Disneyland PhotoPass+

[csb]

We'll be headed to Disneyland soon and I saw the link for the PhotoPass+, which gives you one number to use for all the pictures they take of you in Disneyland and then they send you a CD after the trip.

Has anyone used this before? Was it worth it?

 

[Ble_PE]

Haven't used it before, but I'll be interested in seeing what people say here because we'll be going to Disneyworld next spring.

 

[Supe]

Probably a waste unless you actively hunt out their photographers. We were never approached at any of the Disney parks, as they have WAY fewer characters just walking around for photo ops. A few at the stage events (dance/singalongs, etc.) and a few wait-in-line type photos, where they will let you take your own anyways. I suppose if you do the massively overpriced character lunches/dinners then maybe. The GF found that her DSLR and our camera phones were more than adequate.

 

[Slugger926]

We'll be headed to Disneyland soon and I saw the link for the PhotoPass+, which gives you one number to use for all the pictures they take of you in Disneyland and then they send you a CD after the trip.

Has anyone used this before? Was it worth it?

We have used it. If you are going to buy the CD, it is cheaper to do it before the trip but you gotta take advantage of all of the photographers. We even build a scrapbook with their pictures in the deal. If you aren't going to buy their pictures, you can get a photopass card for free, and have them take pictures with it but also hand the photographer your camera to take pictures as well. We have noticed the pictures are better with the photographers camera than our own. Also, we got a lot more pictures taken when the kids were smaller and we actively hunted characters for autographs.

 

[Slugger926]

Probably a waste unless you actively hunt out their photographers. We were never approached at any of the Disney parks, as they have WAY fewer characters just walking around for photo ops. A few at the stage events (dance/singalongs, etc.) and a few wait-in-line type photos, where they will let you take your own anyways. I suppose if you do the massively overpriced character lunches/dinners then maybe. The GF found that her DSLR and our camera phones were more than adequate.

What is cool is that you can hand their photographer your camera and they will use it, especially for group photos.

 

[csb]

We're going as a group of 10 of us, so I think having the one number that gets put onto one CD makes it a good buy. They also include all the in-ride pictures. It's our son's, who's 8, first time and I'd like to capture as many memories as possible. I also (being a girl here) really like the "magic" picture holding Tinkerbell.

I guess it all seems way too easy that they'll take all those photos and we get them on a CD for $70, versus the crazy per picture cost of individual pictures. I guess I have to figure it's all digital photography, which isn't the same as film and then printing the picture.

 

[MetsFan]

We went to Disney World this year and while we brought our dSLR, it would have been much easier to just have the photo pass. I ended up leaving the camera at the hotel near the end of the trip because it was a pain to carry around.

Like Slugger926 said, their pictures looked better than ours and they also take candid shots when you're with the characters, which is tough to do when you are posing with them. I'm definitely going with that option next time.

 

[csb]

Also, thanks for the input!

 

[Road Guy]

So how does it work do you have to give the people a card to know you are in the pass each time you want a picture? Or does Disney have a cool face recognition software?

We have never used it. But we did take tons of pictures ourselves..

I never really cared for Disney but sacrificed for the kids. We still have 2 days of tickets each person we need to use (all got sick last time we went so we left early) I wonder if you can use those forever tickets at the California Disney world/land? It would be cool to see another Disney park. Probably all the same but after you go one time to the one in Florida , the magic is gone for the adult the second time( unless your a Disney weirdo) and you start noticing all the scum bucket people that are there with you....

 

[Flyer_PE]

We did it last year. We had a card with a bar code on it. The photographer scanned the card and then took the pictures. We put a photo book together from the pictures on line after we got home.

 

[akwooly]

You give the photographer the card each time and they scan it. I am sure it wont be long before the facial recognition software is applied to the photopass.

We went to Disneyland last Feb. and bought the photopass CD. Having two little girls we sought out all the princesses and characters we could find, by the second day we hardly pulled out our own camera. between the photos we took and the photopass we got a lot of cute pictures.

Also like slugger said, the photographers have to use your camera if you ask them to.

 

[Power63]

I have used it four times. I think it is worth it. It allows me to get into the pictures with my family.

I am an enthusiastic amateur and have a nice dSLR. I can usually get better pictures than the photopass photographer, but then I'm not in the photo.

You do have to seek them out to make it worth while. For a large group it works well as you can combine several cards.

The last time I was at DL, they were using Nikon D90 cameras with a SB 600, 700 or 800 flash. The lenses they had on seemed to vary. They take approximately 6 megapixel jpegs with basic compression, resulting in about 2 mb files. This is below the optimum for the D90, but that resolution is fine for up to 8x10 enlargements. I think they limit the filesize to keep their wireless communication optimized.

In any case, well worth it.

 

[Slugger926]

You give the photographer the card each time and they scan it. I am sure it wont be long before the facial recognition software is applied to the photopass.

We went to Disneyland last Feb. and bought the photopass CD. Having two little girls we sought out all the princesses and characters we could find, by the second day we hardly pulled out our own camera. between the photos we took and the photopass we got a lot of cute pictures.

Also like slugger said, the photographers have to use your camera if you ask them to.

One thing we noticed in some of the character areas is that they have the flash tied to their camera so the Disney Photopass pictures come out great, while those pictures with your camera may be on the dark side.

Also, if you wind up with more than one card, or you are in a large group, you can load multiple cards to the account so you get one CD with all of the pictures on it. So don't worry if you leave your card at the hotel one day, you can still combine all of the pictures at the end of the trip when you get home.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

Woked great for me!

Photos from my visit (I opted for b&w)

 

[csb]

So how does it work do you have to give the people a card to know you are in the pass each time you want a picture? Or does Disney have a cool face recognition software?

We have never used it. But we did take tons of pictures ourselves..

I never really cared for Disney but sacrificed for the kids. We still have 2 days of tickets each person we need to use (all got sick last time we went so we left early) I wonder if you can use those forever tickets at the California Disney world/land? It would be cool to see another Disney park. Probably all the same but after you go one time to the one in Florida , the magic is gone for the adult the second time( unless your a Disney weirdo) and you start noticing all the scum bucket people that are there with you....

This will be my third trip to Disneyland, first trip with the kid. I really enjoy Disneyland. I've never been to Disney World, because it's in Florida.