News PhotoPass at some character locations being replaced by automated cameras

SirWillow

SirWillow

Well-Known Member
teenie0140 said:
Is there a current list of which locations have the automated boxes?
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Not a full one, but expect them at indoor character locations.
Tinkerbell at Grand Expo
Princess Hall at Magic Kingdom
Anna and Elsa at Epcot
Adventurer's Outpost, with Mickey, at Animal Kingdom
Star Wars Launch Bay at Studios

and possibly Mickey at Expo. I'm still hearing that this may be a temporary thing with the photographers. They aren't making any efforts to remove the boxes.
 
teenie0140

teenie0140

Member
SirWillow said:
Not a full one, but expect them at indoor character locations.
Tinkerbell at Grand Expo
Princess Hall at Magic Kingdom
Anna and Elsa at Epcot
Adventurer's Outpost, with Mickey, at Animal Kingdom
Star Wars Launch Bay at Studios

and possibly Mickey at Expo. I'm still hearing that this may be a temporary thing with the photographers. They aren't making any efforts to remove the boxes.
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Thank you!!
 
DisAl

DisAl

Well-Known Member
Part of my family is going to WDW on a trip that will include the marathon weekend. They WILL NOT be doing MM, partly due to a shorter trip but mainly because MM is such a poor product without live photographers at the character m&g locations.
I am holding off on cancelling MM for our whole family trip in May to see if they go back to the real thing, but will surely be cancelling if they don't.
Anybody have any updates?
 
SirWillow

SirWillow

Well-Known Member
DisAl said:
Part of my family is going to WDW on a trip that will include the marathon weekend. They WILL NOT be doing MM, partly due to a shorter trip but mainly because MM is such a poor product without live photographers at the character m&g locations.
I am holding off on cancelling MM for our whole family trip in May to see if they go back to the real thing, but will surely be cancelling if they don't.
Anybody have any updates?
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nothing different or changed other than what has been posted recently. It's not likely to change on a week to week basis. May see something different after the holidays, but I wouldn't expect anything before that.
 
DisAl

DisAl

Well-Known Member
SirWillow said:
nothing different or changed other than what has been posted recently. It's not likely to change on a week to week basis. May see something different after the holidays, but I wouldn't expect anything before that.
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If they are going to back away from the automated systems you would think they would be smart enough to do it before the holidays. It will probably cost them quite a bit in lost sales if they don't.
On the other hand few of us have accused WDW management of making smart decisions lately. :rolleyes:
 
DisAl

DisAl

Well-Known Member
It has been a couple of months since there have been any comments on this. Does anyone know if they have continued installing these worthless automated systems? Some of my family is going in a couple of weeks and they have decided NOT to purchase memory maker because of this.
Any updates appreciated......
 
B

BWDVCkidsince96

Active Member
DisAl said:
It has been a couple of months since there have been any comments on this. Does anyone know if they have continued installing these worthless automated systems? Some of my family is going in a couple of weeks and they have decided NOT to purchase memory maker because of this.
Any updates appreciated......
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I was there in November and I didn’t see any of these at any of the character locations I went to or in front of the castle at all. We had photopass photos taken with numerous characters in every park, plus in front of the castle, in front of great movie ride, in front of the tree of life, etc and all were with real people. That being said, some of the people are really not good at taking photos lol
 
JustAFan

JustAFan

Well-Known Member
DisAl said:
It has been a couple of months since there have been any comments on this. Does anyone know if they have continued installing these worthless automated systems? Some of my family is going in a couple of weeks and they have decided NOT to purchase memory maker because of this.
Any updates appreciated......
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I hadn't thought about this in a while. We just went about a month ago and had plenty of pics taken by Photo Pass photogs. I never saw any automated pics except for on rides. We even got a family pic in front of the tree at our resort by a Photo Pass guy. I believe Photo Pass is worth it.
 
B

BWDVCkidsince96

Active Member
DisAl said:
It has been a couple of months since there have been any comments on this. Does anyone know if they have continued installing these worthless automated systems? Some of my family is going in a couple of weeks and they have decided NOT to purchase memory maker because of this.
Any updates appreciated......
Click to expand...

just to add, our character locations included Anna and Elsa in Epcot, Mickey in MK, Pluto in MK, Pluto in HS, Olaf in HS, Mickey and Minnie in HS, baymax and joy in Epcot, Mickey and his posse in Epcot, Mickey and Minnie in animal kingdom.... all human photographers
 
D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
BWDVCkidsince96 said:
I was there in November and I didn’t see any of these at any of the character locations I went to or in front of the castle at all. We had photopass photos taken with numerous characters in every park, plus in front of the castle, in front of great movie ride, in front of the tree of life, etc and all were with real people. That being said, some of the people are really not good at taking photos lol
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The only plans currently under way for the boxes are at the permanent indoor character meets.
 
Gillyanne

Gillyanne

Well-Known Member
When I was there the first week of Dec, I noticed the boxes installed at the Princess M&G at Fairytale Hall (kind of a railing thing I hadn't noticed before, so I took it as those boxes), but photos were still taken by a human. Same with Mickey in the theater at MK. All my photos were taken with humans that I recall (skipped Chewy, Darth, Tinkerbell this time, which last time had the boxes) but locations I went to did appear to have the boxes so YMMV (possibly depending on staffing/when they decide to implement them)

PS: here's the railing at PFH

PFH Railing.jpg
 
CastAStone

CastAStone

5th gate? Just build a new resort Bob.
BWDVCkidsince96 said:
Ok. Yea not there yet in HS, MK at Mickey, AK for Mickey and Minnie, or Epcot for Anna and elsa, Mickey and friends, baymax, or joy (I think we did all the indoor characters in Epcot and HS... wow lol)
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Gillyanne said:
When I was there the first week of Dec, I noticed the boxes installed at the Princess M&G at Fairytale Hall (kind of a railing thing I hadn't noticed before, so I took it as those boxes), but photos were still taken by a human. Same with Mickey in the theater at MK. All my photos were taken with humans that I recall (skipped Chewy, Darth, Tinkerbell this time, which last time had the boxes) but locations I went to did appear to have the boxes so YMMV (possibly depending on staffing/when they decide to implement them)

PS: here's the railing at PFH

View attachment 438491
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That's interesting because MK/Mickey most certainly did have automated boxes in September. It was the lowlight of my trip.

Look at Disney, responding to guest feedback!
 
DisAl

DisAl

Well-Known Member
Gillyanne said:
When I was there the first week of Dec, I noticed the boxes installed at the Princess M&G at Fairytale Hall (kind of a railing thing I hadn't noticed before, so I took it as those boxes), but photos were still taken by a human. Same with Mickey in the theater at MK. All my photos were taken with humans that I recall (skipped Chewy, Darth, Tinkerbell this time, which last time had the boxes) but locations I went to did appear to have the boxes so YMMV (possibly depending on staffing/when they decide to implement them)

PS: here's the railing at PFH

View attachment 438491
Click to expand...
Maybe, just maybe, someone realized what a dumb decision it was to put the automated system in. If anyone in management ever bothered to look at the output from the automated system they would realize it is next to worthless.
There is no way the automated system will ever "capture the moment" the way a live photographer can, and that is what most people are looking for in M&G photos. And the box won't ever get my now 4 year old grandson to "look this way" or get him to smile.
 

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