My DH is not sold on this. He takes pictures semi-professionally, but he’s not bringing all his camera gear on vacation. He takes great pictures with his cell phone. However, I’m worried that he won’t be in as many pictures. I also know that there’s a chance the MM photos will not live up to his expectations and will be annoyed at the cost. My expectations are significantly lower, lol. Just curious if you’ve ever gone without MM and regretted it.
This is the only thing Disney has ever raised the price on where I said I don’t care, I’ll pay it. I think it’s worth every penny.
Seeing what I have from MM, I would be disappointed not to have those photos.
Here is one of my favorite series of shots taken by the MM photog. The one of Tee by herself was while she was watching Tink say goodbye to the previous guests and before Tink ever came over. :
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Another series of shots that I loved because my husband was in them and the photog caught some great moments:
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Perhaps consider a share? Will take the heat of the cost off.
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I’m not really sure how that works, to be completely honest. This is our first trip and I feel like I’ve researched everything to death with the exception of this. Our trip is in 9 days and I’m finding myself really wanting to just hit the buy button.
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Well for what it’s worth, I’ve always done a share; but I would not have regretted paying full price.
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I only regretted not doing MM after the first trip I finally got it. All the trips I missed out on having it! Not only not having to hassle taking my own pics, but it includes the ride photos. Plus, if you ask you can get special “Magic Shots” that contain Disney animations in your photos. It probably the best money you’ll spend at WDW.
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We’ve done MM every time and been very happy with it. But if it’s something you’d rather not spend your money on the MM photographers will be happy to take your picture at their MM spot with your phone or camera.
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So…I thought it was crazy to pay when you have an iPhone in your pocket! But, when I went to DLR and paid for max pass, it included the photos, i became a believer. I even wrote about it in my trip report. I would sooo give up many extras in exchange for these photos. My favorite pic of all time was taken by Disney.
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I my view, Memory Maker is one of the best values at WDW. I’ve had it every trip and never regretted it. My trips are usually 4-5 days. It’s an even better value for someone like you going for 9 days.
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You could compromise. For example, if you know you’re doing a lot of photo ops in MK, you could just buy that one day (after your first photo is taken, go on the app and buy a single day photopass). But that might whet your appetite for other photos, in which case, you’d be sorry you didn’t get it.
Here’s the thing, I always buy it, but it’s only worthwhile if your family is willing to stand in the little lines behind photographers to get photos. Most are great, but you’ll get the odd one that’s not so great and that will annoy DH.
If you get the MM, then your DH can be in the photos, too. He can still take all his great photos, but you’ll have the M&Gs, the ride photos/videos and any that you’ve stood in line for around the parks.
We always get it so I’m not disappointed.
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Trust me I know how tight money can be we almost did not have enough for our trip. The whole time I’m thinking how to cut cost and DW kept saying DON’T CUT MM. I think it is so worth the price. My father was a professional award winning wedding photographer, one year he won best in NJ. I’m not as good as he is/was but I even taught photography to 7th and 8th graders and would recommend getting it. Why don’t you get it and say happy Father’s Day, but then again I don’t know if he is a father. Either way get it.
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We get it included with UK tickets and I probably wouldn’t buy it because we get the photographer to take a pic with our camera too - just a little digital one, nothing fancy. But I do love having all the ride pics. We’d probably buy one or two, but in a 2 week trip you can imagine how many we would miss out on.
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I think that someone in this situation, knowing what photographers can / do charge, would be AMAZED at the value of this service.
$170 for 9 days of unlimited access to trained photographers with pretty decent gear…it’s a steal. I know photographers who get close to this per hour for location shooting.
The key is to make sure you use it, know where they are, and keep your eye out for good opportunities
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I would never do a trip without MM. It’s worth every penny. Everyone is in the picture. You get the magic shots and ride videos as well. He can’t capture the looks on everyone’s faces as the take off on Rockin Roller Coaster or as the drop on Tower or Terror or round the corner on Seven Dwarfs Mine Train or Slinky Dog Dash.
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Another huge fan of MM here. Always paid for it and was always very happy I did. Most of our family’s most precious photos are MM pics. I don’t see us ever not taking MM. 
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We didn’t do Memory Maker our first two trips with my kids and I absolutely regret it. I don’t have nearly enough pictures, and I lost some of them when a phone died. I was a Disney novice then, so I didn’t understand, and I didn’t know about shares. A Memory Maker share makes it a no-brainer.
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I’m really glad we did a share last summer (we found one through the TP forum), but I don’t think I’d pay full price for it. But my daughter is a teenager. If I had a young child, or multiple children I might feel differently about paying full price. For what it’s worth, my daughter did think memory maker was fabulous. This summer we will be upgrading to APs, so she’ll be happy to have it again.
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We got it in 2016, and plan to get it again. We thought it was worth the price. We sought out photopass photos, got all ride photos, and when we went to download our photos, we were able to download zip files filled with Disney stock photography! These had amazing shots of shows and fireworks. I don’t know if they still include those, but it was a great bonus. A number of them made our scrapbook. I thought it was well worth the cost.
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