Disney is the king of the upgrade! Be it park hoppers, or special tours or special fireworks viewing, they know how to do the upsell. Many of these upgrades are things that we haven’t done simply because, well, Disney costs enough without an upgrade but there is one upgrade that I will never skip. The Disney upgrade you don’t want to skip is the Memory Maker.

Disney’s Memory Maker is a package you can purchase that will give you access to all photos you have taken by the PhotoPass photographers while you are in the parks. What is a PhotoPass photographer you ask? Well, Disney has professional photographers stationed in key places around the parks called PhotoPass photographers, that will take pictures of you and your family. These pictures are then uploaded to your account and if you have the Memory Maker you can download and keep all of them.

So, what makes these photos worth the extra charge?

PhotoPass photos are taken by trained photographers, stationed at the most photogenic places around the parks. This is a way to get high quality photos, of your whole crew, with Disney icons in the background. The PhotoPass photographers also have the ability to do Magic Shots. Magic Shots are pictures that may include Disney characters, a special digital add in or a special frame. When your photographer tells you to look down and act surprised, you can expect that when the photo shows up in your account there will be some cute little Disney character added to your shot. Another benefit of using the PhotoPass photographers that most people don’t think about with this, but definitely holds true for my crew, is that my kids are a lot more likely to be cooperative if someone else is taking the photo and not mom or dad.

So, let’s talk cost of this upgrade. You can make this purchase while you are in the parks however if you make the purchase at least 3 days before your trip it will save you a little money. If you purchase Memory Maker at least 3 days before your trip, it will cost you $169. If you purchase it within that 3 day window, your cost will be $199.

In addition to housing all of your PhotoPass Photos, Memory Maker also has a few additional features. Memory Maker gives you access to all of your ride photos, it allows you to put special digital frames on your photos, and you can order photo products directly from Disney.

Key tip for Memory Maker success: You will be disappointed in your Memory Maker purchase IF you don’t stop to take enough photos. How many pictures you get is totally dependent on how many you stop to take. PhotoPass photographers are all over the parks but you have to watch for them and hop in those lines. It is 100% possible that you will only come home with a few photos and feel really jipped if you don’t stop to take these photos.

You probably wouldn’t be reading this blog if your Disney vacation was not something very important to you, that you’ve done a ton of planning for. Memory Maker photos will provide you with wonderful pics of your magical trip that you can cherish forever.