AllEarsĀ® Team Member Erin Blackwell brings us this blog entry on Disney’s PhotoPass.
What can we tell you about Disney’s PhotoPass? Well, like everything else on the site, we try to be as comprehensive as possible, so you have all the information you need for your Disney vacation. Let’s start with the basics for everyone who hasn’t been to the parks in awhile or is about to go for the first time!
What is Disney’s PhotoPass? It used to be Disney’s photographers would take pictures of you in a park and give you a slip of paper to claim the photos at the end of the day. If you forgot or if you couldn’t get the picture(s) then, you were out of luck. But now, that’s all changed… and for the better! With the advantages of digital photography, Disney created the only system of this kind: the photographers still take pictures of your vacation, but now you can claim that any time, including online for 30 days after your trip is over. From there you can view your photos, order prints, and create photo keepsakes. Many guests say since PhotoPass has done away with the old system, they had more photos taken.
The first time you have your picture taken, the photographer will give you a plastic Disney’s PhotoPass card with an ID number on the back. Hang onto that card and use it for the duration of your trip. In fact, you can hang on to it and use it on every trip you take! Each time you see one of the roving photographers and want a photo taken, just go up and hand them your card – they’ll get you situated, snap the pose, scan your card and off you go – and you can do this as often as you like.
By the way, you’re not limited to one card. If you and others in your party each have a card, or you forgot yours in your room so you get another, it doesn’t matter. Your online account will take the ID numbers from all those cards and combine them, so everything’s in one place.
You’ll also get a separate card if you attend a special event such as Halloween parties, and the Walt Disney World water parks give you a small card on a wrist strap like the one on the right. These cards are getting so popular, the Magic Kingdom now offers them at Pixie Hollow, and hopefully, that’ll expand to all the parks.
The most important thing is the ID number on the back of the card. All of your photos are linked to that code, so write it down, take a clear picture of it, or save it somehow. That way, if you lose your card, you still have your pictures! You can even send this ID number to someone at home, so they can look at your pictures online and share in your trip. They can also tell you if a picture didn’t come out well, so you can have it done again.
Each park at Disneyland and Walt Disney World has PhotoPass Centers, and even some of the resorts, so you can look at them while you’re on your vacation. But since they’re online for 30 days, from the date the photo was taken, you just go to http://www.disneyphotopass.com, register for free, and enter the ID number on the back of the card(s). Now you can add characters and borders, look at the Disney Gallery for their pictures, and figure out what kind of products you might like.
So where are the photographers? That’s the biggest question that I hear. Where are they? How do you recognize them? I’m going to give you two ways of finding them. You’ll be able to print these (and even download them to a PDA) so you can have them while you’re at the parks.
First, how do you recognize them? Most Disney PhotoPass photographers wear the same basic costume: dark shorts or pants, white shirt, and, most times, a khaki photographer’s vest. One exception are the photographers on Main Street at the Magic Kingdom; look for blue and white pinstripe shirts, with white pants and oversized beret-type hats. Both costumes are pictured on the left.
Second, the next big question: where are they? And “why doesn’t Disney have maps for them!” Actually, Disney does have maps for the photographer locations. It’s true that they aren’t on the maps you get in the parks; Disney feels the locations can change so much, the paper maps become too easily obsolete.
But! The All Ears.Net PhotoPass page gives you the link for the only Disney PhotoPass maps; they’re online and in PDF format, broken down by the six parks: Disneyland, California Adventure, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Just look for the camera icons on the map to find the photographers. You also get some general tips and where you can find the PhotoPass Center in that park.
I said I’d give you another way to find them, and here it is: each PhotoPass page on the site (one for Disneyland parks, and one for Walt Disney World) lists each location. I also give tips like the official maps and the PhotoPass Centers, but (putting on infomercial voice) wait, there’s more! The pages give additional tips like characters in each section, and what can you get in the “magical photos”, plus the restaurants, special event locations, and resorts. You can read these Disneyland PhotoPass locations and Walt Disney World PhotoPass locations tables, and use the print link to take them with you!
Remember: because of the weather, character times, and photographer availability, photo locations are subject to change without notice. Some locations are meant to be temporary: my husband and I had our picture taken by a photographer taking advantage of the sunset on a lagoon, as an example.
