Memory Maker: the £160 freebie in your Disney ticket
What PhotoPass is, how to use it, and where the best photos are taken.
Memory Maker is one of the things included in the UK Disney Magic Tickets that people do not understand until they get home, and then wish they had used more. Here is what it is and how to get the most from it.
What it is
Disney's PhotoPass service has photographers stationed at the best spots in every park, cameras on the big rides, and "Magic Shots" where a character or effect is added to your photo afterwards. Every photo they take of you is linked to your account. Memory Maker is the package that lets you download all of them, unlimited, in full resolution. Bought separately it costs about $210. It is included free in the 7-Day and 14-Day Magic Tickets.
How to use it
- Link your ticket in the My Disney Experience app before you travel and make sure everyone in the party is in your Family and Friends list.
- At a PhotoPass photographer, show the app's barcode or your Magic Band. They will take several shots; ask for a Magic Shot if there is one.
- On rides with cameras, your photo is matched automatically if you scanned in with a band; otherwise link it at the ride exit kiosk using the number on the screen.
- Photos appear in the app within a few hours. Download them before your trip ends; they expire after 45 days.
Where the good photos are
In front of Cinderella Castle at opening before the crowds; on the bridge to Galaxy's Edge; in front of the Tree of Life; with the Spaceship Earth reflection at EPCOT. Ride photos from Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, Expedition Everest and Slinky Dog are usually the best of the lot.
Why it matters for the ticket decision
If you were going to buy Memory Maker anyway, the Magic Ticket's inclusion of it is worth more than the price difference between a UK ticket and a US one. Families routinely come home with three or four hundred usable photos, and a good number of them are the ones that end up framed.
