Autograph Book Worth It?

[DancinMama]

Hey all!
What is everyone's opinion and experiences with autograph books? I have a 5 yr old boy and I'm wondering if I should bother to take the time to make him one. We only have 1 day at Epcot, 1 day at MK and 1 day at DHS. I don't want to miss any of the fun rides and attractions waiting in line for autographs if he's not going to care that much. What have your experiences been and which characters are easy to find?
Thanks all!

 

[scrapnmom]

On our last trip 3 weeks ago, DS6 had ZERO interest in meeting characters. He played along at the character meals we had, but he did not want to wait to see anyone at all. DD of course wanted to meet everyone we encountered. DS kept saying "What's the big deal?!!" In Epcot, DD and I were able see Marie the cat, Alice, Mary Poppins and Belle while DH and DS saw the Canada movie. Those are the only characters we met outside of restaurants.

Needless to say, we did not do autograph books, and I never told my kids about them.

 

[deerhart]

my boys love getting autographs and pics with characters. They were 5 and 8 on our first visit, 6 and 9 last year, and this year will be 10 and 7.

my youngest was much more into the autographs then my oldest.

SO it will really depend on your child and their personality.

Mind you, we stay for 9 days 8 nights on average so we have plenty of time to do characters AND hit rides.

Epcot will have Mulan, Snow White (and sometimes Doppey), Alladin and Jazmine, Belle and Beast, Aurora, Marie, Mary Poppins, Alice, WInnie the Pooh and Tiger all in World showcase. Character Spot will have at least the main 5.

MK will have lots of characters out all over from Peter pan, to Alice in Wonderland chars, to Winnie the Pooh, Fairies, Princesses etc..

HS will have character meets at the Sorc hat, there is a Cars picture op, Monster's Inc, Little Einsitns, Jo Jo's Circus, and the Animation Studio will have lots of different characters throughout the day (incredibles, sorc mickey, UP was there last year not sure who replaced them, etc)

If you are looking for a certain character, you can ask a CM and then can usually find out if they are going to appear that day and when. Also if you see a character out and the line is going to close, the CM accompanying the character will usually tell you when they plan to return (we used this for Mary Poppins).

Some of the things my boys like to do is just to have fun with the characters.. sing the Mickey Mouse Club song to Donald, they sang superkalifraglisticexpalidiocious to Mary Poppins (and she responded right in song!) etc..

 

[stacyleigh1978]

Last year when we went, DS was only 2 1/2. Figuring he was too young, we didn't get him one. After waiting on line and seeing all the other children hand the characters a book and a pen, DS went through his stroller, found the Magic Kingdom pamphlet and a pen, then marched up to Scrooge McDuck and proudly presented his "book" and pen for him to sign. Seeing Scrooge standing there, obviously having no idea why my DS was handing him the MK pamphlet was hysterical! We left the line, marched into a gift shop, and bought DS his own book, which he used the entire trip. We're going in November and I've already ordered his autograph book!

 

[angela152]

I think you have to go by what you think your kids will like. If you don't think they will be too too interested, you can just buy one of the books while you are there (about $10) instead of taking the time and more money to do it. I know it took me a lot of time and without a doubt more than $10 to make mine. My kids enjoyed it last time we went, my daughters were 4 and 1 1/2.... this time they can't wait to do it, now 6 4 and my son is 2.

 

[tefrench]

Our kids were 8 and 9 and enjoyed meeting the characters. It was part of the experience. Epcot was the best - you got 5 at once - Mickey,Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Donald. Plus it was in the ac!

 

[ms*mountaineer]

My kids enjoyed the autograph books! It gave them something to hand to the characters when meeting them - like breaking the ice. We just purchased them in one of the gift shops - around $10 - we got the kind that has pockets for pictures. Then after the trip, we have a fun time going back through it and putting the pictures in.

 

[hvivona]

When My girls were that age they each loved getting autographs. They still have them sittingon their book shelves and look at them occasionally. But like a few others have said- just wait and see if your child is interested. The books aren't very expensive and if he shows a desire to get autographs once you're there you can pick one up in just about every store on property. Hope your family has a fabulous time!!

 

[AlohaAnnie]

My DD (8) buys a pad of paper (notebook) when we get there like Tinkerbell or such and uses it for Autographs. We have found that the autograph books they sell at WDW do not have enough space for all the characters we see to sign and we never insert the photo taken with the character after, so it is not worth the price for us.

I think it is personal preference. Hopefully, you will find what works best for you.

 

[dianed358]

The first time we went with the kids we LOVED getting autographs. We put them in an album with their picture of the character.

The second time we went we did collect autographs but it seems to be a hassle for us to carry the books around. ( 3 kids, 3 books)

This time we are not doing it. I refuse to carry the books with me. We do plan on taking pictures of the characters. That is what my kids really enjoy looking back on.

It was very fun to collect them at first but I have a been there and done that!

 

[ICF]

We had them sign a pillowcase last time. It worked really well and you can still read the signatures a few years later.

The autographs books were going to be tossed aside (based on prior trip experiences) but the pillow cases served as a fun reminder of their trip.

 

[Indio]

My kids have never been into the characters so we've never done autograph books. We'll take pictures if it's convenient - no line or in a restaraunt, but we don't stand in line for pictures and autographs.

My nephew loved it when he was 3 or so, but that was the only year he did it too.

If you've only got a short time to be there, I'd not mess with it.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

We used to buy the autograph books in the park, now that we are getting repeats I bought $1 Disney autograph books at Michaels, they are square and have about 75 pages. We also brought a picture mat for a 4x6 picture and had characters sign it. DD loves that in her room!

 

[onescgirl]

Since you are only going to be in each park one day each, I wouldn't waste time standing in a long line for a character signature.
I would have a book available where your child could get a signature just in case you happen to see a character with a short line.
When we went to Disney we got our autographs at the character meals. We only got them at parks if there was no line. My kids were fine with that. We did not want to take a lot of our park time standing in lines.
You can buy the autographs books fairly cheap in every WDW gift shop or the Wal-Mart near WDW. I would check out the above post about the Michaels $1 book. Kids do not care what the book looks like.

 

[blu3d3vil]

My DS6 liked getting autographs. My DD2 1/2 loved getting autographs, she always made sure she went into the stroller to get her book and pen- -it was cute.