Theme Park Shoot-Worth it?

[3girlsfun]

I have spent the last 3 days googling and looking at every theme park shoot I could find. A lot of the pictures are beautiful, and some, I just think are not well done. (Not the bride or grooms fault, definitely the photographer!)

So, is it worth it? I am so worried about doing this, and then getting those horrible pictures. (I already have 1 set of wedding pics that I hated!) We are doing a Vow Renewal, and I want to "fix" the two things I was disappointed with from our original wedding..photos and our horrid cake.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[pixie921]

It is definitely a gamble when you do a park shoot. We did one two weeks ago in Epcot with probably the most-requested Disney photographer, and are honestly really disappointed in the majority of the photos. We felt that the photographer (in the words of my dh) just sort of "phoned in" the session. I hate saying that, but reflecting on how the shoot went and the resulting photos, it's hard to come up with a different conclusion.

That being said, it's amazing to be inside the park semi-alone like that, and there are 3 shots that we LOVE and will definitely blow up and hang in our house. Was it worth the $750 we paid to get those 3 shots? Well ... it was the biggest splurge of our vow renewal, and the only way we could get shots inside a park. Two of the 3 photos have the park as a backdrop and I am thrilled that we have them. So, I'm going to say yes, because I'd do it again just to have those shots. But we went into it knowing it was a big expense to gamble on, but we told ourselves if we got a few we loved it would've been worth it.

I don't know if that helps or not, but that was our experience.

 

[sambycat]

I agree with everything the previous poster says. We did MK and have a scant handful of great shots (especially as compared to Tge number of really great ones from David and Vicki Arndt!) but I m
glad we did it even though it's WAY overpriced.

It's a tough decision

 

[wiserabbit]

We chose the theme park shoot because we knew it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in the park relatively alone (DHS) -

NO - not every picture was something you'd want to blow up and hang in the living room BUT we were happy with the majority of the pics and it was magical being inside the lobby area of TOT and on the Streets of America....

so for us YES - IT WAS WORTH IT! For our VR, I took the time to do the things I always wanted to do but didn't the first time around because of budget, etc..... in the end you'll have to go with what your gut tells you...Good Luck and Congrats on the VR

 

[princessK30]

We did both a Magic Kingdom and Epcot photoshoot the morning of our wedding and absolutely thought it was worth every penny! I get so tired of people complaining about how "overpriced" everything is....let's face it, if you are having a destination wedding, you should realize up front that you are going to pay more for certain things and less for others, it all depends on what's important to you. How many people back home can say "we had pictures taken inside the parks before they were open!" We loved ALL of our pictures, they were fabulous! Honestly, we wouldn't have done it any other way and have had SO many compliments on all of our photos (we used Disney for our whole experience, no outside vendors) and couldn't be happier! I say go for it!

 

[pixie921]

We loved ALL of our pictures, they were fabulous! Honestly, we wouldn't have done it any other way and have had SO many compliments on all of our photos (we used Disney for our whole experience, no outside vendors) and couldn't be happier! I say go for it!

Just as a comment on this ... it's my (and dh's) opinion that if you do use Disney for all of your photography, you will receive more care and attention than those of us who use outside photographers for everything but the park shoots. Others may disagree, but from my time on these boards and now from our own experience, that's the definite impression that we have. I'm not saying that to be argumentative, but it's something I think is worth taking into consideration when choosing who you'll have do your photos and whether or not you want to invest in a park shoot.

 

[PAcpl]

Where can one find information about park shoots?

Thanks!

 

[lurkyloo]

Click to view the Bridal Portrait Sessions PDF: http://www.disneyeventphotography.com/brochures/

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I say YES the in-park session was worth it for us. I LOVE a lot of my AK pictures and wish I had been able to relax during the MK (first) portion as I think I would like more of them as well. There are a few that I LOVE from MK and LOTS that I love from AK so for us... yes it was worth it.

 

[3girlsfun]

These were definitely the types of responses I was looking for. I wanted to hear it was worth it, even if you didn't get tons of photos that you loved, that the experience would be worth it.

I am thinking we will use Disney for all the pictures start to finish, so, it is good to hear that they will take care of us!

