Disney is getting ready to introduce automated cameras that will take your picture, instead of PhotoPass photographers at select meet and greet locations. An automated camera will be positioned in the room to take photos of your interaction with the characters.
To start, there will be 9 different meet and greet locations that will be using the automated cameras, and will debut in early 2019.
Disney will continue to have over 100 locations where Disney PhotoPass photographers will capture photos. The new automated cameras will capture moments of the experience from start to finish to allow guests to receive a wider variety of photos from which to choose than before.
So disappointing. Raise ticket prices and offer less services.
So that means no more candid shots then. This is a bad idea.
What are the 9 locations being converted to the “box of shame”? This is so sad.
Great for adults, terrible for young kids
This is clearly being done so that people with their own cameras can’t ask the photographer to take a picture of them with that and then not have to pay a ridiculous price for photos. No chance the automated pics will be as quick or as good as a photographers. And i’ve never understood why photos at Disney have to be that expensive….
There’s a character handler who will still be there who can take pictures for you. That’s who we always asked to take pictures when handing them my phone. I never asked the photopass photographer.
A good photographer can not be replaced by a automated camera. For example, take a family trying to get a picture with a character. A great photographer can position the kids and try to gain the attention of the entire group, including the children, better than a character saying something similar to “Look over there and smile”
A better laid out picture will sell better than a chaotic, always the same view picture. The automated camera will miss the guest/character interaction pics that make some of the best images.
Very curious about photograph automation. Anyone experienced this yet? Would like to hear firsthand accounts of how the photos look compared to the PhotoPass photographers taking them.
This sucks. So many of my favorite photo pass shots are the candid ones a machine will never get. If Disney is hurting for money, drop prices and people will come more. I’m so beyond mad about this change. It only serves Disney, not the client and not the employees and NOT THE KIDS.
What a horrible idea.
I’m disgusted by this change. People pay so much to come to the parks and they deserve human photographers and human interaction.
We should demand it.
I completely agree! We just went before Halloween for my sons make a wish trip and were blown away by all the great shots the photographers took of our family. They were so helpful for getting our kids to actually smile and look st the camera. This is a HORRIBLE idea and I garuntee it will be shot down fast. No t very many, if any, people are going to be happy about it. My fiance and I are planning to go back for our honeymoon. I pray this idea is long and gone before then because it will not be very magical with a stupid robot camera taking our pictures. We all need to write Disney and complain
I think that Disney missed in that it is losing a great asset to their parks, their photographers. We visited for 5 days in August and purchased Memory Maker. We had the best time taking pictures and the interactions with the photographs. It really is an experience by itself. Too bad that Disney is trying to save a few bucks by doing this.
Who do we email at Disney to let them know we think this is unacceptable? When you pay for the Memory Maker your expecting an actual photographer!!! Not a box that may or may not take a decent photo. If we wanted just basic photos we wouldn’t pay for the extra service!! I’m one unhappy Disney Momma!!
When you pay for memory maker, you are not paying for a Photographer. You are paying for a photograph. Remember, they have to take photos of everyone regardless if they pay for memory maker.
wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com
Guest.services@disneyworld.com
No no no no no no no no. Bad. The photographers add a lot to the whole character meet and greet experience.
This is so disappointing. Memory maker is such an incredible deal that we fully took advantage of, but if some of the pictures are being taken by a machine…. and as already mentioned this will keep those who want their pictures taken with their own cameras from capturing those memories. This is a bad move.
From what it says, the automated cameras will take pictures of the whole interaction – so maybe there will be more selection, including the candid shots?
Honestly, I’m usually less than impressed with Photopass “photographers”. Giving someone a camera doesn’t necessarily mean they have the skill to take a good photo, and often the results show that. Maybe this will be an improvement. Not sure it could be much worse.
The problem with the “box” is that it can’t move. Many times my daughter has run up to someone and all photos would be missed if the person taking the pictures hadn’t moved to a completely different angle to capture the priceless moments of interaction! This box would be great in an ideal situation where each child is the right height and stands “on the x” so to speak. In real life, this will never happen.
I hope they realize with these first few boxes that it’s a terrible mistake and just keep human interaction.
Look at it from a financial point of view. With the new $15/hour minimum, it would cost less to replace photographers with automated cameras and have about 10 IT guys to fix/replace them when they malfunction. With the cost of labor going up, cuts have to be made to keep the desired profit margin. Not saying it is a smart move, but I can see where they are coming from.
Robo-Chapek demands more robots, fewer expensive humans!
This is a HORRIBLE idea. A computer can not capture the magic that a real photographer can. Disney dropped the ball on this one, technology can NEVER replace the human touch. Especially when trying to capture once in a lifetime moments.