PhotoPass CD Increase

[Joshua&CalebDad]

I think its worth it...

2 years ago, my wife and I made our first trip with our oldest son and a cousin of mine (it was a single day trip). We used photopass while in MK and when we got home ordered 6 - 8 pictures and the cost was close to $100.

Last year we went for a week trip and made sure to pre-purchase the CD and book before we got there and spent $150. It was worth every penny. We got great pictures and on top of that we were able to make a book that our sons break out from time to time for a bed time story. sure we could do something similiar on Flicker but this way we have a photgrapher doing most of the work for us and we get some pictures that we can print out whenever.

Our next trip isn't till November but we are planning on pre-purchasing the CD and book again prior to the price increase.

 

[Brian Noble]

the point was..

Well, thanks for sticking up for me, but not quite.

A simpler way of putting it is that if you want the work of a professional photographer---or even a better-than-average amateur---for the scope and scale of what a "typical" family might get out of photo pass for a week-long trip, it's going to cost you a lot more than $180. Granted, it's been a few years since I've actually booked a professional photographer, but it was more expensive then, and I suspect it's probably not less expensive now.

Instead, what photo pass offers is: convenience, halfway decent equipment, and a few cute flourishes, all done by people who are usually but not always competent at framing a shot. The price for that is now $130ish in advance, $180ish after the fact, for whatever you capture over the duration of your trip. Whether that is a ridiculous price or not is up to you to decide. However, it's not out of the ballpark for "typical" vacation photography. Compare it to what most cruise lines offer, the Discovery Cove photo packages, etc., all of which have similarly "qualified" photographers.

Yes, they will take pictures with your camera, and we nearly always ask them to, but the equipment they use is generally better than what we carry around with us unless my wife is lugging the D-SLR. She'll do that one day during our week-long trips, maybe two, but not every day. In the grand scheme of a typical vacation---one week, in a 2BR condo at DVC or offsite, airfare for four, food for the week, admission media, etc.---even at the new prices, the photo pass CD cost isn't a big deal.

We've never regretted the ones we've purchased in the past, and when next we all go down for a week, we'll probably get one again. On the other hand, I've not gotten them in the past for my solo trips or short family getaways.

Finally, we've *really* gotten good mileage out of photo pass at the water parks. I don't know if they are still there, but we've gotten some great action shots of the four of us on slides, etc.

 

[Gt2BtheGoodLife]

this thread has gone beyond ridiculous.

I second, third, and 4th this comment. Shouldn't we be discussing the price increase and the pros and cons and everything about it? Not talking about how Photopass Photographers aren't the best or aren't this or aren't that. No photographer had any say in this price hike.

 

[BLY]

I have just ordered my cd with lots of great photos from our February trip using the pre-purchase. Really looking forward to getting the prints made up when I get the discs.

Then I have ordered a new voucher code for next time. Thanks for the info in this forum, otherwise I would not have known about the increase.

One question, in the summer we plan to go to Disneyland California and then back to WDW, I guess they have PhotoPass in California? and will I be able to put photos from both parks on one disc as both trips will be within a three week period?

 

[WDWFigment]

Personally, I'm not much of a fan of PhotoPass as I approach it from a quality perspective. If you're approaching it from a service-perspective and you treat PhotoPass photographers as professionals (and under the commonly-accepted definition of "professional photographer," they are), for the service and the location, the price still isn't too bad.

That said, I'd never pay it. My advice to others would be to purchase a pocket-sized Canon S95 point & shoot camera, hand that off to PhotoPass, save the cost of the CD, and have roughly the same quality of photos. After 2 trips, you come out ahead monetarily, and you have a camera. Of course, if everyone did this, PhotoPass would cease to exist...

If I had $180 to blow on photos, I'd hire a local pro and have them do a photo session at one of the resorts for an hour or two.

 

[dreamfinder]

I have just ordered my cd with lots of great photos from our February trip using the pre-purchase. Really looking forward to getting the prints made up when I get the discs.

Then I have ordered a new voucher code for next time. Thanks for the info in this forum, otherwise I would not have known about the increase.

One question, in the summer we plan to go to Disneyland California and then back to WDW, I guess they have PhotoPass in California? and will I be able to put photos from both parks on one disc as both trips will be within a three week period?

You can have both parks on a single CD yes. If it is just DL only, the CD was approx. $60. Adding WDW pics to the cd bumps it up to the cost of the WDW cd.

 

[lunchbox1175]

photopass is all about how much you can use it, anytime we see a photopass person, we ask them to snap some pictures, do special poses if available, and every trip, we comeback and have over 250 pics (at least). Not every shot is great, but some are awesome, that is why we get as many as possible. when we come home and get the cd, we download the pics, then add them to our shutterfly account, and have made a great 30-40 page book for every trip that we go on, or a couple of special books of just character pics. If you don't plan on using a bunch of pics, then the amount of the photo pass may not be for you, but if you try to get your money out of it, its very easy to do.

 

[ImaYoyo]

Then, I'm sorry, but you're just not a good photographer. Honestly. Because Photopass CM's aren't "professionals" (despite what people seem to want to believe) and their pictures are often only so-so at best. (And can ruin your memories at worse when they're too dark, blurry, badly framed, etc.)

I'd further submit that no Photopass photographer could ever in a million years hope to do as good a job as someone like our own WDWFigment - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tombricker/ Extraordinary photos and he clearly is "beating" the Photopass photographers. (Probably with his eyes closed.)

Honestly, you can like something -which is great - but leave off the hyperbole.

1 - "Then, I'm sorry, but you're just not a good photographer. Honestly." Wow. That's a sweeping assumption.

2 - "Because Photopass CM's aren't "professionals""

some are. Louis M at Epcot World Showcase used to be the official photographer of the government of the State of Mass., as well as a military photographer for the French military. His photos are consistently some of the best photos I've ever seen. He's a well published photographer too. He retired and now works photopass at Epcot. You need to stop by and see him and get pictures from him.

While some photographers have little-to-no outside experience, there are many that are freelance photographers that are just fantastic and work with Photopass for steady work while doing their own thing.

 

[BLY]

You can have both parks on a single CD yes. If it is just DL only, the CD was approx. $60. Adding WDW pics to the cd bumps it up to the cost of the WDW cd.

Thats good to know, thanks for the information.

 

[Mymeme]

Did the price actually go up today. It's still the same price on the preorder page. I was hoping they did offer another option like has been mentioned.
Thanks,
Susan

 

[Am I there yet]

Went on the site this morning and it is still $149. My husband's going to kill me if it doesn't go up soon---I pre-ordered the CD for Jan 2013's trip!:lol:

 

[Mymeme]

Checked today and the preorder price is now $119.95. Don't know for sure what day it actually changed. Sorry if this has already been posted.
Susan

didn't see any added options??