Reviews of Theme Park Photo Pass
Reviewed by vkreed56 Review Date: 05/05/2015
Rating: (6) Recommended
This is our second year using Memory Maker, and all in all, it's a great service. We thoroughly enjoy not having to worry about getting great shots ourselves. But this year, we had a few complaints:
- We had trouble finding photographers; they just didn't seem to be around very much, and certainly not at many of the common places we've seen in past years. Last year, there were at least 2 or 3 right there when you entered the Magic Kingdom and they seemed to be there all day long; we got lots of shots on different days. This year, we only saw 1 one time, and none at all after dark.
- Many of the photographers were not overly friendly; very few of them really went out of their way to create a fun experience. They seemed to be just out there doing a job they were getting paid to do, which is very unlike Disney.
- On several different occasions we observed larger families with kids were getting many more shots and poses, including magic shots, than just myself and my husband were getting. I had to point blank ask one time if we too could get a magic shot, and the girl rather grudgingly did one and then asked to scan our bands meaning she was done with us. The family with 2 kids in front of us got four magic shots, and numerous poses. It really angered us because we paid our money too for this service, and several times we got a much shorter session than others did.
- I just finished downloading our pics, and while many of them are really good, I'm also a little disappointed to see that a lot of them are close-ups in a manner that you can't see the background at all - some of them I have no idea where they were taken! But on the upside, they've added some new features such as video clips.
Memory Maker was a great experience last year, but I'm not quite as impressed this year. I recommend it if you've never done itbefore and want some good pics, but I rather doubt we will do it again in the future.
Pros:
generally good picturesCons:
not enough photographersReviewed by Ohiost13 Review Date: 11/20/2013
Rating: (6) Recommended
We ordered photo pass and overall were pleased. We really wanted photo pass "plus" and wanted to order it before our trip, but because it was within 14 days of travel, we couldn't get the discount. This was unfair. We really wanted the extra attraction photos for the rides, Tusker House, 1900 Park Faire, Chef Mickey's, Hoop Dee Doo, etc. those pictures individually are $33.00. It also would've included some of the ride photos. They offer a separate attractions pass, but no one could help us with that. It seemed no one knew where to purchase it or how.
Pros:
Whole family in pictureCons:
Ordering 14 days in advanceReviewed by OurFamily Review Date: 03/26/2013
Rating: (6) Recommended
We have pre advanced purchased the CD the past two years. It saves us money and we do not have to worry about which photos we were going to purchase after our trip. However, I did not think we received our full money this time around vs. last year. Last year the CD also came with a photobook and that was a great deal. Also, the photographers seemed to be the paparazzi with each family. We felt it was so worth it to have all those photos. I noticed this year, the photographers have become standardized. They seem to take one as the child is approaching, one hugging the character, and then one facing the camera. More often than not, the photographers seemed to be just standing there waiting for the child to finish to move on to the next child. I would much rather have a ton of “bad†photos than just 3 -5 of the normal photos with every character. ALSO, pay attention to the photographers scanning your card. Our daughter had some lovely photos with Cinderella (she was dressed up as Cinderella that day) but the photographer was too busy looking at the line and her watch that she didn’t scan the card so we missed some of them on our CD. Fortunately, my husband is a camera fool and was snapping pictures left and right so we did get a few of the ones I thought we had missed. From then on I made sure the photographer scanned the card before we left. I am not sure if we will pre-purchase the CD again next year.
Pros:
pre-purchase, convenience of not always having camera outCons:
seemed standardized, missed some quality photosReviewed by tillch2 Review Date: 04/18/2019
Rating: (7) Recommended
it can be a great way to include everyone including special characters in photos. you have to search photographers out to make sure you get your mone's worth
Pros:
special charactersCons:
they have made changes to website and not as easy to navigateReviewed by Sandy Review Date: 09/30/2018
Rating: (7) Not Recommended
I've never signed up for photopass, but I really don't think it would be worth it. Cast members will take photos on your phone/camera, so you get the same photo ops without the expensive pricetag.
