Having a group portrait taken is a special experience which provides families with a cherished heirloom. How wonderful would it be to have such a photo taken while on vacation at Walt Disney World? Disney Fine Art Photography just so happens to provide this service. With several options available, families can capture a special occasion, or just choose to commemorate a once in a lifetime family experience.
On our recent vacation, my husband and I decided to book a Mini Portrait Session to celebrate our anniversary and our son’s first visit to Walt Disney World. In order to ensure that we received a slot that fit within our vacation plans, I booked our session in March for our October vacation (around the same time I booked our dining reservations). Your session can be reserved by filling out the online form or calling Disney Fine Art Photography directly at 407-934-4004 between [9:00] AM and [5:00] PM, seven days a week. Following the initial booking, you will receive an email confirming your party’s date and time as well as your portrait location and the location where you will meet the photographer. There is also a link in the email with suggestions on attire.
We had planned to stay at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort, and since it is our favorite resort in Walt Disney World, we decided that it was the best choice for our portrait session. On the day of our shoot, we met our photographer, Jackson, in the Great Ceremonial House. There, he asked if we had any locations in particular where we wanted our photos taken. I responded by saying that we loved the entrance to the Great Ceremonial House where there is a bridge with water features and lots of tropical foliage. I told him that other than that area, I trusted him to know where the best places would be for our photos.
While the mini session is described as being 20 minutes long, we never felt rushed, and it ended up being more like 30 minutes. We took our first set of photos around the entrance, and then Jackson took us to two other locations on the resort grounds, one of which afforded us photos with Seven Seas Lagoon and Cinderella Castle in the background.
As we moved between locations, we learned that Jackson had been a professional photographer for 27 years. When I asked him where his favorite places in Walt Disney World to shoot were, he responded that everywhere in Walt Disney World is wonderful, but he is partial to the Polynesian and the Morocco Pavilion in Epcot.
Following the photo taking, we returned to the Great Ceremonial House where our photographer reviewed our photos with us and put them on a flash drive. We ended up with 66 images including photos of all three of us and several different breakdowns. With the flash drive, we were given a copyright release so that we could have the photos printed wherever we choose. In addition to providing the digital copies, Disney Fine Art Photography keeps the files on hand for up to three years in the event that something happens to the drive. They also provide printing services including special books and other gift items.
In our case, we were looking for a casual session at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort. Since it and all other Walt Disney World resort hotels are options within the Mini Portrait Session ($225 plus tax), it fit our needs. However, there are other options which allow for your photos to be taken inside the Walt Disney World theme parks:
Mini Portrait Session with Cinderella Castle Backdrop ($249): 15-minute session with a Disney photographer and assistant at an exclusive Magic Kingdom location with Cinderella Castle in the background, admission required
Enhanced Portrait Session at a Theme Park or Resort Hotel (starting at $499): 1-hour session with a professional Disney photographer and assistant at any Walt Disney World Resort, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios or World Showcase in Epcot, admission required
Magic Kingdom Family Portrait (starting at $1999): 1-hour session with a Disney photographer and assistant in five different locations within Magic Kingdom prior to park opening, admission required.
These other options utilize a website for downloading your images instead of the flash drive and some of the packages include special printing services. The number of Guests that can be included in the session also depends on the option selected. Our session would have allowed for a maximum of 20 Guests.
I was very pleased with all aspects of our session, and I highly recommend Disney Fine Art Photography to anyone looking to commemorate a special occasion while visiting Walt Disney World.
(Photos from the author’s personal collection.)
To learn more about Kendall and read her recent posts for the WDW Radio Blog, visit her author page by clicking the link on her name at the top of this post.
