Should I pre-order the photopass cd?

[cherbie66]

I am a young, single mother who works at a daycare. Obviously, I'm not loaded with cash. This trip to Disney is going to be a strain financially, but will be very worth it to me and my daughter (celebrating her 5th birthday at Disney). I'm trying to keep the extra costs at a minimum, but I am considering pre-ordering the photopass cd. It's expensive, so I'm very nervous to do it, but it would be nice to have all the great pics. What do you all think? Is it worth it?

[ibelieveindisneymagic]

I would say get the CD. If it is just you and your daughter going, you will want to be in pictures together, and I wouldn't want to have to ask strangers every time.

We have ordered the CD the last couple of trips, so the three of us can be in pictures together and the pictures are always good, with a couple that are spectacular and make it worth every penny.

[Seasonscraps]

I think it is definitely worth it. It's $100 if you preorder and $125 if you order one when you get home. If you decide you don't want it when you get home, you can get a refund.

Ordering individual prints is very expensive. With the cd, you get a release that permits you to print the photos any where.

It will be nice to have everyone in the picture, you can add frames and some effects that will be included on the cd.

[gerald72]

I recommend the photopass, and preordering the CD.
You don't want to regret not having all those pictures. Don't forget the ask about getting the "fun" pictures- like Tinkerbell in your daughter's hands. Worth the price right there.

[Zippy 1]

I would pre-order the CD. It is so worth it. We got over 300 pictures on our last trip. We were there for 9 days. We did the speciality pictures, Tinkerbelle, Simba & Stitch. It is so much fun. The park maps show where to find Photographers. It is so easy to use!! Go for it!! It will be so worth the memories.

[thrillme]

I understand what you're concerned with when it comes to $$...

I would recommend it. If it turns out that you're not pleased with it you can get a "refund".

We were kinda so-so on it. It was cheaper to order it. We had gone to ONLY typhoon lagoon earlier for summer vacation but I was dying to go at least ONE time for halloween. We spent about $79 ordering pictures from summer's typhoon lagoon trip (one copy of of about 5).

Halloween came and we really didn't have a WHOLE lot of pictures taken but it only takes a few to make up for the whole. Because we bought pictures over the summer the kept those in the que so we got lucky and we were able to add them all to the CD.

Even though we didn't get a lot each picture ran about $13 each and that added up really fast.

To me it's pretty well "risk free"...pre-pay it and if you don't like it or you don't have enough to justify the cost...ask for a refund.

IF you are going with anyone ya'll can buddy up on one CD and share the cost. You can add more than one photo card full of pictures.

You can also do this with another person if they go anytime within 30 days of you.

[disneymom2000]

Cherbie66,

If you send me a private post with your address, I will send you a check for the $100 so you won't have to worry about the cost of the photopass CD.

I pre-ordered my first photopass CD before my Christmas trip a couple of years ago. It has been the delight of my vacation in regards to having such wonderful memories that I could never have again. Especially if this is your daughter's first visit. You will never get that back - ever.

It would be my pleasure to help you in this matter.

[AuntDJ]

Go for the CD..it is very worth it...I took my niece last year, just the two of us, and I got SOOO many good pics from the photopass group. I didn't even take my camera out if there was a photopass person around. I think it made them feel valued and they took so may pics....tons of candid, when we weren't watching, personal moments with the characters.

Mostly at the front of the parks, ask the photopass person for a "special" pic, and then when you view the pic on the computer, tinkerbell, simba, stich and some others will magically appear in the pic with you...another perk for ordering the CD..

Also, it became a kind of game for us (my niece was 6), she would look for photopass vests and we would stop whatever and take a pic...they really are everywhere! I ended up with over 200 pics on the photopass, very worth the $100.and I was able to be in most of them.

I know it is hard as a single mom, but you are takin the jump, so try to relax and enjoy the ride!!!

$$ idea for you....I made "disney dollars" on my computer for our trip...when Hannah did well on a test or helped out with something extra I would give her a few..I knew I would be spending $$ on souvinears anyway, and this way she would have some of "her" $$ to spend..

Have fun!!!!!!

DJ

[cherbie66]

Aunt DJ, I did do something similar to the disney dollars you wrote about. Instead we are doing Disney Dimes. She was having some problems at school (daycare) with giving the teachers a hard time because she misses me and wants me (i work in the same school so its harder for her knowing I'm there). So I made a reward chart for her and for every part of the day that she does well, she gets a sticker. When we get home that night, we count the stickers and put a dime for each sticker in her disney dime box. She decorated the box herself with Disney stickers. I told her that before our trip we can take the dimes to the bank and get dollars for them and that's what she can use for souvenirs. It really seems to be working. Just some more disney magic. Hehe

[BelleLovesTheBeast]

I think it is definitely worth it. It's $100 if you preorder and $125 if you order one when you get home. If you decide you don't want it when you get home, you can get a refund.

