New Holiday Enhancements for PP just added!

[Dizneydaz]

Quick note-we went to Disneyland last night and some of the holiday decorations were up (not the trees, though). We took a few PP pix and after I uploaded them this a.m. I saw that there new holiday frames have been added to the website. There are 9 new holiday frames to pick from.

Merry Christmas with Mickey and Minnie
Merry Christmas with Mickey and the gang
Happy Holidays with Mickey and Minnie
Happy Holidays 2008
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas with Pluto 2008
Happy Holidays with Tink, Mickey and Gang, 2008
Happy Hanukkah 2208
Feliz Navidad

They all are really great. We only had a few pictures taken last night but I'm going to do them each with each frame.

Of course, since they added the ones for Christmas, etc. they removed others. There are only 2 Halloween ones and 1 Thanksgiving one. As they add new ones, they take away others so don't wait too long to added enhancements. Since I started this PP account in Sept. they have added more princesses, Pixie Hollow, and now Christmas.

Also, there are additional ones for WDW-MVMCP. 3 new ones. There are still 4 Food and Wine ones.

Since our trip to WDW in Sept. I now have over 1600 pictures, with edits inclding all the ones we've taken at DLR. I extended my time (by buying one thing on the website) and got an extra 30 days.

I'll be ordering my CD by 11-11, so after I get them, I'll post a few of the new holiday ones here.

Looks like I'll have to do another CD for the holidays. If I work it right I'll be able to get more holidays ones (with family) as well as more taken in Jan. when DD is off track.

 

[Sherry E]

Quick note-we went to Disneyland last night and some of the holiday decorations were up (not the trees, though). We took a few PP pix and after I uploaded them this a.m. I saw that there new holiday frames have been added to the website. There are 9 new holiday frames to pick from.

Merry Christmas with Mickey and Minnie
Merry Christmas with Mickey and the gang
Happy Holidays with Mickey and Minnie
Happy Holidays 2008
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas with Pluto 2008
Happy Holidays with Tink, Mickey and Gang, 2008
Happy Hanukkah 2208
Feliz Navidad

They all are really great. We only had a few pictures taken last night but I'm going to do them each with each frame.

Of course, since they added the ones for Christmas, etc. they removed others. There are only 2 Halloween ones and 1 Thanksgiving one. As they add new ones, they take away others so don't wait too long to added enhancements. Since I started this PP account in Sept. they have added more princesses, Pixie Hollow, and now Christmas.

Also, there are additional ones for WDW-MVMCP. 3 new ones. There are still 4 Food and Wine ones.

Since our trip to WDW in Sept. I now have over 1600 pictures, with edits inclding all the ones we've taken at DLR. I extended my time (by buying one thing on the website) and got an extra 30 days.

I'll be ordering my CD by 11-11, so after I get them, I'll post a few of the new holiday ones here.

Looks like I'll have to do another CD for the holidays. If I work it right I'll be able to get more holidays ones (with family) as well as more taken in Jan. when DD is off track.

I noticed that sometimes the different frames/enhancements are not available for different pictures, too! When I was editing mine from my October trip, depending on which picture I selected, not all frames were available for each photo!

Did you get any pictures with the added effects, like the Haunted Mansion hitchhiking ghosts? Those were not available when we went in October (and of all the months that should be an option it would be October!), so the photographers just kept having us do the same poses over and over, pointing at Stitch in the ground and holding Tinkerbell in our hands. It was like nothing else was available! They had us "look scared" several times, and when I viewed the photos, there was nothing added to them! We just looked...scared. I thought they would have inserted something in the photo that we were scared of!

 

[Dizneydaz]

I noticed that sometimes the different frames/enhancements are not available for different pictures, too! When I was editing mine from my October trip, depending on which picture I selected, not all frames were available for each photo!

Did you get any pictures with the added effects, like the Haunted Mansion hitchhiking ghosts? Those were not available when we went in October (and of all the months that should be an option it would be Ocotber!), so the photographers just kept having us do the same poses over and over, pointing at Stitch in the ground and holding Tinkerbell in our hands. It was like nothing else was available! They had us "look scared" several times, and when I viewed the photos, there was nothing added to them! We just looked...scared. I thought they would have inserted something in the photo that we were scared of!

We weren't able to get the hitchhiking ghosts either. (I did get one in May though) I became friendly with a few of the PP and while they told me they were taking them, we never lucked out. I think we got all special ones, except for Capt. Jack, though. We did Tink, Stitch, Hook, Darth-that one took some work to get, Soarin' ,Mickey, Minnie, and some special poses. One Photographer was really great to work with. He took pix of us hitchhiking on Main St., me holding up DD9 so that the Tink at the entrance to DL seemed to be in her hand, etc. I had a great time getting pictures but DD was getting a little tired of it. I found that most of the photogs were very accomodating when I told them I was getting the CD. I would tell them to take as many as possible. And most of them would. Some would just take the 2-3 they are supposed to.

