Pass on photo pass?

[TOBS2010]

I am on the fence on whether to get the Photo Pass or not. I have read a ton on it and know that you can use the app to find photographers and such----but is it really worth the money? We are taking our two kids (5.5 and 2.5) for a week and I don't want to spend our trip going on a scavenger hunt for photographers.

If you skipped it, did you regret it? If you did get it---how many photos did you get and how hard did you have to try to get them? Were you happy with what you spent for what you got?

 

[pitpat]

absolutely worth it since you're there for a week. You can easily get hundreds of pictures of the whole family with little effort.

 

[KenHutch]

We get it every time we go the fewest pictures we ever did was on the 1st trip we got around 300. On our latest trip in 2015 I believe it was around 1000 and I expect to do better next week when we go again.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

Totally depends on you. Most of the pictures will be repeats, so you need to think about ways to make them look and feel different. Different expressions, different poses, etc. Don't always use the pose recommended by the photographer - be imaginative. Also, don't always look at the photographer. Find other things for the entire party to look at while the picture is taken. It can make a huge difference.

Otherwise you might have hundreds of pictures, but only really 15 or 20 that are appreciably different.

 

[DizneyMommy]

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. The number of great photos I got would have cost less to download individually. 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. We aren’t big on ride photos, they alone definitely aren’t worth $200 to us. 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

 

[Kaleidodad]

There are Photopass photographers just about everywhere in the parks (and resorts), and I have never looked up their locations on the app: we just make a point to stop at most every one that doesn't have a line. You'll find them in every land and country in every park, with multiple angles of the big landmarks like the castle, the big ball, the tree of life.

If you purchase the Memory Maker package in advance, the break-even number is like 10 downloads, which is easy to hit many times over if you are in WDW for a week. This way you can have the whole family in every shot, including many character meets, and the ride photos and magic shots can turn out to be really great pictures. I have printed out over 1000 photopass pics with only the occasional blurry/bad lighting shot, and a lot of the photographers will really go the extra mile to create neat shots for you.

 

[icesk8abc]

The Memory Maker is worth it to us. We have gotten it every time. With kids those ages, you may find yourselves in several meet and greets. This is where we get the most for our money, I feel. Some of the indoor character meets have weird lighting and even with a DSLR that he know how to use well, my husband can’t often adjust all the settings quickly enough for good pictures. We also enjoy the ride photos. Another fun thing to do is download a list of magic shots to see if there are any you want. You can also just ask each photographer if he has any available in that location. I find those add a lot because they add variety to the poses without us having to come up with something on our own.

 

[Bill West]

I would get it. It sounds like you haven't been to WDW recently so you might not know exactly how the photographers are set up. Well..they are everywhere. You don't have to search for them. On Main Street there are usually at least 3 or 4 to take pictures with the castle in the background....same at other parks. They are also stationed in random places you wouldn't think about, and in places you would - in front if the major rides, etc.

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.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

If you are on the fence, then yes, I think you should get it. Don't worry about looking on the app for photographers. I've never done that and I don't go looking for photographers. For the most part, anywhere where you'd like a photo, there will be one (or three) PhotoPass photographers right there. If there is a line, it usually moves pretty quickly and can be fun to watch what poses and ideas other people do.

 

[Vertical]

We have purchased MM for our previous trips, but will be skipping it for our upcoming trip. We really like ability to get family photos, but this trip is shorter and since we were there a year ago, more than likely the pictures this year won't be different enough to justify the cost. But if you haven't been recently or this is your first trip with your kids I would definitely purchase it.
In regards to hunting for photographers, we never had trouble finding them.

Also, my kids started to complain on our last trip when I told them to stop for a minute for a picture. They don't want to delay getting on the next attraction! That's another reason we're skipping it this year.

 

[winnieofpooh]

We've gotten it on our past two trips, and we do get a use out of it. I think on subsequent trips we'll skip it though, because we've gone twice in two years so the photos (and us) all look the same. We usually can take around 300 or so pictures, and maybe save 20-30 of them. We don't really hunt down the photographers, they're in pretty busy areas and we would often just stumble upon them. If this is your first time with the kids, or even the first time in a while, I'd definitely recommend it. If it's a repeat trip, I'd skip it.

