PhotoPass+ for Disneyland?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

Planning our first Disney trip in May and I have a bunch of questions about this!

1) Is it worth it? It looks like it is $69.99 (and you have to pre-register 14 days beforehand) whereas Regular photopass is free (correct?) How much more do you get for this "plus"? It looks like ride shots are included..but then that is only of select rides, right? My kids are 3 and 4, and DD isn't tall enough to ride a lot of the popular rides (she is 37"). So not sure we'd get our money's worth there. We will be doing the Character dining though (have reservations for Ariel's Grotto one day).

2) HOw does it work exactly? How do you get your pics? I read something about being able to add "effects" to your photos. I need a dumbed down explanation. I browse the DISboards but I am getting a wee bit overwhelmed. I have never been to WDW, and I've been to DL several times but last time I went i was just out of college so it's been ages...I have no idea what's what!

I plan on bringing my DSLR and i think i can take pretty good photos...however i do notice that one HUGE HUGE HUGE thing missing is that there are few pics of us as a family in general. Almost no photos of me with the kids, bc i'm always the one snapping pics, and DH doesn't really work the camera that well. mY parents will be with us and they could take some, but i thought it would be nice to get pics of all of us. So that is sort of my main motivation. I realize i can get some of this with just regular photopass so just wondering if it is worth it or not.

TIA!

[twowhat?]

I think you can skip the photopass+. To be honest - most of the pics that the photogs at DL took when we were there last year were very unimpressive - our favorite pic of the girls with Minnie was worse than the one I took on our point-and-shoot! We figured we would just buy any of the photos that we liked and we ended up not buying ANY!

The best pic I saw of us as a family was at a character dining (Goofy's Kitchen) where the photog actually spent some time getting several pics before we were seated (it wasn't busy so maybe that's why). Anyway - you can always buy just the pics you like so I personally don't think photopass+ is worth it. But I'm sure others may have a different opinion

We're going to try to see Anna and Elsa (cross your fingers, LOLOL - definitely NOT telling the girls about this because on the disboards you can read all about how long the waits are to see them and no guarantee of seeing them both so if we manage it, it will be a super surprise) and I am hoping we get a good picture of all of us with them there if we actually are able to meet them If so we'll just buy it there.

Also, keep in mind that some kids don't want to get anywhere near the characters so that ruins a lot of the photopass photos. We had varying success in getting our DDs close to some of the characters. I think we really only had good luck with Minnie and Mickey and Rapunzel. We had better luck at a character dinner where the characters spend time to try to get shy kids out of their shell - particularly the "talking" characters like the princesses and princes. Our favorite memory was with Aladdin - he was awesome and even though the girls had no idea who he was, he made them pinkie swear to watch his movie, and I overheard him tell the table next to ours that Jasmine wasn't around because she was "shopping for shoes. A girl's gotta have heels!" LOLOL.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanks twowhat? for the detailed reply!!

I guess the issue is that if i end up seeing a few picture i like, the cost of ordering them will be the same as if i had gotten the Photopass+ to begin with. From the website it looks like it's $14.95 per photo download (i think?)..and i think the character dining photo packages are more (i couldn't find prices on those). I am not so much interested in the ride photos (out of the ones listed RSR is the only ones that DS will be riding, i don't think BTMRR has the photo option) but about the group family photos and character dining photos. Also, I have heard some say that the photogs spend more time with you/make more of an effort if you have the Plus card (vs. the regular). I do wonder if that is true or not. i expect the quality of pics is not amazing (DSLR but shot on auto settings) however I don't think i'd mind so much as we have so, so, few photos of us as a family. Though definitely something to think about..so many decisions!

[twowhat?]

Yeah, that is true about the pricing. If it's in your budget and you plan on spending a good chunk of time waiting in line for photos or visiting photopass photogs, then go for it!

[lalasmama]

We haven't done PP+, mainly because the PP photogs can use your own camera anyway... And there are almost always people willing to "trade" taking pictures to get a whole family in a few shots.

Cases in point.... BFF and I went in Jan, and came back with about 40 pictures of us together. DH and I went on our honeymoon in July, and came back with a lot of pictures together too. And not a single one was done through having PP or PP+.... If you were going with bigger kids (to make up the price in ride photos) or multiple character meals, it would make a lot of sense. But otherwise, I'm not sure it's worth the $70. I'd rather hand my camera over, and edit photos myself when I get home. $70 is a lot of dole whips!

[smiles33]

Regular photo pass isn't free--they will take your photo at spots throughout both parks for free but if you want photos, then you have to pay. They will let you preview the photos on the website so in a sense, it's free up front and then you decide if you want to pay to buy them. How many days are you going? If you're going for a short trip (say 3 days), then I don't think it's worthwhile for your family since your kids are so young. We normally go for short trips (2.5 days in the park) and I'm glad we didn't splurge on PP+ on our first trip when our girls were 2 and 5.

On our second trip I did splurge but DD1 was 6 and she went on Splash, Space and RSR multiple times with me and we got over 12 ride photos. We also did 2 character meals so those photos alone were worthwhile (they are normally VERY expensive, like $30-$40 I think). Plus, we got a ton of family photos and a few "magic shots" where they add special effects before you get the photo (e.g., the photographer had DH pose pretending to be holding "balloons" while we all made surprised faces and they added in colorful balloons later, DDs both holding Tinkerbell in their hands, etc.). When the PP photographers saw that we had the lanyard for PP+, they took a LOT more photos. I had one photog who spent 15 minutes posing us at several different locations in DCA on Buena Vista Street (by the trolley that pulled up behind us, by the fountain, on the bench, near a decorative fence). It was awesome and she got some wonderful shots. Another photographer was creative and got some funny shots with DD1 and me posing with a Disney newspaper. Plus, I love all the family shots we got near the Castle, near Walt's statue in DCA, near RSR's billboard, in the middle of the street in Carsland, etc. Sometimes it's hard to ask a stranger to stop and take a photo when it's packed with people.

They also have borders and icons that you can add in later. Personally I don't think the borders and extra graphics you can add on the website after your trip are worth the $60 fee.

For your family, you might think it's worthwhile if get the character meal photos, the magic shots and lots of family shots. Many other DISBoarders mention no longer bringing their fancy DLSRs on subsequent trips as it's one less thing to worry about losing/damaging/lugging around the park.

[BayGirl2]

We have gotten pp+ every time and I think it's worth it. There are photographers all over the park and since you know you'll get all the pics, you can make an effort to get them to take more. They usually go out of their way when they see the card. Our first DL trip we had hundreds of pics. This last trip we had fewer, but mostly bc we've been several times now. For a one time trip of more than a couple days if recommend it. We ended up with a lot of shots with the whole family together, which is rare.

The character meal packages are nice too, we got several prints at each one and gave copies to the grandparents. I wouldn't normally buy ride photos but having them included is a nice bonus. I was happy to get the pick of DS his first time on space mountain and RSR. If your kids are riding the bigger rides those are fun to have. But again not my primary reason.

So I'd recommend it for the family shots and the character package. i think that alone will justify the cost for you.