Disney Photopass Now Offers Attractions+

Disney Photopass has added Attraction+ to its lineup of offerings.  Guests can now purchase an Attractions+ card and get digital downloads of the photos taken on select attractions for $44.95.  After riding the select attractions, guests can present their Attractions+ card to the Photos Sales Center attendance and the ride photo will be added to the card.  Guests can then access the photos via the Photopasss website.  The card is good for 14 days and the photos must be claimed within 30 days, the same as other Photopass products.

Participating attractions include:

• Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom
• Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin at the Magic Kingdom
• The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• Rock’n Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
• Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Dinosaur at Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Test Track at EPCOT.

While Attractions+ adds to available Photopass services such as the Photopass CD (either pre-order or after your trip), Photopass +, and other gifts and photo books, I am wondering what the benefit of the Attractions+ card really is and who might be taking advantage of Attractions+. 

With attraction photos already available included in the purchase of Photopass+ and available to be added to Photopass when purchased at the attraction I am still confused about Attractions+.  The only folks who may get the most out of their money when purchasing the Attractions+ card would be those who are not taking any other Photopass photos and have no interest in the Photopass CD.  If a guest was planning on purchasing a Photopass CD, paying to upgrade to Photopass+ (getting both attraction and dining photos—click here to read more) is less expensive than adding Attractions+ to the regular Photopass service.

So, let’s say I am a teen or young adult traveling to Disney with a group of friends or a team and I want to have all of my ride photos.  Now, if I purchased each of them separately, it would be about $20 per photo and I would take home an 8 X 10 photo from the desired attractions listed above.  But if I am savvy, I could purchase the Attractions+ service and get digital access to the ride photos.  If I wanted prints, I would have to wait until I could order prints either from Photopass or another location for an additional fee.  But I would certainly have digital access and could share them electronically after accessing my Photopass account.  In this instance, Attractions+ makes sense! 

Yet, how would this teen or young adult be made aware of this offering?  Will Disney advertise the service beyond the Photopass locations?  Could the guest purchase Attractions+ while viewing the photos from Splash Mountain and decide then and there to make the purchase without having to traverse the park to Main Street and the Photopass location on Town Square?

There is no mention that Attractions+ can be purchased prior to a visit to Walt Disney World, so purchasing on-site is the only option at this writing.  I hope leaders of team travel are privy to this information and can steer the demographic most likely to take advantage of this offering in the appropriate direction.

Am I missing something?  Am I so blinded by the bright lights of Photopass CD’s and Photopass+ to see the magic behind Attractions+ and the potential it has for guests?  And, I am ever so curious about how it is being marketed and to whom.  Please chime in and let me know if you see more to this addition to the Photopass line-up than I am seeing currently. 

Attraction Photos Make Great Souvenirs

We buy the ride photos.  Yep, we are some of those people you see standing in line at the photo counter in the shops at the exit to attractions.  This was brought to my attention by the husband’s sister over the holiday break.  She was admiring all of our Splash Mountain photos. . . there are many!  But none from our last trip to Walt Disney World, as we didn’t ride Splash Mountain that trip.  It is however on our list of attractions for our next trip.

Why?  Well, they make a great souvenir!  The boy rode Expedition Everest for the first time on our trip in July and capturing his expression was priceless.  The girl in the photo was riding by herself in the single rider line and ended up with us on the ride, and in the photo.

I would also like to mention that while all of the photo counters have the technology to zoom and edit, only the Cast Member at Expedition Everest took the time to do that and make our photo even better.  We thank him!

The cost is less than other souvenirs.  The least expensive photo is the 8 X 10—counter intuitive, I know.  Price is typically $18.95 or so and sometimes there are photo and frame purchase specials.  Be sure to ask about those.  This price is less expensive than some of the other souvenirs that you might be tempted to purchase.  And, it doesn’t take up much space in the luggage on the way home!

On our November 2010 trip, we rode Splash Mountain twice in a row—using Fastpass of course.  Oh, the dilemma of having two ride photos to choose from.  But, Disney had thought of everything and had a way of putting both photos in the 5 X 7 size on one photo sheet.  Voila!  Problem solved.  We brought both photos home with us.  I’ll I had to do was ask.

There are many other attractions that have the ride photo imbedded:  Tower of Terror, Space Mountain, Rock’n’Roller Coaster (I think as I don’t know for sure!), and Test Track.  I’m also not sure about Haunted Mansion. . .

Test Track has the option of adding your ride photo to your PhotoPass account just by scanning your Photopass card with the appropriate picture.  We love that!  (Click here to read more about Disney’s PhotoPass service.)

We wish other rides would have photos—Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, and if Haunted Mansion doesn’t have it already, we think it would be appropriate.  The trick for us would be to get the whole family in one shot, as can be done with the attractions already incorporating a ride photo.

If you do decide to purchase an attraction photo, know that you don’t have to carry it with you all day in the parks.  You can have the photo, and frame if you desire, delivered to the front of the park to pick up when you exit, or if you are staying at a Disney Resort, you can have it delivered to your resort—it will go to the resort gift shop—and pick it up the next day.  Easy and convenient.