We’re over at Walt Disney World this week on a family trip, and I’m absolutely loving the new Disney Memory Maker service that’s included in the price of park tickets bought in the UK.
The service means you ostensibly get all your park pictures thrown into your package … for free. That’s right, unlimited downloads of unlimited pictures for nothing!
It was live when we were here last year but suffered a few glitches. This year with those now ironed out, it’s much better, slicker and faster service… And did I mention it’s free?
The service works in conjunction with Disney MagicBands – the all-purpose bracelet that acts as park tickets, fast pass and even your room key if you’re staying in a Disney hotel.
When you have a photo taken by a PhotoPass photographer in the park, they simply scan the image numbers onto your MagicBand and within a couple of hours you can download them from the mydisneyphotopass.disney.go.com website.
You get unlimited pictures, and photo ops are everywhere – with characters, at Memory Maker locations such as in front of Cinderella’s Castle in Magic Kingdom, and on the rides… some of the latter don’t even require you to scan the MagicBand, it’s done automatically as you enter. The new-last-year Seven Dwarfs Mine train even uploads an automatic video…
If you buy the Memory Maker service in advance it costs $169 or $199 on the park – so the savings are enormous for guests who buy their park tickets in the UK. Our girls love having their pictures taken with the Disney princesses, so it’s saved us a fortune.
A word on the MagicBands themselves – they’re another clever Disney invention.
Aside from all the above, you can also register your credit/debit card to it, set up a pin number when your card is scanned, and then you can use it to pay for things in any Disney property.
Aside from a few single dollar bills for tips, I’ve not had to get a card out of my wallet all week. And with all the transactions being added to my hotel bill, it means I can pay it all at once and not suffer multiple transaction fees.
The MagicBands are available in different colours – and you can get customisable MagicBandIts – little pins with Disney figures such as the princesses, and Star Wars characters to decorate them.
In a couple of years, swapping the bands and the MagicBandIts is going to become as big a trend as the current pin trading phenomenon.
