The Lowdown on Photo Pass Please?

[tinkermell]

I've never done Photopass, and was thinking about it for our trip next week.

Should I purchase it ahead of time? Can I?

What is the best way to use it?

Will they give me multiple cards, so I can give them out to my family?

The pictures of people holding Tink in their hands, and that kind of stuff...........do you have to request it, or do they give you the ideas?

We will be attending MToTP on Friday the 17th. Do the pics turn out good in the dark?

And does anyone know if they are ever in DTD? My whole family will be there to have dinner on Saturday, and I would love to get a picture done for Christmas. (We will be all together at the Halloween party, but I didn't think the costumes would be appropiate for the picture.)

Anything else to know would be great.

I know it's kind of pricey, but for this trip with my whole family there, I thought it would be worth it.

Thanks!

 

[nunzia]

OK..
If you are only doing DLR, don't bother to pre-order..it is cheaper to get than the WDW pre order price.
Yes, get multiple cards for family membrs, just remember to get them back at the end of the trip. Also..take a picture of the back of the cards so you have the numbers 'just in case'
The pictures with tink and stuff are all set up by the photo pass guy depending on where you are when you get your pics taken. Tink at castle and in front, Hook by the river, ghost at HM, etc.
I don't know about getting any done at DTD
I thought it was well worth the money. You can do so many edits and each one is saved (after you get home) that you have a ton of pictures to choose from, and since Disney gives you copyright release you can just print at local store (or home) and get bunches of sizes, etc, for what it would cost to get just a few prints in the park.
I certainly won't do it alot, but with our big family trip in May and our upcoming ABD I think it's great to have.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

The best way to maximize your value is to get a lot of pictures taken. The Disneyland cost is $59.99 or something like that and you can fit a lot of pictures on the cd(over 100 for certain, though I don't remember the total amount). If you want a specialized photo, just ask the photog CM if they can take it for you. If they can't, they should be able to direct you to someone who can.

You can also get a picture sitting on the bench with Mickey, blowing kisses to Minnie(or both poses, but not both Mickey and Minnie in the same photo), fighting Darth Vader in Tomorrowland, and some with Stitch.

There are lots of borders, autographs, et all that you can add after the trip, but those specialty shots reference above must be taken in the parks. I also recommend having the CM take a picture with your camera. You may end up with duplicate shots, but you also have backup. There are some instances in which the shot taken with my camera was more fun than the one taken with PhotoPass.

 

[LavenderPeach]

I have a question too. How long are the passes good for? I will be getting an AP so how long could i keep getting pictures taken before I would have to buy the CD? I thought I read that you have 30 days but i wanted to double check.

 

[tinkermell]

Thanks for all of the responses.

Now I have some more questions.

Where do I buy my Photopass from?

And when we are done and ready to go home, then what?

If anyone is familiar with DCA, where do they hang out? Do they do any special poses with imaginary characters?

Thanks again!

 

[Brady's Mom]

Here is a link I saved so that I could have a list of the photopass opportunities. I am planning on taking it with me for my trip.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1764912

 

[tinkermell]

Here is a link I saved so that I could have a list of the photopass opportunities. I am planning on taking it with me for my trip.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1764912

Thanks for the great link!!

I need to print it up!

 

[Leofoenget]

Thanks for all of the responses.

Now I have some more questions.

Where do I buy my Photopass from?

And when we are done and ready to go home, then what?

If anyone is familiar with DCA, where do they hang out? Do they do any special poses with imaginary characters?

Thanks again!

After you get home set up an account with photopass.com and upload your photos. You will have 30 days to play with them. Right before they expire they send you an email telling you they are about to expire. You order the CD then it takes about week or 2 to get the CD.

I ALWAYS write down my photopass card # someplace in my hotel in case the card gets lost, and I have written my name with a sharpie on the card. It's been kind of nice the photopass people say "thank you Janette" It also helps me keep track of whose card is whose.

 

[Sherry E]

Thanks for all of the responses.

Now I have some more questions.

Where do I buy my Photopass from?

And when we are done and ready to go home, then what?

If anyone is familiar with DCA, where do they hang out? Do they do any special poses with imaginary characters?

Thanks again!

