Photopass warning for new Adventurers

[jacksparrowfan]

While I think this thread has taken off on some great tangents, I do want to reiterate that my complaint was not about the quality of the photos or whether or not the ABD Guides were willing to take them, or even about the exorbitant ($12.95 for a snapshot?) price of the prints. I just wish that my Guide had answered my question, "Will the photos you are taking be available to us online after the tour?" with "Yes, for an additional cost". Or, better yet, something should have been written in the "before you go" material we got ahead of time, or mentioned at the welcome dinner.

I did alot of planning for this trip and read everything I could find, both online and in the materials we were given. Had I known about this Photopass, I would have prepared differently for the trip and definitely taken more photos with my camera, had the Guides take more photos of us with our camera and had my son take more photos with his camera while my children were separated from us. ABD, as well as other Disney companies, should not expect their guests to all be experts. I'm just asking for some forewarning at a minimum, and perhaps a coupon for a few souvenir photos for the sake of customer relations.

I resent the sour taste this leaves me with, after a really fabulous trip.

Did you note this in your survey that was sent to you? Or, have you written/called ABD to let them know about your concern?

 

[mwebsite]

loball,
I just want to thank you for posting about this photopass CD. I had no idea about it, and am glad to be informed. My husband has an excellent camera, and I know now to rely on his camera for pictures. The cost of this trip is allready so expensive, this is a cost I can easily avoid.

 

[jacksparrowfan]

loball,
I just want to thank you for posting about this photopass CD. I had no idea about it, and am glad to be informed. My husband has an excellent camera, and I know now to rely on his camera for pictures. The cost of this trip is allready so expensive, this is a cost I can easily avoid.

This photopass cd option is excellent for the Backstage Magic tour. There are places where they do not allow us to bring our our own camera. But, the Guides were able to take some shots for us. It was a wonderful memory for us.

 

[loball]

Did you note this in your survey that was sent to you? Or, have you written/called ABD to let them know about your concern?

Unfortunately, that's part of the problem. The survey request came some days before we received the letter with the Photopass code. Of course, I gave ABD the highest marks on the survey, then found no recourse for lodging a complaint afterward, other than on this discussion board. Oh well.

 

[bicker]

Whoa, that's not the case. You can contact ABD directly to express complaints. This is not the right place for that; this is a good point to relay your experiences, but that's for our readers' benefit (so they know what to expect), not to benefit the quality of the service. Disney does not take complaints at this website.

 

[eva]

Bicker is correct. While your post has given information to DIS readers, it isn't the appropriate place to lodge a complaint to ABD. If I were you, I would write a letter and mail it to:

Adventures by Disney
9237 Main Street
Burbank, CA 91111

You can also go to this web address to contact ABD:

https://secure-abd.disney.go.com/abd/en_US/general?name=ContactUsPage

Note on the subject drop down there is the choice "Comments on your recent adventure." I found this address by going to ABD's main page and clicking the link "Contact Us". Hope that helps.

 

[loball]

Adventures by Disney
9237 Main Street
Burbank, CA 91111

Note on the subject drop down there is the choice "Comments on your recent adventure." I found this address by going to ABD's main page and clicking the link "Contact Us". Hope that helps.

I was frustrated when I posted this originally, but still motivated by a wish that someone had told ME about this problem before our trip. I don't believe that I was entirely abusing the discussion board! But it did feel better to get a little sympathy and I had no expectation that Disney would correct anything based on this content.

Thank you Eva, for the link. I will use it!

 

[kristilew]

Bicker, you're right that Disney doesn't "take complaints" on this website. However, they DO have researchers who lurk. Regularly. Someone in Mouseland has followed this thread. No way to know if they care, and it certainly won't help loball, but there you go.

 

[bicker]

I had no expectation that Disney would correct anything based on this content. Thank you Eva, for the link. I will use it!

Great! ... because, though I'm normally very conservative when it comes to expectations folks place on Disney, I feel it is reasonable to expect that when you ask what you asked that the CM should have understood that you were going to therefore not take your own photos, and would benefit from knowing that there was a price associated with the photos that the CMs were taking for PhotoPass.

 

[eva]

I was frustrated when I posted this originally, but still motivated by a wish that someone had told ME about this problem before our trip. I don't believe that I was entirely abusing the discussion board! But it did feel better to get a little sympathy and I had no expectation that Disney would correct anything based on this content.

Thank you Eva, for the link. I will use it!

Oh, I didn't feel that you were abusing the boards in any way. I just wanted to offer some suggestions on how your concern could be addressed in a more beneficial way. If ABD gets enough feedback on this issue, maybe they will either train the guides to discuss the picture fee more openly or maybe just include the pictures with the tour.

On the inside back cover of the guide that they send with your luggage spotters there is a explanation for the Disney PhotoPass. It explains how the guides will take your pictures and that you will get a code within two weeks to view your pictures. However, it does not state that it will cost anything. I assumed it did because I am familiar with PhotoPass.

I agree that they should just increase the cost of the tour another $50-100 per person and then not have to bother us with paying them more money later if we want the pictures. I doubt there are too many that don't buy the pictures. And if they just included the CD and maybe a nice album with the tour, they would be glorified for such great customer service.

 

[mwebsite]

Increasing the cost of the tour by another $100/person as suggested above would cost a family of 5 $500 for this CD. I'm starting to realize we're not as well off as most of you, but I would rather have the cost stated up front, and allow everyone to make their own decision as to if they want to spend the extra money, or rely on their own photography.

 

[eva]

Increasing the cost of the tour by another $100/person as suggested above would cost a family of 5 $500 for this CD. I'm starting to realize we're not as well off as most of you, but I would rather have the cost stated up front, and allow everyone to make their own decision as to if they want to spend the extra money, or rely on their own photography.

