Disney Park Tip| Capturing the Memories with Disney's Photopass and Memory Maker

Some of the best souvenirs you can come home with from your Disney vacation are the pictures. The pictures capture the best of your trip, they capture the moments and places that touched you the most. I can always tell which parts were the highlights of my trip by the amount of pictures I have of it. For example, from my September trip I have a lot of pictures of The Hocus Pocus Spelltacular and Festival of Fantasy. Those were two of my favorite moments from my last trip and I'm so glad I have the pictures and video to remember them because it when I look at them it makes me feel like I did when I took the pictures and video.

Here's where a problem can arise though- especially if you do a solo trip like I did- what happens to those moments you want someone to capture of you? That's where Disney Photopass and Memory Maker come into play. Disney's Photopass service removes the hassle and worry away of capturing all your favorite moments.

1. Trust the Cast Members with Your Phone

Even though Photopass and Memory Maker are available you probably still want pictures that you can send or post right away. Simply have your phone ready for the cast member to use for another picture along with the Photopass shot. For character meet and greets there is usually a second cast member character attendant who will be happy to take pictures on your phone, or even video! What I always did was leave the photos to the Photopass Photographer and gave my phone to the cast member with the video recording. I love having video of my character interactions not just for our vlog but because those are some of my best memories and now I can relive them.

2. You Don't Have to Pay for Memory Maker

Memory Maker cost $169 when you buy it in advance and $199 if you purchase to use immediately. When you purchase the advance option you won't be able to use it until three days later. So say you buy it the day you travel to WDW, your photos that day and the next will still have the Photopass watermark on it and will have to be purchased separately if you want them.

If you don't have it in your budget to buy the Memory Maker your pictures will still show up on your My Disney Experience App when the photographers scan your Magic Band. And you may just want to pick and choose which ones you want and, as mentioned before, you can always have them use your phone to capture the picture. This will save you a lot of money if you're trying to keep the trip under a certain budget.

3. You Should Pay for Memory Maker

Yes, you can have the cast member use your phone or just purchase a small amount of pictures, but we've never been disappointed when we've purchased Memory Maker. We don't have to choose between which photos we like the most, we're given options to add frames and stickers for fun cards and scrapbook ideas, and you can also add the pictures to merchandise available for Photopass. So, I would always keep room in the budget for Memory Maker if you can.

4. Find a Balance

I love to explore the parks through the lenses of my camera. It allows me to see others reactions, it allows me to capture moments of magic I would've otherwise missed. However, I've also had to catch myself to make sure I'm not missing actually living in the moment I'm experiencing. You can't live behind the lenses all the time, you need to find a balance of being in the moment. The Disney Photopass helps you do this, which is why I always recommend it to people who either haven't been to Disney or need help planning their trips.

DID YOU KNOW??

On my last trip in September, I was leaving the Magic Kingdom just a few hours before heading to the airport to fly back home and caught bits of Festival of Fantasy Parade. As I walked through the hub and stopped for a bit to grab a few pictures I noticed a Photopass Photographer standing near by and I had him snap a couple pictures of me with the parade in the background. I don't know if there will always be one in this area during the parade but next time you're there make sure to check- it's one of my favorite pictures of me enjoying my favorite parade.