They do special poses with imaginary characters. I just did Photopass for the first time this past weekend. They had us pointing at the ground (that is where Stitch will be rising up from the ground) and looking scared. They had us holding our palms out. They had us putting our hands on our hips and turning sideways. They had us putting our hands up to our heads like we were sleeping. It was fun. They are very patient and they want you to get the best photos possible, so the photographers will stand there and wait for any other people aorund you to finish taking their pictures and get out of the way so yours can be taken! They will even politely ask other people to move out of the way for a second so they can shoot! Some of them will tell you that you have to do fun stuff so "people will think you are fun and interesting." It was funny. I have to admit - we saw more Photopass people in DCA than in DL. In DL, we only saw them by the Partners statue and by the Castle, and out in front by the floral Mickey. At least they were easier to find in DCA - perhaps because it is a smaller park. There are certain spots that they frequent, but they do move around a bit, so there may be a PP photographer by Tower of Terror one day and not the next. Also, because it is the Halloween season, one of the PP photographers told us that the villains - or as she called them, "all of the evil people" - come out in the Hollywood area for special photo opportunities. We wanted a picture with Sully but it was hot outside and he could only stand out for 15 minutes at a time, then had to rest. But we got pictures with the Queen of Hearts - who is quite rare - and other lesser known and seen villains! Pirates Lair was closed so we didn't get those great pictures.

I have not gone on to view my photos yet but they should be pretty festive. We got in some PP pictures with Woody and with Jack Sparrow at the TOTP.

Oh, and they have a special Halloween Photopass souvenir card that they are handing out during the season!

 

[kkheburn]

How do you get a card? Then after you have the photos done and are home do you log online and buy the cd?

 

[Sherry E]

How do you get a card? Then after you have the photos done and are home do you log online and buy the cd?

You can get a free Photopass card from any of the PP photographers you see. They all have them. So the first one who takes your photo will scan your pictures (they usually take two or three) onto your card and hands you the card and you hand it to the next photographer, who then scans those pictures onto the card, etc. You can use the same card at DL and DCA for your entire trip. No need to get new cards. You can stock endless photos on one card. However, if you travel with a group of people or family who split up, you can all get separate cards, go about your day and have all your photos loaded onto your cards, and then you can create ONE Photopass account (to save money) with all the different cards. You just key in all the different codes on the back of each card and all of the photos from all the cards will end up on one CD.

So let's say you and your family get home from a weeklong trip and you have six PP cards between all of you. Within 30 days of the first use of a Photopass card, one person takes all the cards and creates the PP online account, enters in all the cards' codes and views the photos. It works the same way if you only have one card too! Then, you have an additional 30 days from the point of creating your PP account to either choose to buy only the individual photos you want OR the whole CD for $60. I think the whole CD is a bargain, because, for one thing, you can store infinite photos on there, and two, you can create different versions of the pictures - with graphics and borders and without. So you can have several different versions of one picture.

 

[bumbershoot]

Going off of the excellent answers here and especially Sherry's, when you have a group of people and when you have multiple photopass cards, have ONE person gather them all at the end of the trip. (or at the end of each day, if you don't trust your group to follow instructions)

The reason is that you want the ONE person to enter the card ID numbers onto ONE photopass account. If you end up entering some numbers on one account and others on another, it makes it very very difficult to get them moved to just one account. And if the photopass people won't help you, then you end up having to buy two photopass CDs, which of course doubles the cost.

So it's imperative that no one but the "leader" of your group enter card numbers onto a photopass account.

That said, people CAN go into the photopass centers (there's one in each park) to look at their pictures. That doesn't enter them onto an account and they can check them out, make sure that the pix came out nicely, see if any big special pictures should be re-taken!!!


I don't think they do anything in DTD, by the way.

 

[tinkermell]

Thanks everyone!

I think I will be ready to go now.

 

[Hound 109]

The best way to maximize your value is to get a lot of pictures taken. The Disneyland cost is $59.99 or something like that and you can fit a lot of pictures on the cd(over 100 for certain, though I don't remember the total amount). If you want a specialized photo, just ask the photog CM if they can take it for you. If they can't, they should be able to direct you to someone who can.

You can also get a picture sitting on the bench with Mickey, blowing kisses to Minnie(or both poses, but not both Mickey and Minnie in the same photo),

fighting Darth Vader in Tomorrowland

.....and some with Stitch.

