Photopass Yes, No, Maybe?

[mom2five]

We will be visiting WDW from 11/16 - 11/23. I have an offer to buy the photo CD for $99. I understand the photopass service is free so what exactly am I getting "more" with a photo CD? Also can anyone tell me if you can use your photopass for pics taken on rides?:mickey:

[CanadianWDWFan]

Our's is being delivered today!

The photo service is for free but the pictures aren't. What you get for your money is all the pictures taken by the PhotoPass Photogs and a release from Disney's copyright to the pictures. If you don't get the pre-purchase it is $129.99 after the fact. If you don't get the CD and get Disney to print the pictures, then it will cost about $15/ picture depending on what you want.

Once you get home, you will be able to view the pictures on line and then add borders to them if you want. All the pictures will then be burned onto a CD and mailed to you at no charge. When you get the CD, you can then print the pictures out anywhere you want to.

As for rides, the only one that I saw or had put on the Photo Pass is at Test Track.

[kakn7294]

Using the Photopass photographers is a free service but if you want to keep any of those pictures that they take, you have to either order the pictures or purchase the CD which includes a release to have them printed where ever you choose. Your pictures will be available for viewing for about a month after you load your card(s) and cannot be printed directly from the website. We have never bought the CD. It's just not worth it for us. We do use the Photopass photographers for about 50 or so pictures a trip but so many are duplicates and we generally only purchase 2 or 3 so it costs much less than the CD price. Many other folks have a lot more pictures taken and the CD might be worth it for them. Think about how many pictures you might have the Photopass people take for you and how many of those pictures you might buy and decide if the CD price will be worth it. Currently, a 5 X 7 is $12.95, an 8 X 10 is $16.95, and a package that includes a 5 X 7 and 4 wallets is $19.95. They sometimes run monthly specials for about 25% off certain print sizes. As of August, Test Track was the only ride photo that could be added to your Photopass card.

[tennantsrwe]

Hey!
I'm a little confused on how to get info on purchasing the Photopass CD prior to going to the parks? Maybe I'm misunderstanding...it's been known to happen! :blush: Apparently there is a nice savings (around $30) if you buy it early? Any help is appreciated!

[medic9016]

Hey!
I'm a little confused on how to get info on purchasing the Photopass CD prior to going to the parks? Maybe I'm misunderstanding...it's been known to happen! :blush: Apparently there is a nice savings (around $30) if you buy it early? Any help is appreciated!

Here is the website: http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx

[mom2five]

Thanks for your help, I think I will pass on the photo pass CD. I will probably only purchase the pic of us entering the parks at the most would cost $80. The rest I'll capture with my own camera. For those of you who are interested in the advance purchase, the website offering this is http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx :thumbsup:

[GrumpyFan]

In Feb of this year, DW and I took a trip by ourselves and had about 65 pics on the Photopass. However, when we looked at them, there were probably only about 4 that we liked, the rest just weren't that great, and so we decided it wasn't worth the cost.

[Disneyatic]

On the Photopass website they have an awesome option called the Photopass Book.
It is $69.95 for 20 pages and you can put 3 pictures on a page.
We did it and I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was GREAT! The pictures are printed directly on the pages and are very clear.
You can also put a personalized caption on the front of the book for free. It comes bound in a navy blue cover with silver writing on the front. It looks like a nice coffee table book.

[kakn7294]

BTW, I didn't add this to my original post but many Photopass photographers will also use your personal camera to take a picture for you. Just ask!!!

[DisneyDudet]

We bought the CD prior to our trip. We received it today, and I'm so glad we got it! Between the different borders and things, we had 200 pictures! We like making them large and then getting smaller ones and give them as gifts, so this was really worth it. We found that the pictures the photographers took with our cameras were not as good as with their cameras, as they didn't always have a tripod. We are very happy with ours!

[IloveDisney71]

We have never had enough pictures taken by the photopass photographers to make purchasing the photo cd economical. Sometimes the pictures they take aren't that great - it really depends on the photographer. I've used the photopass service and have a few pictures that I purchased from this service. I think it really depends on how many pictures you have taken by the photopass photographers.

[Deansgal85]

We leave in 10 days!!! I pre-ordered the photopass for several reasons....