Some readers reported seeing fewer photographers lately; the good news is, Disney is bringing in more, so this problem can be resolved.
Note: one PhotoPass location outside the parks is the NYC World of Disney store, so you can get a touch of Disney while visiting the Big Apple.
“Magical photos”? Yes, Virginia, I did say “magical photos”. They can also be called “special poses” or “magical poses”. The photographers will ask you to pose in what might seem like odd ways: cupping your hands, pointing to the ground, looking surprised…. They do this because characters are added into the photo, like you crossing swords with Captain Hook or Stitch popping out of the ground. The latest magical photo is the Mickey balloons, like you see in All Ears team member Laura’s hands. Disneyland told Laura they’ve only been available for a month. My personal opinion is, they’ve been added to coincide with the balloon theme for “What Will You Celebrate?”, but it could just be, the balloons look great!
One Disney manager told team member Jack Spence that these balloons are available at all PhotoPass locations. We haven’t tested all the places, but we can say that they’re definitely available at these two locations:
Disneyland in front of the train station: as you see with Laura.
-and-
Disney’s Hollywood Studios on Sunset Boulevard, as you can see with Jack on the left.
Ask if you get the balloon pose in other locations, and if you do, please let AllEarsĀ® know! More on that later.
The other newer magical photo that I’ve seen is also at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and it’s Stitch bursting out of a hat in your hands. They offer it on Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards.
Professional Portrait Service: Walt Disney World offers a private portrait session for you and your party at five of their hotels: The Grand Floridian, The Polynesian, The Beach Club, Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the newest location, Wilderness Lodge. (Each of these also has
their own PhotoPass center.) For full information, check the Disney’s PhotoPass page for Walt Disney World under Locations & Tips.
General tips: this section on the pages is about what you’d expect – tips on making Disney’s PhotoPass work for you. The most important tip is what I said above: save that ID number! Others tips include help with dining locations, pictures with children, and not forgetting the great opportunity for beautiful night photos.
Ways to save money: that perked up the ears, didn’t it? And why not? Who wouldn’t like to save money? Disneyland guests save money on the PhotoCD of all your pictures, but did you know there is a way to get that price when you have a trip to both Walt Disney World and Disneyland?
Walt Disney World guests: If you booked your trip through either via Disneyworld.com or through Disney’s Reservation Center, you will get an email from Disney Destinations called “Disney Vacation Must Sees for the (name) Family”. It is sent approximately mid-way between when a reservation is booked and the arrival date (or 45 days prior to the arrival date if the mid-way point is more than 45 days prior to arrival). The email has a link to pre-order the PhotoCD and save! (Note: This is the ONLY way to get the link now and you only get this link if you booked your trip through the 2 ways described above. At this time, you will not get the discount if you booked through a travel agent, if you’re staying off-property, or if you are a DVC member. Also, you must pre-order the PhotoCD to get the savings, you cannot do it during or after your trip, and the link is not transferable.)
Look for other ways to save money in this section. Of course, it lists all the products you can purchase; they’re the same for Disneyland and Walt Disney World. If you’ve been to these sections before, one of the updates is to product prices. Some even went down.
Yes, Virginia, you read that right: some prices went down.
Tips on Posing: here’s a whole new section added to the pages. It deals with what kind of fun and creative poses you can do. Some photographers are great with this and so are some guests. One of AllEars.Net’s photographers, Lisa Berton, for example, got an apple to pose with the Evil Queen from Snow White poisoning her. She also used the crowd behind her at Cinderella’s Castle to do a “I crush your head! Crush! Crush!” pose. (Everyone who knows Lisa is nodding their heads right now and grinning.)
Another that I really love is Mickey cupping his hands with a couple’s hands folded on top of his, displaying their wedding rings like you would in a wedding album. It’s a lovely “intimate” photo that is all Disney.
So check out these new sections to inspire your imagination and have fun!
Contacting PhotoPass: Two things that never change (besides death and taxes): 1) people make mistakes and 2) so do the machines they create. Your photos might not show up in your account, or you have some other reason you need to contact Disney’s PhotoPass. The pages give you five different ways to do this: their contact form, 3 different email addresses, and their phone number.
