PhotoPass Plus

[SarahCarsLand]

Hello! Forgive me for asking if this is a repeat. I read some other posts about it but they were older so:

I want to buy the DLR Photopass Plus so I am not lugging my large camera around the whole day (painful, not allowed on rides?, opportunity for it to get stolen. I still want to bring a point and shoot for kids on rides). I've never used Photopass before, so I'm not familiar with it. The language on the website is a little confusing to me. Many sites refer to the WDW version. So....my question, for those of you that have bought it recently for a DLR trip, what exactly do you get? The most basic question is: Do you get all of the pictures you have taken for free (after the initial cost of the photopass plus)? A disc or code that you so you can upload all of the pics onto your computer and have them printed on your own (Walgreens, online, printer, etc) as much as you want?

Do you get all the ride pics you get taken? Or do you only get a certain amount? Do you have any tips or suggestions? Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[mlnbabies]

We just got back from DL and we used photo pass plus. I ordered it before our trip. They mailed me a photo gallery cd with a voucher that I took to the photo store in DL. They gave me a lanyard with my card.

When the photographer took our pictures, the scan my card. Ride photos were added to my card after we got off the ride. Make sure you write down the number of the ride photo so if you forget to have the photo added, it can be added later. This happened to us. I called the photo pass people after we got back and she ride photos could be added as long as you have the number.

Make sure that you have the photographers take pictures with your camera because they do lose pictures. Luckily I had the picture on my camera but it was never scanned by the photographer.

After I added borders, I ordered the CD of all the pictures they took and it was mailed to me. Once I got the cd, I imported the cd into my Iphoto program on my Mac.

If you upload your own pictures into your photopass account, it cost $20 to have the cd sent to you. I uploaded my personal pictures of my friends to the account so they could have their own cd.

I have been very pleased with the photo pass service. I have used it at WDW also. Most of the photographers are pretty good.

 

[figment_jii]

The PP did a great job describing PP+ at DLR. I could only think of a few things to add. As mentioned, PP+ includes all photos taken by the PP photographers, attraction photos, and character dining photo packages (digital and paper). For the photographers and dining packages, they scan your PP+ card. For the attraction photo, you still need to take the card to the photo location at the end of the ride and have them add your ride photo to your account. It's a good idea to write down the photo number in case the photo does not appear.

In terms of bringing your own camera, you can take it on the rides with you. Most rides have either little storage locations on the ride vehicle or you can hold it yourself if the ride is tame enough. There are also lockers you can rent if you get tired of carrying it or if you know you're going on a bunch of rides where it would be problematic. I'm not quite sure about the P&S for on-ride photos...mostly because not many P&S do very well in medium to low light conditions. I almost always carry my DSLR around with me and I haven't had any problems with it on rides or having it stolen.

 

[Larissa]

I have heard people rave about photopass, but honestly I cannot for the life of my understand what is so great about it. I have never gotten enough photopass pictures on my account to make it worth my while (and some trips I actively searched for photographers). The photo quality is not that great...I just don't get it. If it's just for the photo-shopped in characters...I could do that myself if I was so inclined...

 

[cmpeter]

We used it for our last trip. Primarily because we had a character meal and I knew my teen would want all the ride photos. I think you get some good. PP photo ops at DCA, but that there are fewer opportunities at DL. I generally prefer to take my DSLR (never had an issue with it on rides).

 

[mom2rtk]

If you upload your own pictures into your photopass account, it cost $20 to have the cd sent to you. I uploaded my personal pictures of my friends to the account so they could have their own cd.

Unless it changed since last year, the package includes the CD of all your park photos. There is no $20 charge. You just add the CD to your cart when you are done making edits, then enter the code from the voucher they send you and they mail you the CD. Perhaps you have this confused with some of the recent changes at WDW?

