According to Disney, Disney's PhotoPass Service gives you professional photographs of your Walt Disney World vacation. I'm going to say that it gives you photographs of your Walt Disney World vacation. Notice the missing word?? Yeah, professional. I suppose they can be called professional in that they're paid for their photography, but the skill level is all over the place. However, more often that not, the photos are pretty good, some are even great!! So, that little caveat aside, our family is sold on PhotoPass!! We use it on every trip and will continue to do so as long as it's offered.
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| PhotoPass Card (front) |
That up there is a PhotoPass card. You can get it from any PhotoPass photographer. And guess what. It's FREE!! Yes, you can get one or one hundred of these little things free of charge. Once you receive one of these cards, start getting your pictures taken.
Just for fun, here are a few of the other cards we've received:
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| In our hotel welcome packet |
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| From Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party (didn't see special ones for last year's Halloween party but have in the past) |
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| Received in the mail prior to our trip |
After each PhotoPass stop, give the card to the PhotoPass photographer, he or she will scan it and hand it back to you. Keep it in a safe place because you'll need the code on the back to view your pictures...
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| If you receive one in the mail, it will probably have your name on the back |
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| Back of a card received in the parks (no name) |
Again, if you do happen to lose a card (or maybe your group decides to split up), just grab another PhotoPass card from your next PhotoPass photographer. Your PhotoPass account (we'll talk about that in a sec) will hold more than one card. I think ours has 50+ cards on it at this point.
So, now that you've said "CHEESE" (we are in the house of mouse!!), you can view your pictures online. You have 30 from the date the picture was taken to view it online. So hurry and head to the PhotoPass site and create an account (I take my laptop to WDW so I can check our pics daily). Enter the codes, and bam! There are your smiling faces ready for purchase!! Of course, creating an account and viewing/editing the pictures are free of charge, but that's where the gratis train ends with PhotoPass. However, being the savvy gal I am, I do have a couple money-saving tips for you Disney goers.
Yes, you can buy the Frontier City priced $15 4x6s on the PhotoPass site, as well as a host of other Disney emblazoned mugs, calendars and more, but the best value for our family has been the PhotoPass CD. The CD is loaded with all of your PhotoPass pictures including those you've edited, added borders to and resized (more on that soon). The best part, the copyright to the pictures is included so you can have them printed anywhere. I tend to wait for Shutterfly sales or even freebies!! So, if you like more than 10 of your PhotoPass shots, you've already paid for your CD. Yes, friends, the PhotoPass CD is a hefty $149.95. Guess what...more savings coming your way!!
You can (and we have on every WDW trip) pre-purchase the CD at a discounted price!! If you purchase the CD before your trip, they knock off $50, so you can get your (hopefully) hundreds of pics for $99.95! If it turns out that you aren't a PhotoPass fan and don't feel like you got your $100 worth of pictures, they will refund your money. I can safely say that's never been the case for us.
So, we've already saved who knows how much by purchasing the CD rather than prints, then we even saved another $50, but there's more! Travelling with friends and family? Split the cost of the CD. Like I mentioned earlier, you can put countless PhotoPass codes into one account, so it's super easy for two, three or ten families to add their pictures (make sure no one adds the codes to their own accounts, though, codes can only be entered once!!). Each year, we've spent $20 or less on our PhotoPass pictures! Now, you can't beat that!! Of course, if you anticipate being completely cleaned out after your Disney trip, the PhotoPass photogs will snap a picture with your personal camera, and that'll cost you nothing but a few seconds in front of the camera.
If you do decide to order the CD, you do have a deadline. Remember that 30 day window you had to enter your code on the PhotoPass site? Well, you have another 30 days after you've entered it to purchase the CD (or any other item). After 30 days, your pictures will expire. PhotoPass does offer extensions at a cost.
Ready for some PhotoPass fun??? Check out a few of our favorite edited PhotoPass shots...
Disclaimer: These are just a sampling of the many additions and borders available, although some of these borders and additions may not be available anymore.
Best place to find PhotoPass photogs? Park icons (i.e., Cinderella Castle, Spaceship Earth, the Tree of Life and the Sorcerer's Hat) and main drags (Main Street USA, Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood Boulevard).
And a little Disneyland just for good measure...definitely photogs at the entrance to California Adventure and the Golden Gate Bridge and Sleeping Beauty Castle.
Next best bet? Characters!! Photogs aren't available for all character meet and greets, but most established spots (Epcot Character Spot, Town Square Theatre, Camp Minnie Mickey, etc.) will have PhotoPass available.
Here's a fun little thing you can add to character shots...autographs!
Of course, photogs are also sprinkled throughout the resort near great backgrounds.
PhotoPass is also available at a number of restaurants. Several character meals have a photo spot for pictures just before you're seated.
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| Another DL shot just for fun |
You can find photogs stationed around the resorts, as well. We've seen them in the deluxe resort lobbies of the Polynesian, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge, as well as roaming the grounds of the Yacht and Beach Club. A lot of times they'll be set up with special lighting near the Christmas trees during the holidays.
As of our last trip, only one ride offers PhotoPass capabilities (although several of the "biggies" take ride pictures), and that's Test Track in Epcot.
They also offer seasonal borders if you happen to be vacationing during holidays. We've seen Christmas, Hanukkah, Halloween and Thanksgiving borders.
Notice the creepy hearse driver in the last couple of sections?? He's a magic shot! Those are available all over the parks, so be sure to ask your photog which ones he or she can do. I always mean to get more of these done, but I've only actually remembered a few times. Oops! It's on my list for the next trip. The photog will have you pose, and you'll feel totally silly because there's nothing there, but it will be worth it to get cute shots like these...
Let's wrap this up with a few of my favorite PhotoPass tips...
In the Parks and Resorts
-If you pre-purchase, let the PhotoPass photographer know. We often do, and they'll snap away. We've gotten a dozen shots (or more) with one background/character, and it's nice to be able to pick and choose the best ones.
-Stop at multiple photographers shooting the same thing. Not only will you get different angles, you'll get to take advantage of each photographer's eye.
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| My mom and I near the hub |
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| Closer to Main Street (Sorry, mom, I know your eyes are closed, but I wanted the ghost guy in the back!) |
-Turn around! Of course you'll stop for a picture of Cinderella Castle, but turn around and strike a pose in front of Main Street USA!
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| Ignore the crane |
-Stop at the same place during different times of the day (say, on your way in and on your way out). Things can look totally different first thing in the morning and all lit up at night.
-The characters will do really fun poses if you're into it. Have the boys propose to a princess or let Mickey kiss your little princess's hand. So cute!! Often, the PhotoPass photographers have posing ideas that work well with the characters and make for fun pictures.
On the PhotoPass Site
-The more photos you have, the longer your account takes to load, so don't waste edits on changing pictures to black and white or resizing non-embellished pictures. These are things easily done on your computer once you receive your CD.
-Remember to resize your pictures! All are 4x6s by default, so if you plan to print in other sizes, make sure you change the size during your edits. Not such a big deal on the raw images, but if you add borders and embellishments, they'll be cut off when printing.
-There is no limit on how many pictures you can get on your CD, so feel free to put several borders or edits on one picture. I've had as many as eight CDs, so go crazy!!
Hopefully this little blurb got you thinking about the PhotoPass basics and can help once you decide to do it (and I think you will!!), but feel free to ask any questions in the comments!!
2 Thoughts:
Hey a\Aunt Ceese Haileigh here I want a blog it looks fun
Hi Haileigh Belle! We'll poke around to find a good blog site soon!!
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