Photopass QA- I Didn't Want to See That! - Ep 85 Confessions of a Theme Park Worker

There were a couple of ways to review photos at Disney- in the view with the guests, or through QA, which reviewed every photo the photographers took- and sometimes saw things in them they wish they hadn't.
A behind the scenes look at what a former worker at Disney World, Silver Dollar City, and Busch Gardens Florida experienced in his time working at the parks. From driving large safari trucks around live wild animals while cracking one silly joke after another, to spending 5 years as a PhotoPass photographer at Walt Disney World and seeing and experiencing all sorts of things, to being a conductor and train robber on the famous Frisco Silver Dollar Line at Silver Dollar City. With 10 years of working in the parks, there's lots of stories to tell. Here is some of them...
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Ben Thornburg; Richard Meredith; Daniel Snowdon; Andrea Jacobsen; Peter New; Deana Martin; Kathy Goodman; Tamara Dillon, Bri Leiza

[@juliaruby1026]

3 seconds into the video, saw the hat, freaked out!

[@kathygoodman6159]

I love your "behind the scenes" stories! As an avid Disney fan who dreamed of being a Disney tour guide as a teenager, I love hearing about what it's like to work for Disney. I know that there is a lot of controversy about how strict they are, but I really appreciate that. It really makes for a better experience for the guests. I'm so glad to have found your channel. You are a fantastic storyteller with a great sense of humor and a positive outlook that really comes across. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

[@Allisonmarie567]

When I went to Disney last year in February we got a weird picture on our photo pass account. We had to swipe our magic bands on photo kiosks to get our photos on the Disney picture app for your cell phone and somehow we ended up with this random guys picture on our account. No one swiped a magic band to get that picture on our account. It was the weirdest & funniest thing ever and it became a joke for the rest of the trip after that. We’d be getting ready for bed in our hotel and someone would bring it up “I still don’t know how that guy showed up in our pictures. Who is that guy?”. lol!! It was so strange. It was one single picture of a random guy on a ride. We still don’t know to this day how that even happened. Lol! It was so weird, but so funny when everyone met up with each other the first time & realized. “Why is there a random guy in our pictures?”. Lol

[@SirWillow]

If you used magic band, then the ride photos get added automatically. it's possible for those to get slightly mixed up though. I had another photo of test track added to mine in addition to the one I was in.

[@wizardkitty1]

My husband and I went to Disney for our honeymoon. We have this one photo where behind us a guy was passing by grabbing his crotch. I didn’t notice it until I got the photo put in a calendar and printed out.when we got to that month I had to on a post it note there to block him out. Lol.

[@jemimajust827]

😂😂😂

[@TheClumsyJedi]

Oh, NO. *hides eyes* I'd scream, too! Great explanation of how hard people like you work/worked to keep things family-friendly. Like any other production, it's the editors that work the most.

[@cijmo]

You scared my cat when you screamed LOL

[@yankeesman14]

I love this video! I love photography, and I’m not surprised that you have people trying to be rude in photos like that. I’ve had people try to do that to me at car shows and when I’ve taken photos at Disneyland. I do know it’s hard to keep an eye on everything while taking photos, and that’s why I give a lot of credit to park photographers! I also seriously got a good laugh in your bloopers section when you included the mahna mahna song from the muppets!

[@debbrown660]

Hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Sir Willow!

[@knightphox]

Loved it. Your channel gives me the exact behind the scenes I needed

[@alyssarouso]

The Mana Mana blooper at the end had me in tears!

[@DrewtheDisneyDude]

Figment Funko Pop!! First thing I saw! 😂😂

[@warriorseamonkey1693]

The Midway Maniac I have one

[@michellewagner6549]

Great vlog as always! Didn't realize so much went into a picture. Makes me appreciate it even mire!

