Memory maker worth the splurge??

[JJIRmom]

Is the memory maker worth the $170? The 2 other trips we have taken we have just handed the photo pass people our cell phones. The cell phone quality isn't always the best, so I have been going back & forth on splurging for the memory maker. The on-ride photos aren't a deal breaker for our family but we are huge on character photos. This year the majority of our character meets with be at dining reservations. Do most character meals have a photo pass person? We will be eating at 'ohana breakfast, Akershus, Crystal Palace, Disney jr @ Hollywood & vine, Chef Mickey, Tusker House & Bon Voyage breakfast. Curious on opinions!!

 

[monorailsilver]

I am curious as well. I want to bring my camera but it's big and I don't want to carry it as it is heavy.

But at the same time there might be places where I want to get pictures of my kids and there is no photopsss photographer around and the camera phone just doesn't zoom in. I was hoping with the iPhone 7+ I got the zoom would be better, i mean it is but it's not a camera. I can easily take character pictures but that is it.

Or do I get a small point and shoot....decisions, decisions, decisions....

 

[mmfox316]

It is alot of money. But my family really likes the pictures. You do have to make an effort to get the pictures taken so it is worth while. Just get one or two of the pictures printed and give as "grandparent gifts" then it maybe it is justified. Most of the pictures come out really nice.

We did the Ohana breakfast. It had a photopass person. I think they all do if it is a character breakfast.

 

[JJIRmom]

See I'm cursed with cameras at Disney. First year we dropped it outside the Tangled bathrooms & it broke. The next year I bought a new one just for the trip & I had it in my clutch. It started POURING like crazy & my camera of course got soaked so it no longer works. And then my IPhone takes not so great pictures but we have dealt with it before...Just trying to justify spending that amount of money lol

 

[Clifton Tesh]

I think it's worth it. You get all your ride photos and attraction photos and you don't have to worry about batteries dying or lugging around a camera. If you have a magic band, your ride photos automatically load for you. You don't even have to stop by the box.

Not to mention every photo opportunity has a photographer near it, people complain about having to wait in line but you got to wait for people to move anyways, so what's the difference.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

It is well worth the money for us. I love that I don't have to carry around a camera (our phones are older so the cameras are not great) and that we can get all of us in the photos at one time. We love the on-ride photos and videos and the magic shots. The few times we've spent money on professional photos in the past, it has cost more than Memory Maker. and although with Memory Maker the images are not the same quality as one might find from a professional studio, the photos from Memory Maker are much more meaningful to us.

Edited: And the sheer quantity of photos you can get is another plus. Last trip, we ended up with over 1,000 photos.

 

[Belle_1989]

We loved memory maker but we also do a lot of meet and greets and jedi training. The pictures that we had taken during M & G were amazing because I got to experience everything first hand with my kids without having to worry about getting the perfect picture.

 

[Pennstate6411]

We have a large group going with us with "3" reservations- we are together but 3 separate rooms and reservation numbers- however from what I understand from our TA- if one person in your party has it- you all have it, so the larger your group the better as its a good value with more people in your party.

 

[catfan98]

We loved Memory Maker and got a lot of really nice photos. I don't think all character dining has a photopass person with the characters. I know that Cape May doesn't.

 

[JJIRmom]

Thanks for all the input sounds like its well worth it! So does anyone know for sure if character dining locations have photopass with ALL the characters? i.e crystal palace has a photo pass person with all the characters or just pooh or Akershus with all the princesses or just a couple of them?

 

[Clifton Tesh]

We have a large group going with us with "3" reservations- we are together but 3 separate rooms and reservation numbers- however from what I understand from our TA- if one person in your party has it- you all have it, so the larger your group the better as its a good value with more people in your party.

Yes and no. All the pictures will go to one persons account. As long as you are all linked on MDE you can view the pictures but i believe only the main account can download and save them.

 

[Belle_1989]

Thanks for all the input sounds like its well worth it! So does anyone know for sure if character dining locations have photopass with ALL the characters? i.e crystal palace has a photo pass person with all the characters or just pooh or Akershus with all the princesses or just a couple of them?

Akershus only does a photo with Belle when you first enter. They do not have photographers walking around though.

 

[JJIRmom]

Akershus only does a photo with Belle when you first enter. They do not have photographers walking around though.

Darn! This is the one my dd is most excited about. Guess if we really wanted photopass with the other princesses we could find them throughout the parks.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

You have to use your own camera/phone at Crystal Palace, too. Photopass photographers are generally not out in the seating area of the character meals. They are stationed with the host/hostess character (like Belle at Akershus, Cinderella at CRT, and the Beast at BOG).

 

[JJIRmom]

You have to use your own camera/phone at Crystal Palace, too. Photopass photographers are generally not out in the seating area of the character meals. They are stationed with the host/hostess character (like Belle at Akershus, Cinderella at CRT, and the Beast at BOG).

Bummer again! Most of our characters meets will be during meals but if the meals don't include photo pass photographers it might not be worth it to us..is there a list somewhere the shows which character meals include photo pass photographer?

 

[loves to dive]

Worth it is subjective, sounds like you like to have lots of pictures so it probably would be worth it for you. We have APs so it is included and we don't use it. Since it's been included I've had one picture taken and downloaded one ride photo. Otherwise, it's just not our thing. But, we have been going to WDW since around 82 and have so many pictures it's not even funny. Even before it was offered with the AP we didn't use it except for one picture and it was cheaper to buy that than to get whatever the previous version was called. Now when my son was a toddler, maybe, I know I have an entire photo album of just Disney pictures up until he was about 12 and started refusing to have his picture taken, I'm only in about 4 of them because I too, refuse to have my picture taken.

 

[wendow]

We love the MM. It takes effort to make sure we stop and wait to get our pic done but we do it every time we see a PP CM. We love the ride photos also. It's a huge splurge but one that we always budget for.

 

[Shanti]

Do most character meals have a photo pass person?

No, not typically during character meals. You have to use your own camera.

The exceptions are when you meet Cinderella before being seated at CRT, meet Belle before being sested at Akershus, or meet the Beast before being seated at BOG.

Ohana breakfast is the only exception to the rule of no Photopass during the actual meal.

Having a Photopass person go around taking photos of families with characters during the meals would make those character meals take even longer than they do already, & would cause traffic flow problems in the character restaurants.

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Bummer again! Most of our characters meets will be during meals but if the meals don't include photo pass photographers it might not be worth it to us..is there a list somewhere the shows which character meals include photo pass photographer?

I don't remember seeing a list, but a google search might bring one up. That is the downside of character meals. I wish they would have a photographer circulating, as well, but I guess it might take too long or be a bit tight in the actual dining areas. We tend to make time for official meet and greets, too, for characters that are important to us so we can add those to our MM.

P.S. I only knew of the three castle meals as having a photographer (again, not in the seating areas), so reading about one at the Ohana breakfast was a surprise to me.

 

[JJIRmom]

I will have to take all this info into consideration, especially the no photographers during meals. We had wanted to cut down on m&g outside of meals since were doing so many character meals but if we do get the memory maker we probably wont be able to. hmmm...decisions...