Is photopass worth it? Opinions and pros and cons!?

[Born&BredDisney]

Fiancé and I are honeymooning at Disney in November and I just recently started thinking about the photopass option they offer. I've never used the photopass photographers. How is the quality of pictures? Are any of them like the "blurry back ground an sharp focus" kind of pictures? Would you recommend using the system? I've thought about how are we supposed to have pictures with both of us in the photo since its only two of us on the trip. Will the photopass photographers take a picture of you with your camera instead of theirs if you ask? Whats the price range? I need every bit of info you have! Thanks!

 

[fractal]

On our trip a few weeks ago I bought photopass+. Here is a PP picture of my kids and I to give you an idea of the quality.

As somebody who take 95% of the pictures, I enjoyed knowing that I could count on somebody else to take some pics with me in them. You also get all the ride pictures include ( via download ) and we also got some shots at Typhoon Lagoon, somewhere I did want to have the camera out too much. Overall, I would do it again - it was a nice supplement to all the photos I took. Just make sure you don't forget about and utilize it as much as you can.

 

[BalooChicago]

How does photopass+ work - we usually go with our whole family (Parents, Sister1+2kids, Sister2, Brother/Spouse/2kids, Me/Spouse/1kid) - Would we all use one photopass+?

 

[fractal]

How does photopass+ work - we usually go with our whole family (Parents, Sister1+2kids, Sister2, Brother/Spouse/2kids, Me/Spouse/1kid) - Would we all use one photopass+?

You pay an upfront fee ( $149.00 ). They send you a photopass+ card and a code number. The card is on a lanyard so it's easy to carry around on your trip. As you go through the parks, find a photopass photographer and have them take pictures. They will then take your card and place those pictures on your "account". A few times I forgot my card so they gave me a regular photopass card that I was able to add to my account after the trip. One morning I forgot my photopass card when we went to AK. I really wanted the ride pictures so the I had them write down the picture number ( at the ride picture checkout ). Then I went to the photopass agent at my resort and they were able to add those pictures to my account. I think you had to do that within 24 hours of the time the picture was taken ( or maybe it was 48 hours? ). It did work - I got all of the ride pictures. When you get home after your trip you can look at all the pictures that are attached to our account, choose the ones you want, add Disney borders to them ( if you want ) and then download them or order a CD with them on. If I would have paid for the all the pictures I downloaded at full price it would have cost me over $700. Now, I did get many pictures that were almost duplicates as the photographer would take 3 or 4 pictures of the same scene - but even if I had been more selective it would have easily cost me over $300 to but the ones I wanted. You use the code they give you after you add all the pictures in your account and then simply download or order the CD. I think you get 30 days after your trip to complete your order.


If you do it, just make sure to use it and you will likely not be dissapointed.

 

[olinecoach61]

We always do it and will continue to do it. With a big event like a honeymoon it will be perfect. You'll have a ton of pics with both of you together! Be sure to stop at a lot of photopass photogs, that's the key to getting value. There are also spots where they do magic shots which are pretty neat.

On another note make sure to get the bride and groom mickey ears, we got a lot of extra magic when we did!

 

[BalooChicago]

You pay an upfront fee ( $149.00 ). They send you a photopass+ card and a code number. The card is on a lanyard so it's easy to carry around on your trip.

Thanks! It was the card that I was curious about. I wonder if you can get multiples? We're a large group, but usually travel in 3-4 smaller groups. I suppose we could add them to the account manually each night?

 

[fractal]

Thanks! It was the card that I was curious about. I wonder if you can get multiples? We're a large group, but usually travel in 3-4 smaller groups. I suppose we could add them to the account manually each night?

I asked about multiple cards - no dice. You only get one. However, if part of your group is without the card, they can get their picture taken and then get a PP card from the photographer which you can later add to your account. Good luck!

 

[popcenturylover]

We had photopass+ on our trip last September & it was totally worth it! Although, only thinking about doing just the photopass this year as we probably won't do many of the rides that offer the photos!

