Do all kids at Disney end up wanting Autographs?

[eggstacey]

We, too, were totally surprised that DD would be into the autographs. Her first trip was just after her 3rd birthday. Even if I had known that character autographs were a "thing" before we got there, I would have never guessed that my busy toddler would care about it at all. But we made a quick evening trip to Epcot for dinner on the night we arrived, and DD saw 4 or 5 kids waiting in line to meet Chip & Dale outside of Character Spot. She made a beeline for it once she saw that they "give real hugs, mommy!" and was devastated not to have a pretty notebook and pen like the other kids. Their handler actually gave her a little paper for them to sign, and she was hooked. Since then, she's filled at least one full book on every trip, and she loves to pour over the autographs afterward. We now try to do something special with autographs each trip. Last fall we had a princess sweatshirt signed by all the princesses and a t shirt signed by everyone else. In Nov we're taking a bunch of small hardback Disney kids books to have the covers signed by their main characters, then she'll give them out as gifts. Plus we always do a regular autograph book that we use to make our scrapbook when we get home.

Seriously, I'd bet DD would say character meet & greets and character meals are the best part of WDW.

 

[Mouse's Shadow]

When we first went to Disney 15 years ago, we didn't even know about autographs. My kids were 9 and 11 at the time. We encountered our first characters at the end of Main St. My kids were enthralled by the characters and when they realized that they were signing autographs then the hunt was on. By best friend went in Feb. She never imagined that her 14 year old daughter would want to collect autographs, but guess what? And her 15 year old son loved hamming it up in the pictures with the characters, but he wasn't interested in the autographs. I think it will just depends. Just don't be surprised if it becomes a highlight of the trip.

Now that my kids are grown, I have to live through other people's kids. We're meeting friends at Disney and they are bringing their 2 granddaughters. So I have made them autograph books for our up coming trip. Now if I could just talk my 24 year old into a BBB appointment I'd have it made.

 

[puffkin]

DS5 has been going to WDW 2-3 times a years since in the womb and he has never done autographs. We never brought it up and he has never asked. We don't wait in a whole lot of character lines unless the line is really, really short or it someone he really wants to see or a new character M&G (like Phineas and Ferb).

Honestly, he is a professional at it. He has a whole routine of interaction with the characters and loves giving high fives and kisses/hugs (especially to the ladies). Then he poses for a quick picture and off we go. He could care less about autographs. I am glad because it is a lot less lines to wait in and one less thing for me to carry! He brings home enough junk as it is from the parks (Epcot masks, drivers licenses, park maps, stickers, coloring pages from restaurants etc) that he doesn't need anything else!

 

[AdamsPrincess]

We do not do autographs and the boys have spoken no interest in it. We do just photos and they love that. It takes too much time in line too.

 

[jdcthree]

My son's first trip was when he was 4, we weren't planning on doing autographs, and once we got there and started seeing characters he wanted a book. I wished we had just bought it in the first place because he didn't get autographs for some of the first characters we saw. For us it was just part of the fun, but like someone else mentioned, every child is different! Have a great trip!

 

[21hearts]

Not all kids want an autograph. My DS loves to get the characters autographs but my DD1 has no interest getting autographs. I think it depends on the kids.

 

[Donalyn]

It is true - waiting in lines to meet characters (with or without autograph books) can eat up a great deal of a day.

And if it is a character that we are going to see at a character meal, then normally I would skip it (other than Mickey).

But, if your kids want to do this, why wouldn't you? Isn't the trip for them? If character hunting (again with or without books) makes them happy, why not? You may be surprised by the magic of it all. Some of my all time favorite Disney memories are at character meet & greets.

 

[scrapquitler]

We are Disney newbies and as I have been reading about the Autograph books, I am wondering if this is something my 4 yr old will want to do after seeing other kids with them.

Anyone with experience, not planning to do autograph books and then ended up doing them?

Since we haven't been before, I suppose I just don't understand it. I'm just not interested in carrying them around and waiting for autographs.

My kids never had any interest in autographs. Then again, they weren't into character meeting either. If we happened to see some characters with no line, they'd go for a picture, but they weren't interested enough to wait in line.

