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View Full Version : What (if any) Digital Camera Services are available at Disneyland?



HannahG
02-18-2004, 11:36 AM
Greetings!

I'm planning a first-time trip to Disneyland for my 30th birthday with my husband (yay!). Trouble is, my husband is a digital camera junkie. He takes it everywhere we go and snaps shots at the highest rez possible (5 megapixels). When he runs out of room on the memory stick, he starts twitching at the prospect of deleting pics (even if they're bad) to make room for more. I don't want to shell out for a bunch of memory sticks for the trip and I don't want to have to be the one to tell him that he has to show some restraint because he'll only be able to take at most (at the lowest resolution I talked him down to) 100 pics. It'd be a nasty sight, trust me ;)

So here's my question, is there at the Disneyland Resort (or fairly close to it), a place where he can bring our digital camera (a sony which uses memory sticks) and have the pics d/l'd off the card and then burned to CD?

I read an article here about WDW having such a service, but I couldn't find reference to the same sort offered at Disneyland.

Any help would be most appreciated! :D

AVP
02-18-2004, 02:16 PM
At the moment, the only thing Disneyland will do with a digital camera is sell you extra (expensive) off-brand memory sticks if you forget yours, and charge your camera for you IF you bring your own charger. (They have a very limited selection of chargers available, taken from unclaimed Lost and Found items.)

There are no download services available. I wish I had better news for you!

AVP

Morrigoon
02-18-2004, 04:10 PM
Yeah, they have a closet with plugs in which they can place your camera and charger to charge up.

If you need memory sticks, etc, I highly recommend you go a couple miles up the 5. At Euclid, there is a Wal-mart. Save ya a bunch of money off the Disney premium for such high-ticket items.

LFuzzy
02-18-2004, 04:56 PM
When I first read this, I thought, what a great idea.
But as I thought about it more, I wondered: what are the drawbacks?
You'd have a different driver for each camera make/model. And keeping them updated.... not impossible, but not a trivial job either. And then you'd have the problem of people claiming that you broke their camera somehow.
But then, you could just remove the media, and use a media reader.
Much better. But you'd still have the problem of broken media claims.
Also, when someone got home, and could not read the CD, they are really mad because their priceless pictures are gone.
Or maybe they just have not had enough requests for this type of service?
Do you have to sign a release or waiver to get your camera charged?
-LF

CarlieB
02-18-2004, 05:00 PM
Lots of camera stores offer this service already, so I am quite surprised DL doesn't yet, as I imagine it would be a well-used service. One thing we found though is that many of the stores that do offer it charge on a per-downloaded photo basis, so it can work out to be pretty pricey.

Ghoulish Delight
02-18-2004, 05:06 PM
It would seem to me that the $50 or so for a 128MB memory stick would be more than worth it. Or better yet, $70 for 256MB. (I'm getting these prices from buy.com, but I'm sure there are many places you can find similar or better deals). That's certainly a lot cheaper than buying a laptop to bring with you so you can download the pics :D

As for why DL doesn't offer the service, liability. Cameras are touchy little things, and most general commercial liability policies specifically exclude cameras. I'm surprised they allow their employees to handle the cameras for recharging. They would have to have an entirely separate property liability policy to cover it. They probably don't feel they'd generate enough revenue to cover that cost. As far as I know, there is no camera servicing, digital or otherwise, available at Disneyland.

CarlieB
02-18-2004, 05:25 PM
I find it kind of sad that a service like this, which would be useful and (I think) well used is not offere because of liability. We don't have such a litigious way of life here though, so it's something I'm not used to, I guess.

AVP
02-18-2004, 05:48 PM
Originally posted by LFuzzy
You'd have a different driver for each camera make/model. And keeping them updated.... not impossible, but not a trivial job either. I have a multi-drive reader which can take 6 different types of media/memory. All you really need is something like that, any file program, and a CD burner. Just copy the files from the media to the CD, and you're done.

AVP

LFuzzy
02-18-2004, 05:53 PM
I have a multi-drive reader which can take 6 different types of media/memory

Well, yes, I thought I covered that point:


But then, you could just remove the media, and use a media reader.
Much better. But you'd still have the problem of broken media claims.