 

[belle2211]

I definitely thought it was worth it! I loved being in the park before everyone was there (even though I'm a CM and have been in the park after hours several times...just so different to be there in a wedding gown). And I thought the pictures were gorgeous! It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

 

[ChocoKat]

My two cents:
We did 2 parks AK and MK, we used outside photography for our big day and Disney just for the in-park session.

We loved every single one of our photos, even the silly ones with cliche poses here and there and we are both very picky, hence why we had outside photographers for the day of and we had gotten to know them over time.

We were greeted warmly (although a little rushed because rain had been predicted and we wanted to beat it before hitting the first park) by our photographer and assistant. We had an incredible time with them and the one Disney PR member that shadowed us at AK and made sure we both were awake (we had our session 2 days after the VR) and we followed the instructions of the photographer and assistant to a T.

I went in fearing the worst due to lackluster reviews from other brides and when I received my link and proofs I was expecting to just have 2 or 3 decent images. Despite all that we dove right in and decided to just enjoy the experience.

Well, we were very very happy with the photography department. They kept us in the loop, even caught an error I made on my ordering form for my album and called right away to get my input.

Everybody that has seen our photos just raves about them and say they look like they came out just out of a fairy tale or Disney advertisement. It was so hard to pick just a handful of favorites for the album that we are patiently waiting to purchase our CD.

Maybe we got super lucky, but it is something I was very glad I did and I would do it all over again, just the same way, if I could.

 

[2010_Bride]

DH and I decided not to have a park shoot. We debated it while we were planning our wedding.
We decided to spend the money on special things to do on our Disneymoon instead; such as the tours, cruise and higher priced restaurants.
We have so-o many great photos from our wedding that we are glad we chose to have the experiences we did on our Disneymoon
(We even booked an early morning Keys to the Kingdom tour so got to be in the park before everyone and got some great pics of just the two of us on Main Street!)

 

[Handbag Lady]

I would do everything I could in my power to get a wedding shot of us in that ONE MK shot that has the castle in the background and the couple off to the side on the grass by the river. I do not know what this is called except it is stunning when done right. It would be a gamble I would take.

 

[daisygirl902]

I disagree that if you use an outside photographer you get worse service from Disney Photography for your park shoot - it may happen once in a while but I don't think it's a common occurrence...we used Randy for our wedding and had Amy and Daryn (assistant) for the MK and EPCOT shoot. We had a blast and it was worth every cent...they were both wonderful and put us at ease, and even went above and beyond in a few instances to make sure we were totally satisfied. They knew that Randy was taking our wedding pics, and we had a great discussion about him...neither had anything but praise to shower on Randy...

I found the park shoots totally worth it, if only for the experience! Having "alone time" in the parks with the backstage access was so cool! How many people get to drive in a mini-van from the castle to Haunted Mansion???

Did we LOVE every picture? Nope...but I do have a few "money shots" that made the whole thing worthwhile...and the ones I don't like have more to do with my hubby and I than the photography. I ended up with lots that I really like, and a few that I am in love with, and I'm totally OK with that! For the fireworks pics, I really only got a couple that I like, and I STILL think it was worth it....how many pics do I need, really???

Keep in mind as well that on the boards you sometimes get a slightly biased opinion, as a lot of the brides on here are a bit "planning obsessed"...often that sets us up for disappointment...I'm not trying to be offensive but just saying many of the things I heard and read in here make me think that at times expectations get set a bit higher than normal.

 

[Ember]

Not worth it. At all. Might as well have taken the money and set fire to it - that would at least have been useful in warming my hands...

 

[JenelleJo]

I have having the same dilemma in deciding whether to do a park shoot or not.

These responses are very helpful. For me, I think we will do it simply because when you tell people you're getting married in Disney World, you want to be able to flash that expected photo of you in your dress in front of the castle that will make people gasp!

I am concerned with so many of the photos I've seen. I feel like a lot of them have just been taken with the "auto" setting on a camera and have no real creative edge to them. So I have a few questions that maybe someone will be able to answer (and maybe the answers will help the original poster)...

1. Can you choose your photographer based on photos you have seen? Are portfolios presented to you to help you choose?

2. Is there ever a time that you meet or have a discussion with your photographer to ensure they know what type of photos you DO want? Perhaps where you can show them some examples or refer to some of their past works? Some people might want more traditional poses, where as I would want more 'artsy' shots.

