Autograph books or not?

[tigger_mommy]

So here is my dilemma, I have 4 kids, all of which will want to do autographs. I can not expect them to share one book. Purchasing 4 of these books will be pricey, any ideas of a better way? Also, I am not planning on getting stuck lugging these things around. What do you do with your multiple kids and autographs?

 

[adventure_woman]

This won't help with lugging stuff around - but I also like having them sign 'other' things - pillowcase is my favorite. (I have one too!). I have also done a t-shirt, if one of your kids wears a hat - do that.

For the pillowcase - I had my mom embroider a Mickey head on it, then it was so cute! Same with the t-shirt.

 

[DisneyDreamMaker]

I only have 2 kids but this was an issue I had also. We would buy them books and then they never really cared about them when we got home. I got a great idea from another member on the DISboards. We now make our own photo/autograph books from shutterfly or mixbook and bring them with us for the characters to sign. The boys share 1 book and never argue over it and they love looking at it when we get home. I use pics of the characters with my kids in the book and decorate the pages. The boys take turns getting them signed by the characters and get alot of attention because everyone loves to flip through the book. They also have such good deals I have never payed more than $20 for a photobook.

 

[ccgirl]

So here is my dilemma, I have 4 kids, all of which will want to do autographs. I can not expect them to share one book. Purchasing 4 of these books will be pricey, any ideas of a better way? Also, I am not planning on getting stuck lugging these things around. What do you do with your multiple kids and autographs?

I have done several things:

Pillow cases - be sure to get the permanent fabric markers

Picture Matte's - characters sign and then you put a picture of your child with their favorite character

Hats

Tote Bags

And we have made our own books using card stock. Check out the creative disigns forum for this. Some extremely talented people there.

 

[lpizzuro123]

Maybe write on top of the mat XXXXX Family Disney Trip and the date. Get all the characters sign the one family mat and then put a family picture in it from your Disney trip.

Linda

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

Since you have 6 months... Watch the dollar spot at Target, every few months they do square Disney autorgraph books- they are spiral on the top. I have seen all different themes- Tink, Toy Story, Pooh, etc... DD loved them just as much as the WDW ones and they have a lot more pages. She would also put in it stickers she gets from cast members (custodian, security, etc...) Sometimes Target also has Disney journals, but these have lines on the pages.

BTW... Since they are a little smaller they are pretty easy to carry around.

 

[tigger_mommy]

Maybe write on top of the mat XXXXX Family Disney Trip and the date. Get all the characters sign the one family mat and then put a family picture in it from your Disney trip.

Linda

I did this when I had one kiddo. Her CRT picture is in it. I just don't know if that is one of those things that the kids will want when they grow up. I will keep their outfits and everything for them, would be kinda cool for them to have their own autograph thing as well.

 

[Zim]

We now make our own photo/autograph books from shutterfly or mixbook and bring them with us for the characters to sign.

I LOVE this idea! Thanks very much - I just got a Shutterfly Photobook deal through Groupon and didn't know what to do with it... I have SO many photos of my DD with characters, it would be GREAT to have a book of the photos to have on hand for our next trip in September!

In the past we've used postcard sized photo albums and cut-to-size pastel cardstock. I had my DD decorate the pages with stickers before we left. It made for nice pages to put into larger albums later, but definitely not the easiest for characters to sign.

 

[tigger_mommy]

Since you have 6 months... Watch the dollar spot at Target, every few months they do square Disney autorgraph books- they are spiral on the top. I have seen all different themes- Tink, Toy Story, Pooh, etc... DD loved them just as much as the WDW ones and they have a lot more pages. She would also put in it stickers she gets from cast members (custodian, security, etc...) Sometimes Target also has Disney journals, but these have lines on the pages.

BTW... Since they are a little smaller they are pretty easy to carry around.

I live in podunk. No Target here. I seldom get a chance to make the trip to one either.

 

[lpizzuro123]

I did this when I had one kiddo. Her CRT picture is in it. I just don't know if that is one of those things that the kids will want when they grow up. I will keep their outfits and everything for them, would be kinda cool for them to have their own autograph thing as well.

Well, I guess that could be true - my DSS (stepson) is now 22 and he still has his original books from the first few times we went to Disney with him as a child. They are on a shelf along with a few of his Disney snowglobes, his pressed penny book and a few other Disney things. Of course, they are in his room in our house collecting dust but there is no way I could get rid of them.

Like prior poster said, I have seen those type of little spiral notebooks at Target in their $1.00 area. Great idea to add stickers and other things to them. Just make sure the pages are not too small - some of the characters sign large.

Linda

 

[ICF]

I have done several things:

Pillow cases - be sure to get the permanent fabric markers

Picture Matte's - characters sign and then you put a picture of your child with their favorite character

We've done these on our last 2 trips. The earlier trips we did the autograph book and they were fun at the time, but once we got home they were quickly tossed aside.

It's been 2 years since our last trip and the picutres are still on the wall and the pillow cases are still being used.

If you do a pillow case, just be sure you have some hard cardboard or something under the case for the characters to press against when giving the autographs.

 

[lpizzuro123]

Not sure if you will have a car or not but all the local souv. stores (even Walmart and CVS) in Orlando have Disney autograph books and they are less then purchasing them at Disney. Also, check ebay.

