Disney World Memory Maker is a great way to preserve those Disney memories without thinking about which photos you should buy when you want to capture so many memories on vacation.
For UK guests travelling to Disney World, Memory Maker is included in the cost of an adult Disney Ultimate ticket.
For other ticket options and guests, Memory Maker costs $169 if you’re purchasing it at least three says in advance of your trip, or $199 if you purchase once you are at the parks.
What is Disney Memory Maker?
Disney Memory Maker, also known as Disney photopass is a photo service which enables you to store all photos taken by official Disney photographers, attractions photos and videos, magic shots and character dining photos.
In all of the Disney parks you will see Photopass photographers milling about. Sometimes there will be a queue and other times not. Ask for your photo to be taken and they will get a shot of you or your family in front of some of the great landmarks in the Disney parks.
One of the most obvious location is in front of Cinderella’s castle in Magic Kingdom. We saw at least three photographers on Main Street in front of the castle. You will get different backgrounds and views depending on how many crowds you have behind you and the angle the photographer is using.
Select rides will take your photo as you are riding. Clever Disney technology allows this photo to be synced straight to your Memory Maker via your magic band without you even having to ask.
At the majority of character meet and greets there will be a Photopass photographer. They take multiple shots on these occasions and do their best to get the character and family or child in a good shot.
What Does Memory Maker Include?
You will receive unlimited downloads of your photo pass photos and videos, select attractions photo and video.
Attractions that take your photo include Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger, Space Mountain, Test Track, Rock N Roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, and Expedition Everest.
Also included are selected character dining photos, and you can receive discounts on any prints ordered.
Magic shots are available for extra magic to be added to your photos, and you can add digital stickers and borders to your photos before downloading them to personalise them even further.
What Are Magic Shots?
“Magic Shots” is the name given to a type of enhanced photograph you can get at certain Disney Memory Maker locations.
It is a fun way to bring some extra magic to your Disney memories that you couldn’t make happen on your own.
Magic Shots can include animated characters in the scenery for you to interact with. For instance, you can hold Lumiere up in a photo taken outside of Be Our Guest, one of the best themed quick service restaurants at Walt Disney World. Or you can enjoy an ice cream treat on a park bench with Stitch.
Or Magic Shots add backgrounds to a photo spot. Such as adding fireworks behind you in a photograph, when they weren’t there while you were taking the photo.
What Kinds Of Magic Shots Are There?
With a Magic Shot, Disney characters are able to be included in the photo with you, even though they weren’t there in real life. Such as a picture that has you floating off the ground with Mickey Mouse balloons, or holding Tinkerbell in the palm of your hand.
You may also be given fun animated props to have in the finished photo. Another form of a Magic Shot you can get is a special border to frame the photo.
How To Get Magic Shots
Every park has special locations where Magic Shots are available. Since they are always changing, one of the best places you can find the most up-to-date Magic Shots locations is on social media.
You can find all of the options in a photo album on the Disney Photopass Service Facebook page. Most of the time you should be offered a Magic Shot, but you may have to ask for one.
When you go to a PhotoPass location that offers Magic Shots, tell the photographer the shot you want to capture and they will confirm they are able to make that Magic Shot for you.
How To View Memory Maker Photos
If you have a Disney Magic Band then each time your photo is taken by a photographer, they scan your Magic Band to sync the photos. Sometimes, in group shots such as within Enchanted Tales with Belle, the photographer will hand you a card as you exit that has a code on it.
This means that when you add your code into your online Disney account, all the photos will sync. You do have to select just your own family at this point, but I guess there is no way around it for multiple family attractions.
Occasionally the technology that syncs the Magic Band to the photographer will fail, and during these occasions the photographer will scan a card with a code on and hand this to you instead. This only ever happened to us once.
All the photos that have been synced to your Magic Band can be accessed via your My Disney Experience App. There will be a link to view your Disney Photopass online and all your photos can be seen there.