-LF

AVP
02-18-2004, 05:59 PM
Originally posted by LFuzzy
Well, yes, I thought I covered that point: Sorry - got ahead of myself. But I don't see that there is any more inherent risk to copying a media device than there is in developing film. Either way, if it gets messed up, the images are lost. This doesn't seem to stop Disney from offering on-site photo processing service.

AVP

Ghoulish Delight
02-18-2004, 06:05 PM
Originally posted by AVP
Sorry - got ahead of myself. But I don't see that there is any more inherent risk to copying a media device than there is in developing film. Either way, if it gets messed up, the images are lost. This doesn't seem to stop Disney from offering on-site photo processing service.

AVP Yes, but if a camera shop loses or messes up a roll of film, they basically appologize and give you a free roll of fiml or two. It would be a little more costly to be giving out consolation memory sticks.

DisneyFan25863
02-18-2004, 06:09 PM
Maybe they should offer those self service printers where it prints out your digi pics like at Walmart?

AVP
02-18-2004, 06:17 PM
Are some memory cards that easy to damage? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm serious. I've been shooting digital cameras for almost 4 years, working with three different types of media devices, and I've had NO problems. I shoot and process thousands of photos a year. I can't imagine what a CM could do to ruin a memory card, short of smashing it on the ground....

AVP

Ghoulish Delight
02-18-2004, 08:24 PM
No, the memory isn't particularly easy to damage. But with the number of people that come through Disneyland, I wouldn't be surprised to see one or two a week get accidentally placed on a security tag demagnitizer or something. And with some memory sticks costing upwards of $200, the prospect of having to replace even one or two a week is probably enough to make them think twice.


I find it kind of sad that a service like this, which would be useful and (I think) well used is not offere because of liability. We don't have such a litigious way of life here though, so it's something I'm not used to, I guess.Normally I'm pretty quick to be annoyed at California's litigious nature, but I don't see it in this instance. Fact is, if I hand my camera to a store in working condition, I would expect to receive it back in working condition. If it's not, then I'd expect them to do something about it. Seems fair, no? Problem is, cameras break pretty easily and are expensive to repair/replace. So camera shops find themselves spending money to fix or replace them quite often. So to remain profitable, one of two things happens. Either the shop needs to charge through the nose to everyone to cover the cost of repair/replacement, or they need to get insurance. Of course, camera's being a higher than average risk, insurance companies charge a higher premium to cover them, otherwise the insurance companies won't be profitable. In the end, the camera shop still has to increase prices to pay for the insurance, but it should cost them less than if they were to "self insure" and pay for all of the damage themselves. It's not about litigiousness, it's about profitability. "Liability" is not always an evil thing. In a case where someone really does screw up, there needs to be accountability. What's gone wrong in California is that the definition of when someone screws up has gotten a bit too broad.

I'm not sure how the camera exclusion applies to digital cameras. Or digital memory. So as I think about it, I'm not sure if that's a factor here or not. Something to look into.

HannahG
02-18-2004, 08:25 PM
Wow! Look at all the replies! Thanks for the answer, AVP. It does seem a shame that they don't offer the service because it has been done quite successfully by photofinishing places.

I hail from Canada, and our local drugstore chain offers the service. You just bring your media in, they plug it into their reader, d/l the pics, hand you back your card and tell you to come back in x amount of time. Takes a matter of seconds for them to pull the pics. And it seems to me to be safer than traditional photofinishing (no chemicals and they prolly backup your pics before they burn them to cd ;))

As for the price of memory sticks, it's about $100 (Cdn.) for a 128mb including taxes; that'd give ol' hubby an extra 80 pics at the resolution he likes to take. That's a lot, I know, but then there's my husband's idea of a lot (and eighty isn't it ;)

So it'd cost us $100 CDN for 80 extra pics. Convert that to USD and we're looking at about $75 USD. How much could that buy in CDs? According to this site, the cost of CD service at WDL is (give or take) $12 per. Between our current memory stick and the built-in memory of the camera, we'd be offloading 100 pics at a time. $75 divided by $12 would equate to roughly 6 CDS - 600 pics in total. Even if the $12 is on the cheap side (i.e., it costs more in fact), I'm tending to think that even if $75 bought only two of them, that'd stilll be 120 more pictures we'd get for the same amount of money.

I know, memory sticks are for the long run, but for at home use, he doesn't really need more of them as he's close enough to offload pics at home or at work. We hardly ever go on vacation either - this is the first time since our honeymoon!

