Photopass Question...

[ashleendanny]

So we are right at a month until our first WDW trip.

Is the photopass something I should purchase, like are there stations that you go to and they take your photo, or how does it work. I guess I am asking is it worth it, or a must for our first trip.

Also, any other pointers for first timers, of course I have got a TON of knowledge off of here, but I feel like I should be doing something since it is only a month away, haha.

Thanks in Advance...

Ashlee

 

[IllumFan]

PhotoPass itself is free. The PhotoPass photographers have cards and they will hand you one at your first PhotoPass location. You can use this same card for the entire trip. I would write the number down and keep it someplace safe. If you misplace your card, you can still claim your pictures using the number.

If your family splits up, you can pick up another PhotoPass card. The PhotoPass website allows you to link multiple cards to one account so all your pictures will be in one place.

PhotoPass is a great service for my family because I don't have to worry about bringing my camera if I don't want, the pictures are usually higher quality than I can take, I can focus on enjoying my kids meeting the characters instead of angling for the best photo, and we can easily have photos taken with the whole family in them.

There are locations at Disney World where you can view your PhotoPass pictures but I prefer to do it when I get home. When you arrive home, you have 30 days from when the photos were taken to claim then on the PhotoPass site. If you like them you can purchase prints, a PhotoPass CD with all your photos on them, or you can create and purchase products such as calendars containing your photos.

The only decision you'll need to make upfront is whether to pre-purchase the PhotoPass CD for a discount (http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitoffer.aspx).

If my husband and I travel alone, we don't pre-purchase the CD since we take very little PhotoPass pictures. However, if we're bringing the kids and are planning many Character Meets & Greets, then we purchase the CD.

Have a great trip.

 

[TAKitty]

Some rave about photopass, but we don't use it that often. They have photographers around the park that take your picture with their camera. All your pictures are on a card. You don't need to get one beforehand.

The photographer will also take your picture with your own camera. You can purchase the pictures at the park or when you get home. There is a deal if you preorder a photopass CD, but we have never had that many pictures to get the CD.

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/

 

[ashleendanny]

So is there always a photographer with a character? I won't have to worry about taking photos of my children with the characters?

So do you just stop a photographer and ask them to take out photo?

 

[sophie832]

So is there always a photographer with a character? I won't have to worry about taking photos of my children with the characters?

So do you just stop a photographer and ask them to take out photo?

There isn't always a Photopass photographer with characters...we found it to be 50/50. But if there isn't one, most of the time the character host will take a pic of you with your own camera.

Photopass photographers are stationed at pre-planned locations. I don't know if there's an "official" list, but there are lots of sites with unofficial lists. You just look for their outfit/costume, which is dark blue and beige. Sometimes there's a line at the more popular locations (in front of the Castle on Main St., for example), but otherwise you can just walk right up to the photographer and hand him/her your Photopass card (or get one from them if it's your first time). They will instruct you on where to stand, etc.

 

[LWatson]

If you dont go often I would say yes its worth it. We didnt do it in May because we had already been 2x in a short period. This past trip was our 4th, and we used the photopass but didnt get the disk...instead we got the calendar.

 

[ratlenhum]

We get it every trip and love it. Otherwise I'd hardly be in any pictures. We also get tons of shots. If you pre-pay for the disk, make sure you tell the photographers. One of the PP photographers told me this. She said tell them you already paid for the disk and to please take several shots. I noticed they would take several regular poses, then in certain situations have us do fun or silly stuff. We came home with over 100 different pictures on our disk and it was really nice.

 

[Remmy]

So we are right at a month until our first WDW trip.

Is the photopass something I should purchase, like are there stations that you go to and they take your photo, or how does it work. I guess I am asking is it worth it, or a must for our first trip.

Also, any other pointers for first timers, of course I have got a TON of knowledge off of here, but I feel like I should be doing something since it is only a month away, haha.

Thanks in Advance...

Ashlee

Congratulations on your upcoming vacation!!

I would suggest looking for the stitchkingdom website. I found tons of useful information from that site about the photopass system.

For the past two trips I have pre-ordered the photo cd and photobook. We love the photobook so much . The children look at it quite often. Other family members and friends thought the quality of them were excellent and liked looking through them too. (I always offered, never pressured.)

The cds are a great value as the number that you receive corresponds to the number of photos you have taken and how many boarders, changes you make. You can crop and make photos look completely different. I have 7 cds from our 2 week trip, and 4 cds from our 1 week trip. I also liked the special effects they could add such as Stitch in the ground, us holding Tinkerbell, sword fighting with Captain Hook and others. We searched for every special effect.

With the above plug for the photopass, we also encountered a few down points:
1. Not every character had a photopass person.
2. Sometimes a wait for a photopass person, that my family didn't wish to wait.
3. Blurry photos with photopass or even if we asked them to take the photos with our camera. I think it all depends how many people are waiting behind you, and if they feel like they have to rush.
4. My family was not into it as much the second time we we went. You shouldn't have that problem.
5. Sometimes we had to search out photopass people and ask them. Example, some would have the camera, outfit but not approach people but wanted you to approach them. Not a problem for me as I want to get as much out of it as possible.

Tips for you if you decide to photopass:
1. Go to stitchkingdom to look at (they have all the different possibilities posted) what photopass people wear and where to find them, and their tips.
2. Use, use, use until you can't smile anymore. Don't leave it with the option of only once in front of the castle (example). Take photos from the same place at different times. Sometimes the night photos can be just as pretty as the day photos. Sometimes, strange things pop into the picture, like a low flying bird that throws off the shot, or a character isn't looking the same way as the rest of your family.
3. Try to ask for all the "extra" photos such as Tinkerbell, Stitch, holding balloons, holding baby Simba that you want to spend time doing.
4. If you are dining where you can add the photos, such as Tusker, Chef Mickey, etc, there are special borders for them. (If you purchase the photos there first). Or at Test Track (no purchase required.)
5. If dining in some of the Deluxe resorts, they sometimes have a photopass person there taking photos you can add to your photopass. We had that in 2009 at Wildnerness Lodge and AK for no extra cost. Good photos from there.
6. If your children do the Pirate Cruise, if they have a photopass photographer with them, they will add the photos taken from the cruise to your photopass.

In conclusion to this long post. We love the photobook and photo cds from Disney Photopass. We like being able to have different photo opportunities, especially since we cannot find Disney borders for photos anywhere were we live. We think it is a good value for what we have received. We have pre-purchased for our up coming vacation and I am looking forward to the new photos we will hopefully have.

Good luck on your decision, and I wish you a wonderful vacation.

Remmy