Can someone clarify Memory Maker vs Photo Pass +?

[NC Del]

Does Photo Pass still exist or is the ONLY way to use your band & access digital photos taken by the WDW photgraphers via the Memory Maker Package? I am getting close to trip time & need to decide on it b/c of the 3 day rule w/ the lower price but I am only going for 3 days and can't decide if the price is worth it. I *thought* (could be wrong) that I could also just do photo pass & pay for the individual digital jpegs/files that I want, which would have to be quite a few to make the $150 worth it but maybe I'm totally wrong here.
Anyone know the real deal? I tried to search Photo Pass on the MDE site and everything that came up was about MM so I'm wondering if PP is no longer and MM is the only option other than taking your own?

 

[englanddg]

Does Photo Pass still exist or is the ONLY way to use your band & access digital photos via the Memory Maker Package? I am getting close to trip time & need to decide on it b/c of the 3 day rule w/ the lower price but I am only going for 3 days and can't decide if the price is worth it. I *thought* (could be wrong) that I could also just do photo pass & pay for the individual digital jpegs/files that I want, which would have to be quite a few to make the $150 worth it but maybe I'm totally wrong here.
Anyone know the real deal? I tried to search Photo Pass on the MDE site and everything that came up was about MM so I'm wondering if PP is no longer and MM is the only option for digital photos that their photographers take?

Memory Maker is the new name for Photo Pass. It's largely the same service as before with a new name. It does, however, now integrate with your RFID KTTW card or your MagicBand so you don't have to carry around the Photopass card or dig it out each photo op.

Pretty neat addition to MM+, in my opinion.

 

[NC Del]

OK so just to clarify, if you want to be able to access the digital photos their photographers take, buying the $150 MM package is the the only option? DO they offer anything else in terms of purchasing digital photos from them (what about people who are only going for a day?)? Thanks!

 

[RandomPrincess]

OK so just to clarify, if you want to be able to access the digital photos their photographers take, buying the $150 MM package is the the only option? DO they offer anything else in terms of purchasing digital photos from them (what about people who are only going for a day?)? Thanks!

They still have the plain old Photopass CD or individual pictures - Memory Maker takes the place of the big Photopass+ trip long package.

 

[englanddg]

OK so just to clarify, if you want to be able to access the digital photos their photographers take, buying the $150 MM package is the the only option? DO they offer anything else in terms of purchasing digital photos from them (what about people who are only going for a day?)? Thanks!

Lets see how to explain this...ok.

So, the Photopass service still exists, and you can get a photopass card and log onto the website through My Disney Experience to see your linked photos and pay for them individually. Additionally, you can still purchase (non-digital) copies of your ride and dining event photos at the events.

If you remember Photopass+...think of that as what Memory Maker is. It's the bundled download service. You don't need to purchase the package to get to your photos, and for a one day trip I wouldn't.

 

[stevehousse]

Whether u get MM or not, u can still purchase individual photos on your MDE page. (Best bet to do though, is use an iPad and slideshow the photos and screen cap them as they come up so u don't have to pay for them at all!) did I really just say that

 

[englanddg]

Whether u get MM or not, u can still purchase individual photos on your MDE page. (Best bet to do though, is use an iPad and slideshow the photos and screen cap them as they come up so u don't have to pay for them at all!) did I really just say that

I bet you steal soda with an old mug too!

<kidding!>

 

[stevehousse]

I bet you steal soda with an old mug too!

<kidding!>

I honestly never have done that! I've never bought a mug before, only last year did I first get one with our free dining plan and that was after the soda theft was taken care of...though I probably would have! LOL

 

[NC Del]

OK thanks- can I use the magic band to store the photo pass photos? How much do they charge per digital picture (you know, if I leave my 'old mug' at home and need to buy them ). We are only going for 3 days so to spend $150 on what I imagine will be less than 10 pics seems a bit high.

I have not been to WDW since a short couple days w/ my husband back in 2002 so I'm not familiar with how anything works there anymore and I have never gone w/ kids...

 

[NC Del]

For anyone interested, I finally got the scoop on this. After calling the main # and the representative not being able to answer any questions (this is my 3rd time calling on different things where the person on the phone couldn't answer my question, I am not super impressed w/ the customer service line, nor with the ability to get information from Disney' website on a number of things)), I got forwarded to a different number where the guy had all the info.
You CAN use your magic band for basic photo pass. You have 45 days to view & download and a jpeg is $14.95 each. Therefore, if you are going to purchase less than 10, this makes sense. (and if you decide you want them all, you can download them for $169).
The only exception to this being a good deal is that you CANNOT use photopass at the dining experiences or rides that have photographers (though some dining experiences include the photo such as Cinderella's castle so that is a non-issue). You have to have Memory maker to get those.

I had trouble tracking down which rides had photography and finally found this website http://www.disneydining.com/walt-disney-world-memory-maker-101/
It says that the following dining experiences & rides have photography, which is ONLY accessible if you have Memory Maker, not photo pass.

Dining Locations included in the Memory Maker package are: 1900 Park Fare(Grand Floridian Resort), Ohana(Polynesian Resort), Princess Storybook Dining(at Norway’s Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot), Chef Mickey’s(Contemporary Resort), Cinderella’s Royal Table(Magic Kingdom), Tusker House(Animal Kingdom), Hoop-de-doo Review(Fort Wilderness), and the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show(Polynesian resort).

Attraction photos included in the Memory Maker package are: Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, Tower of Terror, Rockin’ Roller Coaster, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, and Test Track.

