Photo Pass

[lorax123]

What exactly does this include? I got an email offering it for $99 and I've heard a few people mention purchasing it.

But is it worth it? It doesn't include a picture package, just the CD right? We got PP tickets last year and ordered and viewed our prints online, which was convenient, but I just don't see a lot of value for just a CD of the images.

Any opinions?

 

[aGoofyMom]

I have been happy with the PhotoPass CD's that I have pre purchased. I like the special pictures they can do, and for me, the print price seemed too high. Of course, I have to contend with shipping over the border. UPS charges for Canadians can be incredibly prohibitive. For some reason, the CD seems to bypass that. Once I have the CD, I can do my own photobooks locally, or include the images for my digital frames, or onto memory card shows for Grandma's digital frame too.

We did a long trip in which I set up DD (6 at the time) to seek out Photo Pass at every chance. We had over 300 pictures for a 12 night trip including MNSSHP - so Ghost pictures in front of HM, plus the Tinkerbell shots, doing battle with Captain Hook...

In the spring, we travelled with another family and 2 of my co-workers were also going around the same time so I organized the CD for all of us.

If you do character meals that take photos, you can add the number on the bottom of the large picture from that package and obtain those photos on it as well.

I do know that it may not be worth it on every trip though. But if you pre pay to get the $99 rate, and choose NOT to do it, you can get a refund (double check that every time in case they change their mind) so it becomes a no risk.

 

[aGoofyMom]

Ior onto memory card shows for Grandma's digital frame too.

I hate to quote myself but this just gave me a great idea for a Christmas present!!

And she would be sooooo confused by a wrapped up memory card!

 

[lorax123]

Thanks!

I still don't know yet. I told DW that it just includes the CD and no prints (she really wants some prints and is annoyed that we have so many digital images and no prints as is). So, she's still up in the air.

I know we will order a few prints (i'd say at least 4-5) when we get back, having the CD would be nice... but we take tons of photos ourselves and aren't shy about asking cast members to take pics of us with our own cameras.

Dunno... just seems pricey for a CD of digital images.

 

[jcb]

I am on the fence as well. Here is what I understand (as in, don't take this as gospel and please correct me if I'm wrong):

The price doesnt' inlcude attraction photographs.

Attraction photographs can be added to the photopass at some extra cost (really guessing on this one).

Can add dining photographs (Chef Mickey's) - presumably at extra cost.

For $25, you can add photoshoot at GF

Really not clear at all whether PP bought for WDW can be used on DCL (same trip).

I'll probably do it - never have before - because this is an extended family trip (in part) and it would be nice to have some photos of the entire group.

 

[Becx N Gav]

The price doesnt' inlcude attraction photographs.

For $25, you can add photoshoot at GF.

I know you can get the Test Track ride photo added - as far as I know this is the only ride so far.

You can only get the Photoshoot (at many resorts now) for $25 if you pre-purchased the Photopass CD a few months back, they've increased the cost and you can't add the Photoshoot onto you Photopass card.

Personally the CD is great for us, the cost of ordering prints is over the top IMHO and with a CD you have a digital copy of the pics

It would be great if you could pay to download the images and then print them yourself rather than get a CD. I'm sure they could do this a lot cheaper than the cost of pre-ordering the CD.

 

[Aliceacc]

I split the cost with my sister, who went down a few weeks before us, and a friend who went down the same time as us. So we each paid $33 for the CD which contained something like 350 pictures when all the editing was done.

My husband printed and framed 3 gorgeous pictures to hang in the living room. Another became our Christmas card.

All by itself, the $120 for a single family seems like a LOT of money to me. But for a once-in-a-childhood trip, the $33 seemed like a bargain.

Why not look into some of the Photopass shares?

 

[lorax123]

It kinda forces you to use every opportunity at a PP spot to just get the photo tho. We do plan on doing more of these for this trip, but we never really prioritize standing for the photogs, since we are always on the way to something else.

I can't say this would really be a great deal for us... I guess we'll pass.

 

[JenEeyore]

We've been getting the CD's for the last few trips, and personally I love them. We didn't get the CD on our 2005 trip and though we liked many of the shots the photographer's took, to buy many of them was cost-prohibative at their prices.

We started doing the photopass CD and now it becomes like a game to see how many photo pass shots we can have taken on the trip to build our stash of digital shots. If you tell the photographers you pre-ordered the CD they usually take some extra shots too. Once we get home and upload our cards, you can add borders, captions, crop etc, so each pic can have many versions of each shot on the disk. (I received a tip from a fellow DISer to photograph the back of your PhotoPass cards when you get them, especially if you have multiple, so if you lose one, you can still upload the number with the rest to capture your shots).