I never paid attention to photopass info before, but THIS got my attention.

The Hound can have a pic fighting Vader to go along with Padawan Alec's pic of decapitating Darth Maul.

 

[Dizneydaz]

I haven't been lucky in finding Darth on our last 3 trips (mid week, Sept) but I'm told he (the PP actually) hangs out around the Jedi Training show. (we were lucky enough to get one of him in May just after they started doing it and I used my Disney Visa coupon to get it) There is also a PP photog taking pix there (Jedi training) as well. This I saw once.

I've had a great time adding as many DLR pix to my WDW CD account that I pre-ordered before my WDW trip (9-1 to 9-11) as I can. I entered my first card on 9-12 so I have until 10-12 to order it. We've made 3 trips to DLR and our 4th one will be tomorrow. As of now I have over 950 pictures with edits and I'm still not done yet. You can have unlimited photos-you'll just get more CDs. You can also get 30 more days to do your edits, or add more pictures if you buy at least one thing before the first 30 days is up. I'm thinking of buying a calendar for $25 and getting the extra month. I haven't been able to order a calendar through WM with my PP pix-the order has been automatically cancelled (6 times) even though I've sent them the copyright agreement. It'll be easier if I just order it through Disney.

We found a really good PP photog our first trip this Sept. at DL and we have been lucky enough to find him 2 more times. I'll be looking from him tomorrow-hope he's there. He takes greart shots, with some imagination. His name is RP and he is very good. Dave and Linda are also good. Tell every PP photog that you are buying (or have pre bought) the CD and that they can take as many pix as they want. Most of them will, though a few only take the 3-4 they normally do.

RP took pictures of DD and I hitchhiking in front of the castle, and in front of the bus. Also DD and I blowing kisses to Minnie. He got a great one of DD laying on her stomache blowing kisses to Minnie. Also soon fun shots just inside the entrance of us hanging of a lamp post with the train behind us. Oh, nad one more great one in front of the train station (entrance side). He took a pix of my holding up DD (she wasn't tall enough) and got the Tink waving her wand over the Mickey Flowers to look like she's holding it. Came out wonderful-even better than the one where the add Tink in-which is great too!

If you have a Disney Visa go to the Meet 'n Greet the first 1-1/2 the park (DCA)is open and get your private pictures (and autographs) taken with either Chip and Dale or Pluto. You can get your PP card there as well. All those pix will be on the card and you can get one of them free before you leave.

One tip-since DCA will be undergoing a major redo soon and the front entrance will be changed, get alot of pix taken there. You'll see the PP photogs there as you some in. Get some with the bridge, the sun wheel, and the mosiacs. This will be the last time you can get them (once they tear them down). RP took a shot of our group "surfing" in front of the surfer mosiac. Came out cute. Also the kids in our group were "holding up" the bridge with Halloween spelled out in candy corn.

Besides the Stitch coming out of the ground, look for the PP photog in front of the main plaza and ask for the Soarin' picture. You'll point up into the sky and Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy will be soaring over you. We've had this picture taken with the bridge behind us and also facing the other way with the wheel behind us. They came out cute.

I wish I could post our pix but since I haven't ordered them yet I can't.

 

[tinkermell]

I haven't been lucky in finding Darth on our last 3 trips (mid week, Sept) but I'm told he (the PP actually) hangs out around the Jedi Training show. (we were lucky enough to get one of him in May just after they started doing it and I used my Disney Visa coupon to get it) There is also a PP photog taking pix there (Jedi training) as well. This I saw once.

I've had a great time adding as many DLR pix to my WDW CD account that I pre-ordered before my WDW trip (9-1 to 9-11) as I can. I entered my first card on 9-12 so I have until 10-12 to order it. We've made 3 trips to DLR and our 4th one will be tomorrow. As of now I have over 950 pictures with edits and I'm still not done yet. You can have unlimited photos-you'll just get more CDs. You can also get 30 more days to do your edits, or add more pictures if you buy at least one thing before the first 30 days is up. I'm thinking of buying a calendar for $25 and getting the extra month. I haven't been able to order a calendar through WM with my PP pix-the order has been automatically cancelled (6 times) even though I've sent them the copyright agreement. It'll be easier if I just order it through Disney.

