Is Memory Maker Worth It? (Disney World Phased Reopening)

After being closed for four months due to COVID-19, many families were ready to get back to the magic once the parks reopened. Of course, in order to reopen safely, Disney implemented many changes to help keep guests and Cast Members safe. From physical distancing to reduced contact to face coverings and more; visiting Disney World is definitely different than it was before the closure. With all these changes that have been implemented, we have received many questions about what it’s like right now! Recently, we received a question from one of our readers, Kathy, asking us whether Memory Maker is still worth it. We thought many of you might be wondering the same thing, so in this post we’ll be sharing our thoughts on this topic!

What is Disney’s Memory Maker?

In case you aren’t familiar, Disney’s Memory Maker is a photo service offered at Walt Disney World. Generally, we love Memory Maker and highly recommend it. When you purchase Memory Maker, you get unlimited digital downloads of all the photos you have taken during your vacation. This includes your on-ride photos in addition to all the photos taken by PhotoPass photographers around the parks. You can conveniently access and download all of your photos in your My Disney Experience account. Getting unlimited photos for one set price is just one of the many reasons why we love Disney’s Memory Maker!

Here is a link to our blog post where you can read our top tips for making the most of Memory Maker! (note: this post has not been updated since the phased reopening).

How Has Memory Maker Changed Since the Reopening?

Pre-COVID, we were huge fans of Memory Maker and would 100% say we think it’s worth it! Since the reopening and the many changes that have taken place, is Memory Maker still worth it? To determine that, let’s take a look at what has changed.

No Character Photos

First, a major change in the parks is that there are no traditional character meet and greets taking place. This means that Memory Maker no longer includes these character photos. Though there are characters around the parks, if you want to take a physically distanced photo with them you will most likely be on your own. For guests who have used Memory Maker in the past primarily for character photos, it may not be worth it for you anymore. For someone like us, who doesn’t typically do that many character greetings, we didn’t feel like we missed out.

Click here to read about what character experiences are like in the parks right now!

Masks in Photos

Another major change is that all guests in the parks must be wearing face coverings. Unlike Universal Orlando, where guests can remove masks for photos, Disney does NOT allow that. You must keep your mask on when taking photos, including when taking photos with PhotoPass photographers. Disney has also stated that if guests remove their masks for on-ride photos, they will not receive those photos. For us, we don’t mind having masks on in our photos. We want to remember our trip as it was; when we look back at the photos we will have masks on because that’s what we did on the trip! It’s a way for us to look back and remember what a crazy year 2020 has been – we want to remember our special Disney trip during this unique time in history. If this bothers you though, and you wouldn’t want to have lots of photos with masks, than you probably will not be able to make good use of the photos you take.

Here’s a post where you can read about our experience wearing a mask on our latest trip!

Perks of Memory Maker Right Now

What’s Still Included?

Even without the character photos, there are still plenty of opportunities to get photos that are included in Memory Maker. Ride photos are still included. Magic Shots are still available. PhotoPass photographers are still located in many places throughout the parks to take your photo in front of iconic backdrops. After spending a week at Disney World, our family had hundreds of photos. We were able to make great use of Memory Maker and we got tons of great photo memories!

Photos of the Entire Family

For guests who don’t purchase Memory Maker, they will probably be taking photos with their own camera or phone. When guests want a photo of their entire family, they often ask another guest to take it for them. However, right now that may be a bit trickier as many guests may not be comfortable doing that for you! Not only do they have to come within 6 ft of you, they also have to touch your phone. If you find someone who is comfortable with this, by all means, but just consider that it may not be as easy as it usually would be. Cast Members cannot touch your phone or camera to take pictures for you. Due to this, you may end up with very few photos of your entire party if you forego Memory Maker on your trip.

Is Memory Maker Worth It?

Overall, for us Memory Maker was absolutely worth it on our trip. We have tons of amazing photo memories from our vacation! We love getting the ride photos and taking pictures with PhotoPass photographers every chance we get. Wearing masks in our photos doesn’t bother us, and we don’t mind that we didn’t get character photos this time. If you will be bothered by masks in photos, won’t make good use of the unlimited photos, or don’t care about getting the whole group in the picture, it may not be right for you this time. For most guests though, we still recommend Memory Maker and think its a great value to add to your vacation!

Thank you again to Kathy for this great question. If you have any questions for us about our recent trip to Disney World or what it’s like during the phased reopening, let us know in the comments so we can address it in a future post!

Fairytale Wonders