The only difference between the Contact PhotoPass section for Disneyland vs Walt Disney
World is: the latter also has the phone number for the Portrait Sessions and the NYC World Of Disney store.
Both also have a link to the Disney’s PhotoPass Help FAQ.
What’s coming up: For Disney’s PhotoPass? Quite a lot, I’m sure: locations are fluid, technology improves, more and more special events are created. For the PhotoPass pages on AllEars.Net? My next big update will be Photo Galleries. This way, you will see all the “magical photos” characters, some of the creative poses you can do, Special Events, and PhotoPass pictures in general.
Of course, I need to keep the pages current so they’re useful. One way I do that, in addition to whining badgering politely asking people on the team for help, is reading the feedback, tips and reviews from our readers. Please send in what you learn about Disney’s PhotoPass. You help out me and your fellow guests!
Thank you to Jack Spence who dared to open an email with the subject line “Good Morning, Mr. Phelps” where I begged asked for help, and to Laura Gilbreath for all her help!
Quick question, it the photopass worth it…really. I am a huge picture taker and would love to have some professional pictures of my family but want to be sure it is really worth the pre pay amount of 100.00. Are there a lot of photographers around, more then just on the map?
Also, when I come home can I work on the borders and all for the CD or do I have to do that while on vacation?
Thank you
Deb Koma replies: Robin, I’d like to direct you to our Facebook page — there are a lot of WDW fans there who have used the Photopass and can offer you plenty of advice on its value!
http://facebook.com/AllEarsNet
My family of 25+ reunites every January for a two day fest at Disneyland. We get a group shot at the entrance, then everybody gets a photopass card. As we mix and mingle and divide up into different groups, we have our pictures taken. One member of the group will give their card to the photographer. At the end of the final day, we gather all the cards together and have the pictures put on one CD. Once, someone left their card in the hotel, we called and got the number off the back of the card and added in their pictures. It is a great way to enjoy everybody’s special moments!
Please note!!
PhotoPass has changed:
“Disney’s PhotoPass Service continues to provide pre-arrival savings offers on Disney’s PhotoCD and other select products. We recently made a technical change which limits the availability of the offer to Guests who purchase prior to their vacation.”
Also:
“A link to the offer is contained in an email sent to guests who booked a reservation either via Disneyworld.com or through Disney’s Reservation Center. The email is sent from Disney Destinations and is called “Disney Vacation Must Sees for the (name) Family”. It is sent approximately mid-way between when a reservation is booked and the arrival date (or 45 days prior to the arrival date if the mid-way point is more than 45 days prior to arrival). If Disney Destinations does not have a valid e-mail address for the Guest and/or if the Guest has not granted Disney permission to send promotional emails they will not receive the email.
The offer eligibility rules include that the offer is only available to guests who receive and respond to this email and that the offer be purchased prior to their arrival date at the Resort. Also, the offer is not transferable which means that links to the offer page can not be shared.”
Crissy, I am so sorry that I missed your comment! I hope you tried the link for the CD.
Yes, you CAN use the “prepay” link for the CD AFTER you come home. I did it myself and a friend of mine just did it for their June 2009 trip.
Here’s what will happen.
– You will pay the $99.
– They will email you a code.
– Go to Photopass and put the CD in your shopping cart. Checkout.
– Take the code that Disney emailed you and enter it in the coupon field. It WILL reduce the CD price to $99.
I will definitely check comments frequently so I’m not late in answering anyone again. Crissy, I am sorry I didn’t get back to you in time!
Ok, so we’ve just come back from Disney World and didn’t realise you could pre pay your for your disney photopass CD. Our photos expire on the 20th October.
I have just followed the link and gone to the check out and it has reduced it to $99 but I daren’t pay for something that may not work.
Does this link still work and after prepaying will I get the photos on the cd even although I’ve already visited disney?
Help!!
OK — in the blog is a comment on something I have been trying to figure out if you can do…”prepay” for the CD after your trip is done. In the blog, you say you can. Had I known about the prepay, I would have done that (plus had Disney take a lot more pics!!!) So…how do you do this??? My pics expire Aug. 13 so if I could get info, I would greatly appreciate the $50 I could save! Thanks!