Once we get the completed Disk, I can print the ones I want in various sizes to fill frames, or share online, or make professional photo books on Shutterfly. You can usually order prepaid packages on many of the photo ordering sites to make the prints at about 10-20 cents a piece, or print at your local retail store (Target, Walgreens etc). Then we can incorporate the photo pass shots with our regular vacation shots to tell our vacation story.

Often on the Budget board, there are PhotoPass CD shares taking place where you can join up with a group traveling about the same time as you to save some money by sharing the cost of one CD, or if you are traveling with a group, you could split it up and share among yourselves to keep individual costs down. We love it, and won't go back to going with out unless Disney raises the pricing again to be too cost prohibative. We're sharging with 3 other friends on our December trip coming up next week, so that makes it like $25 a family.

Just wanted to share a positive experience with it so you can weigh all your options.

Jen

 

[ms*mountaineer]

I also enjoyed the PhotoPass. I felt it was worth it on our last trip - and it was just a 2-day trip! I take lots of pictures with my own camera, but the photopass photographers took great pictures too. With the CD, I could do whatever I wanted with the pictures. I could have them printed at Walmart or Shutterfly (I also made a Shutterfly photobook with them).

One reason I liked it - the photopass photographers are often stationed in "photo op" places so they are already in just the right spot to get the castle in the background or the Epcot "ball" in the background (and there were other lovely places that I wouldn't have thought of). And their night pictures were much better than mine. They were already prepared with the right settings on their camera to get the night shots - which is something I struggle with on my own camera.

Photos are one of my favorite souveniers of any trip! So I feel the cost is worth it.

 

[Kimberle]

Last year, I purchased the Photo book. I added more pages, so it was close to $100 when I was finished. The book was "ok", no where worth, in my opinion, $100. I only used a small fraction of my photos.

This year, I pre-purchased the CD. This was a MUCH better value. We had just over 100 pictures taken. With the graphics and editing, I ended up with over 300 photos. I now own the "rights" to my pictures. I'm free to print them anywhere I want at a MUCH cheaper price. I can email them, use them as screen savers, etc.

If you buy the CD, everytime you see a photopass photographer, have them take your pictures. Even if you've had it done in that location. The sun may not be right, someone may have their eyes closed, etc. Don't be shy about asking them to take the photo's you want, or ask them for suggestions. I had a wonderful photographer take my dd all around TL. She took about 20 of the most amazing shots, stuff I'd never think of.

 

[lorax123]

Glad to here some positive reviews! I did talk to DW about it some more last night. Last year we had only a few shots that we PPd online after our trip (less than 15). Out of that we only got two pics, that we really wanted.

I think we'll just go and do the PPs as we come across them. Then review what we have when we get home. If we have enough shots that we like to warrant buying the cd, we'll just pay the extra $20 and then do the PP aheAd of time for our next trip.

Our DD isn't a fan of standing still for pics, DS is a ham tho, and we really don't do many character meet and greets. Since DD isn't a huge fan of costumed characters (who knows how DS will like them!).

I think this trip we will stop and do more PP opportunities but I don't think we are ready for the obligation of making sure we do stop and get PP shots yet!

Thank you all for the feedback tho!

 

[Aliceacc]

And then there are those special effects the photopass photographers can add in as well... Tinkerbell in my kids' hands, Stitch sitting on the couch between my daughters...

And all the stuff you can add on while you edit. My favorite was adding in Tinkerbell over the top of a few pictures of the castle.

 

[Jennygt]

I am a photopass fan here, we bought the cd and I am very happy with it. The quality of the photos are very nice and it is fun to play with them, my ds who is 2 loves to watch them. We also did the photo movie, we had an offer for free but I would pay for it. My son LOVES to watch this and dance to the music, I enjoy it as well, it is fun to have the photos set to music, just my 2 cents, have a wonderful trip!!!!!!

 

[kar0066]

I leave 12/5 for my vacation. Do I still have time to pre-order Photo Pass?

 

[Alesia]

I think this trip we will stop and do more PP opportunities but I don't think we are ready for the obligation of making sure we do stop and get PP shots yet!

You can pre-order and then get a refund if you don't feel that it is worth it.

 

[Alesia]

I leave 12/5 for my vacation. Do I still have time to pre-order Photo Pass?

Absolutely!