We got some character photos, but not too many. Unless you went to Princess Fantasy Faire, it was hard to find characters with a PP photog. We did get a few though.

Sorry you didn't get as many as you wished, sometimes when the parks aren't busy, it's hard to find the PP. I started asking other photographers where the one photographer we really like was and we found him almost every time.

I found the same thing with the enhancements as you did. Sometimes if I found more enhancements on a certain photo, if I went back to the others, those enhancements would show up.

 

[Sherry E]

I think the CD is a really good deal. When I shared the photos with my other friends, they all said, "Well, I wanted to buy a picture, but it is just soooo expensive." No one really wanted to pay that much for one or two individual pictures, so they didn't. But, for me, getting the CD was a great deal because I turned 58 pictures into something like 112 photos just by editing and enhancing and all that.

I learned most of what I know of PhotoPass from here, from DISboards. I did not use PP last year on either trip to DLR, and now I really wish I had in December, because I had a certain group of friends with me who are hard to get in one place at the same time. So this year, I got lots of info from knowledgeable DIS-ers (shout out to Bumbershoot!), who explained the logistics of it. And so I had my maiden voyage with PP this past October, with the Halloween decorations and the TOTP and all that.

At first, I must be honest, my friend(s) seemed a little confused about the PP concept. They probably had the same idea I had before I knew about PP - why would you bother with that when you have your own camera? So they were a little reluctant at first because they didn't understand. However, as the day wore on and we met one PP photographer after another, and got in pictures with characters over in DCA, and one of my friends realized she didn't have a decent camera with her (nor did I - mine was falling apart, slowly), she began to warm to the idea and began commenting on what a good idea it was to do this. No one ever trusts me or listens to me at first - then when they see that my planning and ideas have paid off, they understand the method to my madness!

I found most of the PP photographers to be delightful. I really appreciated how some of them took their time to make sure they got the best shots of us. You could tell some of them really take pride in their craft! They would take lots of shots of us. They would make sure we were all looking in the same direction, lined up just so, and no one had their eyes closed or anything. If there were other folks around us who were edging into our frames accidentally, the PP photographers would patiently wait until those people had finished with their photo sessions and if they still hadn't moved, they would politely ask them to step away so we could get our pictures. People tend to be a little more courteous when an actual DLR CM is talking to them. If WE had asked them to step away from the railing in Paradise Pier, they probably would have tossed us into the water. As it was, we did encounter one snippy girl and her large group who decided that they were going to take their pictures at the same moment we were taking ours and could not wait three seconds. When I began to tell the girl that her elbow was about to appear in our photo and mine in hers, I did not get one word out of my mouth before she started scolding me and grumbling because she knew I was about to ask her to move over a few inches - I think she had seen the PP photographer patiently waiting for her stupid a** to be done shooting, and so when it was our 'turn,' she decided they were NOT done yet and had to take more, just out of spite!!

But usually, our experiences were 98% pleasant. Every so often - like with the characters over in DCA - there would be a long line of people waiting to get in pictures with the Queen of Hearts or whomever. The PP photographers could not take time with each person, and so they were rushing everyone along. The Queen grabbed my long hair and held it up, which startled me. I turned my head to look at what she (he) was doing, because I thought my hair had gotten caught in the costume, and the PP photographer snapped the photo, and then snapped a second one, where my head and face were turned completely away from the camera. See, if there had not been such a long line, they would have taken a few where I was actually looking at the camera, but they were rushing us and not paying attention and I was afraid they were going to accidentally give us the wrong PP card back, and give ours to someone else!!!

Can't wait for the Christmas PP pictures!!! Yippee! I only wish we were getting there when the PP Santa pictures in the GCH are happening, but we will be too late!

 

[Dizneydaz]

I too have found most of the PP very helpful and good at their jobs. There are a few who are exemplary. It's obvious when they take pride in their work, and it shows.

For those of you wanting to get the most out of your PP experience, many of the photographers get off at about 5 p.m. so you have a better chance of getting PP taken before dark. Also, they can't add in their "magic" after dark. But the pix taken at night are great too. Just remember to hold still-you'll notice people who are walking behind you in your night time pix show up almost "ghostly" since they are on the move. Also, sometimes the night time pix are more focused on the item behind you (castle, bridge, Astro Orbitor) than you, and you may be slightly out of focus.

