Photopass warning for new Adventurers

[sayhello]

for those of you who have purchased your photos through photopass on an ABD trip, how was the photo quality?

I only ordered one Photopass pic from my ABD trip, a group shot 4x6, and was very disappointed in the quality. It was washed out, like it was a low resolution picture, rather than the High Res they advertised. I was glad I'd only forked out for the one. Definitely not the quality of the pics I've had printed at WDW.

Sayhello

 

[SailingBeagle]

The pre order photopass discount was not accepted on the Backstage Magic
ABD photopass in June 08. I purchased the preorder and was out of luck even though
I argued with them ....they did allow me to keep the credit for my next WDW
vacation.

 

[eva]

I dont remember a welcome back pin.I received a welcome back postcard from the travel guides. I had to enter the reservation number onto photopass to get access to the photos.

I think they were referring to a pin number on the postcard, not an actual pin you wear.

 

[sayhello]

I think they were referring to a pin number on the postcard, not an actual pin you wear.

Actually, we had a couple on our tour in May who were on their second ABD, and they physically got an extra collector's pin on the last day for being return Adventurers. I believe it was the same as the ABD logo pin, but had Mickey ears. So I believe they're talking about the card that the actual pin came on.

Sayhello

 

[eva]

Actually, we had a couple on our tour in May who were on their second ABD, and they physically got an extra collector's pin on the last day for being return Adventurers. I believe it was the same as the ABD logo pin, but had Mickey ears. So I believe they're talking about the card that the actual pin came on.

Sayhello

Hmm, that seems reasonable. Can someone who received this give us an answer? Thanks!

 

[inkkognito]

I can see both sides of this issue. ABDs come at a premium price, so I expect premium amenities and it would make sense if the photos were one of those amenities. It does seem kind of like nickle and diming when you consider the cost of the trip.

But on the flipside, we didn't even hesitate about buying the CD, even tho' we had plenty of pictures taken on our own camera too. It was like buying more memories, and every time I go back over those photos I know it was well worth the price. We were very pleased with the quality and variety.

 

[nunzia]

The pre order photopass discount was not accepted on the Backstage Magic
ABD photopass in June 08. I purchased the preorder and was out of luck even though
I argued with them ....they did allow me to keep the credit for my next WDW
vacation.

Good to know! Thank you

 

[SailingBeagle]

We also purchased ours and like Barb we thought of it as memories
and I have printed a few from the CD and found the quality to be as good as the one's we took.

 

[Bobo912]

The pre order photopass discount was not accepted on the Backstage Magic
ABD photopass in June 08. I purchased the preorder and was out of luck even though
I argued with them ....they did allow me to keep the credit for my next WDW
vacation.

SailingBeagle, you pre-ordered the CD and then the photopass website wouldn't accept the code? What did they say when you argued with them? Are the pre-orders only for trips to WDW and DL? I haven't entered my photopass id yet, so I was going to pre-order, but I don't want to do that if the pre-order code isn't going to work.

 

[SailingBeagle]

SailingBeagle, you pre-ordered the CD and then the photopass website wouldn't accept the code? What did they say when you argued with them? Are the pre-orders only for trips to WDW and DL? I haven't entered my photopass id yet, so I was going to pre-order, but I don't want to do that if the pre-order code isn't going to work.

The code would not work. When I finally reached at person, I was told only valid for WDW & DL . Then I called ABD and they said no you cannot use the photopass discount for ABD, but that was in 6/08. You might want to reverify this since I was not the only one here are you going who complained and was annoyed.
I'm just glad I am going to WDW in Dec and I can use it then.

Please don't let the discount stop you from buying the photopass, It is a great memory of our trip.
Where are u going ?
Have a great trip

 

[Bobo912]

The code would not work. When I finally reached at person, I was told only valid for WDW & DL . Then I called ABD and they said no you cannot use the photopass discount for ABD, but that was in 6/08. You might want to reverify this since I was not the only one here are you going who complained and was annoyed.
I'm just glad I am going to WDW in Dec and I can use it then.

Please don't let the discount stop you from buying the photopass, It is a great memory of our trip.
Where are u going ?
Have a great trip

Thanks for the info! I am definitely going to order the CD, I just wanted to save some bucks if possible. I got my photopass id from our recent Costa Rica trip in the mail yesterday, but I know from past WDW trips that as long as I haven't entered it and viewed the pictures, I can still pre-order. I emailed Disney, but haven't gotten an answer yet. Hopefully they will change the policy. We are booked for the Australia trip for Jun 2009.

 

[glassslipper2004]

Please do post when you find out. We just returned from Viva Italia, and have spent SOOO much money, I hate to discover how much the CD costs, and would like to get the discount if I can.

