sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
This is sorta a continuation of info that came up in another thread. To keep it from being lost in a thread that some might not look at, I thought I'd start a new thread so anyone and everyone who has ever considered having family portraits, engagement portraits, senior portraits, etc. done at WDW will have the benefit. Here goes:
Just got off the phone with a nice lady with Disney Fine Art Photography. She said they had a website that I should check out:
www.disneyeventphotography.com
Fantastic website! Remember the private Photopass sessions you used to get at some of the deluxe resorts? Well, that's no longer a Photopass gig. They've split off and, in a way, merged that particular service into some of what used to be done with Disney's Professional Photographic Services. The website is wonderful. All the pricing info is there along with galleries of examples of what you receive. I also love the tips they give. Wonderful stuff.
Here's where I was questioning her further:
No, no part of the fees are refundable even if the portraits come out stinky. This $350 package DOES sound extremely similar to what we did in December '07 when we had an hour long family portrait session with Disney's Professional Photographic Services in the MK for $265 sitting fee which included retouching and the 6x6 proof book. The fact that you can purchase the CD with your pics for $50 more is pretty mind-blowing. That was not an available option for us then. If you liked a picture you had to buy them individually. Our total out of pocket was like $1k but that was our family portraits. That's what I had budgeted before ever deciding to do them at WDW.
The $350 package can be scheduled "practically anywhere on WDW property" is what I was told. When I questioned further with, "Including the parks?", she replied, "Yes but we try to discourage that because it's very difficult to get the best shots when there's so many other people around. The quality doesn't come out as good." That makes sense. However, when my family did our sitting in the Rose Garden in the MK in December '07 we did it during the Christmas parade taping. There were literally thousands of people on Main Street. It was insane. Here's our signature castle shot:
You don't see anyone else in the shot.
Personally, if I was going to do another family portrait session I would do the $350 package early in the morning in World Showcase/Epcot then buy the CD. I might even do a resort session this way. It's a lot less expensive than hiring an outside photographer. Note, I'm not saying that about wedding portraits. Wedding portraits are a 1-shot deal and I honestly believe you really need to feel 150% confident in your photographer choices for that situation.
I asked repeatedly in many different ways if the photographers that are doing the Fine Art Photography are the same that do the regular Photopass pictures in the parks. She never faltered and always answered, "Yes, they're all professional photographers." Then I explained about our previous portrait experience and the seriously declining park Photopass shots we've had in the parks over the years. I reiterated that $350 would be a lot a money to spend for 1 decent shot out of 200 or so. I think she finally got it. She said that in the reorganizing of the private resort sittings that Photopass used to do, they split off with their own group of professional photographers so now they are a specialized group that handles this particular type of private sitting in the resorts and parks. No, unless you're a very large group or a DFTW bride, you cannot request specific photographers. I asked.
I hope maybe that was a little better info to clarify on the transition with these private sittings that used to be held at select deluxe resorts and performed by Photopass. The fact that Photopass used to do them was the reason I never did the (fairly) inexpensive private resort thing before. Now that there's been a transition I was unsure and required additional info making that commitment to a $350 package. I'm nutty like that, I guess. :hammer:
Anywhoo, hope that benefits someone. I'm thinking I might do another family portrait session in September. It's been 4 years. It's time to do family portraits again. :wave:
Just got off the phone with a nice lady with Disney Fine Art Photography. She said they had a website that I should check out:
www.disneyeventphotography.com
Fantastic website! Remember the private Photopass sessions you used to get at some of the deluxe resorts? Well, that's no longer a Photopass gig. They've split off and, in a way, merged that particular service into some of what used to be done with Disney's Professional Photographic Services. The website is wonderful. All the pricing info is there along with galleries of examples of what you receive. I also love the tips they give. Wonderful stuff.
Here's where I was questioning her further:
No, no part of the fees are refundable even if the portraits come out stinky. This $350 package DOES sound extremely similar to what we did in December '07 when we had an hour long family portrait session with Disney's Professional Photographic Services in the MK for $265 sitting fee which included retouching and the 6x6 proof book. The fact that you can purchase the CD with your pics for $50 more is pretty mind-blowing. That was not an available option for us then. If you liked a picture you had to buy them individually. Our total out of pocket was like $1k but that was our family portraits. That's what I had budgeted before ever deciding to do them at WDW.
The $350 package can be scheduled "practically anywhere on WDW property" is what I was told. When I questioned further with, "Including the parks?", she replied, "Yes but we try to discourage that because it's very difficult to get the best shots when there's so many other people around. The quality doesn't come out as good." That makes sense. However, when my family did our sitting in the Rose Garden in the MK in December '07 we did it during the Christmas parade taping. There were literally thousands of people on Main Street. It was insane. Here's our signature castle shot:
You don't see anyone else in the shot.
Personally, if I was going to do another family portrait session I would do the $350 package early in the morning in World Showcase/Epcot then buy the CD. I might even do a resort session this way. It's a lot less expensive than hiring an outside photographer. Note, I'm not saying that about wedding portraits. Wedding portraits are a 1-shot deal and I honestly believe you really need to feel 150% confident in your photographer choices for that situation.
I asked repeatedly in many different ways if the photographers that are doing the Fine Art Photography are the same that do the regular Photopass pictures in the parks. She never faltered and always answered, "Yes, they're all professional photographers." Then I explained about our previous portrait experience and the seriously declining park Photopass shots we've had in the parks over the years. I reiterated that $350 would be a lot a money to spend for 1 decent shot out of 200 or so. I think she finally got it. She said that in the reorganizing of the private resort sittings that Photopass used to do, they split off with their own group of professional photographers so now they are a specialized group that handles this particular type of private sitting in the resorts and parks. No, unless you're a very large group or a DFTW bride, you cannot request specific photographers. I asked.
I hope maybe that was a little better info to clarify on the transition with these private sittings that used to be held at select deluxe resorts and performed by Photopass. The fact that Photopass used to do them was the reason I never did the (fairly) inexpensive private resort thing before. Now that there's been a transition I was unsure and required additional info making that commitment to a $350 package. I'm nutty like that, I guess. :hammer:
Anywhoo, hope that benefits someone. I'm thinking I might do another family portrait session in September. It's been 4 years. It's time to do family portraits again. :wave:
