PhotoPass Family Portrait Sessions??

[DivaJoAnna]

Hi All - forgive me, I'm a newbie on Intercot, if this question has been asked/answered on this forum before...but I could not find answer so I'm asking away :)

I've heard about the Photopass system. I understand the majority of it but NOT the family portrait session. Is there or is there not a sitting fee? I've read on intercot its $25 or its $50 or its waived if you buy the photo CD at the time of your session. Well, which is it? :confused:

I'm planning on pre-purchasing the Photopass CD online for $99. I just want to budget the remainder of the cost for the family portrait session.

Any info from anyone would be greatly appreciated.

DivaJoAnna

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I just wanted to say :welcome: to Intercot!!

It is a GREAT place, and although I'm not a Family Photopass Expert...someone will be along soon with all of the details for you.

Again, :welcome:

[Beast_fanatic]

The most up-to-date information that I've seen is in this thread (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=147529).

[mom2mickeyfan]

The last I heard from someone here at intercot, the cost for resort portrait session went up to $75. I think that was even if you had pre-purchased the CD.

This is the thread where we discussed the price increase.http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=145240

[mom2mickeyfan]

This is the info I found at another web site.


Professional Portrait Service - You can have professional portraits taken of you and your family while you're at the Walt Disney World Resort. You'll have the beautiful resorts as your backdrop as they take dozens of photos. You need to make a reservation, so for more information or to schedule a portrait session, call 407-934-4004. Note: Starting September 1, 2008: resort portrait sessions and park Photopass photos are separate products. Portrait photos will not show on your PhotoPass ID, unless you have made your resort reservation before September 1st, 2008; if you have made the reservation, you can get your photos combined under the one ID account. Changes to CD products include:

Pre-order or buy the PhotoCD in the parks: receipts will get you a Portraits reservation for $74.95
Portraits session photos only on CD: $149.95
PhotoCD combining Portraits and parks photos (done at resort locations; PhotoPass enhancements not available): $49.95. This is the fee for combining the photos, not for the CD.

[seanyred]

I just got off the phone with Photopass Professional Portrait reservation line and the price is 149.95 which includes the 30 min session and all of the photo's on the CD with the rights to reprint the photos. You can make a reservation up to 30 days in advanced by calling 407-934-4004

[KylesMom]

I just got off the phone with Photopass Professional Portrait reservation line and the price is 149.95 which includes the 30 min session and all of the photo's on the CD with the rights to reprint the photos WOW - that's a lot of cash for a 30-minute session! :( Even if you go with a pre-purchase, a $75 sitting fee is, in my book, exorbidant. When they began the program, I thought it was brilliant (and affordable). Many families last July were taking advantage of this service at WL. I don't expect to see this so much in June with the new rates.

[Disney Doll]

WOW - that's a lot of cash for a 30-minute session! :( Even if you go with a pre-purchase, a $75 sitting fee is, in my book, exorbidant. When they began the program, I thought it was brilliant (and affordable). Many families last July were taking advantage of this service at WL. I don't expect to see this so much in June with the new rates.

I thought it was pretty reasonable and I actually expected it to be more just because it's Disney. Consider that JC Penney charges $100.00 for a photo CD plus sitting fee for a 10-15 minute session and I'm more than happy to pay $150 bucks for a 30 minute private session at WDW. The beach shots we had from GF were so much nicer than the same old studio shots every other family has. I liked that it was something a little unique.

[seanyred]

I also feel like its an okay price. Especially since you get the CD/Rights to reprint as much as you would like. Also if you belong to DVC you get 20% off. My only question is does the photographer pick scenic spots around the resort? We are staying at AKL so hoping for some Savanah type shots. Because if it is just a studio with a backdrop then I'm less interested.

[KylesMom]

No, you definitely are around and about your resort. We saw a constant stream of families around W/L last summer with the PhotoPass photographers.

I guess I've just been taking my own family shots for so long I didn't realize the normal cost of a sitting!

[mom2mickeyfan]

But here is a question, what if none or only 1 or 2 of your pictures turn out; can you get a refund? I understand it to be you are paying for the time even if the photos don't turn out good. At JCPenney if I don't like any of the photos I only have to pay the sitting fee. Nver mind that lots of time you can find specials where you pay no sitting fee.

Now don't get me wrong, I love photopass and will be pre-purchasing our 3rd CD this year and love outside pictures much more than studio pictures, and last year we did the resort photos for $25. But only had 2; maybe 3 pictures that were even worth printing. I was okay with that since it was $25 for our 25 minute session.

If it was set up where you paid a sitting fee, had a chance to view the photos, and decide if you wanted to purchase the CD, then I might be more interested. To just blindly pay $75 or $149 with no guarantees is really hard for our family to do.

[Disney Doll]

My only question is does the photographer pick scenic spots around the resort? We are staying at AKL so hoping for some Savanah type shots. Because if it is just a studio with a backdrop then I'm less interested.

The photographer does pick scenic spots around the resort with your input of course. When we did our session at GF we told the photographer we wanted mostly outdoor shots. We had some done on the porch, some by the fountain, some on a park bench, and some on the beach both in the sand and on a hammock. The beach shots were my favorite, but they were all good.


I understand it to be you are paying for the time even if the photos don't turn out good. At JCPenney if I don't like any of the photos I only have to pay the sitting fee. Nver mind that lots of time you can find specials where you pay no sitting fee.

The photography is all digital so the photographer knows right away whether they got a good shot or not. We did the photo shoot for our one son's first birthday pics and you can imagine how hard it is to get a 12 month old to cooperate. The photographer was very patient and took tons of photos. Honestly I think we had over 80 shots because she just kept taking pictures until she got some good ones. I can't imagine walking away from a 30 minute session without any usable photos. The photographer we had at GF was much, much better than any I have had at JCP.

Here's a link (http://theshultstatefamily.myphotoalbum.com/view_album.php?set_albumName=album09)to the shots we liked best if anyone's interested.