Would the memory maker be worth it for 2 adults?

[maggiep523]

This my first time going to Disney World and I am going with my boyfriend. Im not sure what to expect and so, I would like thoughts on if the memory maker would be worth it. The trip is 10 days but 2-3 days will be in universal. We are staying at the Wilderness Lodge the whole time though. We plan on going all of the rides and meeting some characters. We planned out our dinner reservations and I don't think any where character dinners. Obviously, I want lots of pictures but would it be easier/more practicle to use my cell phone or should I just buy the memory maker.

 

[MickeyMomV]

That would be a whole lot of selfies without it.

 

[Weather_Lady]

Does your cell phone take good photos? You can ask any cast member of MemoryMaker/PhotoPass photographer, anywhere on Disney property, to take a picture of the two of you with your camera/cell, and they will happily oblige. (My family experimented by purchasing MemoryMaker last time, and we had them take photos with their own cameras, as well as ours. In most cases, the pictures taken with our little Canon point-and-shoot turned out better. Although the ride photos were fun, they were for the most part grainy and poorly lit -- nothing you'd want to print and frame when you get home.)

Unless you would otherwise purchase lots of ride photos individually or you want lots of "magic shots" (pictures where they Photoshop Disney characters into the picture with you), I don't think MemoryMaker is worth the price. You can get all the photos you want with your own camera/cell, including ones taken by Disney staff at your meals and character greetings and iconic park spots, for free. I know some people swear by MemoryMaker, but I spent more time swearing at it, since we could have spent the same money on a really nice dinner somewhere instead, or on the Shutterfly photobooks I made of our vacation -- mostly using photos from our own camera and/or stock photos from online -- after I got home...

 

[sxeensweet]

Me and DH used it this past trip and loved it.

 

[Kate Alan]

If you are going on all or the majority of rides with photos I think it can be worth it. I've used it twice now (once in a group of six adults where we all split the cost, once with my family where I covered the cost myself), and I can see where the price can put some people off, but we've gotten at least 200-300 photos between all the ride pictures, photo-op spots in the parks, and character meet and greets each time, and with very little exception they've all turned out great. The freedom of being able to snag every single ride photo also allowed us to come up with silly poses on rides that we do more than once (so...pretty much all of them, lol). Just be sure to figure out where the cameras are!

If you use your cell phone instead of Memory Maker you can absolutely get photos of you both that way as well - as @Weather_Lady said, any Disney photographer will happily use your own camera or phone to take pictures.

Universal also does a similar thing for ride photos and park photo-ops - I believe it costs $70. My family purchased that this December since it was a special trip and again, after calculating how many rides with pictures we did, plus a couple photo-ops, it was worth it to us.

 

[dreamfinder]

Character dining doesn't really matter as they don't have photographers following the characters around.

Is it worth it for 2 adults? Only if you want it to be. You need to be willing to stop for photographers, be willing to ask for extra poses, and even to have your own poses in mind. But if you only want 1 picture by the castle, one picture with Mickey, and thats it, then not worth it. I think last trip my DW and I ended up with something like 4,500 pictures once edited. So that would be worth it. Solo shots of me with characters while my wife was sleeping in or enjoying the pool, and couple shots of both of us enjoying the parks. Yes, the photographers will gladly use your camera if asked, but most night time pictures will suck, especially with a cell phone camera.

 

[Tom 55]

One of the big advantages of the Memory Makers is the ride photos. So many of the rides take pictures that there is no way you could take. They sell these for $20+ per. So if you want to remember those moments with a picture get the MM. They even had a little video of us on the mine train. All the picture from Story time with Belle. Wife and I have done it the last two trips. As part of the package they set along a disk of beautiful stock photos with all of our photos.

 

[racin23]

Definitely worth it.
Just had it for a trip for two adults (my girlfriend and I ) and we went for 3.5 days and had over 250 photos. I love photography and taking my own pictures but it sucks to lug around a camera or even have to keep asking to have someone take a picture with your phone.
The pictures are all great and its so nice to not have to worry about taking pictures or anything, all you have to do is stop at a photographer and you have a bunch of great photos.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Definitely worth it, but it can take a little effort on your part; be sure to ask the photographers to take a few extra or special shots; some will really work with you to make it special.

You may also see a few surprises pop up! I loved seeing the surprises.