Photopass
It’s not mandatory, but Photopass can greatly improve the memories of your trip! The key thing is you have to put a little effort into getting the best out of it.
Photopass is Disneyland Paris’ souvenir photo system. Dotted around the parks you’ll find professional photographers ready to take your photo at a character meet, or super-impose something fun into your photo at a scenic location (Magic Shot). These photographers will hand you a paper card with a barcode and login details. From there you can go to Disneyphotopass.eu and view your photos. These will be watermarked by default and you can buy digital copies of your photos once you get home or purchase physical photos at any of the photo shops within the parks. You can even add fun photo frames or other photo-based products in the shop.
Other type of Photopass locations are on-ride photos or fixed meet and greet locations (such as Princess Pavilion, Meet Mickey Mouse and Meet Darth Vader at Starport). In the case of on-ride photos, there will be a bank of screens after you get off the ride showing a dozen or so on-ride photos. Look for your face and make a mental note of the number. Give this number to the Cast Member in the little photo shop after the ride exit and they will give you purchase options and crop other people out of your photo.
Photopass: Standard Photopass is free and offers a great way of dipping your toes into the world of high quality souvenir photos at Disneyland Paris. You get a temporary card (or several) and the photos are loaded onto these temporary accounts with a watermark. If you buy the photos to download, the watermark is removed. This is suitable for those who only want maybe a handful of photos.
Photopass+, is the enhanced paid option. The regular price is 85 EUR (75 EUR if you buy in advance via your travel agent) and for this you get a plastic credit card with your unique bar-code and login details. The card lasts 10 days and gives you full access to download all your character photos, on-ride photos and Magic Shots for up to 1 year after purchase. You can purchase Photopass+ as part of your Disney Hotel package or at one of the Disney Hotels and boutiques in and around the parks. The only limit to the number of photos you can load is the amount of effort you want to put into meeting characters, going on thrill-rides and finding Magic Shot locations around the parks.
For most Annual Pass holders, Photopass+ is a bit of a no-brainer. When you buy Photopass+ using an annual pass, the entire Photopass lasts for the whole year! For Silver Disneyland Pass holders, the annual Photopass+ is available at a 10% discount. For the Gold Disneyland Pass, the annual Photopass+ is included in the cost of the annual pass. Photos on this account will last 1 year from when they were taken and when you renew your annual pass, all your photos stay in the same account.
Some features are not included in any of the Photopass+ plans. There is still a 15 EUR additional charge for the Avengers Campus Training Centre slow motion “action shot” video. This is a moving slow motion video that makes you look like an Avenger standing beside your hero while the dozens of cameras flicker away. You can see the video either on the Training Centre photo kiosks or on the Photopass website (watermarked) before you decide to buy or not.
On-ride Photos
On-rides photos can be absolutely priceless as they usually record genuine surprise, amazement or terror in the moment! Disneyland Paris regulars will remember where the fixed cameras are and so its easy to get ready and make sure you get a good photo! Some of the most popular on-ride photo locations are:
Big Thunder Mountain
Hyperspace Mountain
Avengers Assemble: Flight Force
Buzz Lightyear Lazer Blast
Pirates of the Caribbean
Tower of Terror
Magic Shots
Magic shots are basically character photos without the characters! The photographer adds something fun or applies a fun edit to the photo after it’s taken. These usually have a very short queue but it can be one of the only times on your trip you can get everyone in for a group or family picture. You’ll see a small placard with Magic Shot and a preview of what edit the photographer will be doing at that location. Some of the effects are:
Adding a cartoon character to your photo (tiny Tinkerbell or some of Thunder Mesa’s townspeople)
Adding an effect to your photo (spooky Halloween filter such as above)
Adding a simple Disneyland Paris Frame to the photo (could be in front of the Castle, in front of Plaza Gardens restaurant or the Partners statue in Walt Disney Studios).
Looking for something more personal? You can privately hire a professional photographer such as Silvy Maatman to take beautiful photos of you and your family or group around the parks.