The trip, however, was priceless!

 

[Bobo912]

Please do post when you find out. We just returned from Viva Italia, and have spent SOOO much money, I hate to discover how much the CD costs, and would like to get the discount if I can.

The trip, however, was priceless!

Unfortunately, the response was that the pre-order CD is only for guests of Walt Disney World. So, no discount for our ABD CD. It's a great momento of a fantastic trip, so I'll be purchasing it anyway. I'm in the process of uploading my own photos now. The price is $124.95, just like the regular WDW CD without the pre-order.

 

[SanFranciscan]

I admit to my bias on this issue. I am a photographer for the Giants baseball games so it is my job to take pictures of people, who I feel are often unreal in their expectations of me so that makes me more sympathetic to the Photopass photographers. I do take pictures of people with their own cameras, and to say that we are not encouraged to do so is an understatement.

I feel like a few of these shots should just be written off as the cost of good public relations. However, I have had people hand me multiple cameras or insist that I retake pictures with their cameras because they want me to duplicate the results of a professional camera with a little Instamatic or even a cell phone. I try to politely explain that while I will take their picture with their own camera it will not be the same because using the Canon gives me quite an advantage. They don't even see the irony of their response when they say "But you are a professional."

Having admitted to my bias, I do plan to buy into the Photopass system when my husband and I go on our next Disney vacation. I want to be thinking about having a good time while I am on vacation. I want to make sure that I am on the right side of the lens to show the good time that I had.

 

[sayhello]

I admit to my bias on this issue. I am a photographer for the Giants baseball games so it is my job to take pictures of people, who I feel are often unreal in their expectations of me so that makes me more sympathetic to the Photopass photographers.

You know, I totally get what you are saying, but I don't really think it applies here. On the ABD trips, it's not professional Photopass photographers. It's the guides with little pocket digital cameras that aren't even as nice as my little pocket digital (the guides said so many times when taking pics with my camera.) If it was professionally taken shots, I could maybe understand it, but these definitely are not. They have the advantage of being "on the other side of the lens", but that's really about it.

Sayhello

 

[bicker]

And our ABD tour guides made very clear that they're there to take photo for you, with your camera. The PhotoPass stuff is just something else they're supposed to do. So while folks shouldn't feel bad about not buying the CD after the trip -- that is your choice -- folks shouldn't feel bad about having the ABD tour guide take amateur snapshots of you and your family.

 

[Skylarr29]

I took two back to back ABD trips and I had NO idea that they were putting photos on a photo pass CD. They took photos with my camera very willingly, they always offered if they saw us taking a photo etc. Our trips were in June and July and I just went online and found them. There are a lot of photos that I didn't know where taken so we purchased it.

We DID use the prepurchase CD price.

 

[Bobo912]

We DID use the prepurchase CD price.

Hmmmm....very interesting. I would have been tempted to try it anyway, if I were planning on buying the CD on our next WDW trip. At least that way, if it didn't work for ABD, I could still use it. But I preordered the CD for our last trip and I'm not planning to force DS to have his picture made every time we see a photog on the next WDW visit. He tolerated it last time, but it would be too much to ask him to do it again. Here's the response I got from Disney:

The prepurchase promotion for the PhotoCD is only offered by the Walt
Disney World Travel Company via email. This offer is sent to randomly
selected guests who have booked a trip to Walt Disney World and are
staying on property. If you need further assistance, please do not
hesitate to get in touch.

 

[Skylarr29]

I just used the link that was posted here and purchased the CD. When I added the CD to my cart (with the ABD photos) it tells you to put in any offer codes so I did and then the total was $0.00. Not sure if I was supposed to do it that way but I hadn't heard that I couldn't.

 

[loball]

While I think this thread has taken off on some great tangents, I do want to reiterate that my complaint was not about the quality of the photos or whether or not the ABD Guides were willing to take them, or even about the exorbitant ($12.95 for a snapshot?) price of the prints. I just wish that my Guide had answered my question, "Will the photos you are taking be available to us online after the tour?" with "Yes, for an additional cost". Or, better yet, something should have been written in the "before you go" material we got ahead of time, or mentioned at the welcome dinner.

I did alot of planning for this trip and read everything I could find, both online and in the materials we were given. Had I known about this Photopass, I would have prepared differently for the trip and definitely taken more photos with my camera, had the Guides take more photos of us with our camera and had my son take more photos with his camera while my children were separated from us. ABD, as well as other Disney companies, should not expect their guests to all be experts. I'm just asking for some forewarning at a minimum, and perhaps a coupon for a few souvenir photos for the sake of customer relations.

I resent the sour taste this leaves me with, after a really fabulous trip.