I have heard people rave about photopass, but honestly I cannot for the life of my understand what is so great about it. I have never gotten enough photopass pictures on my account to make it worth my while (and some trips I actively searched for photographers). The photo quality is not that great...I just don't get it. If it's just for the photo-shopped in characters...I could do that myself if I was so inclined...

I like having photos on both my camera and on Photopass. That way if one fails, I have the other. We came home with several hundred photos on Photopass after a week in the parks.

I also like adding the dated borders they have available on their site. Perhaps you could add your own if you were inclined, but most cannot.

 

[mgrace79]

If you pre order it saves you $ vs buying at the park just make sure to do so a min of 2weeks prior to your trip. You can add as many ride photos as you wish no limit. If you are going to do character meals you get them added to your pass plus you get the photo print out as well. To me it was worth it just for the ride photos alone, but we ended up doing 2 character meals as well. We had a couple of phototogs that were amazing. We had our own lil mini photo shoot by the castle- Its nice to be in the photos as I am always the one taking them. When we go back I definitely will be doing this again-its worth it to me but Im a photo lover. When you are done with your edits you can choose to get a cd or download direct to your computer- both will have a release allowing you to print where ever and when ever you wish.

 

[figment_jii]

I have heard people rave about photopass, but honestly I cannot for the life of my understand what is so great about it. I have never gotten enough photopass pictures on my account to make it worth my while (and some trips I actively searched for photographers). The photo quality is not that great...I just don't get it. If it's just for the photo-shopped in characters...I could do that myself if I was so inclined...

I didn't really see the point in PP+ either, but I purchased it for a recent trip and found it to be worth the price. We did a lot of character meet and greets, one character meal, and multiple rides with photos, so it was well worth the price. Yes, some of the photos were not good, but several were great. I didn't have any problems finding photopass photographers throughout the parks, so that also contributed to finding it worth the price. If you don't do character meet and greets, character meals, and/or purchase attraction photos, it's not really worth the price.

 

[ScrtSolstice]

Unless it changed since last year, the package includes the CD of all your park photos. There is no $20 charge. You just add the CD to your cart when you are done making edits, then enter the code from the voucher they send you and they mail you the CD. Perhaps you have this confused with some of the recent changes at WDW?

I think this is because she added her own photos to the website to add borders to, on top of the pictures that the photopass photographers had taken.

-----

DH and I did PP+ and it was well worth the cost, especially when you factor ride and character dining photos (You get the printed package at some locations too). We brought along our DSLR and it was fine, but to get both of us in the picture and not have to pull out the camera was awesome. There were a few blah photos with poor quality but the majority of ours were high resolution and clean.

We ended up with a little over 400 PP photos that we liked out of all that were included in the PP+ cost and we opted for digital download because we wanted them sooner >.>. Cost break down: an individual photo was around the $10 mark EACH to download at the time (2012), where was PP+ was $100. Of course disc option was available and definitely cheaper than $10/digital picture download, but you catch my drift. Keep in mind the prices may have changed...

You have take enough photos at the parks and like enough of them for it to be cost effective in my opinion, but its not for everyone.

 

[SarahCarsLand]

Thank you all! Call me Dopey (Disney pun-har har) but I am confused again. Here is what I thought the PP+ is. Tell me if I am right or wrong.

The cost of PP+ is $69.95 purchased ahead of time.
You get a card and lanyard mailed to you.
You show the card to every photopass taker at the park/dining/etc.
They take a picture of the card. They take your pictures.
When you get home, you put in a code and all of the pictures taken by these photographers are brought up.
You can upload them onto your computer FOR NO EXTRA CHARGE and they are on your computer to do with as you wish.

Is there any extra cost AFTER the initial $69.95 PP+ purchase?

Thanks! Please excuse the confusion.

 

[DahliaRW]

Thank you all! Call me Dopey (Disney pun-har har) but I am confused again. Here is what I thought the PP+ is. Tell me if I am right or wrong.

