Is Memory Maker worth it?

[dmatt87]

I'm currently debating if I should purchase the Memory Maker for our upcoming May trip. It will be our son's first visit and we will be celebrating is 4th birthday. I believe we will have many great photo opportunities, but I find the price a little steep.

Should we go forward or just order a few single images when we get home?

 

[Justin Walker]

Totally worth it! The pictures are better than the ones they will take with your cameras, and to me it just made the character experiences better to not have to worry about snapping pictures myself, just let them do it since I knew I was getting them all anyway. I still had my camera and still took some, but Memory Maker was certainly worth the $150. We spend more than that for a 1 hour photo session with a photographer at home, let along pictures from a 2 week vacation.

The only time I wouldn't buy it is for a really short trip of only a day or two.

 

[disneyworlddad]

Thanks for all the feedback! I will mull it over in the few weeks before making a decision.

Personally I would take it for some special photos, especially of the whole family together. But DW thinks it's a little expensive

So I got memory maker for our trip last year. It was mine and my DW's third trip but our 1 and a half year old son's 1st. It gave us the piece of mind that we would have high quality photos to commemorate his first visit. We have some great photos of us at the parks icons, the special magic shots and even some ride photos of him. (The only one I can think of that he was able to ride that had a ride photo was buzz) They also have some ride videos compilations. I agree the download process is a bit of a pain but easy enough to do if you have a basic understanding of computers.

My recommendation - do it! Then you don't have to worry about pulling out your phone every time you want a picture.

 

[WDW_Emily]

We used memory maker for the first time this past year because we were running the princess and wanted the photos. Since we are three adults we divided up the price so it was only $50 each. We loved it! We had so much fun with the photopass photographers because we went into our trip wanting to get all the photopass photos we could! At every stop we did different poses and had the magical enhancements. I will say many of our ride photos didn't save, or saved the wrong family. We defiantly would get it again if we could divide up the price. If I was the only one paying $150 for photos, I would only get it if I was going on a long trip (1 week +)

 

[KrzyKtty]

We are trying it out for the first time in June on the recommendation of a family member. I am sure it will be the right call for my family for one reason. I was looking through our photos from our last trip in 2012 and I realized a sad truth, I was in a VERY LIMITED number of photos. Since I was the one taking most of the photos, I wasn't really in them. I was the family ghost. At least with the photopass, I hope that I will finally be in the picture memories too!

 

[officialtom]

Yes!!! Especially with a group. We split it with a total of 25 family members for our early March family reunion trip. Our accounts were all liked on MDE so all the pics we took throughout the trip were available for download when we got home. I bought it, so I had to download them.

The only disadvantage is that since all of our MDE accounts were linked, we all saw each other's plans, not just our own. Cluttered the itinerary quite a bit. But totally manageable.

 

[Coaster Lover]

A big advantage you may get with Memory Maker that you "may" not get using your own camera is good photos of your group at night. While the photo pass people will use your camera, I don't think they would use their tripod with your camera and since you cannot bring in your own tripod (I don't think... or if you could, it would be inconvenient to carry around), you wouldn't be able to get those nice longer exposure pics that both make the castle/tree/SSE look great and get your family in focus.

 

[Disneyfan_76]

Is it worth it? Yes.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Things that make it worth it:
- Large group
- Long trip
- You don't visit very often

Things that make it not worth it (self-explanatory based on the above):
- Small group
- Short trip
- You visit regularly

We did it when we traveled with my parents and sisters for our daughter's first visit. There were lots of adults in the group so we benefited from all of the ride photos and whatnot. When I've gone back with just my wife and daughter, we skipped. We'll do it again the next time we have a big group together.

 

[dmatt87]

Things that make it worth it:
- Large group
- Long trip
- You don't visit very often

Things that make it not worth it (self-explanatory based on the above):
- Small group
- Short trip
- You visit regularly

We did it when we traveled with my parents and sisters for our daughter's first visit. There were lots of adults in the group so we benefited from all of the ride photos and whatnot. When I've gone back with just my wife and daughter, we skipped. We'll do it again the next time we have a big group together.

Our trip is of average length, however we will not be visiting regularly.

