Disney's PhotoPass Session at the Grand Floridian Resort, Walt Disney World, Florida

If you've never been to Walt Disney World then "PhotoPass" may sound like a foreign word to you. PhotoPass is really a little card that you carry around and get swiped anytime you see an official Disney Photographer.

PhotoPass breakdown

When you enter a Disney Park a Photographer approaches you and ask you to pose, usually in front of one of the Parks major icons - examples - if you're at the Magic Kingdom it would be the Castle, if you're at Animal Kingdom it would be the Tree of Life, if you're at Hollywood Studios it would be Mickey's Hat, and if you're at Epcot it would be Spaceship Earth. Of course there are many other locations to take pictures as the photographers are scattered in various places. If you decide to have your picture taken, the photographer will then swipe a card called a "PhotoPass" and hand it to you. This is yours to keep forever; you take it with you and use it free of charge anytime you see an official photographer. It's a good idea to take time to write down the number on the back of the card, as this is how the pictures are tracked. You can also take a digital picture of the back so that you will have the numbers in case your card is misplaced.

Important Note - If for some reason you are separated from your group and your PhotoPass card, you can obtain another one from a photographer and continue adding pictures to the new card. You can then combine these photos at a Disney Photo shop or online at the Disney PhotoPass website. Do not register them under separate accounts; enter them all under "one account". With the photos that you have on your card you can now view them and purchase photos and various photo related merchandise at the Photo Shops or online.

Now that you understand the basics of PhotoPass, I'll explain the service I received at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa with their PhotoPass service.

The Grand Floridian has started offering a twenty-minute one-on-one photo session at their resort. This is the only resort offering this service. The PhotoPass station is located on the second floor. They have two package choices available. The first is the $49.95 sitting fee or for $124.95 plus tax you can purchase the CD and all future photos that are added to your PhotoPass card. We chose the second option because we had this service done at the start of our vacation. First you have to purchase the CD. Then a photographer takes your family outside and does several outside shots. Next you're brought inside and run all over the resort posing for pictures. We had not taken family photos in years so this was an amazing opportunity. I have to say it did feel a little strange when she told our daughter that she was going to take a few pictures of mommy and daddy without her in them. (I was all giggly like a schoolgirl!) The shots of our daughter in the flower gardens are gorgeous. I have to say the photographer really worked with us. I explained that last year I purchased the PhotoPass CD only to get home and find that my eyes were closed in ALL of my pictures. She took extra steps and checked the pictures to make sure that my eyes were not closed. Yes she had to take several of the pictures over but she did not seem to mind. After our session, she burned our disk for us and told us that we could have this reburned at any Disney Photo Shops inside the parks. She even offered another one-on-one five-minute session if we wanted to come back at a later time in our trip. We scheduled this session thirty days in advance. (Earliest you could book the session.) I have to say that as expected the only pictures of me with my eyes open were the ones taken at the Grand Floridian. Every single park and every single picture my eyes were closed. Our last night of our trip we had the disk reburned at Hollywood Studios. They had no idea of what I was trying to explain to them about reburning the disk. It seems not everyone is familiar with the resort photo sessions. After making several calls the cast member finally redid the disk for me. (Almost an hour wasted.)

I would definitely book the photo session at the Grand Floridian again. The pictures that they took alone were well worth the money. You can schedule a PhotoPass session at the resort by calling 1-407-824-1700.