I need info about whether or not to do Photopass

[Jasper Dale]

my wife and i are going to be at WDW for 10 days in September staying on property. this will be our 5th trip and the celebration of our 10th wedding anniversary.

since we were at WDW twice last year for long stays, this time around we are less interested in "doing all the attractions" and more interested in having a laid back vacation, taking in the parades and not hurrying to make sure we hit all the attractions.

we have never used Photopass and i am trying to figure out if it would be worth the investment. the reason i am leaning towards doing it is because i think i will be much less worried about "wasting" time getting pictures taken this time. (normally, my main goal was squeezing as much as i could into each day at the park, but since we are going to be on property for 10 days and "have done pretty much every attraction several times, i'm open to the idea of slowing down this time around.)

so, here are my questions:

1. If we choose to get pictures taken at every Photopass opportunity, how many pictures would we end up with?

2. How long does it usually take at each location to get a picture taken?

3. Do the photographers take multiple pictures at each location?


i am willing to make the investment if i think we are going to get our money's worth, but if we wind up with 30 pictures or less during our 10 day trip, i don't want to put the money out.

so, i'm really wanting to know your experiences with Photopass and if you thought it was a good investment.

thanks again for all the support i find on this forum.

 

[NewfieFan]

You're going to hear both sides of the argument with Photopass... I, personally am a fan! Yes, I carry a camera and take my own pictures but it's great to have someone else to take your picture (and while you can ask a stranger to do the same... it doesn't always turn out great). The Photopass photographers are not perfect... I've had a few shots that haven't been that great but for the most part they turn out nice.

I've used Photopass three times now. I will accumulate over 100 photos or more on one trip (and we don't stop at every photographer). After I get home and play around with the pictures and add borders I usually have around 200 photos. The photographers will usually take multiple shots at the one time. If there's a pose you want to do or something you want in the background just let them know... they're usually pretty accommodating!

As for waiting... it depends. I've seen photographers with no one around them and they have taken their time with my family and took pictures until we got bored of smiling. And then there's been times when there's a line up for a photographer.

A few tips...

- Go back to the same places and redo some of the shots (if time allows). Some pictures turn out better than others and the lighting can change as well. Try day time and night time shots in the same spot.

- If you're into character meet 'n greets let the photographers do their thing. They're great at capturing the moments with characters (one of the biggest reasons I like Photopass).

- Take a picture of your card number on the back or write it down. That way if you lose your card you still have your pictures.

- If time allows... find a spot to review your pictures. You might see some you want to redo or you might find some missing (it's rare but it can happen). If there are some missing they can usually track them down for you if you remember the place, date and approx. time.

 

[mouselvrmom]

I'm also a fan of photopass. For a 10 day vacation, I could easily get 200 pictures without putting forth too much effort. Photopass photographers are everywhere. You just have to go up to them and ask for a picture.

Yes, the photographers take multiple photos at every location. This helps to ensure that you will be happy with the layout, quality of your picture. Hopefully if one is blurry, the others won't be. I totally agree with Newfiefan that you should try to get the same location done on different days, different times of the day etc. This will also help ensure that there are good pictures for you to choose from.

We also try to seek out the special photo opportunities: such as holding Simba at AK, Stitch eating ice cream at Epcot, Minnie and Mickey hang gliding at Epcot, Stitch coming out of the ground at the Studios, holding Tinkerbell at MK, fighting Captain Hook at MK, etc. These are fun things that you just can't get with your own camera.

 

[gabroccoli]

Yes to the Photopass!

 

[zurgandfriend]

Do it! We always get great pictures from Photpass. better than we take ourselves or some stranger takes for us.

 

[Steve-B]

Yes

BIG fan of PhotoPass here . . . :sohappy:
I insisted on using the PhotoPass CM's at every opportunity on our last trip, since I knew it would be the last time the four of us would be there as a family. Every PPCM we have encountered has taken very good, if not exceptional photos. We came home with a couple hundred pics on our card.

 

[mickey2008.1]

How much does it cost per picture? How much for a full cd?

 

[stuey222]

Go ahead and do some PP pictures. At the very least you can look at them online and see if any are worth buying. It's nice to have everyone in the picture every now and then.

On a side note, I've had great success asking random CMs to take my picture at various places around the World.

 

[mouselvrmom]

How much does it cost per picture? How much for a full cd?

I would never buy them by the picture. I believe they were 12.95 per print the last time I looked. I think the cd is up to 150 now if you don't prepay. Sometimes there are deals to prepay for 99. Yep, I found the link. http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitoffer.aspx

 

[Jasper Dale]

thanks so much for all the info. i think we will take the plunge and do it!

 

[lilclerk]

You can also ask the Photopass photographers to take the pictures with your camera. That way you'll get both the Photopass and your own photos. When you get home, you can decide if it is worth buying the CD =)

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I am not a fan. I take my own camera one visit per park per trip as I dont want to be obsessed by taking shots. Mrs Sak will always have a point and press in her pocket anyway.

My problem with Photopass is the "photographers", most arent. as a result the image quality can go from excellent to were they drunk?

Out of all the shots we had taken last thanksgiving none were suitable for prints. basic focus, framing or eyes closed in everyone. Theres no excuse for that in a digital age especially when most are set up in static locations.