I too have friends who didn't know anything at all about PP. I was able to get some PP taken with 3 different groups of friends during this CD taking (2 we went with, 1 we ran into) and once I get my CDs I'm going to share them with them. Our best day was the day we were at Blizzard Beach in WDW and we ran into my DD's best friend and family. It was their first time there and they didn't know anything about BB, or PP. I got alot of great PP taken that day and it was the highlight of my DD's trip. We knew they were in the WDW area, but we didn't know they would be at BB that day. We actually had planned to go another day but changed our plans due to incoming weather. Magical, huh?

 

[Dizneydaz]

Today there is one more new Holiday frame. Mickey and Minnie wearing white and gold with a white, gold, and cranberry frame with bows. Elegant. It is dated 2008 and says Happy Holidays

Mickey and Minnie are in lower center of the frame. So if you want to use this one you need to have extra room at the bottom or be off center. Most of the frames also require a little more room at the top. If the PP pix are close up, you may not be able to use some of the frames. I'm going to mention this to PP next time and ask them to leave some room at the top of the pix.

 

[Sherry E]

Today there is one more new Holiday frame. Mickey and Minnie wearing white and gold with a white, gold, and cranberry frame with bows. Elegant. It is dated 2008 and says Happy Holidays

Mickey and Minnie are in lower center of the frame. So if you want to use this one you need to have extra room at the bottom or be off center. Most of the frames also require a little more room at the top. If the PP pix are close up, you may not be able to use some of the frames. I'm going to mention this to PP next time and ask them to leave some room at the top of the pix.

I noticed that some of my pictures had too much space at the top, but none of the frames I chose had effects to fill in all that space at the top of the picture. They were more centered at the bottom, so if I didn't adjust and edit the centering of the initial photos before adding the frames, I would end up with a whole lot of sky at the top and most of the effects clashing with the people in the pictures at the bottom. I had to re-center/crop/adjust/edit a bunch of photos to get the right amount of space at the top and bottom before applying the frames!

 

[Dizneydaz]

I had some like that as well but I also have ones that were taken more close up that don't have space on the top (or bottom) for some frames.

 

[Sherry E]

I had some like that as well but I also have ones that were taken more close up that don't have space on the top (or bottom) for some frames.

I think I had a handful that were close-up. If I couldn't apply a frame that worked within those parameters, I think I just left them un-enhanced! There were also a couple of photos that were shot too FAR away, so when I tried to bring those closer, the clarity of the photo suffered.

Oh well. PP is still a good service to have, flaws or no, and that CD is a good deal. If I make it back to DLR in December for my GCH stay, I plan to do the PP system again! I think I was reading on some website - not the actual PP site, but a Disney appreciation sort of site - that the PP photographers are not guaranteed to be professional or take professional-quality pictures, and you can definitely tell that is true, but as you and I both said, some of them really seem to WANT to help you get the best and the most photos, and they take pride in doing it, so that counts for a LOT!

 

[Disney Dreams]

Looks like I can add the holiday enhancements to my WDW pictures from October. YAY! I can also add them to my DL pictures from Halloween. Double Yay!

Seems if you time it JUST right we can get Halloween and Holiday enhancements all on our CD from our anniversary trip, along with some pics from our DL visits this month. Woo-hoo!!!

 

[Dizneydaz]

Yes, if you time it right you can get more enhancements. Our trip was in Sept to WDW and we have mutltiple trips to DLR in Sept, Oct, and now Nov. I extending my time by 30 days (special offer) and everytime there's a new enhancement I go back and add it to some of the older pix. I have MNSSHP, Halloween, Fall, Character frames, Pixie Hollow (great for those TINK pix), Happy Birthday, 1st Time, Characters popping in (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, & Stitch), Autographs (of course) and now the Holidays! I couldn't really use the Just Engaged, Just Married (now gone?), or Family Reunion ones.

I'm still working on my enhancements. I now have 1770 pictures in my account inc. 2 other families with 65 originals, 144 after enhancements. I have 676 originals and a total of 1628 with enhancements. And I'm not done yet!

I have to place my order tomorrow, so after that, I'm done. (Until I start another one to take me past the holidays! )

Since this a.m. they have added 2 more holiday frames. Both have cute little Mickey and Minnie snow people in the lower left corner with a green frame. One is holly like and the other one is more linear with ornaments hanging off. Non-dated. These would look great with pix from BB!

Yikes-As I've been working on finishing my pictures they've been all mixed up. At first I was worried that the pix due to exp. 11-11 (tomorrow) had been removed, but nope, they're still there, just further down in the mix. Also means the other 2 families pix that were at the end of each park are not mixed in the middle. Oh well, at least they are still there!