 

[hakepb]

Getting Photopass pictures taken is free, and you can review them (with watermark) on MDE or at Photopass print locations.

Also Photopass photographers will gladly take a picture with your camera or phone along with their pictures. (So you can still get a decent, free, picture download from your camera without paying for Photopass)

With the Disney Visa credit card, you can get a couple “free” downloads, too.

I’ve only had MM due to it being included with AP’s. It’s fun, but I’d have a hard time paying as a separate item...it might be more worth it if WDW was a rare thing for us. Before MM with an AP, we would only pay for 1 or 2 Photopass pictures a trip.

 

[jennc27]

We leave in 10 days and I did not know about the Photopass in the app. Thank you for the information. We used Photopass last time and will do so again. Main reason is because my DH talked me into storing all our photos we took with our camera on a portable hard drive and then lost it. Only photos we have from our first trip are from Photopass and ones I posted to Facebook. However, one lady in Animal Kingdom spent some time with my boys and we got some wonderful photos.

Updated to add the photos.

 

[MickeyWaffles]

I would definitely get Memory Maker.
We have never had to scavenge for photographers.
We love the high quality photos we get from the character meet & greets, especially. They have captured many magical moments for us.

Memory Maker is a must do for our family and we do not seek out photographers. If we see one with no line, we get a photo. There are often PhotoPass photographers with no line, even in popular spots.

 

[linda d-isney]

We went 3 years ago and splurged on the MM and so glad we did. Our kids are in their late 20's and don't travel with us to Disney. So we really enjoyed that for the first time in ages both of us were in photos together and it was Christmas time. Also we enjoyed not having to take the camera out all the time. We've been to Disney pretty many times and have enough of the regular photos of the parks. We're going again this July and have purchased MM again.
My DD and I were in California Disney back in October and they seemed to only have the photographers out in the very early morning. That was not worth a $169 there but it came with our package from Costco and was an deal.

 

[Ds4angels]

We have gotten it the last 2 times we went, but this time we are going to pass. The kids grumbled about stopping at all the photographers. Plus going in August and I'm sure we'll be a hot sweaty mess after an hour or so in the park

 

[gharter]

I was never a big fan of it until we got our first AP and had it included. Since then, we look for the photographers that are in cool locations. We get more photos taken each trip and really enjoy them. I also love getting all of the onride photos and videos. They also include stock photos from each park. If you are going to be there for a week, it should be well worth the money. Just be sure to take advantage of it when you can.

 

[greg9x]

While the quality of the photo pass has declined, it's still usually 'ok'. It was a much better value when it was <$100... if you are going with young kids and doing a lot of character meets then it will be convenient to have it. Main St at opening lines can be long for the castle photographers, but usually it's only a couple groups in front of you.. a lot of times you can find one just standing around, if you keep your eyes open they are easy to spot, just jump over and get a picture taken in 30 seconds.

 

[bumbershoot]

We’ve gotten it several times, got many pictures, edited them into countless pictures, and....never did a single thing with them.

I don’t get it anymore.

We leave in 10 days and I did not know about the Photopass in the app. Thank you for the information. We used Photopass last time and will do so again. Main reason is because my DH talked me into storing all our photos we took with our camera on a portable hard drive and then lost it. Only photos we have from our first trip are from Photopass and ones I posted to Facebook. However, one lady in Animal Kingdom spent some time with my boys and we got some wonderful photos.

As far as I know PP is digital only. No CD now. So you’re still going to need to work on your family’s digital management.

Storing photos on an external hard drive is an excellent idea. Also on your computer is good. Also on a cd is good. Also uploading them to Shutterfly etc is good. Do ALL of those things. Not just one. That was the error made.

And you’ll still have to do this with photopass.

 

[jillt2ph]

Don't forget you can also include photos at some of the photobooths. My BFF have soooo much fun doing this - reminds us of our youth We even entertained folks in the Figment gift shop area because there are screens outside the booths so folks can see what is going on inside them.