Thank you, everyone, for sending in more tips and comments! I’m updating the PhotoPass page with them now.
April asked: how do they get the photopass pics to the cd?
Your pictures are linked through their card number(s) to your PhotoPass login. When you order a CD, Disney simply copies those files to a CD, the same way you would save to a floppy, CD, or something like that on your own computer at home. Does that help?
Vickie asked: What is the cost of the photo pass?
Getting your pictures taken with PhotoPass is free. If you buy something, the cost depends on what you’re getting. Visit the PhotoPass Products page here for all products and their costs: http://www.disneyphotopass.com/photoproducts.aspx
Tracy mentioned getting pet photos with Santa and how “that’s the only time I’ve ever seen pet photos promoted by Disney. I don’t know if we were supposed to but we did walk around the Marketplace for a while with her and took pictures of her in various other places”
I hope you didn’t miss the photo op with the Lego dogs, Tracy! š The Santa pictures are the only -promotion- that Disney did, but you might have seen that there’s one more PhotoPass place available: the entrance to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Here’s some of my “family” photos! http://allears.net/tp/kennels6.htm
Jenn posted this question: I was wondering if you currently have a Photopass card and re-use it, are all the pictures on the card from the previous trip, so that you would be able to re-order them again?
Yes, they are, Jenn, -IF- those earlier pictures are less than 30 days old. Photopass pictures expire 30 days after they’re taken and removed from your account. You’ll get an email warning you that they’re about to expire in case you want to order something.
Thanks again, everybody! Keep them coming! Remember: there’s already another magical photo: Fairy wings at Pixie Hollow! And 2 new CD products! Plus, Disneyland has added the 365 location! See the All Ears.net PhotoPass pages for more information!
I just found another money saving tip. When I returned from my trip, I claimed and edited my pictures. Then, I used the pre-pay link to order the photopass CD.
As I was pre-paying the CD, I had a photopass card that gave me a 20% discount on any one item. I didn’t have any photos in the card so I wasn’t sure how to use it. I added the photopass ID in the promotion code at checkout and it gave me an additional 20% off the prepaid CD price.
When I received the instructions on how to claim the photopass CD, I put the code I was given (after prepaying) and it worked for the full amount. All I had to pay for was the price of shipping and handling.
By using the prepaid CD link and the promotion I was able to get the CD close to 50% off the original price.
FYI if you have a Disney Chase Visa you get a free “Chase Visa photo op” in EPCOT…Stop at the photo place in the front of EPCOT for the location and times. You can actually go back EVERY DAY OF YOUR TRIP and get one. You get a voucher for every card you have and get to choose your free pics at the photo shop in the front of EPCOT! The characters change frequently and they do autographs for the kids! The line might look long but well worth the wait plus there is lots to do around the line for kids!!
Another great article Erin. We utilized Photopass on our December, 2008 trip by pre-purchasing this service and saved $25. In the fine print it offered a private resort shoot for $25, so we had a half hour photoshoot at the Poly. Well worth the cost in our opinion!
When my husband and I were on our honeymoon in Disney, we decided to do photographs of our Honeymoon Around the World (showcase) in EPCOT. At first it was difficult, b/c we thought there weren’t any photopass photographers there, but then we spotted one in France.
We told him our idea and he was so excited! He said there are usually only 2 photographers on duty in the WS–they are “roaming” photographers. Then, he volunteered to follow us around to all of the countries in his “area” (about 4 in all!) and take as many pics as we wanted! He told us to look for another photographer in the WS, tell them what we were up to, and he/she would follow us to the other countries!
Just another example of Disney going out of their way to make guests’ dreams come true. š
As an official photo freak, I LOVED the photopass!
Definately wait til you come home and use the discount and do all the edits…
As a precaution, make sure when doing the edits you save in the format you want (4×6 or 5×7, etc) cause if you go to print a 4×6 later and its in 5×7 format the borders and stuff are going to come out all screwy!!
I was wondering if you currently have a Photopass card and re-use it, are all the pictures on the card from the previous trip, so that you would be able to re-order them again?
I have one of the very first PhotoPass cards ever issued and the photographers get a kick out of it!!!
