Resort Photo Session FAQ

[PrincessNewsie]

I only know what was happening at WL. But I assumed that the resorts that did photo sessions (GF, Poly) would have it since the photographer had explained to us it was basically what they did to pas time in between photo sessions or when no sessions were scheduled.
I don't know about other hotels...
On the photopass site, they now divide the pictures up by parks and there is one entitled "resort photos" where our WL lobby photos are.

Thanks for this-- it was also helpful to see where the photopass guys are in every park!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

We did a photo session at the Poly last week. It was a last minute decision and I was able to get an appointment with just one day's notice. We did the $99.95 option, which included the session, all pictures on a CD with the copyright release and a choice of one print package. We took the print package that was 2 8x10s and 3 5x7s. The other choice was 7 5x7s or one that was a combo of 4x6s and some bigger prints (sorry, I can't remember the specs on that one).

Our photog took 135 shots. Many were un-usable because we were squinting or there was bad sun glare or our hair was blowing too much. But I'd say there are at least 10 shots that I really like alot so I'm pretty happy with that. One thing I wish I'd done was to ask that she move us around the resort a little bit more. About 90% of our pictures were taken in one area so we didn't get any with GF in the background and hardly any with the Poly longhouses in the background. I did ask for some on the hammocks and I have to say I don't know how other families look so graceful in those photos--we looked like clumsy fools trying to balance up there!!!

 

[DisneyNic]

We did a photo session at the Poly last week. It was a last minute decision and I was able to get an appointment with just one day's notice. We did the $99.95 option, which included the session, all pictures on a CD with the copyright release and a choice of one print package. We took the print package that was 2 8x10s and 3 5x7s. The other choice was 7 5x7s or one that was a combo of 4x6s and some bigger prints (sorry, I can't remember the specs on that one).

Our photog took 135 shots. Many were un-usable because we were squinting or there was bad sun glare or our hair was blowing too much. But I'd say there are at least 10 shots that I really like alot so I'm pretty happy with that. One thing I wish I'd done was to ask that she move us around the resort a little bit more. About 90% of our pictures were taken in one area so we didn't get any with GF in the background and hardly any with the Poly longhouses in the background. I did ask for some on the hammocks and I have to say I don't know how other families look so graceful in those photos--we looked like clumsy fools trying to balance up there!!!

So can you edit the CD with the Photopass borders, etc? I am guessing no, but I wanted to ask just to make sure.

I was also wondering if pre-ordering the Photopass CD still affects the price of the photo session. Does anyone know??

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

So can you edit the CD with the Photopass borders, etc? I am guessing no, but I wanted to ask just to make sure.

I was also wondering if pre-ordering the Photopass CD still affects the price of the photo session. Does anyone know??

We were not able to edit the photo session CD with borders etc. When the CM was doing the prints for our print package she did offer to add the Poly logo to one of the prints (or the date) but we didn't want it.

Not sure about the pre-order affecting the price. I originally didn't think there was a break for combining the two (the CM said it'd be another $99 to add our park pics) but then I read a post that said it was $70 with the pre-order now. I'm not positive--we didn't pre-order for this trip.

 

[AmberHeartsDisney]

im debating on doing this.

 

[hmdelf]

Thanks for the info! Hmm, is it worth it? Has anyone done this that can post about it? I wonder if the photographers take more time or its a better service somehow to justify the price?? Thanks!!

My hubs and I did this at Epcot for our honeymoon. Though it was nice, it really wasn;t the best pics. We were disappointed when we got our album, but then figured it as a once in a lifetime thing. My boys do love love love looking at that album though. The photgrapher had us use some props in some of the shops so there are some funny shots. The major downside for me was we weren't able to pic what photos were in the album. This may have changed though as we got married 5 years ago. HTH

 

[SharonLowe]

According to the Photopass FAQ on the website, you can add your own photos to the Photopass DVD. With the CD plan for the portrait sessions, they give you the copyright so it appears to me that you can legally upload those photos to the site and add them to your Photopass DVD. An extra step, but it would save a lot of money.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I just phoned AKL to see what the current pricing is.

