Taking Memory Maker for a Walt Disney World holiday

When booking our Walt Disney World tickets I was reading up on whether or not to include the photo pass Memory Maker in the package to have free unlimited downloads of pictures taken at Disney PhotoPass locations, attractions and dining experiences. I ended up deciding that it would be nice to have–and after visiting I was even more convinced.

Memory Maker was included in the park ticket we bought via the UK Disney site, but since we weren’t going for the 14 days on the ticket, I also considered buying a park ticket via the US Disney site for individual days and without Memory Maker included– but then potentially adding Memory Maker separately.

Here are four reasons I was excited to have Memory Maker, which lets holidaymakers download photos taken of them in the parks:

1. Character dining and meet and greets
For families collecting autographs and planning to prioritise meeting characters, there can be many opportunities to be photographed. We did a number of character meals and some of these started with a photo opportunity in front of a themed background. At Chef Mickey’s a photographer photographed us meeting Pluto, and at Cinderella’s Royal Table we first met Cinderella and were photographed with her before being led to our table. At Akershus, where the princesses visiting can vary, it was Belle we were photographed with at the beginning of the dinner experience, and when we had dinner at Be Our Guest a photographer took pictures of us meeting and posing with the Beast in his study. (We didn’t see photographers when we had breakfasts at Tusker House or Crystal Palace.)

2. Park photographers

In all the parks we visited we also made an effort to stop to be photographed in front of park attractions like the Tree of Life in Disney’s Animal Kingdom, where photographers were standing taking pictures of visitors. Sometimes they added a bit of magic–fun items that were added into the shots. Having photos taken outside in the parks seemed like a great opportunity for getting some holiday family photos with no one missing from the pictures.

3. Rides
I hadn’t first realised the Memory Maker also included select attraction photos and short video clips, and I was surprised when I saw pictures of us from Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, for example, automatically appearing in the photo section on the My Disney Experience app. After Buzz Lightyear we could find our picture when exiting the attraction, scan our magic band and have it assigned to our account.

Memory Maker is currently $169 when purchased in advance, and it includes unlimited digital downloads of all your Disney PhotoPass photos and videos. Customers have to remember downloading all their PhotoPass photos and videos before the expiration date.

Tags: Character dining, Disney, Memory Maker, Orlando, Photographs, Walt Disney World