3. Do you get to pick your locations within the park?

 

[daisygirl902]

1. Can you choose your photographer based on photos you have seen? Are portfolios presented to you to help you choose?

You can put in a request, but you aren't guaranteed that photographer...it's a bit of a gamble.

2. Is there ever a time that you meet or have a discussion with your photographer to ensure they know what type of photos you DO want? Perhaps where you can show them some examples or refer to some of their past works? Some people might want more traditional poses, where as I would want more 'artsy' shots.

I think the only thing you can do here is communicate with DPS via email ahead of the day.

3. Do you get to pick your locations within the park?

Within reason you do...for example you are typically only supposed to cover 2 areas with the MK shoot, but we were pretty quick and efficient about it all so managed to fit in Haunted Mansion as well...but Amy was clear from the start we may not have time...

 

[FlamingoAllie]

I am concerned with so many of the photos I've seen. I feel like a lot of them have just been taken with the "auto" setting on a camera and have no real creative edge to them.

We definitely ran into that problem. I wanted VERY creative shots, and we went over this with our photographer over and over again. We had to wait FOREVER to get our pics back (ok, well I AM impatient, but it was about 3 weeks later than they said we'd get them) but I was ok with it, telling myself that it was worth it, because he was doing all sorts of fun editing and making them really special. When we finally got the pictures, I cried. For days. And then off and on for months. Honestly, I still get mad about it. They were boring, straight on, no nonsense, and I feel my mom could have taken a better picture.

BUT!!!! After a couple of weeks, DH, in his desperation to make me feel better about them, found different ways we could edit and play with them in Photoshop. He watched tutorials online, and we played with the pics until I finally had something close to what I was hoping for. After studying and editing the pics over and over, I came to realize that although there was no creative or artistic elements in the pictures themselves, I did have a good base photo to work from. The pictures were, for the most part, framed nicely, focused, and let's face it...They had Cinderella Castle in them! (among other key locations!)


So I was able to really create something that I actually love, and the photo shoot was totally worth it to me in the end. And, actually, simply the EXPERIENCE of the shoot, and being there all dressed up, practically by yourself...That was such an amazing experience and was pretty much enough to make it completely worth it!

 

[JenelleJo]

We definitely ran into that problem. I wanted VERY creative shots, and we went over this with our photographer over and over again. We had to wait FOREVER to get our pics back (ok, well I AM impatient, but it was about 3 weeks later than they said we'd get them) but I was ok with it, telling myself that it was worth it, because he was doing all sorts of fun editing and making them really special. When we finally got the pictures, I cried. For days. And then off and on for months. Honestly, I still get mad about it. They were boring, straight on, no nonsense, and I feel my mom could have taken a better picture.

BUT!!!! After a couple of weeks, DH, in his desperation to make me feel better about them, found different ways we could edit and play with them in Photoshop. He watched tutorials online, and we played with the pics until I finally had something close to what I was hoping for. After studying and editing the pics over and over, I came to realize that although there was no creative or artistic elements in the pictures themselves, I did have a good base photo to work from. The pictures were, for the most part, framed nicely, focused, and let's face it...They had Cinderella Castle in them! (among other key locations!)


So I was able to really create something that I actually love, and the photo shoot was totally worth it to me in the end. And, actually, simply the EXPERIENCE of the shoot, and being there all dressed up, practically by yourself...That was such an amazing experience and was pretty much enough to make it completely worth it!

Despite the fact that you say you cried for months after getting your photos back, you have sort of put my mind at ease here. I loooove Photoshop and spend hours playing around with my amateur DSLR and in the back of my mind, when looking at the "auto-setting" Disney photos I always thought" I could probably "artsy" that up a little with some creative filters and blurs.

Of course, it would be nice to just have awesome pictures, but if that doesn't end up being the case, your situation proves there is still light at the tunnel. Like you said, it's just you and the castle and it's in focus. Hehehe.

Do you have any of your finalized photos posted somewhere?

Your DH sounds like one of the sweetest guys!!! To put all of that work and effort into helping you feel comfortable and happy about something that was so important to you is amazing. Not every guy would do something like that...I honestly think that make the photos a million times more special! No wonder you married him in the most magical place ever!