[Question] Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

[tensixmom]

I know about the "regular" Photopass where you can get all your photos on a card and then choose (and pay for individually) any pictures you want at the end of your trip... but somewhere I have been reading about the Photopass PLUS where you pay for it in advance and then when you get home you can order a CD of ALL of your photos taken by the Disney CM Photographers, plus you have the option while you're in the parks of loading any of the attraction photos onto it. I am considering this only because I am traveling with my boys as well as my sister and her family and my parents... and all of us don't get to go together very often. Thought it might be nice for my sister to be in the pictures as well! But I am interested to know whether anyone here has actually USED it yet and if so, what they thought. Did it work out the way you thought? Was it convenient? Did you get some good pictures?

Thanks to any and all for the feedback!

---------- Post added 08-26-2012 at 02:56 PM ----------

All right I see now that there is a very similar thread that is recent... but I don't know how to get rid of this one! Moderators, Help!

[swampymarsh]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

I think it's great. It has great value if used well.

You get some extras which is nice, but really if you do a character hosted character meal and a few ride photos you are savings money already.

The pictures are ok, the PhotoPass Photographers are not all professionally trained photographers, it's probably the first job where they used a camera, and likely the only camera they own at home is a basic point and shoot or the one on thier phone. Still for every bunch a couple are poor and a couple great. They are setup in thier locations ready with the background for the pictures. They have tripods at night something I don't haul around to get great shots.

I would get it because you have a large group. When you order your CD and recieve it you can share the photos or disc with your sister and parents.

The problem is this. Everyone can get regular photopass cards to use with the photographers and then combine onto the same account. You will only have one PhotoPass Plus Card, which is the one needed at characters meals and for onride photos. So if you split up it gets tricky.

Here is the link to the preorder offer. Disneyland PhotoPass Plus Offer

[tensixmom]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

I think it's great. It has great value if used well.

You get some extras which is nice, but really if you do a character hosted character meal and a few ride photos you are savings money already.

The pictures are ok, the PhotoPass Photographers are not all professionally trained photographers, it's probably the first job where they used a camera, and likely the only camera they own at home is a basic point and shoot or the one on thier phone. Still for every bunch a couple are poor and a couple great. They are setup in thier locations ready with the background for the pictures. They have tripods at night something I don't haul around to get great shots.

I would get it because you have a large group. When you order your CD and recieve it you can share the photos or disc with your sister and parents.

The problem is this. Everyone can get regular photopass cards to use with the photographers and then combine onto the same account. You will only have one PhotoPass Plus Card, which is the one needed at characters meals and for onride photos. So if you split up it gets tricky.

Here is the link to the preorder offer. Disneyland PhotoPass Plus Offer

swampymarsh, as always you have awesome information. I don't think we are planning on splitting up so I think this will work out well, and we are thinking about a character breakfast as well as getting some ride photos so I am thinking this will be a pretty decent deal for all of us. Thank you!

I'd love to hear from anyone else who has used it as well!!!

[disneybanks]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

It's fantastic! Once you get the card, take a picture of it. That way if the card gets lost or you leave it in the hotel one day --wouldn't have any personal experience with that-- you can still load pictures on it.

[tensixmom]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

It's fantastic! Once you get the card, take a picture of it. That way if the card gets lost or you leave it in the hotel one day --wouldn't have any personal experience with that-- you can still load pictures on it.

Excellent idea! Where do I redeem my pre-ordered voucher for the actual PhotoPass card?

[mouseknotts]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

You use the code on the on line site.
You would log in and look at your photopass photos. You can then eddit them and add bourders and other things to the photos. When you have finished you order your CD, and then there is a spot to put the code in.
We have done it with the regular Photo pass and it was great, we were able to add nice touches to the photos. You can also save the unedited photo.
You had 30 days to get them orderd so there is plenty of time.

[swampymarsh]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

It's fantastic! Once you get the card, take a picture of it. That way if the card gets lost or you leave it in the hotel one day --wouldn't have any personal experience with that-- you can still load pictures on it.

This won't work with a photopass plus card you must have the card in hand to have photos added to it and for recieving print outs at the character meals. If you loose it you can take the reciept into a PhotoPass Center in the park and get a replacement card.

Taking a picture of PhotoPass cards can help in another way. When you get home and add the card ID numbers to the account, having a picture as backup in case you lost the card works fine.

Excellent idea! Where do I redeem my pre-ordered voucher for the actual PhotoPass card?

You can get a regular photpass card from any PP Photographer. The PP Plus Card is exchanged for the voucher in the PhotoPass Center in either park. Just to the right before the bridge in DCA and at the Plaza(Hub) end of Main Street on the right.

[tensixmom]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

Swampymarsh...who are you? You're like the deity of all things Disneyland!!!

[swampymarsh]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

Swampymarsh...who are you? You're like the deity of all things Disneyland!!!

I just go a lot. Have tried a lot of hotels. Have gone casually and done well planned out visits. And of course looked into PhotoPass Plus real hard before I tried.

[chiefyouth]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

I just got back from our trip and used the Plus the whole time. Swampy has already covered most of the tips. The one cool thing I will throw in is that since you wear it on a lanyard (that they provide) it is very visible to photographers. I discovered that when they see this, they tend to take more pictures. They figure, you have already paid for the pictures, so may as well fill it up.

