What do I need to know about Memory Maker?

[hisgal2]

I have Memory Maker in our package because I want every picture opportunity possible. This might be a once in a lifetime trip for our family, so I don't want to miss anything. I'm having a hard time figuring out all of the details for Memory Maker, so I need help from the pros! Do the character meet and greets have photographers to take pictures and add to the MM? I saw that if we go on a ride with the photo thing, it should read our magicbands and add the photo to MM automatically. Do I need to double check that?....and if so, how do I do that quickly?

I'm just feeling a little lost and want to make sure I don't somehow miss something and then come home to find we don't have all the photos we should, etc. Give a newbie some tips!

 

[DisneyJillian18]

I have Memory Maker in our package because I want every picture opportunity possible. This might be a once in a lifetime trip for our family, so I don't want to miss anything. I'm having a hard time figuring out all of the details for Memory Maker, so I need help from the pros! Do the character meet and greets have photographers to take pictures and add to the MM? I saw that if we go on a ride with the photo thing, it should read our magicbands and add the photo to MM automatically. Do I need to double check that?....and if so, how do I do that quickly?

I'm just feeling a little lost and want to make sure I don't somehow miss something and then come home to find we don't have all the photos we should, etc. Give a newbie some tips!

Yes the character meet and greets generally have a MM photographer.
I believe there are still a few rides you need to touch your band to get your picture.
You can link your MM up to your My Disney Experience account and check the photos from there.
Make sure you ask photographers(not meet and greet ones) if they do any Magic Shots! These can be can and fun for kids. Also, lost families see photographers stationed in the park, but are so busy running around, they don't stop. While you paid a lot for this Disney vacation, and want to see and do everything you can, it won't matter if you don't have pictures to remember it! Stop and take pictures, it doesn't take long! Have a great trip!

 

[kteeter]

I would say 90% of the meet n' greets do have a photographer ready to capture your smiling family. Princesses (Ana and Elsa) and Mickey and fab five for sure. We have come upon a few where a photographer was not available or with another character at the time. At restaurants is where you will not find a photographer. Some restaurants do have one at the front, like 1900 Park fair in lobby, BOG dinner with Beast and Royal Castel and I think Akershus does too with one princess. AFTER every meet n' greet/ photo session remember to have someone in your party scan their band with the photographer (they will usually ask too). Or hand you a card. Ench.Tales with Bell they give you a card (photo with her only if you partake in the show even a dish gets a photo!)
*If you get MM you NEED to make time to do photos, there are photographer in front of the parks, make a stop with two or three down main street alone, each photographer does different poses, some have magic shots. Get some of just adults and some of just kids. Find them out and about in the park, if you see them standing around just ask for a few photos. During Food and Wine and Flower Show in Epoct there are all around the parks. They are even in the water parks.
*The ride photos should show up automatically, I have had a 80% success rate on rides, but have only gone on 2 trips with ride photos available.
Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming.... and Have Fun!

 

[Babydreamz]

We just did Photopass+ in Disneyland in December and it was great. Remember to ask for magic shots. We got this one of DH "holding" mickey balloons in front of the castle and it is magical.
Our first trip with MM will be in April. This is so exciting. I can't wait to actually be in photos for once.
Have a great trip!

 

[AngiTN]

Yes the character meet and greets generally have a MM photographer.
I believe there are still a few rides you need to touch your band to get your picture.
You can link your MM up to your My Disney Experience account and check the photos from there.
Make sure you ask photographers(not meet and greet ones) if they do any Magic Shots! These can be can and fun for kids. Also, lost families see photographers stationed in the park, but are so busy running around, they don't stop. While you paid a lot for this Disney vacation, and want to see and do everything you can, it won't matter if you don't have pictures to remember it! Stop and take pictures, it doesn't take long! Have a great trip!

No, all rides will link via the band.
Now, that is not saying there aren't glitches but the same glitch could occur even if you click the scanner. If that happens, just report a missing pic

 

[DisneyJillian18]

No, all rides will link via the band.
Now, that is not saying there aren't glitches but the same glitch could occur even if you click the scanner. If that happens, just report a missing pic

Our last trip in November, I believe Buzz is still one that has to touch. We had to for them to show up, but I believe that was the only one. Might have just been a glitch.

 

[msmama]

I often stop at the same photo pass spots several times during the same day. I never think I can have too many photos. And I ask everyone if they have a magic shot. It used to be that photographers with a tripod didn't have them but I don't find that the case anymore.