 

[BigRedDad]

I find it is worth it. We wind up taking more pictures as a family with it than without. It also keeps me from carrying my big DSLR every where when I don't really need to. A good phone camera or small P&S camera is all you need for all around photos. I am a picture taker and there are some awesome photographers here that I am sure may sell some of their photos for cheap.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

A podcast brought up an interesting "strategy" with Memory Maker recently. The pre-purchase price is $149, but individual pictures are $14.95, and you don't have to pre-buy. There are lots of little moments that I like capturing on my phone/camera, but the Photopass pictures are normally very similar. The ride photos and videos are fun to see once, but I don't think we've ever had one that was worth saving for posterity. We don't do very many character meals at all. I think I could totally live with buying five or six Photopass pictures (a night shot, a couple of magic shots we might get, and a few random good ones), and supplement that with stuff from my own camera. We've edited pictures up the wazoo and had 600 shots to download before, but I think I could live with picking the five best pictures and getting half off "Memory Maker".

 

[UncleMike101]

Do it!!
We have a couple of hundred photos from our May trip last year with our Daughter and Family.
The time invested in waiting for, and taking, the pics is well worth it after you get home and can relive the good times over and over again through the photos.
The price is more than reasonable too.
Back in the day, the 1980's, when I took my film SLR to WDW I'd spend several hundred dollars just getting the film developed and printed and I never appeared in any of the pictures.
In addition to your prints Disney included a lot of "stock photos" of the parks.

 

[dmatt87]

A podcast brought up an interesting "strategy" with Memory Maker recently. The pre-purchase price is $149, but individual pictures are $14.95, and you don't have to pre-buy. There are lots of little moments that I like capturing on my phone/camera, but the Photopass pictures are normally very similar. The ride photos and videos are fun to see once, but I don't think we've ever had one that was worth saving for posterity. We don't do very many character meals at all. I think I could totally live with buying five or six Photopass pictures (a night shot, a couple of magic shots we might get, and a few random good ones), and supplement that with stuff from my own camera. We've edited pictures up the wazoo and had 600 shots to download before, but I think I could live with picking the five best pictures and getting half off "Memory Maker".

We did the Photopass back in 2011 for our honeymoon and we liked it, however a lot of shots were repetitive. Your suggestion is actually the plan I was considering after reading around - I think we could find 5 or 6 photos out of the Photopass and be satisfied with that and the photos I will take on my iPhone 7.

 

[Rumrunner]

I'm currently debating if I should purchase the Memory Maker for our upcoming May trip. It will be our son's first visit and we will be celebrating is 4th birthday. I believe we will have many great photo opportunities, but I find the price a little steep.

Should we go forward or just order a few single images when we get home?

Memory Maker was well worth the money for our family. Carrying a camera with you is a bit of a nuisance. We have so many great pictures lining our hall way at home of our Disney trips. Without MM that would not be possible.

 

[DisAl]

It will be worth it if you make the effort to take advantage of it. One of the best things about photopass is getting your whole group in the photo. We stopped every time we saw a photographer if the wait was not more than a couple of minutes even if we had just made photos a hundred feet back up the street because you never know which ones you will like the best.
For our five days in the park last year we had over 600 photos with photopass.
Do take at least a small camera of your own though because there will be photos that you will want when there is no photopass photographer around.

 

[piglet2422]

If you choose memory maker, can you download photos day of? Or do you have to wait until the end of your trip?

I ask because I know my daughter will want access after the day is over to post on her social media...

 

[21stamps]

If you choose memory maker, can you download photos day of? Or do you have to wait until the end of your trip?

I ask because I know my daughter will want access after the day is over to post on her social media...

Yes..you can download them right away!
But, unless you have an AP, I think you have 30 days to download from the day of activation.. so just make sure to download all after arriving home.

 

[DisAl]

We were able to view some of the photos within minutes of them being made. The photopass cameras upload via a wireless connection as soon as the photos are made. Also remember that you can share the photos with the people in your Friends and Family listing in MDE.
As for posting photos on social media, we NEVER post photos until we return from a trip. Why advertise to every burglar in town that you are not at home for several days?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Why advertise to every burglar in town that you are not at home for several days?

You sound like my dad. He actually goes so far as to post fake "I'm at home" type posts while he's away.

Why are you friends with so many burglars on social media?

 

[BigHero4]

How about Memory Maker 1-day? I think that is still an option through the MDE app. Has anyone tried that? Maybe even just for MNSSHP or MVMCP? I think it is $60 for one day at one park, and is well hidden within the app.