This past week we received information about the Disney World Memory Maker Photo Package. This package includes an unlimited number of digital photos to enhance your Walt Disney World vacation. The Memory Maker package will save you $50 if you purchase it at least 3 days before your your first photos are taken. Read more
For those guests that do not want to worry about being a photographer on their vacation, PhotoPass photographers are available in all four parks. For $169.95 (if purchased ahead of time) you can take home a cd with all of the pictures from your trip. Or you can save the money and hand the photographer your camera instead!
Find out how the FREE services of a Disney World travel agent can make planning your Disney vacation simple…and for a limited time, get a FREE Disney gift card when you book your trip with me! ($2000 minimum package cost)
Karen grew up in the Boston area and traveled to Disney World many times with her parents and sister. Always staying at the Fort Wilderness Cabins gave the trips a feeling of a home away from home. It also started the tradition of attending the Hoop Dee Doo Review on each trip! Somehow that show sparked her interest in the Disney College Program. Which she did in the fall of 2002, working as a hostess @ Captain Jacks in Downtown Disney. Now as an adult, Karen finds herself traveling to the parks on a yearly basis! Photography has always been a hobby of Karen’s, but over the past few years it has become her passion. It’s even taken her to her favorite place! The Make a Wish Foundation sent a family to Disney for a week and Karen was lucky enough to be their photographer of choice! She got to tag along and photograph their memories being made. She hopes to get that experience again someday! You can find more of Karen’s photography on her site www.KPportraits.com.
Editor’s Note: I am pleased to introduce you to Tina who is joining us on The Affordable Mouse! Tina will be sharing the Thrifty Thursday column with Melissa Sue and is looking forward to sharing her tips for saving time and money at Disney World. We are thrilled to welcome Tina to our family! 🙂
One of my favorite souvenirs from our trips to Disney is my photos! There is nothing like having a great collection of pictures that remind us of how fun and special our trip was.
I always grab a Photo Pass from one of the many professional photographers stationed at the front of every park, and usually at key spots. Here is a list of places you can find them. You just need one pass for the whole trip (if you have a big party than you may want to get two.) To be honest, I don’t think that Disney’s professional pictures are a superb deal…it’s a whopping $149.95 for your professional memories on CD. You can order this online when you get home. One good thing about these pricey photos is that photographers can do really cool things with them like put Tinker Bell in your little ones’ hands or Mickey balloons behind your family, fun stuff! Only buy the CD if you think it’s worth it, some people say you can’t put a price on good memories! You can save money by pre-ordering your Disney Photo Pass CD before your trip; it’s a better deal for $99.95. Read more
I am sure you have noticed that the PhotoPass photographers are set up in all the very best locations throughout the parks. Whether it is right in front of Cinderella’s Castle, at the entrance to Epcot next to the monorail, in front of the Sorcerer’s hat or Expedition Everest, or countless other great locations in the parks they are positioned in all of the prime locations. If you did not receive a PhotoPass card in your travel package, they will gladly give you one free of charge to carry with you in order to take advantage of all the best photo opps with your family.
I love having all of our memories captured on film. I have photo albums full of Disney memories and I treasure each one of the pictures with my family. Professional photographs can be expensive, though, and that is why I think the very best thing about the PhotoPass photographers is that they are happy to take a picture using your personal camera as well. All you have to do is hand them your PhotoPass card as well as your personal camera and they will take all the pictures for you. This is especially welcome to the person in your family who is usually responsible for taking photographs and never actually appears to be on the trip.
Personally, I appreciate the fact that Disney offers this service to their guests, rather than making families feel that they must purchase photos they really cannot afford. It is just another free little extra they have decided to throw in to make everyone’s trip more memorable.
I usually do purchase some of the PhotoPass pictures, especially for special photo gifts, but I like knowing I don’t have to. Take advantage of this free service the next time you are in the parks and keep smiling!
Brenda is a native Texan born and raised on the Gulf Coast. She visited Disney World twice as a teenager and always dreamed of growing her family Disney. She took her first-timer husband and their three children to Disney World in 2000 and they now spend every Thanksgiving there. Brenda writes with a comedic twist on various Disney topics. She will be sharing tips she has learned during her travels and also hopes to enlighten people on little-known freebies that Disney has to offer. She wishes she could have met Walt Disney and considers herself to be a student of Walt. In parallel to his dream it is her wish that everyone would take at least one trip to Disney World in order to share in its magic with their families.
Continuing our discussion of affordable Disney vacation souvenirs, today I want to talk about pictures. Because the photos 
that you take at Walt Disney World can form the basis for the most special souvenirs that you have. Photos capture memories…and those are truly priceless.
Anyone who visits my home knows within the first 90 seconds that I am picture obsessed. We have photos everywhere….and a significant majority chronicle our Disney vacations. (So that would probably be the second thing that a visitor to my house would learn quickly….that I am Disney obsessed too. 🙂 )
So if you are like me, and love the idea of having your Disney photos be a big part of your souvenirs, then read on for some tips on how to keep those photo memories affordable.
Basically, there are 3 types of photos you will probably be involved with at Disney World: the ones you take, the ones the Photopass photographers take, and the ones that are taken when you go on certain rides.
Let’s start with your own pictures. Most people arrive at Disney World, especially on their first visit, with the plan to take lots of pictures. And if you are the way we were on our first trip, we did just that….hundreds in fact. Taking your own pictures is very affordable….provided you do a little planning. The single most important thing you can do here is to be sure to have enough storage chips, and/or a way to download your pictures if you use up your camera’s memory…which you will. And the second thing is to make sure you have extra batteries or rechargeable batteries and a battery charger….and then remember to use the battery charger!
(Trust me on all of these, because I speak from experience. I once missed a picture of my daughter being invited to join the Tapestry of Nations parade by one of the castmembers….because my camera battery chose to die right then and there.)
The thing is, if you want to keep your costs down, you do not want to buy these items at Disney World…because they are a lot more expensive there than at home.
And for making special photo memories, watch for the “Kodak spots” throughout the parks. These are places that are set up for the perfect picture background: be sure to use them! 🙂
Now let’s talk about the Photopass photographers. These are the Disney photographers that are around all the parks, ready and waiting to take your picture. They are wonderful folks who specialize in preserving those Disney memories. There is no charge for having your picture taken by a Photopass photographer: you don’t pay until you order prints or a CD with all of your pictures on them. The friendly Photopass folks will also typically be at character appearances, and some restaurants and resorts as well.
I recommend using Photopass as much as possible, because these professionals will take great pictures for you! When you go to the Photopass website later, where you will input your Photopass card number, you will see all of your pictures…and that there are all kinds of great souvenirs that you can have made with your pictures. Just make sure you don’t get carried away with ordering!
It is so nice to have these special pictures done because they become the “formal” pictures I have framed… plus they usually are the only ones with me in them, because I am busy taking all the others. 🙂
Now keep in mind, if you see a great photo opportunity (especially if you are seeing a character) and you want a family photo with everyone, but you DON’T want a Photopass picture…simply give your camera to the photographer, and they will happily take your picture with your camera. No cost there to you at all!
As to ride pictures? These will be taken on most of the “thrill” rides and are always fun to see afterwards. We have gotten a few over the years, but be forewarned…they are not cheap. However, it is kind of fun to see what you look like going down Splash Mountain…so it just might be worth it to you to splurge a little to preserve THAT memory! 🙂