they know it's happening.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

We never got that card. I didn’t argue because they were insistent that they only did the physical photos and I wasn’t 100% sure about the rules. I thought maybe they were right that character dining doesn’t come with the photo pass.

This isn’t right

Email or call Photopass with the date, time, description of people in the photo, etc. They can recover photos within 30 days.

And make sure you have all the receipts, too. The more detailed info you can give, the better. I had to do this once several years ago. My photos all were recovered by a very helpful CM.

 

[GatorChris]

I guess I should've pushed the issue when we were there in Nov. They said it was like $35. When we said we had the Deluxe AP which had the PhotoPass, they then said we get a discount down to $27. Luckily we had taken some shots with our nice camera so we passed. But I wasn't really happy. Back in 2013 when we hit Surf's Up first thing before our trip, we ordered the PhotoPass from that location and got the pics "for free". Guess a lot changes over the years that makes things that used to be free now cost money.....cough, cough, Fantasmic! seating.

 

[disneymum58]

It used to be that there was a code printed on the back of the physical photos that could be entered into Photopass to get the digital images. But I haven't done that for a couple years.

 

[katyringo]

In December the photographer taking the pictures scanned my phone. So now I’m equally confused. This was at surfs up.

At Minnie’s they came to the table.

 

[agamble]

When they had the actual photos plus you got the pictures for free. Also Disney Visa holders used to get actual pictures for free each visit. This was back in 2011, so this isn't a new thing. Now these have all been made digital with the prints being charged. It sounds like there is a disconnect at Surfs up with CM not knowing.

When we visited last June Max Pass hadn't started and we had breakfast with Minnie. They scanned my AP photo card and the pictures showed up as available to purchase. In July after MP had started I added it to my AP. Any pictures from our June trip that were in my account showed up including the Minnie Breakfast shots. But those were not a character picture.