Also DL in California is on the same system and I used the same card, the photographers loved it!! I had a DL trip, then went straight from DL to WDW and was able to get pics from both coasts on the same Photopass CD!!
What a wonderful blog to start out my summertime planning! As usual, Erin, you are a topnotch writer and organize the facets of this activity beautifully. Thanks for a perfect pass to Photopass! Love the All EarsĀ® maps, too!
We were able to bring our pet to Downtown Disney Marketplace for pictures with Santa this last Christmas but that’s the only time I’ve ever seen pet photos promoted by Disney. It was great! I don’t know if we were supposed to but we did walk around the Marketplace for a while with her and took pictures of her in various other places (like hanging out with the skeleton pirate outside World of Disney). It was pricesless. Can’t wait to do it again this year!!
Just don’t count on all the pictures turning out. my daughter had some taken with her favorite chacter “mulan” and i didn’t take any myself. The pictures never showed up on my account.
What is the cost of the photo pass?
Last October we happened to find a photographer on the beach at the Beach Club on our way to the pool. He took a professional qualtity beach portrait of my kids that we wound up using for our holiday cards. It was such a bonus to have such a beautiful photo of my kids.
Just a note about the photobooks. My husband proposed to me in Jan. 2008 in front of Cinderella’s Castle. He planned it so that the photopass people were snapping away the whole time. When we got home I made a photobook using our PhotoPass pictures as well as my own personal photos that I uploaded. When I started the book I was not aware that there is a limit to the maximum number of pages you can add. I make photobooks all the time on Snapfish and you can add as many pages as you want. After spending about 7 hours working on my book over the course of several days, I was told I had reached my page limit. I still had four days of my trip left! I had to basically start over- very frustrating! I forget the exact number of pages you get but be sure to look it up before you start!
We went in January and the Photo Pass was awesome! We made sure we took tons of photos because we’d planned to get the CD. We took photos at the entrance of every park at the beginning and end of our day. The only disappointment was on Splash Mountain – the photos that they take when you go down the flume were only for sale there, not available to be uploaded to the photo pass. My guess is that they will change that at some point. Perhaps Tower of Terror is the same….we didn’t ride that.
this may sound like a dumb question a I am not that tech savvy…how do they get the photopass pics to the cd? I was thinking of buying that, but wasnt sure…
Thank you everyone for your comments! I just got back from Walt Disney World and have more information to update the All Ears.Net PhotoPass page, such as another magical photo: Tinkerbell fairy wings added to your back! These are available at Pixie Hollow, but a PhotoPass manager said to ask for them wherever a photographer is at a garden: they’re called Fairy Wings or Wings overlay. I’ll also have our own All Ears.Net location maps with tips and magical characters updated for you to print for your trips.
To answer the questions you’ve asked:
– Test Track is the only ride where you can have the photo put on your PhotoPass. Rumors have circulated for years that Disney would do it for other rides, but no plans have been announced yet.
– You can take pictures with your pets in 2 places at Walt Disney World! The first is at the Animal Kingdom Entrance; since the kennel is inside the entrance, this means pets can go right up to the main gate. Go to this All Ears.Net page to see pictures of me with my pets at Animal Kingdom: http://allears.net/tp/kennels6.htm. Also, starting last December, the Santa Chalet at Downtown Disney now takes your pets! We had wonderful photos of Santa and the dogs taken. So your whole family can be in your PhotoPass pictures at these locations.
– It’s true, I didn’t mention the PhotoBook and uploading your photos for the CD here in the blog. But all the information for these products and all the others are on the All Ears.Net PhotoPass page. The page is so comprehensive, I couldn’t fit it all in the blog, so please check out our Walt Disney World and Disneyland PhotoPass pages for all the information!
We took advantage of the Photo Pass two years ago. What madeit worth it for us was that we split the cost of the CD with the other couple we traveled with. I hope there will be more will be more Photo Pass oportunities added to the rides. If memory serves me right the only ride that participated was Test Track.
For us who do not live in the US and wouldn’t like to pay the high price of shipping the prints to our native countries, there is this great alternative where you can buy the pictures and download them to your computer with excellent quality.
