News PhotoPass at some character locations being replaced by automated cameras

[spock8113]

Two words: Saving money or.............bad idea.
Imagine an automated photographer at your wedding.
I hope they're not automated like Teslas!
You need that interaction with a photographer to get the good shots, not mug shots.
"Smile and please hold your number just below your face for the nice officer. Ok, now turn and face Spaceship Earth..................

 

[Stanley Winner]

I’ve heard from a few sources that PhotoPass photographers are going to be taken out from character locations in favour of automated cameras due to( you guessed it!) budget cuts. Apparently it’s supposed to start with Tinker Bell on the 26th/27th.

I know it’s still just a rumor at this point, but I’ll be quite saddened to see this happen. I personally don’t use the photopass system, but it’s such a shame that this would have to go because of these budget cuts.

Any thoughts?

This is greed. No photographers no picture with your phone. If you want the picture you buy it. No more free on your phone buy good photographer.

 

[disnyfan89]

Honestly DCL is the same way ... I was shocked to find out the ten mediocre shots on the ship of my daughter and niece with the princess cost $150 to place them on a thumb drive ... its a flipping rip off ... and now a live person wont even be taking the shot's? Disney can suck it as far as I am concerned. It's becoming a joke.

Photography on DCL are run by a 3rd party who sets the prices.

https://www.ourcruisephotos.com/precruise

 

[peter11435]

This is greed. No photographers no picture with your phone. If you want the picture you buy it. No more free on your phone buy good photographer.

The photopass photographers were never supposed to take photos with your own phone. The character attendents would do that and they will still be there. So nothing changes regarding your ability to have a free photo taken on your personal phone/camera.

 

[janoimagine]

Photography on DCL are run by a 3rd party who sets the prices.

https://www.ourcruisephotos.com/precruise

I can promise you Disney is still taking their cut ... and every shooter has a Disney name tag and uses the same gear the parks use. Regardless of how they skin it.

 

[Jon81uk]

Honestly DCL is the same way ... I was shocked to find out the ten mediocre shots on the ship of my daughter and niece with the princess cost $150 to place them on a thumb drive ... its a flipping rip off ... and now a live person wont even be taking the shot's? Disney can suck it as far as I am concerned. It's becoming a joke.

As far as I have heard the photos on the cruise ships are not run by Disney and don't use the photopass technology.

 

[peter11435]

I can promise you Disney is still taking their cut ... and every shooter has a Disney name tag and uses the same gear the parks use. Regardless of how they skin it.

Actually the photographers on the ship do not wear Disney name tags and they do not use the same equipment.

 

[GlacierGlacier]

Tesla is one of the only companies truly in the future, Disney would be lucky if 1/3rd of it's automation worked as well as a Tesla.

Funny how you complain so much about how Disney treats its employees and then praise Tesla while Tesla is well known for burning through engineers and employees.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Disney is too cheap and too unworthy, frankly, to even hope that Tesla would agree to partner with them.
Tesla is one of the only companies truly in the future, Disney would be lucky if 1/3rd of it's automation worked as well as a Tesla.

Until Tesla proves that it can be consistently profitable without subsidies I have a hard time being crazy impressed.

 

[janoimagine]

Actually the photographers on the ship do not wear Disney name tags and they do not use the same equipment.

Actually the ones on our October cruise did.

 

[peter11435]

Actually the ones on our October cruise did.

You should check your pictures. They wear similar shapes name tags. But they are not the same. If they did suddenly switch to Disney name tags that’s a change since my summer cruise and a change from there last 20 years. I doubt they did.

 

[janoimagine]

You should check your pictures. They wear similar name tags. But they are not the same.

I have and actually spoke to the manager of the photo crew who is a Disney employee on the dream our last sailing because of an issue we had ... both use the same Nikon setups, both still shoot in lousy jpeg mode -vs- raw ... but whatever man ... my point is Disney is making its money off the cruise pics too, hence the insane markup.

 

[peter11435]

I have and actually spoke to the manager of the photo crew who is a Disney employee on the dream our last sailing because of an issue we had ... both use the same Nikon setups, both still shoot in lousy jpeg mode -vs- raw ... but whatever man ... my point is Disney is making its money off the cruise pics too, hence the insane markup.

They both use Nikon yes. But the equipment differs from there. The photo crews direct manager is not a Disney employee but they report to a manager who is and is likely who you spoke with.

Obviously Disney is making money off of the service, there’s no question there. Obviously the prices are set so that both groups get their profit. The prices for on board photography are in line with the prices charged on other cruise lines using the same vendor as DCL.

 

[asianway]

But you still haven't Properly answered my question ? Without Asking anyone else how do you get the photo's of your whole family ?

Photo pass isn’t everywhere anyway, it’s pretty simple you just need to target someone who isn’t in a hurry.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

All the charm of surveillance camera shots.

sounds like a red light camera system

 

[drizgirl]

Now that I think about it, the outtakes alone might make this a worthwhile system.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

At DLP now. I'm guessing this is how it's gonna work.

Backdrop

Camera

Screen

The red light beeps then there's a flash. Takes 3 pics then you choose and pay. Idk what happens after if it gives you a ticket to take somewhere or what bc we didn't buy a photo.

 

[DisAl]

Extremely poor substitute for a live photographer. I sure am glad we had not yet purchased Memory Maker for out upcoming trip in March. If they have not gone back to live photographers by then we sure won't be doing MM this trip.
I can't help but wonder if the "Pointy Haired Boss" from the Dilbert comic strip has been hired by WDW. Seldom do you see such stupid decisions made otherwise.

 

[JustAFan]

At DLP now. I'm guessing this is how it's gonna work. View attachment 327850
Backdrop
View attachment 327851
Camera
View attachment 327852
Screen
View attachment 327853
The red light beeps then there's a flash. Takes 3 pics then you choose and pay. Idk what happens after if it gives you a ticket to take somewhere or what bc we didn't buy a photo.

Thanks for posting. I have many questions. One is how does this adjust for different heights of guests. Also, Auto-focus is a feature on many cameras, but it's not perfect. I know Disney is great at innovating, but I'm still not sure this is better than a human. Plus, CMs are part of what make Disney so special. This takes away from some of that 'magic'.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Thanks for posting. I have many questions. One is how does this adjust for different heights of guests. Also, Auto-focus is a feature on many cameras, but it's not perfect. I know Disney is great at innovating, but I'm still not sure this is better than a human. Plus, CMs are part of what make Disney so special. This takes away from some of that 'magic'.

I think it gets a photo of the whole backdrop. I don't remember exactly.