Pros:
picsCons:
priceReviewed by Jason V Review Date: 09/29/2018
Rating: (7) Recommended
Photopass is very convenient. You get really great shots all over the place. There are often Photopass photographers available that most people don't know exists. I think Disney has done a great job having so many options for Photopass photographers that are very under utilized.
All the character spots are lite up so well and camera phones are so good now that you can probably get similar pictures of those with you phone as with the Photopass photographer, but some do have some "magic" shots you cannot get with your phone. The non-character Photopass photographer spots are you would be hard pressed to get as good a photo they do.
You can also get all the ride photos on Photopass. They even have great Photopass photographers at the waterparks.
The website lets you do cool editing of the photos.
Pros:
Great tool, can get unique photos, hassle free, free to have photos stored until you want to buy themCons:
If you are not familiar with what to do, Photopass can often be overlooked and under utilized. Some of what Photopass offers you could do yourself.Reviewed by Lfry516 Review Date: 09/28/2018
Rating: (7) Recommended
We overal love using photopass! However, our last 2 trips we have had several photos that are out of focus,overexposed and quite literally have members of our party’s heads missing. It’s kind of hit and miss with the quality which is disappointing because it’s a paid service.
Pros:
No having to worry about capturing the whole family in one photo or having to ask a stranger to snap a photo for youCons:
Lines can get long and photo quality is spottyReviewed by Brbird Review Date: 09/25/2018
Rating: (7) Recommended
The value of the photopass is dependent on which photographer you get. These are when I suggest it is well worth the money and extra time: multiple people in your party, special occasions (birthday, anniversary, reunion), no pressure for time, lots of days in the parks. DEFINITELY worth it if you are doing a runDisney event!!!
Pros:
all ride photos and videos; if you get a great photographer AND a photographer who isn't super busy, you can get fantastic pictures and a ton of picturesCons:
some photographers make errors in picture quality/background; if it is busy, you may wait for a long time.Reviewed by debg32 Review Date: 05/29/2017
Rating: (7) Recommended
Our family used Photopass for the first time 2 years ago and loved it. I just returned from a 10 day trip May 18-27th with my sister, brother-in-law, 2 college age nephews and 2 of their friends. First, the price doubled from what we paid 2 years ago. This is ridiculous but since we wanted to be able to get group photos as well as all of us when we were not together, it is the best way to relive the trip and see what everyone did. However, we were not able to get as many pictures as we were hoping. We went to Blizzard Beach on the 25th. When the boys joined us we asked if they had their pictures done on the slides, etc. They said there were no photographers anywhere. Also, we went into Animal Kingdom on the 27th when we were leaving because we had fast passes to Pandora. I searched the entire area for a photographer and never saw one. Even at Epcot I didn't see as many as I thought I would since it was the Flower and Garden Festival. I thought they would be located at some of the great topiary's scattered through out the park. If you are going to charge for a service, there should be photographers located in every park, including the water parks, at all times. If not, a disclaimer should be inserted stating that certain times of the year, photographers may be limited and not at all parks.
Pros:
Able to get group photos of entire partyCons:
Cost and lack of photographersReviewed by mawdryn Review Date: 06/28/2015
Rating: (7) Not Recommended
I have used Memory Maker twice now. Last March (2014), my husband and I used it. There were photographers everywhere, and we had over 300 photos for a 6 night, 7 day trip, The quality of the pictures was very good, and we had a lot of magic shots.
We used it again this past June with our 15 year old, twin daughters, for our 5 night, 6 day trip. We had just over 200 pictures. I found there were less photographers in the parks. We had to ask for the magic shots, and the quality of photos wasn't nearly as good.
We asked for an Olaf magic shot in Epcot before we went over the bridge into Canada. The photographer said sure and had us pose. When we looked at the pictures a few days later, Olaf wasn't in the shots...
The photographer in Germany was excellent. I wish I would have gotten his name. Same with the photographer behind Spaceship Earth by the fountain. He was excellent! These were our best pictures by far.
There really should be a few photopass photographers during the character meals. I feel they would be especially useful here.
I don't know that I would purchase MM again. I felt the $159 price tag just wasn't worth it this time.
