Photopass or No Photopass

[NewEnglandCamper]

We have really enjoy the photopass option when we went to WDW in the past. However this time around its just my wife and I.

I figure we might get a picture or two at each park but probably not do any character sitings (unless there is not a line). Is it worth it to get a photopass? Perhaps just to get a 5x7 or 8x10.

I'm certainly not going to buy the $150 CD. Any suggestions?

 

[Bethannk511]

I went solo in November and photopass was an excellent way to get pictures of me infront of stuff, with characters, whatever!! I'd have the photographer take my picture with their camera and also my own! They're more than willing to use your camera. Sometimes they're shots were good but they always did such a good job with my camera that i didn't need to buy any! And they know all the good angles too!

 

[lthiesfeld07]

Thank you for this info! My best friend and I are going in two weeks and I didn't really want to buy the photopass CD. So the CM's will use your camera if you ask?

 

[NewEnglandCamper]

I wish Photopass had variable pricing. (e.g., $50 for X amount of pictures, $100 for Y amount of pictures, etc.)

 

[nurse.darcy]

Seriously, they almost always use the same pose at each locale. Just ask them to shoot, hand them your photopass card and camera and move on. At the end of your trip take a look at your pictures. If you feel you need additional, by all means buy. If you get good shots, don't buy. I know its cheaper to prepay, but also severely limited as to service line.

 

[krb2g]

If you have $100 to spare, I'd recommend pre-ordering the photo cd: if you read the fine print of the offer, you'll find that as long as you don't actually use the credit in your account, you can cancel it for any reason whatsoever (e.g. don't like the pictures, didn't get enough pictures, don't want to spend the money any more). Once the first picture is taken on your photopass account, you're no longer able to get the offer.

I'd definitely have the photopass photographers take your picture both with their cameras and with yours (especially at night, sometimes their cameras are better equipped to take good pictures--if they have an external flash or a tripod, for example). Having two cameras take the shot also increases the chance that they'll get a good picture.

Then after the trip, review both your pictures and the photopass account and decide what you want. Are there unique poses on the photopass (either better than you got on your own camera or that you didn't get on your own camera) that you want to purchase? The math works like this: you'll have spent $99.95 for the cd. The cheapest print or digital download is $14.95. If there are fewer than 6 images on the photopass account that you want, cancel the prepaid cd and do individual downloads/prints (at most $89.70). If there are 7 or more images you want, it's a better deal to get the photopass cd.

I personally feel like the prices are high, but I value being able to get our entire group in a photo without having to bug some other guest to take our picture.

 

[krb2g]

I wish Photopass had variable pricing. (e.g., $50 for X amount of pictures, $100 for Y amount of pictures, etc.)

They do: if you just want one picture, it's 14.95, and until #11, it goes up in multiples of 14.95 (if you do the digital download where you'll get the same file as you would on the CD). On the 11th picture, it becomes more cost effective to buy the CD of all the pictures.

If you have $100 to prepay, the break-even point is passed by the 7th photo.

What if I don't know if there will be 7 unique poses I want to buy? If you have the $100 to spare, prepay anyway--you can cancel the credit for any reason at all until you have ordered the CD.

To stack the odds even further, have the photopass photographers take pictures on your camera as well (they're happy to do this) and then only count poses that come out significantly better on their cameras (if they're using tripods or external flashes, it's possible, especially for night shots, that their cameras will have an advantage), that are unique to their cameras (for instance, in a character interaction, the photographer may get several shots of your child approaching the character and then only take a group picture of your whole family on both cameras) or that are only possible on their cameras (the magic shots that show you holding Tinkerbell or in a sword fight with Captain Hook). Using the borders available on the site after your visit, you can proliferate the number of pictures on the CD to a high number, but to determine if it's worth it or not, you should count the unique poses.