Is Photopass worth it?

[NewbieMom]

Wondering if there are many (any?) Photopass opportunities at the moment? What are the characters available recently?

 

[vacay77]

We were there in May but other than photos in front of the characters, there really weren't any photo pass opportunities. We didn't buy those photos because we were able to use our own cameras for those photos, too. I didn't think photopass was worth it, although I did purchase the character breakfast and luau photos.

 

[chilly2336]

post removed as I didn't read the thread title...apologies.

 

[Hunnybee]

We just got back from our Hawaii vacation. We did our first 3 nights at Aulani and last 6 nights at Embassy Suites Waikiki Beach.

We DID buy the Photopass. However, we had scheduled 2 private sessions for our daughter's senior pictures. We did a daytime and sunset portrait session. They were absolutely STUNNING! SO worth the money!! We loved our photographers (shout out to Adam & Romeo!!!)!!! One of the perks of doing a special session is that you can buy the photopass for half off.

When we paid for our private sessions (had to be done prior to the actual sessions), we inquired about that offer. The lady that helped us told us we might want to wait to see how many pictures we actually had taken, since there were not very many photopass opportunities currently. At the end of our stay, we decided we had seen enough characters that it WAS worth the $50 to purchase the photopass. Unfortunately, our character breakfast pictures were NOT included in that...they were another $35! And, I have to call them because 3 of those are still locked!!

There were not many photographers just walking around right now. My daughter DID run in to one lady who was thrilled to take her pictures by the koi pond with the lobby/lodge in the background. We saw her, some characters had a photopass opportunity (1 of the ones we went to didn't have a photopass person at), and there was a photographer taking pictures on the beach at sunset.

I'm not sure it would have been worth it if we had to pay the full $100...especially since that didn't include the character meal. If I were you, I would get pictures taken, hang on to the cards and decide before you leave. See if you even have a lot taken...that might be your answer!

As far as characters, we saw Stitch, Olu, Mickey & Minnie, and Chip & Dale at the character meet on the lawn. HUGE shout out to the CM who ran into the pool area to find us since he had inadvertantly given us the wrong Stitch information for the day!!! We saw Goofy, Pluto, and Moana at the pools ... they were walking back and forth on a bridge. You can see them when you go on the lazy river and you can walk up to the barrier blocking off the bridge and do pictures/interact with them. GREAT interactions, despite not being able to get close to them...especially on the bridge!

Have a wonderful time! We LOVED Aulani!! I could have lived in the lazy river forever!!!

 

[pinkxray]

@Hunnybee- thank you for your post. We don’t travel until April but I am already thinking of doing the sunset photos so it’s good to know about the discount.

off topic- how was Embassy Suites? We are doing 3 nights there before 6 at Aulani

 

[Scott5150]

I am considering the private photo sessions - how much was each session?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[cgattis]

Cmon @Hunnybee, you’ve gotta give us a sneak peek of the fabulous pics—at least one!! We were lucky enough to have some amazing pics taken st sunset by a Photopass photographer, and they make me smile every day covering my bedroom walls

 

[DRussell83]

Oh man I’m sooo tempted to do a sunset session in September especially because we didn’t have a formal wedding photographer - I think my biggest fear is the day we pick the sunset will be a bust - is that silly thinking considering it’s Hawaii and every sunset is supposed to be amazing!

 

[cgattis]

Oh man I’m sooo tempted to do a sunset session in September especially because we didn’t have a formal wedding photographer - I think my biggest fear is the day we pick the sunset will be a bust - is that silly thinking considering it’s Hawaii and every sunset is supposed to be amazing!

You can always do a walk-up session on another with the regular PP photographers as a backup! We actually did two sets of sunset pics just to make sure we got good ones—our first and last nights. The first ones were very meh due to clouds (and the photographers abilities). The second ones turned out amazing.

 

[NewbieMom]

Thanks @Hunnybee! Your write-up was spot on! We just returned from Hawaii too, so I haven't been checking the boards.

We opted for the "daytime" beach photo session. Pictures came out great, and the photographer did a great job getting my kids to look. Sessions start earliest at 5pm. It costs $225, and I believe the sunset session was $50 more. Sunset sessions start around 7pm, and looks amazing. My kids are young so they're getting ready for bed by then. I did take my 1 year old to watch the sunset one evening (she fell asleep on a beach chair shortly). As mentioned, you can also get photopass for $49 if you pay for a private photo session. You can wait until checkout day to buy it. We saw Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, and Moana (no photopass photographer) on the lawn. We did the character breakfast and saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and decided to buy those pictures for $35.

Hope everyone going has a wonderful time! It was our 1st stay at Aulani and we absolutely loved it and can't wait to go back!