I was just talking about increasing the adult prices (or first two persons in a room). This could cover a CD and a nice scrapebook or photo album per family.

 

[slg]

As a family of 5 who regularly needs to book 2 rooms, paying extra for the first two people in a room would increase my cost by up to $400. I would rather have the choice and pay $125. Its not fair for large families to increase the cost at all!

Just tell us ahead of time what is happening so that people don't feel they are being abused.

Personally, I will probably purchase it. We bought a DVD package for our WDW trip that personalized our photos with music and some stock shots and videos. It was great and well worth the money.

 

[SailingBeagle]

The cost is per CD ,NOT PER PERSON. A Family of 5 pays the same as a single person. The cost at least in June was $125.00.

 

[loball]

On the inside back cover of the guide that they send with your luggage spotters there is a explanation for the Disney PhotoPass. It explains how the guides will take your pictures and that you will get a code within two weeks to view your pictures. However, it does not state that it will cost anything. I assumed it did because I am familiar with PhotoPass.

I agree that they should just increase the cost of the tour another $50-100 per person and then not have to bother us with paying them more money later if we want the pictures. I doubt there are too many that don't buy the pictures. And if they just included the CD and maybe a nice album with the tour, they would be glorified for such great customer service.

Of course increasing the cost of the tour to cover the photos would be silly. If I had just taken more photos myself, I would have no dilema. The cost of the trip is high enough as is and I believe guests should have as much choice as possible when it comes to additional expenses.

If indeed, as Eva suggests, I received something prior to our trip that explained about Photopass, then I will eat all my words here, apologize to Disney and sign up for our next Adventure. But I still have the booklet entitled "Your Story is About to Begin" and the inside back cover has a bit about "Adventure Guide Gratuities" and I find no Photopass information in it at all. I believe that I was pretty thorough in my preparations for this trip, so it may be that not all tours get the same information. I will mention that in my comments.

And to give Disney due credit, we did receive a complimentary CD of the final "slide show" that was shown on our last evening, with music and photos taken by the Guides. This is a wonderful memento, but useless for duplicating photos for an online album or scrapbook.

 

[eva]

If indeed, as Eva suggests, I received something prior to our trip that explained about Photopass, then I will eat all my words here, apologize to Disney and sign up for our next Adventure. But I still have the booklet entitled "Your Story is About to Begin" and the inside back cover has a bit about "Adventure Guide Gratuities" and I find no Photopass information in it at all. I believe that I was pretty thorough in my preparations for this trip, so it may be that not all tours get the same information. I will mention that in my comments.

When ABD sent our luggage spotters, they sent us a booklet that says "Viva Italia, Adventures By Disney". Inside is an itinerary, a section for preparing for your adventure, general information about accommodations, meals, the culture, etc. The last two pages of the booklet have items you can purchase from ABD and a half page overview of Disney's Photopass. Maybe each adventure has a different booklet. But that is what we received.

By the way, I'm not really suggesting that ABD raises the prices. But a complaint seemed to be that ABD was nickel diming people by asking for them to pay for the pictures. Unfortunately, you don't get something for nothing. No matter what, the money comes from somewhere. So I was just showing that we would all be paying for the pictures one way or the other. If the pictures were included, the next complaint would be that they could lower the prices and get rid of those low quality pictures that are included in the tour.

On a final note, I do not believe that it is the responsibility of the guide to go over fees that will be charged for the pictures. ABD should put it in the literature and on the website. That's should be good enough. We don't expect the guides to go over the cost of meals you are responsible for. That is something you should know ahead of time from the itinerary. But if ABD is not giving everyone the information needed for the Photopass, then they need to work on that.

 

[tksbaskets]

We personally cough up for a Photopass CD every trip we take. Now the boys and my hubby search out the FP photographer so we get our monies worth.

I'm sure that the pictures are a high quality and I will want to keep/purchase them on our ABD trip next year. I agree with several posters that it is nice to keep the cost down and have the OPTION of purchasing the photopass CD. It should be clearly stated in the pre-literature however.

Thank goodness for the DIS boards so I am in the know!

 

[figmentfan2009]

I have a question that I feel stupid calling ABD about.

I called already and was told that the photopass number is by reservation number not the little cards...

If anyone has bought one of the CDs and also has more than one reservation number (because you have to book 2 double rooms instead of a quad) can you tell me if I will be able to get the pictures of my whole family on one set of CDs or will I have to order two sets, one for each reservation number to get all of the pictures?

Thanks in advance...

ajw

 

[sayhello]

I have a question that I feel stupid calling ABD about.

I called already and was told that the photopass number is by reservation number not the little cards...

If anyone has bought one of the CDs and also has more than one reservation number (because you have to book 2 double rooms instead of a quad) can you tell me if I will be able to get the pictures of my whole family on one set of CDs or will I have to order two sets, one for each reservation number to get all of the pictures?

Thanks in advance...

ajw

Have you done Photopass before? You have to set up an account, and then add the photopass number from ABD to your account (they'll send you the number after you take your tour). You can add as many photopass numbers to your account as you want, and then put them all on a CD. Everything on your account can go on one CD. I've never done this, but I've talked with several people who have.

Sayhello

 

[abbyjt]

We did this quite a while ago, so I hope I am remembering correctly. We are a family of 5 and have always made 2 reservations. The reservations are linked. Our guides where smart enough to combine all our family photos. We ordered the photo CD. We used a $100 credit we had received for being a repeat ABD customer. I think we had 2 photopass numbers. You can look at all the photos and play around on the site before you buy anything.