1. I am never in any pictures..I always take them:blush: (ok, maybe not NEVER!)
2. it's our first trip...we want pics of EVERYTHING!:D
3. my boys won't complain as much if someone else is taking the picture!!:D:D
4. It will be economical to have the CD in my hands to make prints at walmart/walgreens etc. whenever I choose!!

The books sound really neat too....but being the avid scrapbooker that I am...I will make my own!

10 days:mickey:10 days:mickey:10 days:mickey:

[LittleRoosMommy]

We just finished editing our pictures last night on the website and am I glad that I pre-ordered the CD. We ended up with over 400 pictures!!:blush: We, or should I say, I love pictures and always end up buying so many that it is definitely economical for us to get the CD. We decided before the trip to take advantage of the Photopass photographers and make the most of the pics as a family. Usually it's one or the other of us with the girls. This way we were able to get alot of really good family shots! Also, the photographers that we ran into, especially with the characters actually captured many good candid shots of our 1 & 3 yr old girls with them! Many, that we missed with our own camera!
I guess it really comes down to how much you like pictures and how many you think that you'll end up buying at the parks or even after you get home. Don't forget, when you get the CD, you also get the copyright for them as well. For us, it was definitely a great thing! Now when the CD comes I can go to Wal-mart, etc and get the prints for our albums!

[Figgyluv03]

DBf and I decided to get the cd for our next trip. I've been there a million times, and he's never been there, but isn't into the souvenier thing, so this will be our little treat to ourselves. I think it will be a great way to capture the magic, and we both can be in all the photos. We are also talking about doing the photo session at the Grand Floridian. Hopefully they will still be offering that special when we go down there.

[DisneyDudet]

1. I am never in any pictures..


This is one reason we like it. A lot of them look professionally done, so we can use them for gifts.

[A-lad-in Toledo]

I'm going to be gong myself soon and have 3 small children. (4, 2, and 3 months). I am thinking of the photopass as a replacement for taking my camera (since I will be carrying so many other things). I could still take a small point and shoot Elph for some candid shots, but would leave my larger SLR home. Has anyone done this and would they recommend it?

[BMan62]

BTW, I didn't add this to my original post but many Photopass photographers will also use your personal camera to take a picture for you. Just ask!!!

We did this in February at EPCOT (before the wand was removed) and the photo with our camera turned out better that the camera they used!!!:secret:

[KylesMom]

To really have PhotoPass pay off, you need to be willing to take advantage of each photographer you see. In the early days of Photopass, we would just purchase a few pictures off the website. However, the last two years we have made a cognitive effort to get in front of as many PhotoPass photographers we could. There are truly some wonderful shots of all three of us (versus DS with DH, and then DS with me) which I truly cherish - especially some of the night shots that you really can't get without tripod, filters, etcetera. Adding the Disney backgrounds just adds to the magic of the pictures, too. I wish I would have known about the pre-purchase offer last June - it would have saved us a few $$$ on the CD!


I could still take a small point and shoot Elph for some candid shots, but would leave my larger SLR home. Has anyone done this and would they recommend it?
I would not, especially if you are a photography buff, leave the SLR at home and use PhotoPass in lieu of your "good" camera. I think you'd be missing your SLR terribly! Let's put it this way - we end up with an amazing array of PhotoPass pictures, but between DS, DH and I, we still took over 1,600 pictures this past trip. We certainly don't print them all out ($$$ UGH :blush:) but they are also very cool to look at - and run slide shows of. :thumbsup:

[Hair_Razor]

I'm going to be gong myself soon and have 3 small children. (4, 2, and 3 months). I am thinking of the photopass as a replacement for taking my camera (since I will be carrying so many other things). I could still take a small point and shoot Elph for some candid shots, but would leave my larger SLR home. Has anyone done this and would they recommend it?

I think you will be very disappointed doing that. Photo Pass is great but I took tons of pictures that I would have never got from the Pass. There are parades and hidden Mickeys and scenery that you would really miss out on. The park itself is a character in its own right and you will have some great backgrounds all over the place! :twocents: Oh yeah and I'm a lass in C-Bus OH-IO!, but my play on words is not as cool.

[IamaDisneyFan]

Since you can add several photopasses to your cd, we have added our friends photopass numbers to our account and then split the cost of the cd. That way, we are all enjoying a savings and still getting our pictures. But, even if we had to pay the full amount ourselves, we have always found it worth it to have the rights to the photos.