[@kidfrombrooklyn66]

Heard about this - Women going down SPLASH MOUNTAIN thinking their are at MARDI GRAS & GAVE IT THEIR ALL FOR THE CAMERA & IN ORDER TO GET A RE-TAKE SOME GET TO RIDE IT AGAIN. They got me waving at the camera at TOWER OF TERROR & got one where I getting a hug from LILO & I though that was the BEST PICTURE (& funniest) for that year.

[@SirWillow]

Actually peter, if people were caught doing that on Splash, they did get another ride- right out of the park.

[@skatingkatieable]

😂 Great video. We had a castle photo which had a rather large bum in the background. Someone just walking in the other direction. The photo pass photographer was trying to hid it with embellishments. But I think in the end just left it there. As the border was highlighting the butt on show. 😂😂😂

[@motherofdragonsandsirens431]

Very informative video! We never invested in photo pass in the past, but I'm hardcore considering it for our next trip because of your videos. Thanks, buddy!

[@randomvrperson4967]

Your channel has made me want to go to Disney Land, I live in Oklahoma, but I have been to Silver Dollar City, and I can definitely confirm the awesomeness of it! I rode every coaster there, and they are all awesome!

[@darthyoda1420]

Very interesting to learn about all the stuff you wouldn't even know happened behind the scenes unless you worked there. Awesome video as always.

[@sandrao4726]

My fun one to catch at the view centers was the fly down. I would just casually zoom in and shift the photo down or add an overly and most guests never noticed.

[@SirWillow]

Sandra O I remember doing fixes like that a number of times. LoL

[@Joe-yl8dh]

I like your hat man!

[@SpeedyWheelzOfficial]

Digging the Doctor Who hat! Im a huge fan of it!!! been watching it for years lol

[@strongsadventures]

LOL. You did a great of talking about this subject. I laughed every time you got to a delicate subject. I was wondering how you were going to handle this. Another great video as always. Happy thanksgiving to you and yours.

[@richardmeredith6534]

Muppets Mah Nà Mah Nà song..rofl!

[@godofzombi]

Aaawww I'd loved to have seen that cheetos-baby photo.

[@craigkollai2806]

I got a nice laugh from the Muppets Mah Nà Mah Nà clip!

[@ashleydearbornsliwa4701]

that one with the baby isnt fair :( the baby didnt mean to "give the finger"

[@NightAngelMarine]

Your outakes are a hoot man, thank you

[@Roadent1241]

10 extra points for that Muppets Ref, good job thinking of that! Can you do like spread hands/fingers (like jazz hands I think?) for photos, since we can't do the V/peace sign? Or best to just keep your hands tucked in front of you?

[@SirWillow]

+Roadent1241 jazz hands was fine. I saw that on a regular basis

[@malissahuff6638]

Did you see tim tracker was at sliver dollar city?

[@SirWillow]

yeah, but I didn't see it until after they left. So I missed a chance to meet up with them. :-(

[@gleamglowanimation637]

Can you do a video over your Disney merch?? Also things you got as a cast member?

[@SirWillow]

I actually have done a couple of videos about those things! :-) just do a search on my main channel page for collections

[@safariprint1972]

Great video. !! Are able to do a video with what camera Photopass photographers use and what lenses and how you get such clear sharp photos? Thank you

[@SirWillow]

I actually have done a video on that, sort of, where I talk about the gear and the settings they use. You can see it at kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJ_GoHlmmKh3pKc Adn getting clear, sharp photos is all about using the right settings and making sure that you have it in focus before taking the photo.

[@safariprint1972]

@@SirWillow ok thank you!!

[@safariprint1972]

I know the photographers dnt shoot video! Sorry I explained it wrong .. I was asking if you could do a video of it. But you linked one. thank you.

[@SirWillow]

@@safariprint1972 hehe, yeah, right after I posted the comment I realized I misunderstood what you were saying. so I edited it and answered a bit better for you. sorry about the confusion

[@XlittleXdrummerXgirl]

Oh my gosh, I had NEVER heard of a suntan swimsuit before this, but have the urge to share to save a life!