Ordering individual prints is very expensive. With the cd, you get a release that permits you to print the photos any where.

It will be nice to have everyone in the picture, you can add frames and some effects that will be included on the cd.

I totally agree!

We've purchased one on our last 2 vacations and have ended up with over 500 photos. We were hesitant at first but knowing that if we didn't like them we could get our money back was great.

Get it! You won't be disappointed.

[JabberJaws]

**Note, if you get the PP person to take a pic with your personal camera, it will not include the bells and whistles like the overlay of tinkerbell in your hand or the Disney borders that can be added to PP pics**

I, personally, would not order the CD. And here is why...

The PP CMs are very nice and 99% of the time (has been 100% of the time that I have asked, but you never know when you might get someone who will turn you down) the CM will take a photopass pic AND take the exact same pic with your camera.

Get the photopass card, get photopass pics every chance you get, but ALWAYS ask them to take a pic with your camera as well.

That way you will have those pics, and you can always order the FP pics after the fact if you wish to, but aren't locked into them.

I've seen the quality of PP pics range from really good to just terrible, all depends on the photographer. You don't want to spend money on pics that are only so-so, especially when you can get similar pics for free.

[ransam]

definitly pre order it....not only can you get all the pictures w/ you and your daughter w/o asking some stranger to take it...
you know exactly how much it will cost....
once you hvae the cd they have tons of way to "plus" your pictures. you can add border to it, little sayings,etc.....you can turn 100 pictures into 500 just by adding borders, and little stuff....
its' one of Disney's great deals...

[Pally]

I have ordered pictures in the past and have been pleased. I did not know that you could pre-order a CD. Where can I do this? Thanks.

[mom2mickeyfan]

Another thing to think about is that if you have the CD you can wait to order pictures when you have more money or have recovered from the Disney trip and you don't have to worry about rushing to get any pictures they take because you are afraid you are going to lose them.

I agree about getting them to take the pictures with your own camera too. If all of your pictures turn out great and there isn't anything better on photo pass, you can ask for the refund. But you can't get the pre-purchase price if you look at the pictures first. Then the CD will cost you $25 more.

I love the extra's you can add to the pictures. Here is a tip if you do this....save the photo in any size you may want to have it printed. If a picture gets saved as a 4x6 that has a border and you print it in a 5x7 or 8x10, you may lose some of the border. You can save the same picture with the borders in all three sizes. Hope that makes sense.

[mom2mickeyfan]

Oh..you can also share them with family and friends with email accounts. But I'm pretty sure you can do this with photo pass pictures whether you purchase the CD or not.

[jiminylover]

I would definitely recommend the CD. We got it the last time we went and I love it. I had time to order the pics that I wanted and I have the CD forever. Not all the pics were perfect but you don't have to order those. When you are there make sure you ask CMs about special pics...When in the AK the CM told my daughter to hold her arms like she was rocking a baby, when the pick came back, she was holdin baby simba. Same type of thing in Magic Kingdom on main street and near the pirates ride. They were awesome. Only certain CMs do these photos and not all the CMs were helpful with where to find them but if you do they are incredible.

[Suz36]

Pre-ordering is really a can't lose situation, since you can get the refund if you aren't happy with the pictures, or end up with the same ones on your own camera. We've pre-ordered the last 2 trips, and have been very happy with it. I find it gives us the needed push to slow down and have our picture taken all together, knowing we want to fill up that CD!

[Daddy Mouse]

We are going to preorder. Just think if you get 100 pictures that is just $1 per photo. In the past we've spent over $50 on just a few pictures. We are also taking our own camera to add to the experience.

[Dsnygirl]

Just a note for anyone considering pre-ordering who hasn't done it before...

I just looked everywhere on the Photopass website for pre-ordering information, which there isn't any. So, I called to ask, and the woman I spoke to said it is only available to people who have booked directly with the Disney Travel Company, and it is then offered through an e-mail from Disney Destinations 2 weeks prior to your trip.

So, for any on us who us MJ or don't book through Disney directly, apparently this isn't an option for us, although I do plan to check w/ my MJ agent, just in case.

Not that I'd EVER not use MJ just so I could pre-order the CD... they save me WAY more than the $25... but just wanted people to be aware of this in case they were thinking they could wait 'til right before they left and pre-order the CD online.

[Seasonscraps]

That's not true. Here's a link to the preorder page - I googled prepaid photopass and this turned up on an older intercot thread.

http://www.disneyphotopass.com/previsitcdplan.aspx