 

[CP_alum08]

To me it's not worth it. I don't think anyone vacations to WDW anymore without a camera and you can just as easily hand your camera to any PP person as you can have them use their camera. MOST PP people are not "photographers" they are just cast members who have been put in the role and given very basic camera knowledge, sometimes not even that. You will not get your "blurry background" pictures like you mentioned above, all of your pictures will be very basic snapshot-type photos with no creativity (that's not a knock at PP people, can you imagine the time issues if every guest wanted creative photos?!). On a plus side, they do have a nicer/bigger flash on their cameras than any point and shoot so low-light and nighttime photos could potentially look better assuming the camera is set up correctly.

To me PP is not a "good" solution, it's a "good-enough" one.

 

[NowInc]

To me it's not worth it. I don't think anyone vacations to WDW anymore without a camera and you can just as easily hand your camera to any PP person as you can have them use their camera. MOST PP people are not "photographers" they are just cast members who have been put in the role and given very basic camera knowledge, sometimes not even that. You will not get your "blurry background" pictures like you mentioned above, all of your pictures will be very basic snapshot-type photos with no creativity (that's not a knock at PP people, cam you imagine the time issues if every guest wanted creative photos?!). On a plus side, they do have a nicer/bigger flash on their cameras than any point and shoot so low-light and nighttime photos could potentially look better assuming the camera is set up correctly.

To me PP is not a "good" solution, it's a "good-enough" one.

The other advantage PP guys get is priority locations. Some people think thats important

 

[fractal]

To me it's not worth it. I don't think anyone vacations to WDW anymore without a camera and you can just as easily hand your camera to any PP person as you can have them use their camera. MOST PP people are not "photographers" they are just cast members who have been put in the role and given very basic camera knowledge, sometimes not even that. You will not get your "blurry background" pictures like you mentioned above, all of your pictures will be very basic snapshot-type photos with no creativity (that's not a knock at PP people, cam you imagine the time issues if every guest wanted creative photos?!). On a plus side, they do have a nicer/bigger flash on their cameras than any point and shoot so low-light and nighttime photos could potentially look better assuming the camera is set up correctly.

To me PP is not a "good" solution, it's a "good-enough" one.

Agree - you're not going to get professional grade portrait shots - but those would cost you much more than $149. I got what I expected - plenty of shots of my family and I around WDW along with ride photos and the ability to add cheesy Disney effects to them.

 

[thomas998]

On our trip a few weeks ago I bought photopass+. Here is a PP picture of my kids and I to give you an idea of the quality.

As somebody who take 95% of the pictures, I enjoyed knowing that I could count on somebody else to take some pics with me in them. You also get all the ride pictures include ( via download ) and we also got some shots at Typhoon Lagoon, somewhere I did want to have the camera out too much. Overall, I would do it again - it was a nice supplement to all the photos I took. Just make sure you don't forget about and utilize it as much as you can.

That looks like a better version than most photopass shots. Even in that one I would have preferred not to have had the legs cut in half by the photographer or at the very least not have had the girls hands cut off... But hey it is better than some of the ones we have had before. I am not saying don't do a photopass. We do it as insurance, we don't do it as the only photos on a trip, but in the event our camera gets stolen or lost with the memory chip we know we have a backup... to that end we don't buy it upfront. We simply know that if there is a problem we can purchase it after the fact. But don't expect great results... our past experience has included one of our daughters being cut right down the middle when posing with a character and her sister.... numerous tilted horizon lines and lots of shot where an arm or top of a head is cut.. Imagine you give your camera to your old aunt that can't see straight to take a photo for you, that's what the quality tends to be... once in a while they will get you a good shot but the majority aren't that great.

 

[fractal]

Some other shots from our trip. We really didn't have a problem with major parts of the body being cut off. I guess your mileage may vary.

 

[ddbowdoin]

unless you hand them something in the green "auto" box good luck!