CD price hike takes magic out of Disney trip

Posted January 12, 2008 10:00 pm

By Christopher Elliott

Q. Disney is holding our photos hostage and I need your help getting them back.

My girlfriend and I just returned from a visit to Disneyland. When we arrived at the park, we were told about its PhotoPass program, a service that allows you to get photographed by cast members during your visit and to then buy the pictures.

We were told that we could get all of our photos on a CD for $59.99, and that we could also view the pictures and order them online. We figured that it was a decent deal. We had about 70 photos taken, and were excited by the prospect of not having to pay about $13 per picture per print, but could make our own photos. By the end of the day, we didn't have time to go back and order the CD.

Today, I went to the PhotoPass Web site (www.disneyphotopass.com) and registered, only to find the CD costs $124.95. There is no phone number to call or address to write to with questions. Now they have our photos. We were there as a couple and it is hard to get nice photos together. We felt so lucky to get all of these pictures, only to get gouged. What should we do?

Marco McFarren, Tucson, Ariz.

A. So Mickey wants a ransom for your snapshots. Jeepers! Talk about taking the magic out of your Disney vacation.

Disney should have honored the price it originally gave you when you agreed to participate in the PhotoPass program. But a quick check with my Disney contact confirms that the rate you were offered for the CD on the Web site was correct. A Disney representative should have disclosed the $65 price difference between the CD you buy at the park and the one you purchase online.

So someone either misspoke when they told you about PhotoPass or you misunderstood what the Disney photographers were offering.

Full disclosure, here: I live in Orlando, I have three kids younger than 5, and I take them to Disney World almost every weekend. I see these cast members with cameras in action all the time.

They don't have easy jobs. They stand there in the blistering heat and shoot thousands of photos each day. I can see how one of them might offer an incomplete description of PhotoPass, or that in all of the excitement of arriving at a theme park, you might hear only part of what they're saying. It happens.

I checked the PhotoPass site to find out how to go about contacting the service. Although I could find no phone number or address, Disney offered an e-mail form. Like you, I find that disappointing. A phone number would be helpful and certainly more convenient.

I asked Disney to review your case, and a representative from the Disney Photo Imaging Department contacted you in response. She said there was a way to buy the CD online for the same price as in the park, which someone should have explained to you while you were at Disneyland.

Disney sent you a $75 coupon that can be used to buy your CD. Enjoy your photos.

The Travel

Troubleshooter

Christopher Elliott is the

ombudsman for National

Geographic Travelermagazine.

E-mail him at

celliot@ngs.org or troubleshoot

your trip through his

Web site at www.csr.elliott.org.

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