Usually the sync process is immediate, however we did notice a delay occasionally when viewing. It’s a good idea to look at the end of each day to see the photos you had taken during that day just to check that they are all there.
What Happens If One Of My Memory Maker Photos Are Missing?
Disney provide a contact number to report a missing photo, but it’s a good idea to report it as soon as you notice.
Alternatively, a trip to Guest services can often resolve missing photos, especially if they were taken recently within the last day or so.
Can I Edit My Disney Memory Maker Photos?
Editing is currently only available on the mobile app of My Disney Experience.
When you view memory maker photos in the app there are a variety of frames and additions you can add to your photos. I added backgrounds, park icons and the year stamp to quite a few of our photos as it enhances the photos and also adds to the memories of the year of your trip.
This can also save on costs by buying a Disney frame with the year on.
How Long Does Memory Maker Last?
You have 60 days from the date your photo was taken to edit or download it before you lose it. I found this gave me plenty of time after returning from our holiday to look through the photos and edit the ones I wanted to edit before downloading them all.
Is Disney Memory Maker Worth It?
During our two week holiday we came home with just over 200 photos taken from Disney photographers. We could have had plenty more taken, but it depended on the place we were and whether we wanted our photo taken at the time.
Had we been paying for the photos individually, Memory maker worked out to cost 54p per photo for us (approx $1 each). When you consider the cost of a theme park attraction photo can cost in the region of £8 per print, then this worked out to be amazing value for money.
The experience of a Disney photographer, the equipment they used to take the photos, the backgrounds, angles and everything else that went into the photos were well worth paying for.
We got a photo of us all shooting down Splash Mountain. Who else could have taken this for us? We have images of Miss A with Tinkerbell in her hands. We couldn’t have done this ourselves unless we managed to photoshop them in at home.
To receive Memory Maker for free as a promotion is a massive bonus, but I would have definitely paid for the service had it not been included.
Is Memory Maker worth the money? Definitely yes! However if you choose not to purchase Memory Maker, all Disney Photopass photographers will happily take your picture with your own camera if you ask.
This is so interesting! It is a great idea!
I have never heard of this but it does sound like a great ideas and I love the photos 🙂
We’re off to Disney later this year and we are looking into this. We did the photo pass with the cards in 2011 and it was brilliant, especially as the hubster was singing on stage in Hollywood Studios. Thanks for this post, it’s helped us make our minds up to purchase one x
Hi there. Do you mind me asking how you received the memory maker for free this time. We purchased it a couple of years ago on our first trip and it was well worth the money. We are also planning a trip st the Caribbean beach resort for July of 2016 and are debating on whether or not to buy it again, but I was wondering how you were able to receive it for free, if it was a promotion or something. Thank you.
We received it free as we were staying on site. It’s a standard Disney offer so it may be worth checking your tickets to see if you have it.
I have not found it to be worth the money. When we got it back in 2013, that was the last time we got a full set of photos making it a nice option. Since, then, however, it’s been a bust every time. So we no longer waste money on it. In 2016, we got one photo. ONE. Almost $200 for one photo. The lines were just too long to wait for a photo to be taken. We would have been spending our park time waiting in lines for photographers. Park time was more valuable. Last year, we managed to come home with more than one photo, but still not enough to warrant the almost $200 it cost. We got less than 10 photos last year. This time it was because the photographers were impossible to find. We didn’t get even one photo from Hollywood Studios. We only saw one photographer, but when we went to get in line, he left for a lunch break and never returned. No one else took his place, either. That was at the entrance to the park. When we left for the day, there still wasn’t anyone there. We didn’t see any in the park.
Best use of money? Save it. Take a good camera. The Disney photographers will take photos of you and your family if you give them your camera to take it with. And it costs nothing but you can still be in the photo with your family.
oh that sounds like you didn’t have a very good experience at all, that’s such a shame. Over three visits we have always come home with well over 100 photos from Memory Maker. We tend to judge the queues and catch the photographers when the queue is short unless there is a particular backdrop or magic shot we want to collect.