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Don't get scared, PhotoPass isn't going away completely... Disney will soon be replacing PhotoPass photographers at meet and greet locations with an automated camera... First spot to roll this out will be the Tink meet and greet in Town Square Theater...
Eventually, this will roll out to all 9 dedicated meet and greet locations...
I heard this ... seems totally crazy to me! I guess I can't picture (pun intended) it in my mind. Stand in the box with the character and the machine will snap a picture? Too bad if someone is too tall, too short? Seems like a big miss ... I guess they aren't making money on pictures?
Disney is selling this as something good for the guest... They are trying to talk it up by saying the camera will snap multiple pictures of the interaction, and, like the ride PhotoPass pictures, you can then touch your magic band to the reader and you are in control of selecting the picture you want...Quote:
Originally Posted by ibelieveindisneymagic
However, my doubting Disney mind wonders if this is more about gouging the guests of even more money by forcing a Magic Maker purchase or PhotoPass purchase rather than just having the CM use your phone for the picture, like so many guests do... I can guarantee you some bean counter was sitting in his/her hot, windowless office in some trailer in the middle of a swamp in central Florida getting the idea, IF WE CAN FORCE PEOPLE TO STOP USING THEIR CELL PHONES AS CAMERAS, WE CAN FORCE MORE GUESTS TO BUY PICTURES...
On Instagram, I follow a young woman who works at WDW as a face character - she regularly portrays Cinderella, Aurora and Ariel.
She posted the following tweet from someone today regarding the new picture-taking boxes that will replace the human photographers:
"A box can't make my toddler smile. A box can't see a magical moment about to happen. A box doesn't have the patience to make my child feel safe. A box can't make a parent cry with the care and gentle words used when creating special moments for my children. This is taking the magic away..."
She then posted a quote from Walt Disney:
"You can design and create and build the most wonderful place in the world - but it takes PEOPLE to make the dream a reality."
It seems like some of the Disney character cast members are NOT happy about this new change.
Is there no end to their bad ideas? Granted, some of their photographers had much to be desired, but a human is still better than an automated picture. Even the DMV has this figured out.
This was tried and it failed before.
I was there when this was announced. It is not being well received by anyone. I think it will be a horrible thing. Who is going to purchase memory maker with pictures from a box!
The market will ultimately speak. Do people place a value on a human operating the camera or is an automated camera good enough? Will they pay more for that? Do they even understand what they are agreeing to? Disney seems to be able to get away with anything as long as they can withstand the initial negative reactions.
When I was discussing this with another person, they told me Disney is simply unable to find people to fill these jobs. Assuming that is true, the only reason such a profitable enterprise cannot find people is because they are not meeting the labor market's demand. Supply and demand applies in the labor market, too.
Disney's full time and part time pay goes to $11 per hour in December, then to $12 in 9/19 then $14 in 11/20 and finally $15 in 10/21. Look for less cast members and massive price hikes coming soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tekneek
By any stretch of the imagination, we've been seeing big price hikes over the past decade. Only now will it be tied to castmember compensation, so that when the market finally balks they can blame labor expenses for it (despite any rational follower of the company knowing that employees were not seeing it until late in the game).Quote:
Originally Posted by Altair
I believe their ultimate goal is to eliminate off site guests completely and to shift that dollar loss onto on site guests. Doing this will reduce their crowding problem without giving up the revenue, but at what cost to the on site guest?
MY DD was a photopass photographer at AK. It is one of the highest paying jobs for the regular cast. Cast members who are there for a while and can "roam" love it.
It is not an easy position to get so I find it hard to believe that they can not find people to fill theses jobs. Now I am not saying it is easy. The photopass photographers take pictures help communicate with characters, captures magic, is security for characters, stands in the sun for hours, is guest relations and more. These job add ons can not be done by a box.
I call bs on the "can't find people to fill the jobs claim." It is all about the money. They want to drop a few people off the payroll and not have someone there that can take the picture with the people's cell phone forcing them to buy photopass to get the pictures. It is just another money grab.
Winner winner....Quote:
Originally Posted by 1DisneyNut
That is all this is... they are looking for every way possible to squeeze every dime possible out of you, the guest...
It's not like they can prevent someone in your party from taking the picture with your phone. That's what I used to do before there was someone standing there offering to do it for me.
That is just awful! There were so many times that the photographers caught special moments, like the looks on our girls faces while they were waiting their turn, or my DH and I watching the girls greet the characters. It takes a person to do that.
I think this is a really bad idea. Hopefully it won't last too long
A friend of mine is Tink's handler in the MK. I'll pick her brain about how this is going next time we chat.
You can still hand your phone to the Character Attendent and have them take your picture.
They will still be there to help communicate between you and the character, make you smile, put you at ease, etc.
That would work in locations with one character (like TST). However, in locations with multiple characters (like Fairytale Hall), that may not be feasibleQuote:
Originally Posted by DonaldDuck1117
I can confirm. I was also told by Tink's friend that in places like Fairy Tale Hall the character attendants will still be there to keep the line moving.Quote:
Originally Posted by DonaldDuck1117
Anytime a character is out there will always be a character attendant. Changes in photo pass will not change this. They help keep the characters safe and on schedule for their time on stage