Memory Maker: Step by Step Instructions!

Disney has a service they call PhotoPass. Basically, they station professional photographers all over the parks who are ready and willing to take your photo with their camera. It's great because everyone is in the picture and it's a high quality image. You can then choose to purchase individual images in either print form or digital. One of the products within Photopass is the Memory Maker. This is a pay-one-fee type of product that gives you digital downloads of every photo you pose for during your vacation. Even ride and dining photos!

As a huge fan of photos, I love the Memory Maker! It is well worth the cost to me. And I love enhancing the photos afterward, adding fun borders and stickers, cropping them, changing to black and white. So much fun stuff you can do with them!!

Here is a How-To for when you go home!!

If you are a resort guest, the photographers will scan your Magic Band and all your photos will show up in your My Disney Experience account. Simply log into your account and go to the drop down menu. Choose "My Photos" under photography. It will look like this:

If you are not a resort guest, You will have to manually link the photos. Just enter the code from the back of your park ticket or the PhotoPass card the photographer gave you. Then it should look like the above photo.

If your photos have watermarks on them, you need to activate your Memory Maker. Click any photo then click "Download." It will ask you if you want to activate your Memory Maker and inform you of the expiration date. Say yes. Now you can start customizing and enhancing!

Here is what your screen will look like:

Click any photo. It will open like this:

Most important to note first is the expiration date on the lower right. This is the date you need to download by or you will lose that photo forever. The date will vary from day to day as the photos expire 45 days after they were taken.

Along the right hand side you'll see all the options. First you need to click "Create a Copy." VERY important. You want to keep your original images. Once you make a copy, click on one of the suggested borders or use the drop down menu to browse other categories.

Click whatever one you like. If you try one and don't like it, just click on another.

Once you find one you like, click "Save and Close" on the top. The photo will close and take you back to your menu. The new enhanced photo will appear on the screen with the rest of the un-nhanced photos. You can then go back to the same original imagine and do the same thing but add a different border, crop, turn it back and white. Just make sure you make another copy first. Disney is always changing the borders to coordinate with the season and social events. So many cool fun things!! Continue on with the rest of your photos for that park and then move on the the next.

Play around with it and have fun!! There's no limit to how many photos you can create in your account!

When you're 100% completely done, go back to your home page. On the upper right hand side you'll see how many photos you currently have and buttons underneath. Click "Download" to download all the photos to your computer. This MUST be done before the photos expire or you will lose them forever.

Once they are downloaded to your computer, they are yours to do whatever you'd like. You can print at home or upload to any online photo processing site for printing. You can share on Social Media too.

Here are a few more cool photos from my Memory Maker over the years!

Questions??? Post them below!!!

My Guide to Disney's Photopass and Memory Maker!

Disney's Photopass has been around for quite some time. At least ten years. It's a wonderful service that we have used many many times and it has given us precious mementos we will cherish forever.

If you're not sure what it is, you definitely need to know! Disney has positioned professional photographers all over the parks, as well as the resorts and Disney Springs, ready and willing to take your photo for you. So everyone can be in the photo. They take photos with their own camera, but will with yours as well, if you ask. All photos taken by Disney's photographers are collected for you and linked to your reservation, via Magic Band, (if staying on property). If you're not staying at Disney resort, the photographer will give you a card. Hold on to it! After each photographer takes photos they will either scan your Magic Band or the card. When you go home, you can view the photos on your My Disney Experience account, or by visiting the Photopass Website and entering the code on the back of the card you were given.

The Photopass service has lots of options for what to do with the photos after your trip. You can order prints, download digital files, or order from a catalog of photo products like mugs and photo books. But the best product of all--and the most cost efficient--is the Memory Maker package. It has changed over the years, but currently, you pay one price and receive digital downloads of ALL your photos, even ride and dining photos. The cost is cheaper if you purchase before your trip, but can be purchased after as well.

Here's my best advice for using Memory Maker and Photopass!

* Keep an eye out for Photopass photographers and take as many photos as you can! Don't just do the park icons. Pose with characters (there are photographers at most character meet n greets, but not all).     The photographers hang out in front of popular attractions, like Rock N Roller Coaster and Space Mountain. They hang out in front of landmarks in the park, like the bridge into Africa in Animal Kingdom and the fountains in Epcot. Many of the countries in World Showcase have photographers too. Keep your eyes open for lots of fun backdrops.

* Ask if the photographer does magic shots! They're so fun!

* If you have a Magic Band, you can link your Memory Maker package. Then all you need to do is have the photographers scan your band. And for ride photos, no need to even scan at all. Through the magic of Disney, it senses your presence in the building and adds the photos to your account.

* You can view your photos almost immediately on the My Disney Experience app! But be forewarned, not all photos will show up there. They all should show up on the Photopass website though. If not, there is a lost photo form you can fill out in the Help section on the website. I've had to do it before and they recovered them for me :)

* You get more than just your photos! Some attractions take videos of you. Very cool! And some photos have fun animation added to them.

* If your kids participate in shows like the Jedi Training Academy, Pirates League, or Enchanted Tales with Belle, you can upload all those photos to your account as well. Just make sure you get the Photopass card from the photographer at the show with the special code. You will need to upload that manually, or you can visit a photo center in the park and they can add the photos to your account for you. That is probably the best way to go, since you can pick and choose which photos to add, instead of uploading every single child's photo onto your account, and then have to delete them afterward.

* When you get home, log into My Disney Photopass. You can view all your photos and make enhancements.

* IMPORTANT!!! When making enhancements, first make a copy of the original photo, then add a border or sticker. Save your photo when done. The you can go back and make another copy of the same original photo and add a different border or sticker. You can do this as many times as you want. There is no limit to the number of photos. Be creative! Crop them, turn them black and white, add every border and sticker to every photo if you want! You can easily turn 150 photos into 500!

* Make sure you do all your enhancements and download your photos by the expiration date. If not, you'll lose them forever!

I'm a big fan of Memory Maker and Disney's Photo Pass service. The photos they take are far better than the ones I can get, and I'm in every photo!! It's just one more way that Disney makes my family vacation easier. :)

Have a question about something I didn't mention in this post, go ahead and ask! Post below, email me at ftjbystephaniehaefner@yahoo.com, or visit my Facebook page!