--------
So for me, going only 3 days and having a reservation at only 1 of those dining experience and likely riding only 1-2 of those rides, it doesn't make sense to get the $150 package when I'll probably end up only wanting like 5 or 6 photos.

 

[stevehousse]

Sounds mostly right, however, those on ride photos will show up in your regular photo pass account without even swiping ur band. For our nov trip, we constantly had ride photos uploaded to our account and didn't understand why? Turns out the ride knows u r on it, and will link the picture to it automatically. This was back in Nov, so maybe it was a test or something, but we were really weirded out by it at first, especially when we would do stand by and not scan anything! Maybe it is still like that today?

 

[dreamfinder]

So for me, going only 3 days and having a reservation at only 1 of those dining experience and likely riding only 1-2 of those rides, it doesn't make sense to get the $150 package when I'll probably end up only wanting like 5 or 6 photos.

Perhaps look into the Photopass Archive CD pre-purchase? Thats $119.95 + shipping, and includes a DVD sent to you with copies of all the Photopass pictures in your account. Photopass Archive CD/Memory Maker+ are worth as much as you want them to be. You can easily get a hundred or more pictures during a 3 day trip, especially if you stop for characters. Figure 3-5 pictures per stop, more if you have a group and ask them to do different groupings. If you do get it, take advantage of it. Do different poses, different groupings, don't be afraid to ask to try things. If you do day and night pictures, you can hit it easy.

Sounds mostly right, however, those on ride photos will show up in your regular photo pass account without even swiping ur band. For our nov trip, we constantly had ride photos uploaded to our account and didn't understand why? Turns out the ride knows u r on it, and will link the picture to it automatically. This was back in Nov, so maybe it was a test or something, but we were really weirded out by it at first, especially when we would do stand by and not scan anything! Maybe it is still like that today?

This had to have been a test. Did a trip in Jan, had almost 500 pics on my Photopass account, none of which were the long range ride photos.

 

[TheMouseFan]

Perhaps look into the Photopass Archive CD pre-purchase? Thats $119.95 + shipping, and includes a DVD sent to you with copies of all the Photopass pictures in your account. Photopass Archive CD/Memory Maker+ are worth as much as you want them to be. You can easily get a hundred or more pictures during a 3 day trip, especially if you stop for characters. Figure 3-5 pictures per stop, more if you have a group and ask them to do different groupings. If you do get it, take advantage of it. Do different poses, different groupings, don't be afraid to ask to try things. If you do day and night pictures, you can hit it easy.



This had to have been a test. Did a trip in Jan, had almost 500 pics on my Photopass account, none of which were the long range ride photos.

I don't think you can do the $119.95 prepurchase anymore. The website looks like the only prepurchase available is the Memory Maker for $149.
I think they must have been testing the bands for on ride photos because we were there in November also and had all the ride photos except EE and ToT show up in our account.

 

[dreamfinder]

I don't think you can do the $119.95 prepurchase anymore. The website looks like the only prepurchase available is the Memory Maker for $149.
I think they must have been testing the bands for on ride photos because we were there in November also and had all the ride photos except EE and ToT show up in our account.

You can still do the $119 pre-purchase. The link at the bottom of the main Photopass site for the Photopass Archive CD directs you here -> https://mydisneyphotopass.disney.go.com/wdwsave/ where you can buy just the CD in advance, they just aren't making it quite as prevalent as it used to be.

 

[coachwnh]

Two disadvantages to the new memory maker vs. photo pass plus is you no longer get the actual photo package at character meals as you did in the past. I liked the photos you got in the packaging that was brought to your table.

The other is you no longer get the actual disc (unless you pay extra for it). I understand that you may not want all of your pictures since some are bad, but I really don't want to download everything that is good either. We had had trips when we took over 1000 photo pass pictures. For me, I liked doing a quick scan of the photos when I got back, using the Disney features for a few, then getting them all shipped to me.

I do like that the pictures are on your Disney Experience site that day, but I still like the older program a bit better.

 

[Lord_Vader]

Two disadvantages to the new memory maker vs. photo pass plus is you no longer get the actual photo package at character meals as you did in the past. I liked the photos you got in the packaging that was brought to your table.

The other is you no longer get the actual disc (unless you pay extra for it). I understand that you may not want all of your pictures since some are bad, but I really don't want to download everything that is good either. We had had trips when we took over 1000 photo pass pictures. For me, I liked doing a quick scan of the photos when I got back, using the Disney features for a few, then getting them all shipped to me.

I do like that the pictures are on your Disney Experience site that day, but I still like the older program a bit better.

I have mixed feelings too. The unlimited downloads are convinient but I will really miss the discs as part of the package nearly as much. The reduction of benefit by removing the physical photos at dining locations really bummed us out as well, at least they should offer a discount on them (50% or so) which would make them a value add as we did like the packaging as well, these were the photos we usually gave family from our trip.

 

[dreamfinder]

I personally don't miss the physical prints that much. It was one more thing to carry around with you and to try to get back home in one piece. I can get prints made at home for pennies. While I did appreciate the value add, I don't think any of the dining pictures from when we did PP+ got framed, or even made it out of the folders they come in.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I personally don't miss the physical prints that much. It was one more thing to carry around with you and to try to get back home in one piece. I can get prints made at home for pennies. While I did appreciate the value add, I don't think any of the dining pictures from when we did PP+ got framed, or even made it out of the folders they come in.

We had made the photos from Chef Mickey's a bit of a tradition even back when we paid for them separately from PP after our first few trips to WDW. I had photos from each our our trips framed in my office, now over twelve of them but I have scanned the first hard-copies and upgraded to a digital frame so the hard copies are not as important.