Whenever my family is lucky enough to take a trip to Disney, my souvenir is always a PhotoPass CD. A PhotoPass CD is a CD filled with photos taken by PhotoPass photographers throughout the park. Disney employs photographers and stations them around the park in key places. If you ask them, they will take your photo with their camera and add it to your PhotoPass, which is a plastic card about the size of a credit card with a unique number on it. The photographers will also take a photo with your camera if you ask (sometimes they will even offer). There are a few reasons I like to get the PhotoPass though, which I will explain in my tips:
1) Immediately after getting your PhotoPass card, take a photo of it with your own camera or phone, up close. This way, if you lose your card, you still have the number and can access your photos online.
2) Right now, at Disneyland, if you go into the Kodak shoppe on Main Street and ask for the Gallery CD with the coupon inside for a free PhotoPass CD, they will pull one of these magic CD’s out. The Gallery CD includes over 300 high resolution photos taken around the park. It also comes with a copyright release for personal use (meaning you can scrapbook with them digitally and get them printed too). Inside, you will find a coupon to get your PhotoPass CD for FREE. I was able to get the Gallery CD and the PhotoPass CD for a total of $50-$60, which is a GREAT deal!!
3) When a PhotoPass photographer takes your photo, tell them you are planning on buying a CD. Several of them told me when you do this, they will spend more time with you and take lots of photos. The photographer in the photo above spent at least 30 minutes with my family taking many family shots, individual shots, shots of just the kids, and shots with just my husband and I. He also took the time to show me some settings I should use on my camera around the park at that time of day.
This is one of the biggest reasons I like to buy the CD, the photographers will take a lot more photos than they would with your own camera. The photographers are also used to their own cameras and the settings are usually right on and produce great images.
4) Stop and have a photographer take photos every time you see a one! This will ensure the most pictures for your money.
5) If the Gallery CD option isn’t available when you go to Disneyland OR if you are going to Disney World, you can “pre order” your CD and save.
For even more great PhotoPass tips, head to AllEars.net and check out what they have to say.
P.S. You might also enjoy:
Scrapping Them Parks and Fairs
Visiting the Happiest Place(s) on Earth
If You Plan To GO TO Disney World
P.S.S. Today my family is celebrating the 5th anniversary of my husbands kidney transplant! Happy kidney day to my husband and his brother who gave him a second chance on life! We are forever grateful!
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We pre-ordered our CD when we went to Disney World last year and will do the same this year. When you pre-order it’s $99 instead of $150. You can always get a refund when you return if you are not happy with the photos and decide not to order the CD. You can still come home, add your borders, etc…then you order the CD and there is a credit in your account for the pre-order amount you paid. It’s the only way to get lots of photos with the entire family in it and they use a tripod at night so those pictures come out much better.
I pre-orderd the photopass CD the first time we went to Disney World because there was a reasonable discount for preorders. I ended up with over a hundred photos–many of them very good and some not so much. It is one of the only vacations where I have lots of photos of the whole family together (no missing mom syndrome). Also, each of us can get a photopass and then I merge the accounts and put it all on one CD. This way if we split up for a while, we still get lots of photos.
Great tips Steph and Happy Kidney Day to y’all!
Reading about your husband’s 5th anniversary with his new kidney shared by his brother just melted my heart!
May you all have an INCREDIBLE week ahead!
You can get a gallery CD for WDW as well, there’s just not the same great deal
What a great deal! I wish I had been able to do that when we went to Disney World. Just having the gallery CD to scrap with would be great!
OH I had no idea about the gallery CD! I’m gonna have to get one then next time we go, thanks for the info!
Your family is adorable Steph! Happy kidney day to all of you!:)
I have been to Disney many times and seen the park photographers, but always just figured it was another service with a “Mickey Mark-up” (as Katie put it!) But, I have to say after reading this I think I am sold! I take a lot of pretty good photos on our trips, but I usually only get one group photo and wish I had more of us together.
I did a little investigating at the Disney website and found out that it’s about $150 to get a photo pass CD at regular price. (about $135 with a coupon code I found). So I’m astounded when you say you got the Gallery CD AND your Photo Pass CD for just $50-$60. Did I really read that right? We are planning a trip at the end of the month and I just want to make sure this isn’t too good to be true!
Thanks for posting this!
They Disney World CD is about $150, I think the regular price on the Disney Land CD is around $99 (regular price). I looked at my receipt and it was just over $64 including tax (tax in Orange County is pretty high, almost 10%). I was worried it was just too good to be true as well, but when I went in and asked them about it, they knew exactly what I was talking about and said, “Isn’t that a great deal? Do you want one?” So, yes, the Gallery CD AND the coupon for my PhotoPass CD (I didn’t even pay shipping) was all together $64!!
Good luck! You’ll have to let me know if the deal is still going on when you go!
I have no plans to go but these are great tips for when I do. Thanks. I thought maybe that everyone in the photo were kids. You and your husband are so youthful and you do not look old enough to have teenagers or pre teens
You are so sweet! Thanks!
My girlfriend was just telling me about this! That gallery CD is a great idea!
Congrats to you and your hubby!! Definitely calls for a celebration
I love the Disney photo passes and use them every time I go to Disneyland as well. Thanks for the tip on the CD and coupon. We are going next month so I will check it out.
I wait to order my Photopass CD until I get home because when you login from home you have all kinds of options to add special borders to your photos. Once you do that and save them they will add all of them to your CD for you. We went in December so they had a ton of Christmas borders to add to my photo’s.
Sadly the photos they took one evening did not make it onto our Photopass. Lessen learned, always make sure the photographers capture your card number especially at night. Have them scan it a few times to be sure.
They best way to capture and docutment a trip to Disneyland for sure.