I just did a pre-purchase for a disney photopass CD for our August trip. I like the idea behind it:
1) the first time you have your picture taken, the photographer will give you a card that you will use for your entire trip.
2) each time you have a photographer take your picture, you give them the card.
3) at the end of your trip - when you get home (you have 30 days) you go to the website and pick and chose your photos, add captions, etc to them.
4) download them to the CD
5) you can also upload photos you took to this CD
6) when you receive the CD you can take them anywhere and have photo's printed (they give you a release form for the photos)
7) you can also use these photos (and yours) to create a memory book of your trip.

Why do I like this?
Because I'm always the one taking pictures so there is never a photo of me unless I pay for it. The photos they take are nice - they are well positioned and well shot. What I hate is having to go pick them up at the parks. I hate having to wait in one more line then make a decision on the photos and then pay for them. I love the photos, hate the hassle.

This way, I'll have photos taken all the time (usually I just say no thank you to the photographers) and pick and chose the ones I want at my leasure.

Has anyone else done this? I'd love to hear how it REALLY works. Of course, I've already spent the money...but I still want to hear the pros and cons or the tricks if there are any.

I can't speak for WDW but I did this for our trip to DLR this last trip, which was Christmas. I will say I am glad I got the CD. First I was trying to save money by buying it in the park (with 2 5X7's it was 77.00 with my AP). We took 175ish pictures between my dad and I. I had a passport card and I explained to him he needed to get one as well, that way we can put them all on one CD.

So, when I got home, I looked at the stuff online and then I started adding borders. I added so many borders of a lot of my pictures that by the time I was done, I had 600 pictures. Then I bought that CD, which was 129ish + shipping but I had a LOT of great pictures to pick and choose from.

In my opinion it is well worth it and I would do it again in a heart beat. Probably not buy the CD in the park, but then again, if you have time to go through them and put some of the borders you liked there that you can't find online, it might be worth it. Just depends.

What I didn't do though was upload the ones I took there myself to add to the CD. But as it is I got two cd's full of great pictures.

I haven't done the CD - but I have used photopass. It works really well. The photographers aren't always great - but that's why you get lots of pictures taken!

You CAN get more than one photopass card (if you split up, if you forget your card in your other shorts, etc), just make sure that you and you alone register them under your name on the website. ALL of the photos from ALL of the cards should be there!

They also have small cards at the water parks, I think they are on wrist straps or something like that (since you ARE going in August).

And if you're wearing matching shirts one day - make sure you get at least one photo done before you eat Mickey Bars!

yellowrosedtxn - have you driven to WDW from Texas? I'm outside of Austin and am doing the trip via car for the 1st time in August...any hints?

And if you're wearing matching shirts one day - make sure you get at least one photo done before you eat Mickey Bars!

LOVE IT!!!
what a great idea! and you've seen me eat mickey bars...a little in my mouth, a little on my chest...

I haven't done the drive yet. We were going to go this summer, but we are going to wait for another couple of years to do the WDW trip. I wish I could give you advise. My friend went this last summer and they drove, but she didn't give me any insight. Sorry, Wish I could help.

I live in the San Antonio Area.

I just did the Pre ordered CD in October. My family split it with a friend of mine so it cost us about $50 each. Every time we saw a PP photog we stopped and had our picture done. We did a group shoot, family shot, kids shot, just DH & I shot and a GF & her BF shot every time we stopped. We got tons of great shots all over the place, even in Epcot where I can't honestly say I ever noticed them before and also at the MNSSHP.
Once we were home I combined the three cards we had into one account and did all the border/signature adding. By the time I finished we had over 600 pictures, some are doubles /triples but most are the extra pics you end up with by adding frames and signatures. (you don't lose the original pic when you add things, you end up with the original plus a new one with the additions)
Lets just say for arguments sake that there are 500 pictures that are not doubles/triples we each spent $50 on the CD so that comes down to $0.10 per picture, and we own the picture and can print out any size we want for a lot less then at Disney.
We loved it and I think we will do it again even when we would be there with just us, just to get in some of the pictures! I think it is a pretty good value.

Terri-I did the pre-order and we went to WDW in December. I wanted all of us in some of the pictures. I thought it was great. My kids got a little tired of my saying, "Hey, there's a photographer. Let's get a picture." But they were pretty good sports about it. I didn't get as many pictures as I could have but I am happy with the quality I got except for the night shots. I'm assuming the photographer had her settings wrong since none of the night shots came out well.

well, of course i know you've all read http://www.stitchkingdom.com/photopass which goes into exhausting detail of the system and everything it offers to take full advantage of it.

that said, and i believe the site mentions it (or it should), i personally don't see photopass as an excuse to have a family portrait. if you have your own camera, you should always have the photopass photog (or a CM) use it in addition to theirs and even when there isn't a photographer around, a CM won't refuse taking the photo for you.

well, of course i know you've all read http://www.stitchkingdom.com/photopass which goes into exhausting detail of the system and everything it offers to take full advantage of it.

that said, and i believe the site mentions it (or it should), i personally don't see photopass as an excuse to have a family portrait. if you have your own camera, you should always have the photopass photog (or a CM) use it in addition to theirs and even when there isn't a photographer around, a CM won't refuse taking the photo for you.

brad...didn't you do a lot with DL a few years back? I swear I remember you from 2004-2006 time all over the DL threads...pictures and everything! Back then I was gonearctic and in Alaska. My last trip to DL was May 2005...I've been in disney withdrawals ever since!

In my opinion the pre-order Photo Pass is the way to go. My bro' Mikey and I always buy one before we go (pre-order price is $99.99 versus $124.99 later).