We found a really good PP photog our first trip this Sept. at DL and we have been lucky enough to find him 2 more times. I'll be looking from him tomorrow-hope he's there. He takes greart shots, with some imagination. His name is RP and he is very good. Dave and Linda are also good. Tell every PP photog that you are buying (or have pre bought) the CD and that they can take as many pix as they want. Most of them will, though a few only take the 3-4 they normally do.

RP took pictures of DD and I hitchhiking in front of the castle, and in front of the bus. Also DD and I blowing kisses to Minnie. He got a great one of DD laying on her stomache blowing kisses to Minnie. Also soon fun shots just inside the entrance of us hanging of a lamp post with the train behind us. Oh, nad one more great one in front of the train station (entrance side). He took a pix of my holding up DD (she wasn't tall enough) and got the Tink waving her wand over the Mickey Flowers to look like she's holding it. Came out wonderful-even better than the one where the add Tink in-which is great too!

If you have a Disney Visa go to the Meet 'n Greet the first 1-1/2 the park (DCA)is open and get your private pictures (and autographs) taken with either Chip and Dale or Pluto. You can get your PP card there as well. All those pix will be on the card and you can get one of them free before you leave.

One tip-since DCA will be undergoing a major redo soon and the front entrance will be changed, get alot of pix taken there. You'll see the PP photogs there as you some in. Get some with the bridge, the sun wheel, and the mosiacs. This will be the last time you can get them (once they tear them down). RP took a shot of our group "surfing" in front of the surfer mosiac. Came out cute. Also the kids in our group were "holding up" the bridge with Halloween spelled out in candy corn.

Besides the Stitch coming out of the ground, look for the PP photog in front of the main plaza and ask for the Soarin' picture. You'll point up into the sky and Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy will be soaring over you. We've had this picture taken with the bridge behind us and also facing the other way with the wheel behind us. They came out cute.

I wish I could post our pix but since I haven't ordered them yet I can't.

WOW! Thanks!!

I was just about to ask you to show us some of your pics. Oh well...............

 

[Sherry E]

I haven't been lucky in finding Darth on our last 3 trips (mid week, Sept) but I'm told he (the PP actually) hangs out around the Jedi Training show. (we were lucky enough to get one of him in May just after they started doing it and I used my Disney Visa coupon to get it) There is also a PP photog taking pix there (Jedi training) as well. This I saw once.

I've had a great time adding as many DLR pix to my WDW CD account that I pre-ordered before my WDW trip (9-1 to 9-11) as I can. I entered my first card on 9-12 so I have until 10-12 to order it. We've made 3 trips to DLR and our 4th one will be tomorrow. As of now I have over 950 pictures with edits and I'm still not done yet. You can have unlimited photos-you'll just get more CDs. You can also get 30 more days to do your edits, or add more pictures if you buy at least one thing before the first 30 days is up. I'm thinking of buying a calendar for $25 and getting the extra month. I haven't been able to order a calendar through WM with my PP pix-the order has been automatically cancelled (6 times) even though I've sent them the copyright agreement. It'll be easier if I just order it through Disney.

We found a really good PP photog our first trip this Sept. at DL and we have been lucky enough to find him 2 more times. I'll be looking from him tomorrow-hope he's there. He takes greart shots, with some imagination. His name is RP and he is very good. Dave and Linda are also good. Tell every PP photog that you are buying (or have pre bought) the CD and that they can take as many pix as they want. Most of them will, though a few only take the 3-4 they normally do.

RP took pictures of DD and I hitchhiking in front of the castle, and in front of the bus. Also DD and I blowing kisses to Minnie. He got a great one of DD laying on her stomache blowing kisses to Minnie. Also soon fun shots just inside the entrance of us hanging of a lamp post with the train behind us. Oh, nad one more great one in front of the train station (entrance side). He took a pix of my holding up DD (she wasn't tall enough) and got the Tink waving her wand over the Mickey Flowers to look like she's holding it. Came out wonderful-even better than the one where the add Tink in-which is great too!

If you have a Disney Visa go to the Meet 'n Greet the first 1-1/2 the park (DCA)is open and get your private pictures (and autographs) taken with either Chip and Dale or Pluto. You can get your PP card there as well. All those pix will be on the card and you can get one of them free before you leave.

