Wendy:
It depends on your definition of the word 'access.'
Your friends are correct: you don't have to purchase
Memory Maker to
see your pictures. If you are wearing a MagicBand, the ride pictures and videos will automatically post to your PhotoPass account. However, you'll still have to purchase them to download them, and that's what Memory Maker is: the ability to have unlimited downloads off your PhotoPass account whether you have a MagicBand or use a PhotoPass card.
It sounds like you may be skeptical, as I was, about the cost of Memory Maker. I did not purchase it
before my late October trip so that I could see how many photos I would actually want. Well, I found myself liking so many--and I wanted to make the Disney photo book as a gift for my parents--that I purchased Memory Maker
after my trip, even with losing the significant discount that comes from paying for it in advance. What sold me? The ride photos. Some were goofy. Some were planned. But all captured the fun we were having. Moreover, the ones that the Disney photographers took were so much better than anything I captured on my camera phone, especially those at night. Of all of the "souvenirs" I purchased from our trip, this was my most valuable purchase.
Want to know a secret? Your Memory Maker "clock" doesn't begin ticking until you DOWNLOAD your first picture. I timed its purchase after my October trip with my January in mind. I was able to access both of my trips' photos with one purchase of Memory Maker. But even if I hadn't planned to return in January, it was the pictures from my October trip that convinced me it was a bargain.
Memory Maker is relatively new, so if you have any more questions about it, feel free to come back and ask. Wishing you a magical vacation!
Whitney