Disney’s attraction photos are supposed to always appear on your Magic Band automatically. They tag on when the photo is taken using either magic or RIFD technology, however you want to look at it. Some of the rides require a Magic Band to access the photos, because they don’t have a display at the end like Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and Pirates of the Caribbean. So, the only way to see them is on Disney’s Photopass, when they automatically tag on.
Except, when it doesn’t work.
Recently, I have had a few days in the parks where none of my ride photos showed up. The good news is, there is a way to recover the photos through Disney. Since I recently had to go through the online recovery process, I thought I would share the steps with you! It’s super easy, but I feel like most people don’t know that it’s an option.
Go to the Contact Us section on the Photopass website and fill out the form for missing photos. They’re going to ask which park, what time, what you were wearing, descriptions of the people in the photos, and a photo taken in the park the same day. Now that I know this, I like to always make sure we take a photo in the park where the photographer scans the photos onto my Magic Band, so I always have the exact outfits we were wearing. They will also ask you for the Magic Band ID number, which you can find here.
This was the reference file I sent in for the three of us.
You will get a generic response thanking you for contacting Disney Photopass, saying you’ll get a response in seven to ten days. I got my response much faster, asking for more information. I wound up sending more photos of what we were wearing, and I had to verify some information about my Magic Band and My Disney Experience account.
The reclaimed photo from Dinosaur.
It took a few days, and several rounds of emails, but they actually managed to recover all of the missing photos. Sadly, it’s happened again on a more recent park visit, and I think it’s time to retire my Duffy Magic Band. It’s a little over a year old, and I’ve been wearing it all three times that my photos haven’t showed up.
The reclaimed photo from Expedition Everest.