I often scan my band (or my son does) after the rides even though it's unnecessary. We stop to look anyway so why not?!? There is no place to see the 7dmt pics though.

My complaint about MM though is now I have too many pictures of me and not enough of my son by himself. So try to remember to break up for family a bit if you want to (and there isn't a huge line). I've met some awesome photographers over the years who have really taken time with us!!

 

[LiveToTravelNicely]

Are the photos at the dinner shows included in MM? We are going to Hoop-Dee-Doo, and it would be great if that pre-show photo was included. Thanks!

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

We really like Memory Maker. We got it in May and December this year. All of the ride photos linked automatically and all of the meet and greets had photographers present (including Darth Vader). We got great pictures in front of the train station with the Christmas decorations, in front of the Christmas tree and with the "ice" castle as a backdrop. My oldest son and I got a picture in front of Everest with magical snow in it.

 

[ktlm]

Many of the character meet and greets have photopass photographers, but some do not. If there is a place to scan your magic band after a ride, be sure to do that. When we were there in October, there were still some rides that required a scan- I know we scanned at Buzz and Test Track.

My big tip to you to maximize memory maker is to keep your eyes open for photopass photographers and stop when you see them at different locations. I usually do it until DD gets fed up and refuses to take another picture! You will spot them by their vest. We have some great photos from around world showcase at EPCOT. Just because when you look you don't necessarily see what you think would make a great picture where the photographer is, does not mean the photo won't turn out fantastic. My favorite all time photopass photo of DD is one taken at DL outside Minnie's Breakfast. There is no character in the picture and nothing special in the background, but when the photographer said he would take an additional couple of photos of DD by herself since we had pre- purchased photopass+, we said sure. He took a close up pic of DD with her Duffy bear that totally captures her joy of being at Disney. I love that picture and have it framed at work and at home. Clearly, we ran across a terrific photographer even if the location wasn't special. That brings up another thing which is that all Disney photopass photographers are not created equal. There are some great ones, and there are some not so good ones. We have had blurry pictures, dark pictures, heads cut off, but for each one of those we have had an equal number of terrific photos that we love! For really important icon family pictures like the castle, the Epcot ball, and the AK tree, be sure and get multiple photos from different angles at different times of day. Where the sun is and the angle of the photo can make a huge difference in the picture, as can the skill of the particular photographer. Sometimes we have castle pics that I think are going to be great that are terrible.

Also, photopass photos currently expire 45 days after they are first taken- there is no reason not to look at them as soon as possible. They have added a spot in the MDE app where you can access your photopass photos. We had some show up within an hour of when they were taken (it can take up to 2 days, but most of ours showed up within 3 or 4 hours of being taken). You can look at your photos every day and that way you can tell if there is something you really wanted where your photos turned out badly and you need to get some in that spot again. Doing that, we also found that some of our really important photos from a magical moment that DD got were not showing up. We have photos the photographer took of her with the characters after, but not the photos he took of her riding with them. We were able to go to the photopass counter before we left MK that day and they found about 90% of the missing photos and added them to our account. We were still missing the first few, but they said they were the first photos of the day taken with his camera so there was probably some sort of issue with it not being quite ready so the first few photos could not be retrieved.

 

[AngiTN]

Our last trip in November, I believe Buzz is still one that has to touch. We had to for them to show up, but I believe that was the only one. Might have just been a glitch.

Nothing stopping you from touching the scan point but you don't have to.

We rode Buzz Saturday night and got our pictures

Are the photos at the dinner shows included in MM? We are going to Hoop-Dee-Doo, and it would be great if that pre-show photo was included. Thanks!

Yes, all photos taken are included

 

[AngiTN]

Many of the character meet and greets have photopass photographers, but some do not. If there is a place to scan your magic band after a ride, be sure to do that. When we were there in October, there were still some rides that required a scan- I know we scanned at Buzz and Test Track.