I will be trying it this trip but thats only cause there is a gang of us going and we want some team shots so Im prepaying the disc. However I dont intend to rely purely on Disney for capturing memories.

 

[fireworkz]

Yes get PhotoPass - It's great for those times you forget or something is wrong with your own camera. Sometimes they get a nicer shot than you, and there is never an obligation to buy your pics.

HOWEVER, as much as possible get the photographer to take some pics with your own personal camera as a back up. As I discovered after our most recent trip things can go wrong. When I tried to retrieve our photos once home the PhotoPass card's code was not recognized by the site for some reason. Made several attempts to fix it with customer service, but to no avail. Luckily every picture opportunity was also captured on my personal camera except one, when my daughter was made Junior Mayor of Main Street for the day. That was such a fast surprise I forgot to get out my camera, but after thought, no worries I have PhotoPass for it. Unfortunately I lost those. On all of our other trips it's worked great though so I haven't given up on it for future trips.

 

[MillerPoppins]

Another yes. I love having the professional shots and have some great ones from past trips. I like that they take photos with your own camera. It's a great amenity!

 

[Susan Savia]

We've used Photo Pass in years past, but we found only one or two actually turned out that good. We find just handing our camera to a Photo Pass CM got us good if not better pictures then the ones taken on the pass and at no extra cost. We also found that we often had to stand and wait for the CM to become available to do our shots. And sometimes the CMs were hard to find. In Epcot we got in line in the Character Connection and had pictures done with several characters in a fast and orderly way saving time having to hunt them down in the parks. We were in and out in minutes.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Count us in with the pro-Photopass set. I love the "hidden surprise" shots. We've gotten some really good ones over the years. I always do the pre-purchase for the cd. Before the cd I ordered individual pics and would easily spend over $100. Having the cd I can run up to the local pharmacy with the photo services and have as many as I want n the sizes I want printed out for very little. Plus, now I have those pics all archived for safe storage. I'm a huge believer in the pre-purchase!

Also, something I noted when pre-purchasing prior to our January trip this year is that you can get a "custom" photopass card made to take with you. I had one done with a picture from a previous trip with a catchy little phrase on it that included our family name. If the card had ever ended up in a lost & found they'd have been able to find us. The biggest perk to doing this custom card was that it was already registered to my photopass account when it arrived in the mail. When we used it on vacation all the photopass pics that were taken went straight to my account. If the card had been lost it was okay because the pics were already on my account.

Using that same thought process, if you have an iPhone or some way to access your photopass account while on vacation you can get online and register any/all photopass cards you receive onto your account as a precautionary measure in case of your card gets lost. I bet I have like 15 cards listed on my account!

 

[ELopez]

I would never buy them by the picture. I believe they were 12.95 per print the last time I looked. I think the cd is up to 150 now if you don't prepay. Sometimes there are deals to prepay for 99. Yep, I found the link. http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitoffer.aspx

Thanks for the link! I've not done this before, but I think I will go for it this year. We are going for a week in September. With 6 kids (the oldest being 11), we rarely get a shot of the whole family. I struggle to get as many shots as I'd like with my own camera because I always have a baby or toddler on my hip (or both). Maybe we'll even get a Christmas card pic out of it!!

 

[Dads 2 Boys]

Add another to the "yes to PP" fan club. While I take many pictures, having the PP pics are great too....especially with the characters. I enjoy being able to add borders and the park logos on the pics as well.

You can realistically end up with over 100 pics over a 8-10 day trip if you want. The time it takes varies depending on if others are waiting (nighttime shots and at Christmas time is when u may have to wait a couple of minutes).

The best pic I have from WDW is one by a Photopass photographer when my kids visited Santa in 2007 in DTD. I've purchased the CD in '07 and in '09 because that way you have those pictures forever. Also, the CD gives you the right to print as many as you want wherever you want.

Lastly....why not? It's free if you don't want to buy any!

 

[need2go2wdw]

Okay, I see no one else here has mentioned that they have ended up with NEARLY the number of pics on their Photopass as I usually do yet, so here's my numbers...the first time we pre-ordered, we were there with another family, 2 kids between us and stayed for a week. We hit every PP photographer we could and ended up with a whopping 554 pics!!! SOOOO worth it! The PP photographers got so many great shots! They get up in there nice and tight with M&G's and get shots that theres no way getting them with your own camera would be easy to do.

The second time, it was just my DH and DD and we ended up with 348 pics! I was slightly more disappointed with some of the quality of the pics the second time around, but overall, they were great and again, totally worth it. You get an occassional bad photographer. It's hit and miss. I like the idea others gave about checking your pics periodically and if time permits, give shots that turned out less then adequate another try. Typically though, I think you'll be pleased with the pics they take.

One more thing...ask all photographers if they do "magic shots" or "photo overlays". Some do, some don't, but if they can, they are awesome! Just something extra and different to add to your collection! We made it a point on both trips to try to "collect" as many magic shots as possible! My avatar pic I have right now is of my DH and I at Epcot with Mickey and gang Soarin' overhead! I made sure I sought out a PP who did this shot as its only done in one particulat location at Epcot. It's fun to look for these things and gives you something a little different to do!

 

[MouseDreaming]

I would never pre pay for it. The last two trips we had them take pictures, and both times have picked one or two. In my experience, really not worth the money. Of course, I also don't look at any of the pictures until we are home, either. I don't want to waste my vacation time looking at my vacation.