Perhaps one of the most common practices at Walt Disney World is taking pictures.  Pictures of the family, pictures of the characters, pictures of the attractions, even pictures of the food – by the time your stay at Walt Disney World ends, its quite possible to have taken hundreds of pictures and fill several memory cards worth of images.  There is an alternative to lugging your own camera around, however.  If you have been in the parks you might have noticed cast members in strategic locations holding a camera and wearing peculiar costumes (like a khaki photographer’s vest at the Animal Kingdom for example) with a six megapixel camera around their necks.  These are Disney’s PhotoPass cast members. 

Here’s how Disney’s PhotoPass works:  when you enter a park you will most likely see a PhotoPass cast members within moments.  For example, at the Disney MGM Studios, you can find a cast member waiting to take your picture in front of Sorcerer Mickey’s Hat.  Simply ask a cast member to take your picture.   When they take your picture, you will be given a plastic PhotoPass card with a magnetic strip and an ID number on the back.  This is your PhotoPass. Each time you see one of the photographers and want a photo taken, just go up and hand them your card - they'll pose you in a particular way or ways, take the picture, and then scan your card.  You can use your PhotoPass as often as you like and there is no charge.

When you're ready to view your pictures, you can either go to the Photo Center at the park or wait until you can get online at your resort or back home by logging on to www.disneyphotopass.com.  A good idea is to go to the Photo Center before you leave the World so you may see how your photos came out. If there are any problems with the photos, cast members can be notified on the spot or you can go back and get your picture retaken.  If you are satisfied with how your pictures came out, I recommend constructing albums, photo prints, photo cards, etc. from the convenience of your hotel room or home, because Photo Centers can often be crowded.  Besides, pictures are viewable for thirty days; a nice way to bring the magic home with you after a stay at Walt Disney World.

Viewing your photos online is actually very easy to do.  Just go to www.disneyphotopass.com and set up your free account.  Then enter your ID number and view your pictures (photos must be claimed within 30 days and then will stay online for 30 days after that).  The PhotoPass website is easy to navigate and makes browsing, editing, sharing, deleting your pictures a very simple process.  You can delete photos you don't like, and add extras (like borders) to the ones you do like.  In addition, the site allows you to add character signatures to PhotoPass pictures of you and a character.  Sharing pictures with family and friends is easy as well; just click on the "share" button and email the link.

Perhaps what will make the Disney PhotoPass system very prohibitive for most is the price point.  PhotoPass products are not cheap; in fact, most of the prices are downright outrageous.  For example, you can order a 5” x 7” print of any PhotoPass picture for $12.95.  Or, you can spring for the 8” x 10” picture for a whopping $16.95.  Along the same lines are Disney’s Photocards.  Want to use a PhotoPass picture as your holidays card?  For $39.95 you can get a set of twenty 5 x 7 cards with envelopes.  You can choose 12 different designs (birthdays, holidays, etc.) and can include a textual greeting. 

If an album is more to your liking, Photobooks are available for purchase.  Let’s say you upload a lot of pictures of your own and decide not to use PhotoPass pictures.  For $49.95 you can get your own Disney Personal Photobook, a 20-page book that use up to 80 images uploaded from your own camera (additional pages are $1.50 more).  Each page is customizable, with six Disney-themed backgrounds and 15 photo layouts for each page.  If you do want to use the PhotoPass picture you’ve taken during your stay, you may purchase Disney’s Professional PhotoBook for $69.95.  It includes all the features of the Personal PhotoBook plus the ability to use PhotoPass pictures, the use of 100 stock photos from Disney’s Photo Gallery, and a premium padded hard-cover with foil stamping personalization. 

PhotoPass pictures are available on other mediums as well.  In the near future, you will be able to create a Photomovie DVD for $49.95.  The DVD movie will include seven chapters (for example, the Magic Kingdom, Disney-MGM Studios, etc.) and each chapter will play about 16 photos for about two minutes in length.  The DVD will also contain a slideshow of all your DVD photos set to music. 

If you want to forego purchasing your prints, albums, and movies from Disney, you can order a Photo CD.  Each CD holds about 300 high resolution photos of your personal photos and Disney PhotoPass photos (both original and ones you have cropped, and added images too).  With the CD you are able to print whatever sizes you want, whenever you want, wherever you want.  But before you rush to order your Photo CD, let it be known that it will cost you $124.95!  Pretty steep for a few hundred photos. 

Personally, I think the PhotoPass system is a good idea in theory.  Sometimes it is just easier to have someone else do the picture taking while you concentrate on having fun with your family and friends.  The website is extremely user-friendly and can add hours of post-vacation splendor through editing, sharing, and building albums with your PhotoPass photos.  In addition, all of the attractions that snap a picture of you during the ride (Tower of Terror, Rock ‘n Rollercoaster, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Sping, etc) will eventually be included within the PhotoPass system, making it a central place to view all of your Walt Disney World pictures. 

However, where this service fails is its unreasonable price point.  One 5” x 7” print through www.disneyphotopass.com is simply too much to ask someone to pay when you can use your own digital camera and print your pictures at a fraction of the cost.  Moreover, Disney PhotoPass cast members are more than happy to take pictures of you using your own digital camera. 

While the service Disney provides through its PhotoPass system is top notch, it is not enough to justify the huge cost of purchasing products.  Save some money and bring along your own digital camera. 

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