We each get our own photopass card, and get pics in each park whenever we see a photopass dude. We get a family one, then the kids, then the little Mrs. and myself. We also get the Dude to take a family picture with our own camera if it's not too crowded. They are always happy to do this as long as there are not 20 people waiting behind you!

When we get home, we have 30 days from when the first picture was taken to modify or add borders to the pictures by going online to the photopass site. It couldn't be easier. We went last Christmas and had 134 original pictures between the two of us. By the time we finished and were ready to order the CD, we had 794 pictures. They put them on 3 CD's for us - no problem.

Some advise: put every border available on every original you have, meaning you will have the original plus 4-6 more copies (all with different borders) for each picture, even if the border blocks part of the original. Our kids get a big laugh out of this when we put the CD on the TV. "Hey look, Mickey's hand is hitting Dad in the head!" the kids will laugh. We've printed up a ton for family, holiday cards, used them on e-mails, for birthday cakes, etc. We always put them on the TV when the family comes for a party. It always ends up starting conversations! You'll be surprised how often you view them....

Also, if there are two or more photopasses in your group, buy one CD together, combine your cards, then when you do the final order, Disney gives you an option to purchase a second set of CD's for just $19.99, meaning for just under the original price of $124.99, both families get a copy of the vacation pictures......we do this all the time

Hope this helped a little and good luck................Wingnut :fez:

of course you can make your own copies of the photocd for much less.

and yes, i was/am somewhat active in the DL forum as well. may 2005 was actually the last time i was there too but will be going back in april as part of the adventures by disney backstage magic tour. very excited about it (and the other elements of the tour).

I made my girl friend a copy of our 2 cd's. I went to Staples and bout a pack of 10 CD-R discs for $7. Which reminds me I better go get them so I can give them to her at dinner tonight!

oops.. that's may 2006 for my last trip to DL. how the years go.

Can anyone give me some information about how photopass works?

And can you just buy the cd with ALL of your pics on it and print them on your own at home or at a store kiosk?





I'm posting new threads like CRAZY today....less than two months to go....getting down to the wire:confused:

Meisha B, I merged your thread with another recent one on the subject. Should answer most of your questions.

PhotoPass is something we always take advantage of doing even if you decide later not to purchase any pictures. At least then you have the option. It's free to do. All you do is find a Disney photographer your first day at the parks (usually they are pretty visible) and ask for a picture. They will automatically scan and give you a photopass, you dont even really need to ask for one. Then you just take it with you every where you go and give it to the photographer to scan before your meet and greets and at the selected photo op locations. Then when you get home you log on to the website put in the code number on the back of your photopass card and view your pictures. That site is where you can add "bling" to your pictures with borders and such or just order the pictures you want. You also dont have to worry if you forget the card back at your room one day; They will give you another one, you can have multiple cards. You just enter them all under your log in on the website to combine them all. The CD is availabe for purchase on the site for a cost of $124.95 (I believe) and for that they put ALL your photopass pictures on the CD and you then own the right to print the pictures any where with that CD. This is a popular option I guess. We have yet to splurge for it :) If you take advantage of all the photographers at all the parks you can end up with quite a few pictures. This is a site with a great synopsis of Photopass and some samples of neat things that Disney does with computer enhancements for the photos. http://www.stitchkingdom.com/photopass/ Check it out! :D

Sorry Meisha. I was responding to your post as Drince88 was merging your thread

Sorry Meisha. I was responding to your post as Drince88 was merging your thread

Thanks:) I'm a little shocked by price, but I guess if you really do get a ton of pics taken it would be worth it, PLUS I am definitely scrapbooking the trip. And, the things you can do to the pics sound pretty cool, too.

The link isn't working:(

Try it now. (http://www.stitchkingdom.com/photopass/) Or if it sill does not work google ~stitch kingdom.

Has anyone else done this? I'd love to hear how it REALLY works. Of course, I've already spent the money...but I still want to hear the pros and cons or the tricks if there are any.


My fiance and I didn't know about it until we went down (it was still new then) but about 1/2 way through, we figured out what was going on and did it. Its was AWESOME! I am always the picture taker, so it was great. . . plus there is no pressure to buy them at that moment, next time, i'll just buy the cd and do it the whole time! :)

I just went to look into pre-purchasing and realize i have no idea where or how to do it. . .can anyone give me some help with this please?

Here you go. (http://www.disneyphotopass.com/) :)

Almost forgot:
here is a good site (http://stitchkingdom.com/photopass/) with lots of good info.

I just did a pre-purchase for a disney photopass CD for our August trip. I like the idea behind it:
1) the first time you have your picture taken, the photographer will give you a card that you will use for your entire trip.
2) each time you have a photographer take your picture, you give them the card.
3) at the end of your trip - when you get home (you have 30 days) you go to the website and pick and chose your photos, add captions, etc to them.
4) download them to the CD
5) you can also upload photos you took to this CD
6) when you receive the CD you can take them anywhere and have photo's printed (they give you a release form for the photos)
7) you can also use these photos (and yours) to create a memory book of your trip.

Why do I like this?
Because I'm always the one taking pictures so there is never a photo of me unless I pay for it. The photos they take are nice - they are well positioned and well shot. What I hate is having to go pick them up at the parks. I hate having to wait in one more line then make a decision on the photos and then pay for them. I love the photos, hate the hassle.

This way, I'll have photos taken all the time (usually I just say no thank you to the photographers) and pick and chose the ones I want at my leasure.

Has anyone else done this? I'd love to hear how it REALLY works. Of course, I've already spent the money...but I still want to hear the pros and cons or the tricks if there are any.

I am trying to do the preorder, but I can't find it. I went to photopass.com and stitchkingdom.com.....what am I missing?