My big tip to you to maximize memory maker is to keep your eyes open for photopass photographers and stop when you see them at different locations. I usually do it until DD gets fed up and refuses to take another picture! You will spot them by their vest. We have some great photos from around world showcase at EPCOT. Just because when you look you don't necessarily see what you think would make a great picture where the photographer is, does not mean the photo won't turn out fantastic. My favorite all time photopass photo of DD is one taken at DL outside Minnie's Breakfast. There is no character in the picture and nothing special in the background, but when the photographer said he would take an additional couple of photos of DD by herself since we had pre- purchased photopass+, we said sure. He took a close up pic of DD with her Duffy bear that totally captures her joy of being at Disney. I love that picture and have it framed at work and at home. Clearly, we ran across a terrific photographer even if the location wasn't special. That brings up another thing which is that all Disney photopass photographers are not created equal. There are some great ones, and there are some not so good ones. We have had blurry pictures, dark pictures, heads cut off, but for each one of those we have had an equal number of terrific photos that we love! For really important icon family pictures like the castle, the Epcot ball, and the AK tree, be sure and get multiple photos from different angles at different times of day. Where the sun is and the angle of the photo can make a huge difference in the picture, as can the skill of the particular photographer. Sometimes we have castle pics that I think are going to be great that are terrible.

Also, photopass photos currently expire 45 days after they are first taken- there is no reason not to look at them as soon as possible. They have added a spot in the MDE app where you can access your photopass photos. We had some show up within an hour of when they were taken (it can take up to 2 days, but most of ours showed up within 3 or 4 hours of being taken). You can look at your photos every day and that way you can tell if there is something you really wanted where your photos turned out badly and you need to get some in that spot again. Doing that, we also found that some of our really important photos from a magical moment that DD got were not showing up. We have photos the photographer took of her with the characters after, but not the photos he took of her riding with them. We were able to go to the photopass counter before we left MK that day and they found about 90% of the missing photos and added them to our account. We were still missing the first few, but they said they were the first photos of the day taken with his camera so there was probably some sort of issue with it not being quite ready so the first few photos could not be retrieved.

I noticed on our trip this weekend photos were posting on the app within minutes

We found what may be one of the best photographers Disney has at MK, on Main St.
His name is Mike, from Brooklyn
He's mute (or an expert in keeping himself from speaking) but has no trouble communicating what he wants you to do
If you notice him stop in his line

 

[kanw]

Is the app accurate in telling you were the photographers are located?

 

[AngiTN]

Is the app accurate in telling you were the photographers are located?

No, they don't really tell you that. They may tell you the attraction or whatever is named for that spot. Sometimes it's not even that specific
Like our photos in the Disney Visa Character Spot. They come up on the Epcot list and are titled "Visiting Goofy and Friends"
Other will say "Visiting Magic Kingdom" or we have one from HS that simply says "Visiting the Magic of Disney Parks"

 

[Mikie]

The only photos I haven't seen others mention yet are things like Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, which takes a ton during the makeover, Pirates League, Jedi Training, and Enchanted Tales With Belle. Each of those gets you tons of photos and I know Belle and Jedi give you a card with a code to upload your photos, rather than scanning your band. If you do one of those, I highly recommend that you stop at a Photopass shop (near the entrance of each park and one at Disney Springs) to have them upload for you. The card will have hundreds of photos of ALL participants, which you cannot limit or select when you do it yourself, but at the stores they can help you upload only your own family quickly. This is great because the MM site is slow to page through and it's very helpful not to have extras slowing you down.

Also, when you're ready to download, people here recommended to me (and I agree) you should download one complete unedited set before doing all your edits (such as adding stickers and borders). Just in case you want a clean copy or accidentally delete one.

 

[starjazz]

If we don't have Magic Bands, will the photos from rides still automatically load? Or do we need to scan our card or something?

 

[Mikie]

If we don't have Magic Bands, will the photos from rides still automatically load? Or do we need to scan our card or something?

You'll need to scan your card at the picture viewing spots after the rides. Unfortunately, 7dwarfs has no viewing spot, so you will not be able to get the photo & video from that ride - it only works with magic bands.

 

[MataHari22]

This is a great post on Magic Shots.

http://capturingmagic.me/photopass-magic-shots

 

[starjazz]

You'll need to scan your card at the picture viewing spots after the rides. Unfortunately, 7dwarfs has no viewing spot, so you will not be able to get the photo & video from that ride - it only works with magic bands.

So, if I buy the magic band for one person in our group who goes on the ride, and link my account to it, will I get it then?

 

[AngiTN]

So, if I buy the magic band for one person in our group who goes on the ride, and link my account to it, will I get it then?

Yes, provided y'all are all visible in the photo taken of the person with the band. If you have large group it may not get you all.