[@johnskowronski4906]

have a great Thanksgiving the only time I could have gone to Disney was during Thanksgiving on leave from the army but had to go home and take care of my mom what you don't know is I lost my dad when I was 17 I turned 18 in the service he never got to see me in uniform so mom came first Disney had to take a back seat

[@andreakeno7694]

No suntanning swimsuits, got it! 😂

[@TimeNerd]

Can’t wait to go to silver dollar city this week. Which day should we go. We’re leaving tomorrow ( which is Thursday) early in the morning. Should we go when we get there Thursday, Friday or Saturday. I’ve been there so many times but I never keep track of which day was the most busy

[@SirWillow]

+Time_ Nerd thanksgiving week all of them are going to be packed to the gills. Thursday might be a little lighter, but I'd expect huge crowds every day

[@johnskowronski4906]

did the trackers find you ??? they just put up silver dollar video up

[@SirWillow]

No. They were here a week and a half ago and I didn't know they were here until after they left. :-(

[@ngc427]

xD I have the same exact Star Wars t-shirt.

[@DanceAndMoreStore]

Best. Hat. EVER!

[@thundermcking6969]

Loved the shirt even more!

[@DanceAndMoreStore]

Gotta say - both are pretty freaking awesome! :-D

[@thundermcking6969]

Definitely! 😊

[@agustinblanco7811]

85 episodes, you have to do something big for the 100 :) Saludos from Argentina

[@SirWillow]

I have some thoughts for it. :-)

[@LOREMMUSICOFFICIAL]

do they still have the view? i got the photopass role at the dcp and im curious!

[@SirWillow]

"The view" is essentially any store where they let guests view and buy their photos

[@randomdisney9969]

I am surprised that Disney doesn't have a dress code when it comes to pictures

[@ZakkuTakku]

If a guest's asked and/or complained about not receiving certain photos due to QA deeming them inappropriate and deleting them, how did you guys handle that? Just curious.

[@SirWillow]

apologizing is about all we could do. Depending on the photo, we might be able to retake them, but that wasn't always possible. We also didn't know if QA had deleted them. If you were working the counter there were no messages saying photos were deleted or why, they simply weren't' there with no way to find them. For all we knew, it could have been camera issues, the guest had the wrong photopass number, or even that the photos were never actually taken.

[@emeraldgypsyheart]

How did the photos go from the camera to the Photo Pass? SD... or Wi-Fi? Just courious...

[@SirWillow]

+Shay’s tiny corner of the interwebz Disney Magic and pixie dust in the air. :-)

[@sandrao4726]

Wifi through the PDA's that scans the photopass card. The cameras are wired to the pda's and the memory card in the camera was only about 256mb. The PDA had a larger memory to store the whole set of pictures taken before the card is scanned. Once it's scanned the group of pictures is sent over wifi to the servers. If the servers were down, the pictures would back up to the PDA until it connected.

[@chriscalvin5083]

good video

[@maryyjanee247]

Sucks you couldn’t meet up with the trackers

[@SirWillow]

yeah, I'm bummed. I would have liked to have met up with them as well, but I didn't have a clue they were in the area.

[@maryyjanee247]

SirWillow yea it seems they were there multiple days I'm sure you guys now have enough time to do a meet up when you come down

[@SirWillow]

maryyjanee247 I hope so.

[@xemthemcr_emox4392]

I have a original disney land figment plush

[@jimsmith9545]

Did Photopass also have to review the ride photos? I have heard the stories about Flash Mountain I mean Splash Mountain.

[@SirWillow]

when I was there Kodak was still in charge of Splash Mountain photos, but they still screened all of them

[@SirWillow]

in a more direct answer to your question, the rides that Photopass did the photos on (it was just Test Track when I was there, but has since expanded) yes, they screened the photos there as well.

