On Videography Inside the Disney Parks

After I posted Michelle + Russell's wedding video, many of you had questions about whether or not videographers are allowed in the parks at Walt Disney World, since the rules are unclear. Professional photographers aren't allowed to do photo sessions inside of the parks at Walt Disney World. However, I haven't heard an official ruling on videography.

I want to clarify that Disney does offer a video service, but it's similar to the bridal sessions that you can do in the parks. The video sessions take place outside of park hours and you're usually filmed in your wedding attire, just like you would be in your bridal session. So, it's a fun keepsake, but it's not quite as casual as footage of you hanging out in the park amongst the other park goers. Again, I'm not sure if you could hire Disney to film you inside the park during park hours or not. If you can, it's a safe bet that outside professional videography isn't allowed.

Well, I emailed Disney, but I haven't heard a response yet. Radio silence has become a pretty normal thing when it comes to my emails to Disney, but in all fairness it's not like I'm emailing one person who knows all of the answers to my Disney questions. I'm sure my questions are usually bounced around, looking for the person who can answer them, until they end up in someone's junk mail. Plus, it might be email karma, judging from the massive amount of nice emails that you send me which I consistently forget to respond to.

Anyway, without any official guidance, I can't give you an official answer. I can, however, tell you that you are allowed to make your own unprofessional video inside of the Walt Disney World parks (of course) and that might be an option for those of you who are nervous about hiring a professional videographer.

True, a homemade video might be a more unpolished option than something professional, but you'd be surprised how easy it is to make your own edited home videos these days. We have a Canon HD videocamera that we received as an early wedding present and we took it to Walt Disney World when we went on our honeymoon. Using that footage, I've thrown together this mock save-the-date video using only the iMovie software that comes with any new Mac computer. (This version came with the laptop I bought in 2009.)

As I mentioned, this isn't as polished as a professional video and obviously we didn't have much footage of the two of us together. That being said, it wasn't hard to make at all and if we'd taken a friend to the parks with us, we could have gotten some cuter footage. (If this footage looks familiar, it's because I chopped up our honeymoon video to make it. If I'd spent more than ten minutes on it, it probably would have been a lot smoother!)

Now, obviously a new camcorder and a new Mac are large investments. I, for one, am all about investing in that kind of stuff, but I use my Mac and cameras every day. If you think you might get good use out of them, you might want to consider throwing a little wedding money in this DIY direction, because at the end of the day you'll end up with a video AND a laptop and camcorder. Oh, and don't try to go cheap by using the video setting on your digital camera or your iPhone, because you'll probably be disappointed if you wanted something that looks professional.

NOTE:

iPhones = good for capturing baby bumps,

bad for capturing your wedding videos

HOWEVER - I should warn you right now that you shouldn't trust a friend with a camcorder if you want to get great wedding videos. I had both a professional videographer and a bridesmaid holding our camcorder at the wedding and, although I adore my friend dearly and she did a pretty good job considering, I thank my lucky stars that we hired a professional to capture the event. More on that later...

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