Memory maker or not?

[ggsport98]

I've booked a family trip to
Disney in May of 2018 and there is 7 of us going. I'm debating on whether or not to buy the memory maker or not. I want the photons to remember this when my kids are older but just don't know if we will stop for the cast members to take the photos. On the other side I don't want to not get it and never take photos. My question is have people purchased it and is it worth it?

 

[allgiggles]

We're big fans of Memory Maker. We're also a large group (a family of 10 on our trip next year). We think it's well worth the money. We don't spend much time waiting in line for the photos -- we usually just stop at photographers who have no line (or maybe only one or two groups waiting if it's a shot we really want to do). We love the magic shots and ask every photographer if they do them. It's also nice to have all the ride photos (those alone cover the cost of MM if you're a large group). We also like the extra ride videos that get added to your MM account. On our last trip, we ended up with over 200 unique photos and after editing and enhancing them we had over 1,000.

If you don't want to spend the money on MM, you can always ask the photographers just to do a picture using your phone/camera. You won't be able to do any of the editing/enhancing, or get magic shots, or the ride photos/videos, but you can still get everyone in the picture and get some of the iconic shots (Cinderella's Castle, Tree of Life, etc.)

 

[Pascal]

We have paid for MM once and, if it weren't included with our tickets this year, we would be purchasing again. We are a family of 6 adults, so we split the cost previously and had around 250 photos by the end of the trip. For us, it's great value, especially as it's unlimited downloads within the specified time, which means each couple can download and have their own copies.

It's nice not to have to worry about getting multiple photos on multiple devices when you stop with a photographer, too. The stickers and borders that you can add to the photos afterwards are also fun, though not worth the price alone!

 

[Jared Augustine]

We love the service, and feel it is worth the cost. It is quick and easy to use the service, and you do not have to worry about carrying your own device. You can quickly see your pictures on your my Disney account.

 

[DisneyGigi]

I love Memory Maker. It is completely worth it to have everyone in the photos together and nice to not have to worry about taking your own at character meet and greets. I always felt like I missed so much by trying to get photos while it was going on. The ride photos and videos that you get with it and magicshots are also a bonus. I wouldn't go without it now.

 

[Cowboy Steve]

Three words: Worth. Every. Penny.

 

[oliviosis]

I HATE stopping to take pictures!! But, we got it for our upcoming trip after we went in with my SIL on it last time. Knowing we paid for it seriously helped me stop and take the time to use it. As a result, we have much better pictures and a lot of shots we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. We made a cheap photo book when we got home and my boys (5 and 2) look at that book almost every single time it catches their eye.

 

[FirstTimeForeigner]

The ride pics also make memory maker worth it. If you're planning to ride 7 dwarves, Space Mountain, Test track, tower of terror, and Splash mountain I think you should look at memory maker. That's at least 5 shots that don't require you to line up for a photopass cm.

 

[dreamfinder]

Do you want ride photos? Do you want character interaction photos? And do you want nighttime shots? Those are the 3 places that Photopass excels. Obviously, you can't do on-ride photos yourself. And while a CM at a character will take a picture with your camera, they typically won't be able to do so until after your group is with the character. So you would miss the cute hugs/greetings that many kids will get from the character and just end up with a group shot. And unless you are schlepping a tripod and know how to set your camera properly for night shots, the odds of getting a good picture at night are pretty slim.

If you don't want those pictures, or don't want at least 10 pictures, Memory Maker will be tough for you to break even. You can buy just single downloads/prints if you want, or pay a higher price to buy Memory Maker after your trip if you would rather wait to see what you get.

I like it, but I have always loaded a few hundred pictures from each trip onto a digital photo frame in my office. And now that we have our DS, Photopass is more likely to be in the right place to get a shot of him running up to hug Mickey, than I will be, in some cases just due to how the lines work. So I find benefit from the Memory Maker (and the previous products that included copies of every picture). But if you don't want ride photos, don't do characters, only really only want a single picture in front of the castle, then just ask the CM to take one with your camera as well.

 

[DisAl]

For us the answer is yes. Our last trip (6 days) we had over 600 Memory Maker photos. In general if we saw a photographer and there was not more than a couple of people or groups ahead of us we stopped and had the photos made. The delays were usually minimal.
Of course there are several shots per location but that lets you choose what you like best. It was worth it to us to have our whole group of 8 in the photos without asking someone to make a photo for us or asking the PhotoPass photographers to make them. And as mentioned by other posters you get ride photos and the magic shots too.
Also (someone please correct me if this has changed) when you set everybody in your group up in your Friends and Family list on My Disney Experience any photos made and linked to any of their Magic Bands shows up in your account too. That way the whole group does not have to be together when photos are made, and their ride photos will be included too.
The most important thing to remember is to make sure you download all your photos before they expire. Currently you have 45 days from the date the photo was taken.

 

[Rumrunner]

I've booked a family trip to
Disney in May of 2018 and there is 7 of us going. I'm debating on whether or not to buy the memory maker or not. I want the photons to remember this when my kids are older but just don't know if we will stop for the cast members to take the photos. On the other side I don't want to not get it and never take photos. My question is have people purchased it and is it worth it?

We think Memory Maker is a value-our walls are lined with photos because of MM. It was worth every penny and of course we take our own pictures as well. We are a group of 12-3 families and 3 generations. Anyone in the group can have a picture made at any and any place. What a deal.