After payment it takes less than 10 minutes to have access to them and it is also very easy to download š
If you are staying in a resort and it is your birthday – make sure you tell them when you check in. We just stayed at Kidani Village for my b-day last week and I received a b-day photopass with a 20% discount in a Disney birthday card delivered to the room.
LOVE THE CD!I Purchase it every year! I have gotten up to three CD’s before with hundreds of pictures on each all for one price!! You should also know that many of the pics from meals (ie: Chef Mickey’s, Cinderella’s Royal Table) can be added to your photopass! You’ll need to take the pictures themselves with you to a photopass location and they will get the number off the pictures and add them to your photopass! You can also add the ones from Test Track at the end of the ride! I wish they’d do this for every ride!
Last year when we were in the Studios and my son-in-law was hot footing it to TOY STORY MIDWAY MANIA for Fastpasses, my daughter and I had a Photo Pass photographer take pictures of my granddaughters with the hat strategically placed so it looked like they were wearing it. When that was done, I saw a Cast Member walking by with High School Musical props — shakers and a basketball. I asked her if we could use the props — the girls were ecstatic and the pictures turned out so great, one was my daughter & son-in-law’s Christmas card. I have also used Photo Pass to upload all of our pictures and do the borders and extra “magic” on them. My son and daughter-in-law went to Chef Mickey’s at a different time than we did but I was able to upload their pictures also to my Photo Pass. I just love it!!
And just when I thought I knew it all about PhotoPass, I still learn something new from AllEars! Thanks for the maps–they’re pretty cool.
Also, I’m glad to hear there’s someplace in the MK where you can get a photopass card on a stretchy bracelet. I was always jealous of those who had them from the water parks. I’m not crazy about Pixie Hollow, but I’ll take a trip to get a cool card—makes it much more convenient for the rest of the trip!
Thanks for the comprehensive information!
I learned so much from this blog – Thank you! I didn’t know that we could have added “magic” to the photos. I went last year and nobody even mentioned it to me. My friend who was in the parks at the same time had lots of added magic to her photos! I will for sure have some added to ours this year when we go again in September!
I bought the CD after I came home from our trip. I was able to put the fun borders on the pictures before I purchaced the CD. The photo is saved 2 ways with and with out the border. I even put 3 different bordres on the same pict. and when I got the CD I was able to determine which way I liked it best and then ordered it where I develope my everyday pictures. PhotoPass is great, you’re guarenteed a great shot!
Do not forget to zoom, add borders, alter, etc ALL of your photos BEFORE you order it or you will not get all the fun stuff!
I have found that the photographers are with most of the characters for the greetings. If there is a line for you to see the character, there is probably a photographer there too. Very convenient for us.
The PhotoPass option is awesome. Besides the Test Track photo, we found that we could have our pictures for Chef Mickey’s and the Spirit of Aloha added to the card too. And when we got home, I added lots of the borders and logos to the pictures online and then had all of the photos put on the disc.
Is there anywhere to have Disney take a Photo Pass Picture w/your pets included while at Walt Disney World?
Love the maps, I printed them and they are ready for our Aug. trip!! I always receive an email a few weeks prior to our trip offering the 20% discount, I’m happy to know that I can use it when I get back. I didn’t notice much mention of the fact that you can also upload your own photos and have them put on the cd. This is a great option. Also not mentioned is the hard bound book you can create yourself. I was able to combine a summer trip and a Holiday trip by uploading older photos and came up with a very unique and beautiful momento of last year at the World. It was well worth the price (you can add comments, tell a story etc.)and it is my DS 5 favorite book. (also included in the 20% discount offer). Thanks for ALL of the great Disney info.
I have bought the Photopass CD and loved it. When we went a couple of years ago and were able to put a ride picture on our pass. It was only for Test Track. Do you know if they are doing that for more rides or was not just a test they were trying?
On our recent trip to Disneyland we had the balloon pose taken at California Adventure in the Grizzly River Run area.
Just a tip to update the DHS photopass characters. Across from Toy Story Mania are the Toy Story characters. We had Photopass pictures with Buzz and Woody there.
Great article Erin
I didn’t know about the maps, thanks!
Thanks for a most interesting and entertaining blog!