Memory Maker - hedging our bets?

[Maotown]

Right now we're still going back and forth as to whether Memory Maker will be worth it for our group. It seems like a good idea, but in doing a quick scan of some folks' experience with less than stellar photos we're not sure if it'll be worth it.

I'm thinking that a good option is to have at least a few photos taken so we can see how we like them, then decide whether or not to buy Memory Maker based on that. My question is - how does photo-taking work if you haven't bought Memory Maker yet? Does the photographer just scan our magic bands, and then we can see our photos on the MDE app? And then if we decide Memory Maker is worth it, we can just buy it directly on the app? Thanks!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

I would buy the MM ahead of time anyway. Even if some of the pictures don't come out perfect, you're going to end up looking at them and wanting them afterwards. Just my thoughts anyway.

The photographer scans your band whether you have MM or not. Then yes, they will show up on the MDE app with watermarks.

 

[Capang]

If you use MM check he app after getting photos taken. If the pre are bad photos they will retake them if you speak with the CM politely. By bad I mean totally black or some other problem that prevents you from seeing the photo. I think some people expect professional photography standards with MM. You will get some awesome shots and some will be not so great. In all my trips I’ve only had one real issue with photos that were all black. I simply alerted the CM and they let me in the front of the line for retakes. Still, we find MM worth it.

 

[Dumbo7]

Memory maker is fun! We seek out photographers at different places. We take goofy pictures!

 

[Marshmelo]

Remember that the on-ride photos are also included with MM.

 

[aneka]

we don't have a big disposable income
so we normally would get our pics taken around the park and pick one or two and get them printed. purchase a special frame for them and put them on our wall so we can enjoy them every day

I got memory maker (was called photopass) when you got the free disk with your pics on them years ago, I couldn't even tell you were that disk is now, and I haven't got a single pic printed from it for my own use. I did print off three pictures at the time to give to the parent of the child I had taken to Disney world at the time. so I think for us, its more cost effective to pic a couple print them and use the left over money that would have been spend on the memory maker to buy a couple of nice Disney frames

 

[acarsme123]

We got MM two years ago on our first trip and I felt it was worth it. We got more good shots than bad. And plus the photos and videos they take on certain rides. We ordered it again with our upcoming trip next year

 

[mkla2015]

We always get MM- every trip! I think it is definitely worth it and we've never been disappointed. Remember- if you are going with a group, you can get 1 and split the price- this is what we do when we go with extended family.

 

[disneyvoice]

I would just go ahead and purchase it. We have annual passes now but I found that when we purchased MM we were MUCH more intentional about trying to get lots of pictures on our trip. For us, we don't worry about whether we are going to print out any pictures. Honestly I haven't dealt with actual printed photos in YEARS, whether they are from WDW or not. We store all of our pictures digitally and and most photos are posted or shared electronically on our social media accounts. We like the WDW photos strictly for memories of our trips, not to frame around the house.

I wouldn't be too worried about the quality of the photos. We have NEVER had a photo come out as just plain bad. The beauty of being able to download all of your WDW photos electronically is that you can edit them yourself. Every now and then we get a photo where I want to enlarge it or get rid of the edges for some reason - that can easily be done on an iPhone. And for photos that are a bit too light or dark you can also adjust that easily. There are so many photographers around the parks that even if you do encounter a truly terrible photographer (which has never happened to us in all our years of multiple WDW trips), only a few photos would be affected. We also take our own photos around the park as well. I actually bring several cameras and enjoy trying to take creative shot of buildings, gardens, etc. But we still LOVE our MM photos.

 

[Maotown]

Thanks for all the insight everyone! I'll discuss with the rest of my group but right now I'm leaning towards just getting it ahead of time. We'll see what the rest of my group says!

 

[OThopeful35]

We love the MM! It is definitely worth it for our family. We love getting all the ride photos and on our last trip we got so many magic shots.

 

[michelle06]

Also, for a budget, remember that you can ask photopass photographers to use your camera. So, take as many photos as you can and then when you want to be in the picture with everyone else, ask the photopass photographer to use your camera. That way you can set the settings how you like also. This is a cheaper alternative but you still get the pics you want. Of course, you won't get magic shots or ride photos.