Capture Your Moment at Magic Kingdom: Awesome Memories!

Explanation of Capture Your Moment

Capture Your Moment is a private photo session at a Walt Disney World Resort theme park. It’s an extra expense where two Disney Photopass photographers will take photos of you and up to 8 people at scenic locations (or almost any location you like) inside the park, like in front of Cinderella’s Castle, the Tree of Life, or Spaceship Earth. One Photopass employee will be taking the photos while the other one assists with crowd control, lenses, and getting two-year-olds to pay attention.

My family and I recently did a Capture Your Moment session at Disney's Magic Kingdom park. Below I’ll give you more of the details of the Capture Your Moment photo sessions, specifically at Magic Kingdom, and an overview of our experience—uncooperative toddler and all.

How Much Does Capture Your Moment Cost?

Capture Your Moment's session price is $99 for a 20-minute session for up to 8 guests. You can also book additional 20-minute sessions if you want more time. This does not include the cost of the photos you want to keep or admission into the theme parks. You must have valid park admission in order to do it. Here’s a link to booking it.

What’s Included in Capture Your Moment Private Sessions?

The only thing included in the cost is a Disney Photopass photographer taking pictures of you. Everything else is an extra cost. You must purchase the pictures separately, and you must pay for admission into the park. The good news is that you can get access to all the pictures by purchasing Memory Maker for your trip or Memory Maker one day through the Disney Photopass service. You can also buy the pictures individually. Alternatively, if you have an annual pass that includes Memory Maker, your digital downloads are free.

Can You Meet Characters or Do Rides?

Unfortunately, you can’t get on rides or meet characters during a Capture Your Moment session. I’m not sure if that applies to random character encounters, though.

A great shot of our kids before the toddler started melting down. Taken while I was looking for my wife’s phone.

How do You Sign Up?

You can sign up on the Disney website or the My Disney Experience App to make sure there’s availability. Conversely, you can also sign up in person once you get to the park. I would only do this if you think of it at the last second. Otherwise, you should plan it out ahead of time to keep from missing out because it’s too busy. Here’s the link again.

Where Do You Check in or Sign Up?

To sign up or check in for your Capture the Moment session at Magic Kingdom, head to Liberty Square, next to the Hall of Presidents attraction, to the Liberty Square Ticket Office (just under where the Muppets used to appear, if you remember). Most special things at Magic Kingdom start in Town Square Theater near the entrance, so that threw us off, and we were almost late.

Our Review and Experience

We decided to do the Capture Your Moment Experience on a recent trip to Disney World. My wife loves pictures, but my kids hate them. She convinced them that this was their Christmas present to her, and they bought it.

Our goal was to take a few Disney pictures and a few pictures that were just Christmas without too much Disney theming that my wife could use for cards or something. I was just along for the ride, but having Photopass cast members catering to us was a fun experience.

They knew the best spots for taking pictures, like a sleigh near the Christmas store and great shots of the castle. The extra cast member was critical in keeping people from walking into the shot and keeping my kids paying attention so that we could get good shots.

We started off with a hidden sleigh in front of the Disney Christmas store in Liberty Square.

By the end of it, my toddler had enough, and I had to resort to tossing him in the year to keep him happy. All in all, it was a great experience. The Photopass photographer and helper gave us an amazing experience and great photos.

Since we’re annual passholders we were able to download the photos we wanted for free and use however we wanted. Completely irrelevant, but at one point my wife lost her purse and someone turned it into a store. I was able to track her phone back to the store and recover it. Most people, at least at Disney, are nice.

Tips for Capture Your Moment

I recommend doing Capture Your Moment in the late morning. Late morning means that the sun is relatively overhead so that it doesn’t cause a lot of weird shadows or get in your eyes. And, since it’s in the morning, it means that everyone isn’t sweaty, and the kids aren’t miserable. It's a great way to start your day and then move on to the Disney theme park fun.

Next, plan out the shots you want. If you want the castle, know where, or ask the cast member for a good shot. If you want rides or other iconic areas in the background, think through it. If you want something funny, be ready. Bring your clothes, change of clothes, wedding attire, and anything else you want. However, it’s only 20 minutes, so you want to be quick to get to the shots you want. 

Our favorite spot is to the right side of the castle, near Snow White’s well. Other great photo spots are the hub, the statues, or the other castles (Prince Eric's castle or Beast's castle). Also if you have a favorite ride, especially if it's about to close, go there.

Our toddler is starting to resist the photos. But this one is our favorite.

Most importantly, make sure everyone is on board, and have plenty of snacks for the little kids to keep them happy. And make sure you have park admission and any necessary park reservations.

Don’t be fooled by his smile. My antics are the only thing keeping him happy. Also, the guy in the background’s jacket confuses me.

Some of the best places to take pictures are on Main Street, in front of the castle, other areas in Fantasyland, or maybe in front of your favorite ride. It’s a great opportunity for a special occasion like an engagement, marriage, baby announcement, Christmas, or family photo shoot, maybe even a small family reunion.

Conclusion and Further Reading

Our Capture the Moment opportunity was a great opportunity for us to remember our Disney experience and have great photos in an amazing place. I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to have some great photos from their trip to Disney. It's a perfect way to celebrate a great trip or special occasion. It's amazing getting high quality pictures as so many great photo locations.

However, I recommend Disney's Capture Your Moment private session only to people who have a way to get the pictures (paying, memory maker, or annual pass with Disney Photopass entitlement, like us) and if the people in the photo are on board. Otherwise, you will incur an additional cost to get your photos (and the people will be recalcitrant). Our toddler gave us a run for our money, but we got some great pictures for our family at the Most Magical Place on Earth.

Have you done private photography sessions at the Disney parks? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.