PhotoPass CD and/or Photobook for Five Days?

[sste]

I think I found a link/discount where I can pre-pay and get the photopass for $99 and the photobook for an additional $49.

Does the photopass CD make sense for a five day trip? I am excited about getting family pictures - - we have almost none of us all together. But, on the other hand I don't want to spend five days obsessed with getting my pictures money worth!

Also, is the photobook a nice quality or can you do much better doing it yourself elsewhere. A big part of the appeal of the disney photobook to me is that it will force me to get it done . . .

[mousemom]

We went back and forth about whether it was worth pre-ordering the photopass CD with the discount. When we went last time, it was just DH and I and we did get some pictures together because we asked cast members to take them with our camera and a couple of other people offered to take pictures for us. We finally decided to go ahead and pre-order the photopass for our upcoming trip because we'd like to have the option to get their photos if we like them and it is definitely cheaper to do it with the pre-order CD. If you look at the offer conditions, you can get the cost refunded if you decide not to order the photos. So, we decided to give it a try.

[crl]

We did the cd for our five days in the park. It was worth it to me. We had about 90 photos total. I'd say about half of them were good enough that I would have wanted a print if I hadn't bought the cd. And there were a few really, really nice ones. I did not buy the Disney book, just used the images I had from the cd and our pictures and made one on Kodak Gallery, using a groupon I had for that site.

Catherine

[TwinFoxes]

I think it's worth it for that long. It's not too stressful to take photos. You see the person, hand them a card, and they snap away. The one drawback for us, we'd have the girls in their baby containment device (stroller) and getting them out/putting them in was a bit of a hassle. But we got some great pics. I was sick of all of our photos looking like DH was a single dad, because I was behind the camera (he's a horrible photographer, I was also sick of photos of me and the girls at odd angles, out of focus, and with the top of my head cut off...come on DH, it's not new technology! :) )

[sewarsh]

TOTALLY WORTH IT!
We had 300 photos from our 7 day trip.
Priceless family photos that includes our WHOLE family.

Plus you can add really cute Disney borders to them if you choose.
Which I did. They look great in the album and autograph books.

[lhafer]

I prebought the CD as well. We were there for 10 days. My DH had also just bought a REALLY nice camera before the trip. So we had photopass folks take their pics (when we remembered), AND we had them take pics with OUR camera.

End the end, there were a little over 100 pictures on our photopass card. But DH had taken over 1,000 with our camera. And all the ones that were on the card, were also on our camera - like family ones - because the photopass people had taken them.

So, after looking at them all when we got back, I cancelled my photopass order - and it was as simple as that. A 2 minute phone conversation and it was cancelled.

So you can order it, see the pics after your trip and decide if you want to keep them or cancel.

Have a fantastic trip!!

[peanut520]

question: when did you get the photo pass discount? i booked our trip for sept a few weeks ago, and i'm interested in getting the photopass. thanks

[bubbaray]

I think the photopass CDs are totally worth it, if for no other reason than long term storage in the event of a disaster....

[DebbieJ]

I'd buy the CD for sure. We did it for our 5 day trip.

[Tinkerbell313]

What we liked about the photopass....the special magic characters(not sure what else to call them).

We have DD and DS, standing in front of the castle, with their hands cupped and extended out in front of them. When the photographer takes the picture you do not see anything (obviously). But when you view your pictures, you can see Tinkerbell sitting in their hands. It is an adorable picture.

We also have one with DDs hand extended at an angle above her head. In the picture, there is a bunch of Mickey balloons.

Only certain photographers do the special pictures.

For DD on our last trip in January, she got a big kick out of seeing her picture on the Castle in the Magic, Memories, and Me show before Wishes.

[sste]

Peanut, I purchased the discount offer in January . . . but I think there are always links around and they run this very frequently. I would google photopass cd special offer $99.

It WAS totally worth it. We have next to no whole family pics except for our new disney pics! Also, my memory card on my personal camera corrupted and I was eventually able to retrieve the photos with expert help . . . but knowing I had photopass photos made it less of a stressor.

I actually ended up getting the $150 deal for photopass CD and photo album. I bet there are cheaper ways to get a disney album but for me the fact that the photos expire on the site after 30 days was key to my completing the album and so was worth it for that!

[peanut520]

Peanut, I purchased the discount offer in January . . . but I think there are always links around and they run this very frequently. I would google photopass cd special offer $99.

It WAS totally worth it. We have next to no whole family pics except for our new disney pics! Also, my memory card on my personal camera corrupted and I was eventually able to retrieve the photos with expert help . . . but knowing I had photopass photos made it less of a stressor.

I actually ended up getting the $150 deal for photopass CD and photo album. I bet there are cheaper ways to get a disney album but for me the fact that the photos expire on the site after 30 days was key to my completing the album and so was worth it for that!

thanks, i look around for the deal!

[klwa]

We have gotten the photopass CD for both of our trips as a family. I LOVE it. This last trip, in my brilliance, I lost the SD card for my camera that had the first 2 1/2 days worth of pictures from our trip. Thank goodness we had taken advantage of the photopass people for those days! (And I learned to just put my biggest SD card in the camera to start with! And to only change it out at the hotel!)

As for the picture book, I've never ordered theirs. I just get one from Winkflash, so I can't give you a good idea on the quality.

Oh, and for the one looking for the offer: http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitoffer.aspx

[Tinkerbell313]

We do get the photopass deal...just the CD. I usually get the album elsewhere for less $$$ and more pictures.

Regarding memory cards or SD cards...one trick that I learned. Bring one for everyday of your vacation. You can change it it out at night at your hotel. That way, if one is corrupted or you lose one...you only lose one day of your pictures.

Memory cards are so inexpensive these days and usually the cameras come with extras anyways.

[gordo]

We went for 4 days and ended up with 150 pictures on our photopass card. If I remember, I too had the photopass person take a pic with our camera as well. While I was not super impressed with the quality of a lot of pics they took (like if they had just waited a second, three people would not have been standing next to us in the picture) it was so nice to have whole family shots. So one on here mentioned t me that there is a photopass CD share group on Facebook. I did end up joining a share group and only paid $26 for my CD that way which then was totally worth it!