Autograph book or t-shirt for characters to sign?

[cw_disney_bound]

I keep hearing autograph books ar ea great idea. I am taking my 4 and 5 years old girls for the first time, and I wasn't sure if they would be into this. I heard having the characters sign a t-shirt is a great idea. What is the best think to have them sign with, as I have not had luck with fabric markers. They don't seem to write too easily. Any sugestions?

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Just my two cents but while the Tshirt is fun...it's kind of a pain to carry one (in your case two) of them around all day. You have to put cardboard in it so that characters can write on it. I would stick with the autograph books. So much easier and if you scrapbook, you can use the signature pages next to a picture of your children with that character.

 

[cw_disney_bound]

Good point. Thank you. Where can I get autograph books? I've never seen them at the Disney store.

 

[belle41379]

You can get the books anywhere on Disney property. You'll want a "fat" pen or pencil as it is easier for the characters to hold.

I made an autograph book for our son on our last trip. It was really easy, didn't take but maybe an hour, and cost a lot less. I got a small spiral scrapbook with a blank cover. Put a Disney embelishment on the front, and then printed off clipart of all the characters I thought he might encounter. You can skip this step if you want, and just leave the pages blank. Make sure to put a name and a phone number just in case it were to get lost.

 

[KigerKat]

You'll want a "fat" pen or pencil as it is easier for the characters to hold.

Good tip! I wouldn't have thought of that!!

I was planning on buying blank post cards at Office Max and then printing my own Disney-themed design on the cards to carry with me for the characters to sign. While I like the idea of the autograph book, I want to scrap the autographs along with a pic of me and the character.

 

[thomascaldwell1]

I have purchased one from disneysmilesstore.com and also from disneyshopping.com. Something new we're going to do this time- I found a pressed coin collector book. Not sure if you had seen these machines throughout the parks for $0.51, you can make a pressed coin- and every machine is different (or atleast every machine I went to). We collected them last time, but not in an official book. It's fun- and it gives the kids something to be on the hunt for- the pressed penny machines! Bring a few rolls of quarters and a roll of pennies and you're good- fun and fairly inexpensive souvenirs! Everybody wins! Good Luck!

 

[weHEARTmickey]

I keep hearing autograph books ar ea great idea. I am taking my 4 and 5 years old girls for the first time, and I wasn't sure if they would be into this.

The first time we took our kiddos, DD was almost 6, and DS was a few days from turning 3. They absolutely LOVED getting autographs! We made the mistake of only buying one book for them to share. Last year, we bought them each one. They treasure these almost more than any souvenier they've gotten at WDW!

You probably already know this, but I recommend getting as many autographs as you can at the Character Dining (table service) meals. The characters come right to your table, and they'll sign & take pics with your family. It's such a pain to wait in those big, hot lines to get the same sigs you could've gotten at a restaurant!

Y'all are going to have a blast!!

 

[Politzania]

You could get the best of both worlds by collecting autographs on cards or in a book, then use them as a tracing template on the tshirt and either use fabric paint or embroider over them.

I took a denim shirt around to the characters last December - I used binder clips to stretch the fabric across a small paperback book (Zagat WDW guide) so the characters had a flat area to write on. During character meals, I just laid the shirt on the table & tucked the book or some paper underneath so the marker wouldn't bleed thru.

Once we got home, I embroidered over the autographs in colors appropriate to each character:

 

[Rora]

I vote autograph books.. I think the t-shirts are a bit much to handle! Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[Jollean]

A friend just got back from Disneyworld and had bought autograph books in our home town from a dollar store BUT Disneyworld had books where you put your character picture with the kids in it and a sign spot next to it. A real nice keep sake I think. They are for sale at the park and were $10.00.

 

[karliebug]

Here's another idea- I bought cheapo baseball type hats from our dollar store. I got white ones but they had other colors,too. I had the characters sign the hat! The girls loved wearing them in the parks and even when we got home. They were always on their head, so no digging in a backpack to find the autograph book and it got them to wear a hat in the hot sun, which normally they would fight me to do.

 

[BKMETV]

Here's another idea- I bought cheapo baseball type hats from our dollar store. I got white ones but they had other colors,too. I had the characters sign the hat! The girls loved wearing them in the parks and even when we got home. They were always on their head, so no digging in a backpack to find the autograph book and it got them to wear a hat in the hot sun, which normally they would fight me to do.

You answered my question...thanks.

A friend just got back from WDW and brought DD a Princess baseball cap. I thought we would try to get them to sign it for her.

 

[suzybeezy]

I'll share with you a great idea I got from this site. We purchased a 11x14 picture frame, the one with the large white mat, which holds a 5x7 picture. We'll have the characters sign the mat and then when we get home, add the picture and put it on display. We'll won't take the frame with us, just the mat and either put it in a bag and carry it on the stroller, or put it in the backpack.

Like this one:

There's plenty of space for autographs and such a nice souvenier to display.

 

[KigerKat]

I'll share with you a great idea I got from this site. We purchased a 11x14 picture frame, the one with the large white mat, which holds a 5x7 picture. We'll have the characters sign the mat and then when we get home, add the picture and put it on display. We'll won't take the frame with us, just the mat and either put it in a bag and carry it on the stroller, or put it in the backpack.

I really like this idea!

 

[PrinceCharmingsMom]

I made 6 x 6 squares of denim and backed them with cardstock and secured them to it with masking tape to allow for a sem allowance. I also made a clipboard for them to sign on. On the front I painted Autographs in Walt's Handwriting and on the back I painted Walt Disney World and the name and icon from each park. It's one of the smaller clipboards. I tied little ribbons on the clip holder of the board. I am going to have one character sign each piece of denim and when I get home I am going to make a signature quilt for my DS 1st Disney trip ever! He is only 7 months! I wanted to make sure I had enough denim so I did over 100 squares.

 

[2002Disneybride]

I'll share with you a great idea I got from this site. We purchased a 11x14 picture frame, the one with the large white mat, which holds a 5x7 picture. We'll have the characters sign the mat and then when we get home, add the picture and put it on display. We'll won't take the frame with us, just the mat and either put it in a bag and carry it on the stroller, or put it in the backpack.

I like this idea too-but I think we might limit it to just doing it at a character meal to maybe avoid having to bring it everywhere! I might do one for Chef Mickey's and one with Pooh...my son wants to marry all the princesses (he takes my hand and kisses it and says that's what you do when you meet a princess-he is 3 people )so we might have to do one for them too... we are doing a LOT of character meals this trip though so it jsut depends if I want to pack the mats