One tip-since DCA will be undergoing a major redo soon and the front entrance will be changed, get alot of pix taken there. You'll see the PP photogs there as you some in. Get some with the bridge, the sun wheel, and the mosiacs. This will be the last time you can get them (once they tear them down). RP took a shot of our group "surfing" in front of the surfer mosiac. Came out cute. Also the kids in our group were "holding up" the bridge with Halloween spelled out in candy corn.

Besides the Stitch coming out of the ground, look for the PP photog in front of the main plaza and ask for the Soarin' picture. You'll point up into the sky and Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy will be soaring over you. We've had this picture taken with the bridge behind us and also facing the other way with the wheel behind us. They came out cute.

I wish I could post our pix but since I haven't ordered them yet I can't.

I haven't ordered mine yet either, but if I knew of all the photo options you mentions, I would have asked for those when we did PP. We held our hands out for Tinkerbell, pointed to the ground for Stitch, looked scared, rested our heads on our hands, put our hands on our hips, but we didn't know about the Soarin' phot, or the 'lifting' of the bridge, etc. I did ask for the one with the Ears (with California Screamin' in the backgound). In fact, now that I think of it, we didn't even see any photographers at the front of DCA! The ones we saw were always over by Paradise Pier or Grizzly Peak. And we got the "evil people" over in Hollywood. But we saw none by the entrance, and very few in DL. They move around! There was supposed to be a PP photgrapher in or near Woody's Halloween Round-Up but we didn't see them. And the line for the pictures by the Mickey Pumpkin (either side - smiling or winking) was crazy.

I would love to see what they do for the Christmas season. IF I go back - and I want to at least go for one day - then I will ask for the Soarin and 'lifting' pictures and anything over by Small World!!! Plus, I have to get the dueling with Captain Hook photo.

I am glad Bumbershoot filled me in on this whole process a while back, because, even though I have not yet seen my photos (and I know one of them was snapped while I was looking away as the Queen of Hearts grabbed my long hair, because the photographer was trying to rush us along so the line of people could move), I feel it is a good investment. My friend initially scoffed at it, but as the day progressed, she saw what a good idea it was since her photos usually come out badly!

And no, to echo what Bumbershoot said, I saw no evidence of any Photopass people in DTD at all.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I never paid attention to photopass info before, but THIS got my attention.

The Hound can have a pic fighting Vader to go along with Padawan Alec's pic of decapitating Darth Maul.

The Darth Vader shot can be very hard to find. I was at the DLR 3 days in late August and had to ask each day. They told me they didn't always have one scheduled. On my last day, a PhotoPass CM in the hub told me to go to Photo Supply and see if they could have one come over for me. They did precisely that and another photopass CM came by with a lightsaber and the very same CM who had given me the suggestion ended up being the one who told the picture.

Given my experience, if you really want this picture, don't hope that you find the Darth Vader shot out in Tomorrowland. Be prepared to ask somebody for help. I stopped by Photo Supply each day and it wasn't until the 3rd day that someone suggested having them call. I think the best location is right in front of Tomorrowland. That rock formation is a very cool backdrop to fighting Darth Vader.

 

[Dizneydaz]

I was able to get Darth last week (Wed.) After reading what Sleepless Knight posted I went into Photo Supply and asked them where I could find Darth. The CM was very helpful and told me that they are usually at the entrance to TL before and after the Jedi shows but she checked and the PP Photog was on lunch. She asked me to come back after the 2:25 show (about 3:00) and if the Photog wasn't there, she would be.

We went back around 3 and she was there. She took one of DD9, one of me, and one of me protecting DD. They came out great! After she took ours she had another family waiting to get theirs.

Only bummer that day was the photos we took of Capt. Hook didn't show up when we checked. They assured me they would be there later in the day-they were taking awhile to upload. When I uploaded the card the next day, no Hook. Response from my email sent was that the photos didn't come out due to equipment failure. The unfortunate thing is that I am ordering my CD tomorrow (Sun) and won't be back to DLR to after that. I could extend my time by 30 days by ordering anything on PP site but I'm not sure if I want to.

Thanks for the info Sleepless!

 

[tinkermell]

I have another question.

If I don't buy the CD, how much do they charge per picture?