Another tip that I learned from another site. If the group does break up and have attraction pictures taken, just make note of the photo number (or ask the CM to make a note for you) and then go back within a couple hours with the Plus card to add them.

[swampymarsh]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

Another tip that I learned from another site. If the group does break up and have attraction pictures taken, just make note of the photo number (or ask the CM to make a note for you) and then go back within a couple hours with the Plus card to add them.

To expand on that tip which is a great one if you split up in the parks. At the rides you can ask for a receipt/claim ticket which will have the photo ID # on it, so when you return the CMs can easily track down your picture out of the hundreds taken that day. Anyone can do this even if using PP Plus or you just want a single printout. You have approximately 48 hours, to come back to the ride to claim your on ride photo and have it added to the physical PP Plus card before the photos are deleted from the onride photo claims computer system.


Another good reason to get this if if you happen to have a little one going to Bibbidi Boppidy Boutique. You won't get print outs like with a normal BBB photo package, but digital copies can be added to your PP Plus Card.

In WDW you can use it at Pirates League, so maybe we will be able to do the same at DL when Pirate League arrives for a short period.

Another tip is if this seems like something you may do in the future, using the link above you save $30 currenly and the voucher I got had no expiration so you could bank these against future price increases. I'm guessing DLR PP will be going up in price because with the Plus feature it's worth a lot more than a basic package. I already bought two more vouchers, one for my October visit and one for WDW this winter.

[swooshbear]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

I just used PhotoPass+ about three weeks ago. My wife and I tried to maximize the pass by doing as many of the photo rides as possible. Over two days, we did Tower of Terror four times, Splash Mountain twice (we don't like getting soaking wet), Space Mountain four times, California Screamin' four times, and Radiator Springs Racers twice. We also did Character Dining at Ariel's Grotto and Plaza Inn.

Since there is a two week window to use the pass, I was back in So Cal on a business trip a week later and went on each ride (except RSR) at least twice over the course of two days.

I created a Photobook from all of the pictures we took and we will be using the voucher to order the CD soon. Overall I'd say it's pretty good value if you get a few of the ride photos and perhaps a Character Dining meal or two.

An added tip, halfway through our trip I somehow lost the Photopass card. Luckily I took a photo of the back of the card so I had the code just in case. We went to the photo store at DCA and they asked us for the receipt from when we claimed the Photopass. My wife couldn't find it so they made an exception for us. At the worst, at least I had a photo of the code so we could claim all of the photos we had up to that point. They gave us a new card with all of the old photos transferred onto the new card.

Also, sometimes the CM's will ask you if you want the receipt or not, which has the code for the ride you were on. It's not necessary but might come in handy for cases like this.

[nursemelis374]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

We used it for our family trip in June and loved it! I think the pictures are fairly high quality and turned out beautifully. We made copies of the disk and had no problem getting prints for cheap at Wal Mart. Well worth it!

[mousedaddy]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

Can anyone tell me if there is tax on this or if its 69.95 out the door

[chiefyouth]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

When I ordered online right after it became available, I did not pay tax on it.

[brem]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

No Tax, no Shipping. $69.95 out the door.

We recieved our within a couple of days of ordering. The box and CD inside was damaged, so I called Photopass and they sent another, which was also broken. Finally got an undamaged CD that contains old pictures or DL and DCA. Actually had the Golden Gate Bridge from DCA 1.0.

[WDWFigment]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

I used and enjoyed PhotoPass+. I wrote a pretty thorough review of it, too: http://www.disneytouristblog.com/photopass-plus-review/

[tensixmom]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

I used and enjoyed PhotoPass+. I wrote a pretty thorough review of it, too: PhotoPass+ Review - Disney Tourist Blog

Read your review... the photos of you and the beautiful young lady with you were awesome, "professional" photography or not! thanks so much for the info!!!!

[WDWFigment]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

Read your review... the photos of you and the beautiful young lady with you were awesome, "professional" photography or not! thanks so much for the info!!!!

Thanks. Not to discount the photographers taking the photos, but in all circumstances, I could have dialed in the appropriate settings ahead of time and handed off my own camera to the photographer taking the photos (as noted in the post, they will take photos of you with your camera) and achieved equally good photos. In fact, many of the photos would have been better.

Now, that's not going to be possible for a lot of people depending upon what equipment they own, but I don't see spending $70 or $170 each vacation as a better option than buying a nicer camera (the new pocket-sized Sony RX100 is AMAZING if you don't want a bulky DSLR) that can be used year-round.

There are compelling reasons to get PhotoPass or PhotoPass+ (namely, ride photos), but I don't think quality is one of them.

[croboy82]

Re: Has anyone used the Photopass PLUS???

I did this last week and loved it. As noted before: These are not profesional photographers so don't expect super pics.

Ask everytime a CM to also use your own cam, they always did with me with no problem. Most of the pics were great, some were not great and I was glad to have a back-up pic on my own cam

I think it's worth it, cause this way I have now many ride pics, which otherwise I never would have bought. Plus you get some extra surprise pics (for example when we took pics with Tinker Bell we had some more professional shots from her and Pixie Hollow).

Plus you also get about 300 other promo pics which you can use for photobooks.

I didn't order the CD but decided to download the pics, they were available within an hour or so.