Disney PhotoPass 101

With the new MyMagic+ system, Disney has been tweaking it's Disney PhotoPass System.  Now, guests will have the ability to use MagicBands, resort reservations, the new Memory Maker system, and yes, you'll still be able to have access to PhotoPass cards to obtain your Disney photos.

This is where our story begins.  You see, on my last trip, I was able to take advantage of Disney PhotoPass, when Brian and I stopped by Buzz Lightyear's meet and greet (our good friend was the PhotoPass photographer!) and got some great photos taken.  Buzz arm wrestled my hubby and everything.  So, I was curious to see what would show up when I looked at our PhotoPass photos online.

(PS: Anyone can use Disney PhotoPass and it's really easy to do.  Simply approach any of the Cast Members in the tan vests that can be found throughout the park - though usually in heavily traversed areas featuring well known monuments and at character meet and greets - and have them take your photo of your whole family.  Then, either have them touch your MagicBand to a device that they wear or they will hand you a PhotoPass card.  You can also hand them a PhotoPass card if you have one.  There ya go.  It's that simple.)

To start this process out once you get home, you first need to pull up mydisneyphotopass.com.  This is the website where all Disney Photopass photographs live.  Click on the location where you visited.  Of course, we visited Walt Disney World, so I clicked there.

From there, you will have to input your registered My Disney Experience username and password.  If you don't have an account, you can easily create one.

Once you enter the site, you will be able to retrieve your Disney memories.  As I mentioned earlier, you can do this through a number of different channels, like Memory Maker or your MagicBand, but on this trip, we just had the plain PhotoPass card.  I entered the code that was found on the back and it instantly pulled up my photos. (Got more than one card, no problem!  You can input more than one.)

Once it pulled up my photos, I had the ability to change them up and design them any way I wanted.  I could change the size, the color, add a border, add stickers, the sky is the limit.  You could spend hours creating different combinations.  But make sure that before you start arranging your photo the way you want it, save a copy, so you still have the base one.  (Though you can also revert the image back to the original image after saving your masterpiece too, so you can work on another masterpiece.)

Make sure to keep in mind that your photos have an expiration date!  They will expire 45 days after they are taken.  You can purchase a 15 day extension for $19.95 to give you 60 days total from the date they were taken.

Once you have enhanced and edited all your photos, you can then order any products that you would like.  This includes things like a CD with all your images and the copyright (this can also be purchased ahead of your trip for a discounted price), make photo books, automatically download images, make greeting cards, mugs, etc.

Another nice perk is that you can also share your images, via a slideshow with your friends and family.  You can do this two ways, either by email or by Facebook.

Also, be on the look out for special offers that periodically pop up.  One of mine was for a PhotoPass Extension for FREE!

That's the nuts and bolts of this system.  Of course, there are additional things you can factor in, like Memory Maker, which allows you to instantly download your images, as well as images from family and friends you are connected with.  But, that's a whole other topic.

Disney PhotoPass is a great tool and it really does allow for every member of the family to be included, which is nice in my family cause it's just the two of us.

Have you used Disney PhotoPass before? Purchased anything?  Think it's overrated?  Let me know your thoughts on the system either in the comments or on Facebook.

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