Anyways, that was longer than I meant it to be. Just wanted to explain why (financially) I'm leaning towards CD service for the trip :)

Back to my original query, don't suppose anybody knows if there's such a service outside of Disneyland, but still fairly close?

I appreciate all the feedback thus far, it's always great to hear others' opinions. Thanks! :D

LFuzzy
02-18-2004, 09:25 PM
Are some memory cards that easy to damage?
Generally speaking no. IC devices are pretty reliable these days.
Mostly high use connectors get sloppy over time, and then you get pin damage. But also remember, these things are shipped by the millions. Even a low percentage rate of failure still means thousands of devices failing over time. You can compare this to the common PC. Most work fine for years, but if you go to a PC repair shop, they seem to be doing a good business.
-LF

nightdesigns
02-19-2004, 01:28 AM
I'd say buy as many memory stick as you can afford. They're cheap. Check out newegg.com (my preferred place) or buy.com is always good too. If you don't want to take that route, you can stop by my house, i can read most formats and Burn to CD or DVD =). Just a short 20 mintue drive from the happiest place.

-ja

justagrrl
02-19-2004, 07:07 AM
While flipping stations on TV, they were selling the perfect solution on one of those home shopping channels. We paused to discuss it because we couldn't figure out why anyone would want one... only to find this thread and have it be the perfect solution.

It was a memory reader that read all sorts of memory cards... had maybe 6 or 8 different sized slots, combined with a CD burner. No computer needed.

You put the stick in, put in a blank CD, and then selected to burn it. Other option were to compare stick with the CD and to delete the photos on the stick. There was no option to view photos or anything like that. It was just a simple little LCD screen.

It was under $200 - like $175 or something.

If you could get something like that, you could burn the photos when you went back to your room.


edit: I checked online and found these.. maybe you'll find one that'll work for you:


Jobo Apacer Disc Steno CP100, Battery Operated - Burns CDs Directly from Memory Cards.
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/ador/icdazp100.html

You can find many more listings by searching google for Jobo Apacer... that seems to be the only brand I can find. The one on QVC or whatever station it was looked different then that one though - so I know there's another one out there somewhere. I found the Jobo by searching google: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=burn+cds+directly+from+memory+sticks

Good luck :)

PsychDoc
02-27-2004, 08:10 PM
Not sure what type of digital camera your hubby uses, but on mine I can e-mail pics to people. Maybe he can e-mail them home. Or, if you're staying at a hotel, most have computer lines in them now....if you have a laptop (your husband sound like a techno kind of guy, so I'll say yes) bring it with and download at the end of the day. Or, just buy a couple of extra memory cards. And I know how he feels. I do hate to delete pics. Escpecially ones of my kids. It just feels wrong.

stitcher
03-02-2004, 11:12 PM
Originally posted by AVP
This doesn't seem to stop Disney from offering on-site photo processing service.

AVP

Um, I hate to break it to you folks but Disneyland discontinued on-site photo proccessing in January:(

I believe it has something to do with Kodak's discontinuation of the manufacturing of standard film cameras.:confused:

stan4d_steph
03-03-2004, 05:40 AM
Originally posted by stitcher
Um, I hate to break it to you folks but Disneyland discontinued on-site photo proccessing in January:(

I believe it has something to do with Kodak's discontinuation of the manufacturing of standard film cameras.:confused: Sorry to hear that they are no longer providing on-site processing. However, Kodak has not discontinued making film or film cameras. It probably has more to do with the volume of use they were getting.

I'm surprised they haven't put one of the Kodak Picture Makers (http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml;jsessionid=SUYZBIP1GULZJQHIO3JHW GQ?pq-path=502&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=22421) in the park. You can use them to make prints of digital media or write to a disc. According to the Kodak website, there is one located at "Sharpshooter/Disneyland" with an address of 1020 West Ball Rd B200 Anaheim, CA 92802-1804 and one located at "Sharpshooter/Goofy's Kitchen." I think these might be used for the character photos by the photo CMs, but I don't know for sure. If those aren't available, the K-mart on Katella and the Target on Harbor are also listed as having this service. They are about 2 miles from DL.

GusMan
03-03-2004, 11:34 AM
I bring my laptop for uploading images every night. While not practical for everyone, it is something to consider.

Our last time at the parks - was there for 7 days and took 1GB worth of pictures then weeded out the bad ones.