You can always wait to see what your child's interest is and buy an autograph book there if it looks exciting to him.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Ayep, same experience. We had NO clue that DS might get into it, but the very first character he saw, which was the very first character he had EVER paid attention to despite two previous (short) trips), was Buzz Lightyear, and he just couldn't stay away. As he and DH waited in line, without an autograph book, DS saw all these other kids handing over a book. He wanted one badly. I was somewhere else and I never hear my phone at Disneyland, and DH would have lost his spot (line already closed behind him) if he'd gotten out to buy a book, so they went without the book and DS didn't much like that. He wanted to be like the other kids.

After that we bought a book (what, $5 for a small one?) and he was happy. He even gets autographs of not-really-characters, like at Disney*land*'s Princess Fantasy Faire, he got the autographs of the ladies in waiting, and the young man working the line to the princesses.

I understand, we were on the same vote. When our son turned 2 yrs old we took him to his first Disney experience (I didn't think he would go to any characters b/c he does not like or even go near Santa or Easter bunny)...When he saw the first characters, he ran to them and I had to explain to him we need to take turns (he saw all the kids with the book and hugging characters and possing for the pictures...he wanted to like those kids). The autograph book help on lines b/c when an CM came over to our son they always gave him stickers so when we are waiting on lines on rides he ended up looking at his book. He is 6 yrs old and went to his 6th Disney trip and loves to see characters and collect the signatures (I make a special ones now, I take all the pictures he has gotten over the past 4 yrs and do a digital photobook...it was a hit with all the characters and CM and gave him extra time with characters.)

 

[Littlestar2001]

My son is 9 1/2 and both times that we went to Disney he never wanted the characters autographs(we bought a book for him just incase)...He just likes to get his picture taken with them but I think that every child is different..Some kids like to get the autographs and other kids don't care about getting them...

 

[Suellen]

My kids have never had any real interest. If you place the book in their hands they will ask for an autograph...but nothing beyond that.

 

[angierae]

DD15 was crazy for autographs on her first trip and is already planning on which characters to get on our next trip. So not all teens are "too cool" for that - I have great pictures of her hugging Buzz Lightyear and Snow White and she stayed in line for 45 minutes for the fairies.

I think for the little ones they see other kids with the books and they want them. We also got the "picture on one side, autograph on the other" books and when we got home we slid in the pics of DD with the character. We ended up having to buy a 2nd book while we were there because she filled her first one.

 

[aleshad01]

My kids really enjoy getting autographs. We buy new books each trip and they go back and look at them from time to time.

 

[tndisneyfan]

Our first trip to WDW we tried to get DS to see the characters and get autographs. He didn't want anything to do with it until he saw Chip and Dale at AK and one of them hugged him. The last few days of our trip was spent seeing characters. I think it just depends on the kid how they feel about the characters. Looking back, I think DS(7 at the time) was a little afraid of the characters until he hugged Chip or Dale. After that he wasn't afraid of them anymore.

 

[Belleandtinker]

My DS5 has been four times and never once asked for an autograph. We haven't talked up the autograph books either. Personally, I would rather get awesome pictures with the characters than have a book of signatures. Also, I didn't want my son (or I) spending the whole day collecting autographs. He's a collector of everything and anything. This last trip we let him get some pressed pennies and that was kinda fun.

 

[dia]

Thanks for ALL the replies! WOW.

I think we will play it by ear and not plan to get the book, unless he gets hooked on the idea seeing other kids.

He also likes collecting the pressed pennies.. but the last place we got some, up here in Canada.. the pressed penny cost a Loonie ... $1!! Hope they are a little cheaper at disney..

 

[Owl's Friend]

We're getting them for the kids (11 and 5), plus I want one for me too.

 

[MisWal]

Mine are 10 and 6 and weren't interested in autographs.

 

[tina.tina]

Autograph books are a great way for kids to initiate interaction with the characters. DD10 is so shy but the autographs gave her a purpose for seeing/talking to the characters and helped get things started. Toward the end of the trip, she ran into Pooh's arms!

We did not wait in any line to meet characters & I had decided this before we went because we had a few character meals scheduled. I think the characters sort of look for the autograph books at character meals. If DD didn't give them her book, they picked it up themselves & signed it. She just took a journal that she already had.

Pressed pennies are $0.51 at Disney. I think you can get a pressed quarter for $1.25.

Have a GREAT time!

 

[superdisneyfan]

Autograph books were not popular when my son was 4. Over the years, they've gotten popular, but since he never started with them, he never became too obsessed with them. He preferred just meeting the characters and taking pictures with them. When getting autographs, if your child is very observant, be prepared to answer the question on why the same character may have a slightly different signature at different locations.