Disclaimer – All information in this article is true at the time of writing, January 2022
I’ve seen a lot of people online asking how Photopass + works and more importantly, if it’s worth the money. I thought I’d take the opportunity to explain all and give my 2 cents!
What is PhotoPass +?

PhotoPass + allows you to collect all the photos taken by the Disneyland Paris photographers at selected locations and character meets for one single price. Plus you get all of your on-ride photos available to download as high quality digital image files!
How Does It Work?
When you meet a character or visit a Magic Shot (more on this later!) and a PhotoPass photographer is present, you simply hand over your pass before you meet the character/get the shot. The photographer then scans your pass and snaps away while you pose and interact with the characters.
You can view your photographs on the PhotoPass + website around 30 mins after your meet. It can take slightly longer for them to appear on busier days.
You can also use Photopass + to keep your ride photos. After your ride ends simply head over to the photo viewing area and find your photo on the screen. Take note of your code which usually looks something like “B5754” and a Cast Member will add it to your pass for you!

Where Can I Get a Photopass?
You can pick up a PhotoPass + from most of the shops in the parks and from the shop in your hotel (if you’re staying on-site!)
If you’ve booked your trip through a travel agent, you can contact them directly and ask them to add it to your package.
If you still haven’t decided if it’s worth your while by the time you arrive, don’t worry! After your character meets, the PhotoPass photographer will give you a temporary card. You can collect these throughout your trip and decided at the end if you want to purchase a full pass – or just an individual photo.
TOP TIP – Ride photographs are wiped at the end of each day – so decisions about buying ride photos need to be made sharpish!
How Much Does PhotoPass Cost?
Buying your PhotoPass + at the parks costs €74.99 but occasionally your travel agent may be able to add it at a small discount.
Photopass for Annual Passholders
Annual Passholders have the opportunity to purchase an annual Photopass – which is valid for a full year from the date of purchase.
The annual Photopass is free for Infinity Passholders. Magic Plus passholders can purchase one for €59.00 and Magic Flex passholders can purchase one for €65.00.
The annual Photopasses can be bought/collected at The Emporium or Floras’ on Main Street.
Where can I use my PhotoPass?
Rides
At the time of writing (January 2022) – these are the rides which currently offer PhotoPass:
Disneyland Park
Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast (Discovery Land)
Hyperspace Mountain (Discovery Land)
Big Thunder Mountain (Frontier Land)
Pirates of the Caribbean (Adventure Land)
Walt Disney Studios
Tower of Terror
You must wear your mask when you’re on the rides. If you take your mask off for the photo – Disney will photoshop one on for you before you can download or buy it.
Characters
The official Disneyland Paris app will tell you which characters have a Photopass Photographer each day. Sadly not all characters do, but we’ve noticed that they seem to be gradually adding more Photopass Photographers in the park.
You can remove your mask for outdoor character meet and greets.
Magic Shots
A Magic Shot is a photo where Disney digitally enhance it to add something extra, such as a character or a special effect.
Unfortunately the Magic Shots and their timings change very frequently, so there’s no real way of knowing when and where you’ll be able to get them, but they are all over both parks.
Misc Photo Opportunities
At certain park “landmarks” you can often find a Photopass photographer taking photos of guests – for example in front of the castle, or the partners statue at Walt Disney Studios!
Pros
First and foremost, the photos are really good quality. I use them over on my Instagram all the time, and they usually require very little editing.
The PhotoPass pays for itself really easily. On a 4 day trip, we’ve collected 70 photographs. Considering they’re about €15 each to buy – it’s a no-brainer for us. We’ve had character meets where the photographer has taken 10 beautiful photos and there’s no way we could’ve picked just one to bring home!
Finally it really takes away the “faff” of getting your phone ready as soon as it’s your turn to meet the character. All you have to do is hand over your pass and let the photographer do the rest!
Cons
- Not all rides and character meets have PhotoPass opportunities.
- Some PhotoPass photographers are better than others. For example, we met Phantom Mickey on the last day of our February 2019 trip. I had just bought a Phantom Minnie plush and I was showing it to Mickey. He kissed it and danced around with her and the photographer didn’t capture ANY of it. He just waited until we were ready to do “posed” photos. I wasn’t impressed. BUT we had a brilliant photographer when we met Donald on the same day and he photographed Donald stealing my Fab 5 backpack, which was really funny and gave us some great photos!
- You can download the photos directly from the PhotoPass website to your phone – but the quality isn’t great. Downloading the photos to a laptop/desktop is the best way to ensure maximum quality!
Overall
We love PhotoPass + and wouldn’t go on a trip without one.
If you’re only going to be visiting Disneyland Paris for a day or two – do your research and plan the rides/characters you really want to visit. Then research whether these have PhotoPass opportunities. That way, it will be clear whether it will be worth investing in PhotoPass + .
As always, if you have any questions or if there’s anything I haven’t covered – please leave a comment and I’ll do my best to answer!
If you enjoyed this content – make sure to check out some of my other Disneyland Paris articles and Instagram account where I share daily Disney magic and tips!
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Photopass +!
We’ve been humming and harring over it for months now but could never decide if it would be worth it for us. Based on your post, I totally think we should go for it! This has been a huge help so thank you.
Hayley | https://www.thriceuponadream.com
No problem I’m glad it was helpful! – it was really worthwhile for us because we love characters and it actually sounds like they’ve got more photopass photographers now than when we went ! Have an amazing trip xx
If you get a multi day park ticket, does the photo pass last you for days as well? Or you have to pick one day for the photos?
Hi Deni! The PhotoPass is active for 10 days so you only need to buy one and it will last for your whole trip x
Is all the rides available for photo passes
The rides that currently have Photopass are:
Hyperspace Mountain (Discovery Land) Big Thunder Mountain (Frontier Land) Pirates of the Caribbean (Adventure Land)
Tower of Terror (Walt Disney Studios)
Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast also has Photopass but it’s closed until August for refurb!
Hello just to make sure – you can use 1 Photopass for 1+ people?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts x
Hi Sofia!!
Thank you so much for reading! Yes you can use 1 Photopass for your whole group 🙂
Have a magical trip x
Total waste of money and after a very bad experience only got 4 photos and NO RESPONSE from Disney as I had brought my granddaughters an autograph book so I could at least put in an official photo of the princesses still seething 12 months later Heather
I’m sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with it!
Do you have to pay to download images from photo pass?
Hi Keith – you just pay one payment of €74.99 and all the photos are yours to download, print or do whatever you want with!
If you want them to print it out do you have to pay extra for this or is it included in the photopass plus price and if so how many can you get
The Photopass includes the digital download – not the print outs! You have to pay to get them printed on-site or print them yourself at home!
A really random question – my son can be funny about cameras flashing…I know there’s no way to get round this on rides and hopefully he’ll be distracted enough by the ride, but the character meets…do they use a flash? Really love the idea of the photopass as I’m always the one taking the photos and never in them.
I am so sorry for the late reply – this went into my spam folder! They definitely use flash on the rides but I genuinely can’t remember about meets, it’s not something I’ve ever taken notice of! But I’m sure if you asked the photographer not to use flash – they wouldn’t! But it may jeopardise the photo quality!
Can you take photos yourself with characters or do you HAVE to use the photopass?
You can take photos yourself! But the quality with Photopass (especially in indoor locations) is a lot better!
Can you buy the photo passes when your in the park are do you have to pay before your trip to Paris disney
You can buy them when you get there from most of the shops in the parks and in any of the hotel gift shops!