 

[Weather_Lady]

I guess I'm the flip side of the coin -- we paid for it once, and never would again. The ride shots were nice, but not of sufficient quality to do anything with them (like printing to frame). The photos of our family and/or with characters that were taken by the photographers were wonderful, but no better (in quality or composition) than the photos we had them take with our own point-and-shoot camera. (I think a lot of people who pay for MoneyMaker... er, I mean, MemoryMaker... don't realize that CMs and photogs will gladly take your photo with your own camera, for free, anytime you ask.) As for Magic Shots, my personal opinion (previously aired on the "Your Unpopular Disney Opinion" thread) is that they are dumb, so that aspect of MemoryMaker was wasted on us.

The next vacation we took, we forewent MemoryMaker, and spent the same money purchasing big, beautiful souvenir photo books from Shutterfly (filled with photos we took or asked CMs to take) for each member of our traveling party. For us, that was a far better way to spend money on Disney photos.

 

[DreamalittleDisney]

Worth it for ride shots alone

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

YES!!!!

Worth it for ride shots alone

The ride shots are magical and so fun to have! I was pleasantly surprised at how many ride shots there were! Also, the Photopass people are almost EVERYWHERE!! Easy to spot in a grey vest and once you purchase it, you have ALL the photos from the entire week. We usually have about 300 for a week long trip. We just keep our eyes open for the Photogs. A lot of times you'll find them off the main entry path, like by Pirates or deep in the AK. We noticed last time at Epcot, there was a PP photog at almost every country throughout the week.
I'd say it's definitely worth trying once. But like others have said, it's super nice to get all the stock photos they throw in and the amazing shots of Disney at Night that they throw in or your family in front of castle/SSE/TreeofLife at night!
I'm especially excited to have it this year since we have newbies going! It will be great to get family pics that we can all see!

 

[Marianm]

Do you want ride photos? Do you want character interaction photos? And do you want nighttime shots? Those are the 3 places that Photopass excels. Obviously, you can't do on-ride photos yourself. And while a CM at a character will take a picture with your camera, they typically won't be able to do so until after your group is with the character. So you would miss the cute hugs/greetings that many kids will get from the character and just end up with a group shot. And unless you are schlepping a tripod and know how to set your camera properly for night shots, the odds of getting a good picture at night are pretty slim.

If you don't want those pictures, or don't want at least 10 pictures, Memory Maker will be tough for you to break even. You can buy just single downloads/prints if you want, or pay a higher price to buy Memory Maker after your trip if you would rather wait to see what you get.

I like it, but I have always loaded a few hundred pictures from each trip onto a digital photo frame in my office. And now that we have our DS, Photopass is more likely to be in the right place to get a shot of him running up to hug Mickey, than I will be, in some cases just due to how the lines work. So I find benefit from the Memory Maker (and the previous products that included copies of every picture). But if you don't want ride photos, don't do characters, only really only want a single picture in front of the castle, then just ask the CM to take one with your camera as well.

We did it two trips ago. Did not do it this time. I always thought it was worth it, but I just can't justify spending $169 on an album of pictures.

 

[Ms.Sunshine]

I say go for it. I had issues with my camera during my entire trip. If it wasn't for Memory Maker, all of my memories would be blurry!

 

[kimberlymautz]

I doubt I'll visit Disney without the Memory Maker again. We took my daughter and niece a year ago and whole I took some photos with my own camera, I was able to enjoy the character interactions so much more because I wasn't completely focused on getting photos. We ended up with about 200 photos on our memory maker and about the same on my personal camera, plus about the same amount on my phone. I'd have never been able to get some of the shots the Memory Maker gave us, so I'm so glad we got it.

 

[ELG13]

Jumping in here...but how much do single photos run? I was about to post the same thing g about memory Maker. We leave Saturday so our window is running out for advance purchase of it. We can just scan out magic band for all the pics they take and we can purchase what we like after the fact correct? I'm just trying to justify the purchase when we are trying to budget. I'm sort of between this or Tix for mnsshp........

 

[ELG13]

Jumping in here...but how much do single photos run? I was about to post the same thing g about memory Maker. We leave Saturday so our window is running out for advance purchase of it. We can just scan out magic band for all the pics they take and we can purchase what we like after the fact correct? I'm just trying to justify the purchase when we are trying to budget. I'm sort of between this or Tix for mnsshp........

 

[allgiggles]

Jumping in here...but how much do single photos run? I was about to post the same thing g about memory Maker. We leave Saturday so our window is running out for advance purchase of it. We can just scan out magic band for all the pics they take and we can purchase what we like after the fact correct? I'm just trying to justify the purchase when we are trying to budget. I'm sort of between this or Tix for mnsshp........

Yes, you can just scan your magic band. I believe the price is still $14.95 per photo (not sure if there is tax involved), so it takes 11 or 12 pictures to justify the cost of pre-ordering. I think there are 10 ride photos available throughout the parks (assuming you ride each one of those and *want* the picture) and if you take 1 or 2 pictures with the "icon" in each park in the background, you're already approaching 20 photos. And if you do any character meet & greets.... It doesn't take long to accumulate a lot of "good" shots. We're big fans of Memory Maker but I know it's not for everyone. We're a family of 10 (kids, a few spouses, grandchild) so it's a no brainer for us, but I can see where it's a more difficult decision for a couple or solo traveler.