$49.95 for JUST prints, 3 packages to choose from.

$70 for the CD if you have pre-paid your CD online, just bring your receipt showing you have already purchased the CD. So you end up with 2 CDs. Which makes NO sense. He did say you can then type in the account at home # and add the resort photo session to the pre-paid CD.

$100 if you did NOT pre-pay the CD. BUT it is $80 if you are DVC.

The whole thing was VERY confusing. And I am not clear on whether either one of the CD packages comes with prints.

EDIT:
I called them back to clarify.
The cheapest way to do it is to pre-order the CD from home, then you get the session, a separate CD of the session pics, and one print package for $70.

If you do NOT pre-order the CD it is $100 for the session, a CD of the session pics, and one print package.
If you are DVC then the price of the $100 package is $80.

Print packages are as follows:
7 5x7's
2 8x10's and 3 5x7's
2 5x7's 4 4x6's

 

[disney 4 5]

So you called AKL directly or you called the number for the private sessions?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

So you called AKL directly or you called the number for the private sessions?

I phoned the PhotoPass portrait line and pressed "5" for AKL.

 

[disney 4 5]

I scheduled ours today. Poly is now #2.

 

[RooRach0906]

Which resorts is the done at?? I also heard it could be done at the parks??? Is that true?? I would really like to do this, when we our there this fall.

 

[kalikat420]

It can be done at the GF, Poly, BC, WL and AKL. Not sure about the parks, other than the regular PhotoPass locations.

 

[kimberleeJohnston]

Thanks for this info!! I just became aware of the resort photos today and had a bunch or questions...that you answered! Thanks again!

 

[bpm0529]

Did the photo package at the GF last week. We had a party of 12 and the photographer was great. He real work with us and moved us around to half a dozen spots in and outside the hotel. He even got us to smile. 165 pictures 45 minutes lifetime of memories.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

I only know what was happening at WL. But I assumed that the resorts that did photo sessions (GF, Poly) would have it since the photographer had explained to us it was basically what they did to pas time in between photo sessions or when no sessions were scheduled.
I don't know about other hotels...
On the photopass site, they now divide the pictures up by parks and there is one entitled "resort photos" where our WL lobby photos are.

We also ran into one on the dock between YC/BC. Not sure if he was passing the time between sessions or just hanging out, but we got about 20 pics from him. He did a bunch of poses with DS, and a few of all of us. He was very sweet, and we chatted for about 20 minutes.



We did the photo session at the Poly when it was new, so we ended up getting it for free. I would probably do it again if we had a Grand Gathering or something, but the quality didn't thrill me so much that I'd book one every trip (i.e., pay for one). The pics were good, some great, but I have seen others that were barely ok. If I knew we were going to get pro shots, I'd be more willing to shell out the cash.

That said, heck, try it once, especially if you love a certain resort and/or haven't had portraits done in a while.

 

[lgruender]

Does anyone have any photo's from the resort photo sessions that they would like to post? DH and myself are thinking of having this done and would like to see some of the photos and backgrounds since we are not sure where to have the session at. I have searched for posts of photos but was not able to locate any.

 

[brianheather]

Here is one of the photos that we had taken at the Poly last Sept. The girls look nice, but DF has the sun in his eyes.But still looks pretty good.

 

[maggiew]

We did the resort photo package at the Beach Club this week. It cost $70 plus tax since I preordered the PARKS PHOTOPASS CD. I didn't have a confirmation page with me but they were able to look it up using the email address that was used to purchase the photopass CD. With this $70 I got a CD of ALL the images that were taken PLUS my choice of a print package. I chose the 7 5x7 shots. There were 2 other print packages to choose from and I don't remember exactly what they were, but they were something like 1 8x10 and 2 5x7, etc. I chose the 7 5x7 since it gave the most images printed out. However, you get a copy of all the images to print at home, so it doesn't really matter. The session would have cost $99 without the prepaid CD.

Here are a few of my favorite shots. I think he took about 50 overall.

I'm going to Photshop out our wisps of hair and maybe crop the photo.

Maggie

 

[dpuck1998]

Any more recent experiences with this? Any one else have photos to share?