Is PhotoPass worth it?

[littleBeast]

So I know I am going to have the PP when I go (either from the MP or Mickey Halloween ticket) and I'm wondering if I should actually plan to use it? I know you can see the pictures online for free, but are they expensive to download? Always before I have just asked the CM to use my own camera to take a picture. Is the quality of the PP photos exceptional, to make it worth it?

The only photo I've ever had taken by a CM was the private Disney Visa photo spot, and the photo they printed for me was terrible... was a huge disappointment.

 

[paradesintherain]

You're going to get very mixed responses to this, but I have always loved having it. Sure you get some duds of pictures but I've also had some very great pics. I suggest getting Memory Maker ahead of time to save some money. One digital download costs like $12 the last time I checked so it adds up quickly.

 

[Bob Dolewhip]

We got it last trip and I was very happy to have all these great pictures with the whole family (we had big gathering) in them plus all the ride pictures right there. We also took full advantage of the package. If we passed a photographer we stopped for a pic!
Family: “Didn’t we take a picture in front of the castle already?”
Me: “yes,we did. Now less talking more smiling, people!”

I filled a whole photo book for my mom with our trip pictures and she loved it.

 

[Rowlf the Dog]

I got it for free last year, as I bought the UK-Ultimate-Ticket at my solo-trip. And I got really great photos especially at the M&Gs. They were so much better than these the CMs take with my camera, because the rarely didn't use the zoom..

 

[andrencau]

Yes

 

[Haley R]

We got it last year for our honeymoon and came home with so many great pictures. It was awesome to have them running on a slide show when we got back for everyone to see. This year we opted out of it and I wish we would've gotten it again. It seems expensive, but if you plan on meeting characters and actually stopping for PP photographers I would get it. I used the app and if we were ever close to one we waited in line or just walked up for a picture.

As for your question about downloading them, they are free to download for so long after you bought the MM. We downloaded all of ours during that window of time and now we have all of them to keep on our computers.

For quality, I think the quality of the pictures taken by photographers was much better than the ones we got with our phones this year. The lighting can be weird sometimes when you meet a character (Chewbacca and Kylo Ren) so our phone pictures weren't the best. I didn't want to spend the time to edit them.

 

[DisneyB]

We pre-purchase the Memory Maker each trip and I think it's well worth the money. The photographers have their camera's set specifically for that position and the lighting at the time so unless you manually adjust your camera before handing it over you won't get the same level of pics. Also I love having all of the ride photos. We would never buy the ride photos but having them come along for the ride is a nice bonus. We tend to end up with 250-300 pics through out the week so well worth it for us.

 

[supersnoop]

So I know I am going to have the PP when I go (either from the MP or Mickey Halloween ticket) and I'm wondering if I should actually plan to use it? I know you can see the pictures online for free, but are they expensive to download? Always before I have just asked the CM to use my own camera to take a picture. Is the quality of the PP photos exceptional, to make it worth it?

The only photo I've ever had taken by a CM was the private Disney Visa photo spot, and the photo they printed for me was terrible... was a huge disappointment.

Are you asking about PhotoPass or MemoryMaker? PP is free, so there’s no reason not to have your picture taken. If you want to buy the picture, it’s $15/each. If you want to buy 12 pictures, then MemoryMaker is cheaper.

 

[IrishNYC]

We love it, especially for the ride pictures. The photos you can view online/via the app are watermarked until you activate the Memory Maker.

 

[PSUGuy]

We got it with our APs the last few trips and we like it and use it a lot. There will be 11 of us next month, we're all on our Friends & Family so all will be taking advantage of it. Not sure whether we'd pay extra for it, there's always someone nearby who will shoot you with your own camera.

Bill From PA

 

[littleBeast]

Thanks for all the advice! I hadn't heard of Memory Maker before, so I'll have to look it up.

Edit: Oh, so I looked it up but it looks like Memory Maker is a Disney World thing. I'm going to Disneyland. They say they have something now called "PhotoPass+" though that used to be Memory Maker. But apparently all your downloads are included if you pay for the MaxPass? I didn't realize that. That seems like an incredible deal if they usually charge $12/download.