Should I Buy The Disney PhotoPass+?
By Scarlett Shepherd
During a trip to Disneyland Paris, we bought the Disney PhotoPass+, but was it worth it?
Cost
We took our trip to Disneyland Paris in early July 2023.
We purchased the photo pass at the time of booking our holiday, and it cost £68.13.
The other option was to purchase the photo pass at the park, and there were lots of shops and boutiques where this was possible. To purchase the photo pass in the park was €75.
Therefore, by purchasing the Disney PhotoPass+ in advance, no money was saved.
The cost of the PhotoPass+ can feel pricy, but the longer the trip that you have booked and the more people in your group that can use it, the more reasonable the price feels.
Collecting the PhotoPass+
As we pre-purchased our PhotoPass+, when we checked into our Disney Hotel they gave us a pre-prepared envelope. In this envelope there was our magic pass along with a voucher to redeem the PhotoPass+ in the parks.
The voucher had a list of all the locations where the PhotoPass+ was available, and they were all very easy to find.
Redeeming the PhotoPass+ was very simple. We handed over our voucher, and the cast member handed us our PhotoPass card along with written instructions and also explained how it worked.
The PhotoPass+ consisted of a card with a barcode on it, and a receipt with a code.
If you did not pre-purchase the PhotoPass+, you could go to any of their locations and buy one for €75 on the day.
How it Works
The PhotoPass+ is very simple to use.
Once you have collected or purchased your PhotoPass+ card from a boutique, it will be active for 10 days.
To use the card, all you need to do is present it to the PhotoPass cast member and they will scan the barcode. Then the photos that they take will automatically be uploaded onto the card.
You can utilize this when seeing characters that have PhotoPass cast members with them, or take advantage of some of the magic shot photo opportunities around the park.
We used the PhotoPass when meeting: Spider-man, Black Panther, Snow White, Olaf, Darth Vader and Mickey Mouse. We also got some photos magic shot photos with the Elementals characters added in after.
Not only is the PhotoPass+ great for photos with characters, but it can also be used to collect all of your ride photos too.
If you go on rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean, Tower of Terror or Space Mountain. Then at the end of the ride, have a look for your photo and remember the code on the photo. Then head over to the desk and scan your PhotoPass+ card, along with telling them the photo code, and they will then add that photo onto your card.
Once you return home from your holiday, it is very easy to get copies of all your photos.
When you purchased or collected the PhotoPass+ card they will give you instructions on how to download all the photos.
You will need to go to the website address that is highlighted on the instructions, and then type in both the barcode number from your PhotoPass+ card AND the code from the receipt that they gave you.
Once you have input this information into the website, you will then be able to access and download all your photos.
TOP TIP: TAKE A PHOTO OF THE RECIEPT ON YOUR PHONE, AS YOU WILL NEED THIS CODE TO ACCESS YOUR PHOTOS. By taking a photo of it you will have another copy of the code, as the receipt is very easy to loose.
Is the Disney PhotoPass+ worth it?
We took a 6 day trip to Disneyland Paris, and we feel that the PhotoPass+ was great for us.
There was 3 of us in our group (myself, my daughter and my sister), and there were loads of photos of all of us for just the one price.
We got 88 photos in total, with there being a mix of character and ride photos.
When we met most of the characters, there was a PhotoPass cast member there, and the photos that they took were all of AMAZING quality. Especially some of the photos of my daughter.
There was also the option to hand your phone to the cast members at each meet and greet, and they were always happy to take photos on your phone for free.
However, the quality of the PhotoPass photos were so good that we felt it was worth purchasing.
We are not normally people that would buy the ride photos (mostly because they would not be a flattering photo), but having these available to download was a nice added extra.
Summary
Our only criticism is that during our trip, there was no PhotoPass opportunity at the castle. I think this is something that Disneyland Paris should consider adding. As it would have been great to have some of their high quality photos, with the castle as a backdrop.
However, we would highly recommend purchasing the Disney PhotoPass+ for any trip, holiday or vacation to Disneyland Paris. We feel that the quality of the photos was very good at the meet and greets, and the ride photos are very funny to look back on.