The cost of PP+ is $69.95 purchased ahead of time.
You get a card and lanyard mailed to you.
You show the card to every photopass taker at the park/dining/etc.
They take a picture of the card. They take your pictures.
When you get home, you put in a code and all of the pictures taken by these photographers are brought up.
You can upload them onto your computer FOR NO EXTRA CHARGE and they are on your computer to do with as you wish.

Is there any extra cost AFTER the initial $69.95 PP+ purchase?

Thanks! Please excuse the confusion.

The cost is $69.95 purchased AT LEAST 14 days in advance of your trip.

You get a voucher mailed to you. When you get to the park, you need to go exchange the voucher at the photo store for your card and lanyard and a case with the gallery cd and your redemption code in it. It is a good idea to take a picture of any of your photopass cards with your phone or camera in case you loose it so you have the number. Same with the voucher number in the case. Also, I still would carry at least a point and shoot or phone camera with you, there are photo opportunities, even with characters, where photopass photographers are not available.

When a Photopass photographer takes your picture, you give them your card, they will scan it. This includes at character meals and meet and greets. At character meals you get the photo package they sell for free, including prints.

When you go on a ride, you note the ride number and go to the kiosk at the end that sells the photos. Show them your card, they will bring up your picture (or pictures) and scan your card and it will be added.

You will need to create an account on the photopass website. Then enter the photopass number. Your pictures will be in your account. You can also add in any other photopass cards you have (all the pictures do not have to be on the one with the lanyard, handy if your group splits up or if a child in your party does something like jedi training). Check your photopass photos every day or so to make sure they show up. If you are missing some, go to the photo store and tell them when/where and they will try to find them. If ride photos are missing you need to go back to that actual ride. I HIGHLY recommend keeping track of the ride photo numbers for this reason. We took pictures of all of them on the screen with our cell phones. But we were lucky and never had an issue.

When you get home, go on the photopass site. Add borders and save your pictures with borders in the sizes you want prints of. All the changes will save as copies of your original photos. When you are done, you add the photopass CD to your cart, choose to have a physical CD of photos mailed to you (shipping is included) or to download straight to your computer, and then checkout using your code (which comes in the disc case they will give you when you redeem your voucher). No additional cost for JUST the photopass/ride photos in digital format. If you choose download, they should be processed and downloadable as zip files within 24 hours. If they are not there is an issue and you need to contact them. It took me 4 days to get mine because they screwed up on their end and it was a huge hassle, so be aware and stay on top of it (but I do think this is the exception).

It's pretty easy, and the nice people at the camera store will answer any questions.

 

[figment_jii]

I concur with DahliaRW, with only one difference. When I pre-ordered PP+ in November, the paper voucher (that needed to be taken to DLR to get the lanyard), the insert with the redemption code for the CD/download of the photos, and the Gallery CD were mailed together.

 

[smithfamilyof7]

I concur with DahliaRW, with only one difference. When I pre-ordered PP+ in November, the paper voucher (that needed to be taken to DLR to get the lanyard), the insert with the redemption code for the CD/download of the photos, and the Gallery CD were mailed together.

Yep, I was going to say the same thing. We just got our PP+ packet in the mail for our trip next month. The voucher, redemption code, and gallery CD were in the packet.

We've never done the PP+ before but I'm really excited to try it this time!

 

[SarahCarsLand]

Perfect! Thank you all!

 

[DahliaRW]

I concur with DahliaRW, with only one difference. When I pre-ordered PP+ in November, the paper voucher (that needed to be taken to DLR to get the lanyard), the insert with the redemption code for the CD/download of the photos, and the Gallery CD were mailed together.

Thank you for the correction! I bought mine in the parks.

 

[wdwfan22]

I didn't get my PP+ ordered by the 2 week deadline, so I have to buy it in the parks. Where in the parks do I buy it?

 

[mgrace79]

I didn't get my PP+ ordered by the 2 week deadline, so I have to buy it in the parks. Where in the parks do I buy it?

At the photo shop in either DL or CA.