With one week to go, that is the question! I had been planning on it, but will we really have time to use it if we’re touring full speed ahead? What do you recommend – buy Memory Maker or not?
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How long is the trip?
Who is going?
When was your last trip?
When will you travel again?
I almost never get it for trips under 5 days.
I do get it if I have any special things planned.
I always get a ton of photos and some of them are only had by MM
5 park days, first family trip, haven’t been in 20ish years, hope to go again before oldest turns 10, but who knows!
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It is spendy and you can just stop by the photo shop and view your pictures and then decide what and how you want to by. Remember you don’t have to pay for Memory Maker right away. Get all the pictures taken that you want, then check them out and buy what you want. They are nice as we got Memory Maker with our AP but you don’t get that anymore with AP’s. Downloading on-line is a big pain as they are downloaded as zip files and I have always had a problem getting all the pictures before the site goes nuts.
I’ve been part of a Memory Maker share, and that worked very well for us. It let the two of us do it for a fraction of the cost. There are lots of photo opportunities. Since it’s your first trip, I’d be tempted to get it. You save some money if you buy it at least 3 days before your trip.
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Then yes. This is a big one for your family. In would get it.
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Yes I forgot about the Memory Maker share thing. Cheaper the more that get in the group but you best be trusting as one person controls it all.
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On our first two trips we got it - once we paid full price and once I did a share. This most recent trip we didn’t get it and I regretted it because I’m not in any of the pictures! With it being your first family trip and your kids being young I’d go for it if you can afford it, it’s so great to get the pictures of the whole family and the kids with the characters, etc. Plus the magic shots are cool. We did, on our last trip, occasionally get the photographers to use my phone for photos but they weren’t as good.
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I’m considering titling my trip report “This is how Disney takes all my money.”
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Yes your right but you can get yourself in phone pictures. Many people are more than willing to take pictures of you and your family. I do it for others all the time and they usually return the favor. I hope if you do buy Memory Maker, your experience downloading them is better than mine What a time I had. Never did get them all before the "Opps, somthing went wrong appeared. Also the download as zip file so make sure you have a program install on your computer to unzip them. Most new computers do.
Definitely!! I made the most wonderful (shutterfly) album after our trip in 2020. Having all the ride photos along with a ton of others we took with photopass (and our own too of course) really added to the album. I know I would certainly have not bought all the ride photos individually during the trip but they were SO nice to have. It is an album I will have and treasure forever!
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And if you buy them one by one, anyway, they are really expensive and before you know it you’ve spent the cost of a MM.
MM isn’t always worth it but for OP’s purposes it completely is, I agree!
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We’ve also gotten our own MM and a share. The ride photos definitely add to memory books.
I agree that in this case. You should get it. Also, some photographers are better at posing y’all. Some don’t. I step in and rearrange if that happens! 
I waffled some about this celebratory trip but in the end decided against. Simpler seemed better. 
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We are here now and bought it ahead of time. We only have 3 park days but it’s a big extended family trip so I figured we’d get a lot of use out of it. I would NOT buy it again in June ha. It is so hot there have been zero times we’ve wanted to stop to get a photo taken, even though we would love to have them. Our kids are young though so maybe if older they could deal better. We did get pics in front of the castle our first morning and they came out great but in hindsight we probably could have just bought them individually. Also the two character meets we’ve done there have been no photographers.
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I almost always buy it and then I force my family to take photos at every opportunity that doesn’t interfere with touring. The photographers are great and I’m in every photo and I don’t have to rely on strangers who may or may not be great at photo taking.
I justify it by thinking that if I paid for a photographer to do family photos it would be way more expensive.
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I get memory maker every time and have never regretted it. It’s the only time I get to be in pictures with my family. I download all my pics and put them in a photo book I make on Snapfish. I love going back and looking at my photos.
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I think it’s very well worth it. Voting yes 
I got it last year when DH and I were there for about a week, and I loved it. I wanted to use it all the time. Just stop and ask every PhotoPass photographer along the way for a picture; if you’re a scrapbooker, it’s GREAT.
It’s not perfect, though – as woohoo585 pointed out, if it’s really hot and you have a tight schedule, it’s annoying to think about stopping for a photo.
Furthermore, some of our first pictures from our September trip were TERRIBLE. I learned to put down my bags, straighten my blouse, at least pretend to smooth my coiffe and get a few shots before you move on.
Also, I was just in WDW in April, and we did only one day in the parks with my sister and my DS Woody (who works there). I did not buy one-day Memory Maker because I thought it was a waste of money. I Was WRONG. I wish I had purchased it!!! I ended up having to call PhotoPass customer service early this month to untangle some photos from the Memory Maker I purchased for our upcoming October trip, and I only got one picture of me and my beloved sister in front of the France pavilion, and I just really regret not having taken advantage of the system.
And finally, let me point out that spoiler in the last paragraph, too: Having had Memory Maker last year, and not having it in April, it was a priority to get it purchased for the next trip. I’m happy I don’t have to worry about having enough photos for the next trip. I mean, I took lots of cute selfies in September 2021. They make me look very conceited in my scrapbook. 
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How much is it per picture if you don’t get MM? I’m just curious as I don’t think I’ve ever seen a price. Thanks.
I always get it though I grimace when paying for it! The photographers are hit or miss. I do buy it more for the ride photos and the Magic Shots! And if you have time, Disney Springs has a photo studio that is included with your MM! We did that on our last trip! Unfortunately, not all character meals have photographers. Get it, if you can afford it.
One day, when WDW sells APs again, I’m going to spend time just going around to take Magic Shots! 
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