Pass on photo pass?

[Ladyandthepuppies]

I get it and think of the $179 as money I'm spending on my souvenir. We like all the on-ride photos like ToT, 7DMT, RnR, Splash, etc etc. Back in the day it was like $30 per individual pic so to get 100s of pics for $179 feels like a deal. Also since I signed up for it in advance, it tricked my mind into feeling like the pics are "free" and then it made me so happy to find photographers all over and get lots of "free" pics of my family.

 

[slpeters]

I would definitely vote for yes. We never looked up photographers because it seemed like they were everywhere and I was surprised how many photos we ended up with. We rarely get photos of the two of us together so it was nice to have hundreds and hundreds of them. We found the quality of the photos and of the interactions with the photographers to be very high. Well worth it.

 

[randumb0]

Why not just use your own camera or phone? The photographers will use it to take a picture for you.

 

[LibbyG]

We love the photo pass. My kids did grumble the first year we did it, but enjoy looking at the pictures so much that there was no arguing this year. I would encourage you to not just do the poses they offer, but come up with some fun ones of your own. Also take advantage of the photopass place in Disney Springs. We had fabulous family pictures with different backdrops taken at Christmas. I like not feeling the pressure of remembering to capture every moment and every character interaction. Well worth the money.

 

[JediBonas]

We get it every trip, it's one of our must-gets. Last trip was the first time I decided to rely mostly on photopass and not really use my camera (except for videos of character meets), it was nice just letting them take all the pictures. I have a disney photo album (holds 200 pics) for each of our trips, I'd say 90% of the pics I put in are photopass ones.

 

[hmcater]

I say to go for it, we love MM. Especially if you plan on your little ones meeting characters. They don't just take pictures of them smiling with the characters, they also take cute pictures of the interactions with them as well. You also get all your ride pictures. Well worth the money in my opinion, because I'm usually the picture taker and never end up in the pictures. This way, I get to be in the pics as well.

 

[DaniMoon]

I consider it a bargain. I love the photos, we get hundreds for our trips (10+ days) The ride photos are some of our favorites, we know where the cameras are and are always posing. The video for 7DMT is one of my favorites with the smiles of joy on my kids' faces.

The best times for having the photographer spend a little extra time with you is NOT at park opening when each photographer has a line of people, we hit those photographers on way out of the park when we take our midday break. We ask for magic shots.

I get a 12x12 photobook made from each trip, we look at them over and over again.

 

[YoYoAurora]

I have a love-hate relationship with PhotoPass. At DL we have it on our AP and the photographers are 99% of the time terrible. I’ll take it since it’s free, but I’d be asking for a refund if I had to pay for it.
Our last trip to WDW, we bought it in advance to save money and I wish I hadn’t. ... I don’t need 1000 ok photos, just 3 or 4 great ones. I am a photographer and take my own photos of my own kids, so it is just the family photos that I really can’t do myself. Often at DL, the shot the CM takes with my iPhone is better than their own. ... I’ll be waiting on this trip in June to see what my photos look like and will probably pick out 2-3 family shots to purchase individually.
I cannot for the life of me get a photo to upload or I would show you some hilariously bad examples

I feel your pain. I'm also a photographer and find that the photos the PhotoPass photographers take with my husband's point-and-shoot camera are better than those they take with their cameras. They always offer to take one with my DSLR, but I decline most of the time. When I do, I move it from manual mode (most of the time) and put it on auto mode, just like they have theirs set. We rarely purchase any of the group photos, although I have purchased some. And upload those photos if you get a chance.

...The only caution I would give, is if you yourself are a professional photographer. If you know your stuff you may not like a lot of the pictures. But, if you are not a pro (like me) then you will think they are really good pictures, and better than what you would take. And, if your'e taking the picture, then you aren't in the picture, so you don't have to worry about that.

I have been known to rearrange my group before the PhotoPass photographer snaps the shutter. Most of their photos are OK, as @DizneyMommy said. They're just not great.

I was talking to a friend's daughter. Daughter is a PhotoPass photographer for Disney and has been for about three years. From what I learned from her, she didn't receive a lot of photography training. She hadn't been interested in photography before they placed her in the PhotoPass position. She's good with people. She went through PhotoPass training to get the set shots that Disney provides. I talked to her for about 30 minutes about photography. She said that she learned more about her camera and photography basics from me in that 30 minutes than she did during all of her training. I'm not bashing the PhotoPass photographers or Disney's training. They're looking for consistency, good shots, and poses where they can add the magical Disney touches. It works for the majority of the guests and that's what PhotoPass is for.

That being said, if DH's family ever does a family reunion at WDW, I will opt for the MM package. That way, I can enjoy the trip, get the shots I want to get, and leave the rest to the PhotoPass photogs. Family will be happy and so will I!