The books I love are more expensive but there is a plastic sheet on each page to put a picture of the character that signed that page - I guess you could make your own also since you have a while before you go. You could make it out of those little photoalbums that hold 24 or 36 pictures. Have the characters sign index pages and then you can insert them into the book. The nice thing about that is you could personalize each cover for each child so they are all different and you will know which book to give which child to get the autograph.

Linda

 

[pixiewings71]

You don't need a traditional autograph book, you've got a lot of great ideas here but I wanted to say I just got my girls a nice journal type book from the Disney Store on clearance, I paid probably $5 for it. It worked great, it's big enough for the characters to sign easily and it's got extra pages so the girls could draw or write stories about their trips. Also, each of my kids has a small park bag, if they want autographs they carry the book around.

 

[akclayton]

Get a 4x6 or 5x7 photo album book. Put index cards or thicker pieces of cardstock or thin pieces of cardboard in each photo slot. Take along a Sharpie marker and have the characters sign each photo cover (the plastic). Once you get home, put a picture of your DD or DS in that photo slot and you will have the autograph on top of the picture.

You can get photo albums for under $5 at most stores. Wal Mart and Dollar Store included. Or any local store in Podunk for that matter. lol

The cardstock and cardboard are just used to keep the plastic from crinkling up when the character signs it.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

One other option, if you have a car in WDW- the Super Walmarts have a big Disney section in the front of each store in Orlando/Lake Buena Vista. They have autograph books with Disney characters that are much cheaper.

 

[jdyer09]

We got back from our first trip in November and one of my daughters favorite souvieners is her autograph book. When she first got back she took it EVERYWHERE, not even kidding and showed EVERYONE! I guess my opinion is if you have never been before, buy them, use them, save them. I have mine from when I was her age and its fun to look back at, especially as we were planning our first family trip. My other suggestion is, if this isnt your first time and you have old ones, maybe use them again, start a new section in them somehow. As for prices go, they are $6.95 to $15.00, stay on the cheap end and spend the extra $25 while you're there for the memories later for them. In retrospect with the cost of the vacation is $25 really going to break the bank?

Have fun.

 

[maggiew]

There is a Creative DISigns section here on the DISboards where people have designed different autograph pages (and other things). You can print these out to use for your autographs. I have printed them on 4x6 notecards and put them in a small album I got at the Dollar store. I found my little plastic album in the section by the Bachelorette party supplies . It had a little "Bachelorette Party" piece of paper in the front, but I just took that out and printed a title page for the front.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2893351


Also, I once bought an autograph book at the souvenir shop in the Gooding Plaza across from Downtown Disney. It is not really in the plaza but nearby right by the I-4 onramp. WE drove there, but I seem to think it might have been walkable from the Downtown Disney area. But it has been awhile, so maybe someone can chime in. The autograph books had disney characters but said things like "FLorida" instead of "Disney". They were like spiral bound small notebooks .

Another year I bought a small journal at Michaels craft store (using their 40% off coupons) before I left home. I bought them with black pages and then bought my girls fluorescent pink pens. The characters all made a big deal out of them. (Beware of the characters who can only stamp their signature. These will be stamped in black so won't show up on the black paper. I brought a few white pieces of cardstock for this purpose and then cut out signature and glued it in the book.) I decorated the front with princess stickers and then decoupaged over it for protection.

I have the EPCOT countries stamp and write in the same autograph book so that you don't have to buy 2 different things.

Maggie

 

[DisneyDreamMaker]

I LOVE this idea! Thanks very much - I just got a Shutterfly Photobook deal through Groupon and didn't know what to do with it... I have SO many photos of my DD with characters, it would be GREAT to have a book of the photos to have on hand for our next trip in September!

In the past we've used postcard sized photo albums and cut-to-size pastel cardstock. I had my DD decorate the pages with stickers before we left. It made for nice pages to put into larger albums later, but definitely not the easiest for characters to sign.

I actually got the idea from a fellow DISboard member also!! If you check out the creative DISigns forum they sometimes have pics of books ppl made but you have to search for them. It is the greatest thing we have done with the pics, everyone loves them including the characters. Just be sure to leave a page or two blank in the back in case you run into characters you dont have pics of so they can sign also. I will use snapfish, shutterfly or mixbook for our photobooks. It takes some time but is definitely worth it. We use the push top sharpies without caps for the characters to sign and it does not bleed through the paper. Just make sure it dries before you close the photo book.

Melissa

 

[StuckInKS]

Honestly, I would just buy the cheaper ones. I don't know how much they are in the park, but I saw them on DisneyStore.com for $7.95. We got our 3 oldest their autograph books on our first trip and they used them for 3 whole trips. Our 4 year old finally got his last year. The original 3 are almost full (they had photo slots so not as man pages to sign), so we will probably buy everyone a new book and start all over again next trip. My kids have fun walking into MK the first day and picking out books, pens and mickey ears. It is all part of the experience for us.

 

[3boymthr]

I was SURE my kids would want the autograph books for their first trip to the parks. They thought the idea was cool so I bought a couple of books. We got to the parks. No way, no how were they standing in those lines. And no way no how were they carrying the autograph books and I deliberately made my purse small enough that the books wouldn't fit in it. The kids decided they'd rather stand in line for a ride than to meet a character. They were very happy to meet the characters at the meals and we got really lucky and did happen to hit a few with no lines and those few all the kids wanted to do was get their photos taken. The autograph books never even left the luggage. At the end of the vacation I was very glad I had bought inexpensive autograph albums that I could return when we got back from vacation.