My family and I (husband and 14 yo daughter) are taking our first trip to Disney World in a couple of weeks. We’re wondering if the $169 cost of Memory Maker would be worth it for us? We have 4 day park hopper passes, along with Boo Bash tickets. We won’t be interested in waiting in line for pictures, so if there are huge waits I can’t imagine it’ll be worth it to us. Anything else to consider or advice on whether we should do it or not? Thanks so much!
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Memory Maker Question
- Thread starter StrawberryGirl
- Start date
Club Cooloholic
Well-Known Member
If you never have done it I say go for it! The lines are never that bad, and if you get to the springs have some photos done at the studio there.
Hcalvert
Well-Known Member
I used to get it free with my annual pass and half the time, the rides did not register us. It got people around us, so I have a good amount of pictures of random people or I just did not get any photos. Our magic bands were new, so that was not the problem. Saying that, it was nice to have for my nieces' and nephews' first visit in July 2019 as they got some cute pictures at the meet and greets. I don't know if I would pay that much for it if there is not actually any real photo opportunities like before pre-COVID.
G00fyDad
Well-Known Member
We purchased the Memory Maker for our upcoming trip and we don't really plan on waiting in any character lines. It's still going to be worth it. All your ride photos are added to it and any other photos you have taken in the parks by a photographer are added. And on the plus side if we do decide to wait in a line for a character then it's just a bonus.
Thanks everyone. Definitely leaning toward it. How does it work with the in-ride photos? How do you load it on to your account afterward?
G00fyDad
Well-Known Member
I am not sure but I think if you go to the photo purchase area after the ride you can have them scan your MB to add it there.
Weather_Lady
Well-Known Member
If this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and if you think you'll really value the on-ride photos and "magic shots" (where they photoshop animated characters into your photo), I'd urge you to consider it.
Personally, we did it once, and didn't find it nearly worth the cost. However, we had decent cameras on our phones (able to take photos as good as the Photopass photographers got, in the hands of willing passerby), found the on-ride photos to be cute but not of sufficient quality or clarity to do anything with (e.g., framing, photo books), and -- just a personal opinion -- I thought the magic shots were lame and stupid. (Apologies to those who love them, and I know there are many who do.) We've never purchased it since -- and we still come home from every trip with dozens of great photos. YMMV.
Personally, we did it once, and didn't find it nearly worth the cost. However, we had decent cameras on our phones (able to take photos as good as the Photopass photographers got, in the hands of willing passerby), found the on-ride photos to be cute but not of sufficient quality or clarity to do anything with (e.g., framing, photo books), and -- just a personal opinion -- I thought the magic shots were lame and stupid. (Apologies to those who love them, and I know there are many who do.) We've never purchased it since -- and we still come home from every trip with dozens of great photos. YMMV.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Depends on the ride and whether you have a MagicBand.
Assuming you have a MagicBand, some of them "scan" your band using long-range RFID and adds automatically. Some rides are testing facial recognition. Some rides have a touchpoint when you get off the vehicle that you tap.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
That's how I feel for my immediate family, but we still like to get it when we're traveling on a long trip with a large group. Three nights with just my wife and kids, no way. Eight nights with my wife, kids, sisters, sisters' husbands, and parents, sure we'll split that 10 ways.
Aurora_25
Well-Known Member
It depends on where you are as to how long the lines are. Generally there are only a few people waiting to get pictures taken (from what I have seen) at any given moment. I haven't gone to Boo Bash, so I don't know what type of photos they take there or if it is worth it. I have photo pass, but I also have an annual pass and live close by. If you want pictures with your family all together, you could always ask someone walking by if they would mind taking your photo-most people are more than happy to help out, although with the whole COVID issue, that is all dependent on how you feel about someone you don't know touching your stuff. If you want great photos of your family all together, it could be worth it, but it isn't really necessary to do if you don't care so much about having everyone together in a photo. I love having the Disney photographers take some photos because they have "tricks" that they do to get the best photos of the whole group. They also have you sometimes do certain poses and then Disney adds things in later (like Figment, Tinkerbell, or other characters). Again, it all depends on what it is worth to you.