[@GameProFuture]

1:46 I believe a lot of theme parks actually can do that, but some are just lazy. Correct me if I'm wrong, but both Universal and SeaWorld Orlando does search for a specific picture from just saying where it was taken from.

[@SirWillow]

+Stick88 Some can search other locations. But the ability to pull up pictures from other parks and other days- going 30 days back- is something that few, if any, other parks can or will do.

[@GameProFuture]

Ok, makes sense. Thank you for replying even if the video is four days old.

[@MinorLG]

Last time I went to Disney, some 10+ years ago, one of the characters did bunny ears on me, and it went through. Didn't buy that picture though, and it was before the web was as mainstream, so the site wasn't there, was in park only.

[@SirWillow]

the characters can do bunny ears to guests, but the guests aren't allowed to do bunny ears to the characters. :-)

[@MinorLG]

SirWillow that's not fair then

[@bloxyjola6040]

I did the O.K. hand sign in a lot of my pictures. Whoops.

[@lizr4273]

Can workers use photoshop instead of deleting photos?

[@SirWillow]

They didn't have photoshop. They had a very simple editing program that could make a couple of simple quick fixes. Even if they had a program that could do more there was no time when they had thousands of photos that they had to screen. You weren't supposed to take more than about a second or two on a batch of photos

[@mikesyck2624]

Sorry to tell ya the quality has gone down a lot, we didn't pay for a memory maker and glad we didn't only 2 or 3 pics were any good pics on my phone were better

[@lanceplatt5299]

how long did you work at the parks altogether?

[@SirWillow]

+toy TV check out the FAQ on my Facebook page for that and other questions. Link is in the description

[@johnskowronski4906]

but I have to ask a question do Tigger and eyore ever ROM the parks I never seen any pictures I lost my girlfriend to cancer and she had the biggest collection o Tigger I've ever seen

[@SirWillow]

At Walt Disney World the characters rarely roam the parks anymore. They're all pretty much in set locations. I'm not sure about Disneyland.

[@katherineblue6195]

Were you ever working at Disney during a Dapper Day? Since one just passed lol

[@SirWillow]

no, They didn't start doing Dapper Day until after I left in 2011

[@kaitlinmeyer1372]

I have a photo that my parents took of me when I was younger with Belle. The character attendant who was in the photo ruined it. Let’s just say she didn’t have the best facial expression. I ended up cutting her out of the photo.

[@SirWillow]

sorry, we did have a couple of attendants like that. Most were really good, but there's always that one somewhere...

[@kaitlinmeyer1372]

SirWillow now I wish I wouldn’t have cut her out so I could show you haha!

[@aliciaanderson1614]

Have you gotten my letter yet?(: have a Happy Thanksgiving!

[@SirWillow]

yes I have!! It's here waiting for me to have a chance to film a new mail call. :-)

[@aliciaanderson1614]

SirWillow awesome!

[@triple7marc]

8:21 The ADL said that wasn’t a white power sign. Isn’t it just an ok sign?

[@SirWillow]

not in many many other countries it's not. It's not sign language, it's a hand gesture with a very rude meaning.

[@CathyGoes]

It references the body part that stuff exits through in many countries.

[@Teletran35]

Lol did the mom in the bikini look good though?

[@TitoTimTravels]

Every time I see that mic I think it is a kavacha... but I am not sure if you are Hindu ha ha Great vids, BTW.

[@SirWillow]

lol No, not Hindu. I'm a Christian pastor working at a small church.

[@Lian1286]

Did anybody ever say anything to the women who wore suntan bathing suits?

[@SirWillow]

By the time we saw the photos, it was long after they had moved on. So no way to say anything. And that would have been a very awkward conversation to have.

[@bloodyblast288]

KZbin is hiding this video

[@SirWillow]

Hiding it? It was just posted a little more than an hour ago so it may not be indexed yet

[@peter660]

This channel is a bit harsh.

[@ashlynreinig1980]

Peter how?