Autograph Books

[tfitz7707]

Hi all!

I'm planning for my Disney World trip with my two kiddos (daughter (5) and son (2)) in June.

I was just curious what everyone has used in regards to autograph books. Did you create your own, or buy one? I was looking into using the Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters as an autograph book, but didn't know how big and bulky that would be for 2 small kiddos.

Thanks!

 

[ldadar]

We used pillow cases last time. Next time we're using backpacks. Love the encyclopedia idea.

 

[Dawnlight]

We used the Jr. Encyclopedia and it was great! The kids were able to read it and look at pictures while waiting in line- it helped to pass the time and kept them interested. They shared with other kids in line and even quizzed the photographers on Disney trivia while waiting for characters to arrive.

It was not heavy or too bulky to carry. My only regret is I didn't get two, one for each of my twins (the others were too old to be interested) to have as a keepsake.

Lots of parents commented on what a great idea it was to have the book signed.

 

[dwbrewster]

Hi all!

I'm planning for my Disney World trip with my two kiddos (daughter (5) and son (2)) in June.

I was just curious what everyone has used in regards to autograph books. Did you create your own, or buy one? I was looking into using the Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters as an autograph book, but didn't know how big and bulky that would be for 2 small kiddos.

Thanks!

A lot of great ideas are out there from the traditional autograph book they sell at the park for about 8 bucks to the encyclopedia. Another idea I've read a bit about recently are cards for each character and you can carry the cards for characters you will see.

 

[disneywithbaby]

We did pillow cases in our trip this year(first trip) they turned out amazing! My DD sleeps on hers all the time and I've already washed it a million times. Trying to decide if our next trip we should use the same pillow cases and try to get the signatures we didn't this time (we only used one side so if use the other side). Or thinking of doing a mat for a frame and then finding a great photo from the trip when we get home to hang with it.

 

[disneywithbaby]

We did pillow cases in our trip this year(first trip) they turned out amazing! My DD sleeps on hers all the time and I've already washed it a million times. Trying to decide if our next trip we should use the same pillow cases and try to get the signatures we didn't this time (we only used one side so if use the other side). Or thinking of doing a mat for a frame and then finding a great photo from the trip when we get home to hang with it.

 

[disneywithbaby]

Btw my kiddos were 2.5 and 4.5

 

[lizard1]

We used the Jr. Encyclopedia and it was great! The kids were able to read it and look at pictures while waiting in line- it helped to pass the time and kept them interested. They shared with other kids in line and even quizzed the photographers on Disney trivia while waiting for characters to arrive.

It was not heavy or too bulky to carry. My only regret is I didn't get two, one for each of my twins (the others were too old to be interested) to have as a keepsake.

Lots of parents commented on what a great idea it was to have the book signed.

Ditto this. We carried 2 around for our girls and then got an autograph book for our son. The books were very entertaining in line. We only did the autograph book because our son is at the age where he didn't want to be left our, but didn't really care about the signatures either. They weren't too bad to carry around, we just put them in the back of the backpack so they weren't poking our backs. They didn't seem that heavy to carry around.

 

[amyren]

We used the Jr. Encyclopedia and it was great! The kids were able to read it and look at pictures while waiting in line- it helped to pass the time and kept them interested. They shared with other kids in line and even quizzed the photographers on Disney trivia while waiting for characters to arrive.

It was not heavy or too bulky to carry. My only regret is I didn't get two, one for each of my twins (the others were too old to be interested) to have as a keepsake.

Lots of parents commented on what a great idea it was to have the book signed.

We used the Jr Encyclopedia also. DD(6) loved it and had fun looking up each character. DS(2) didn't not care at all. I plan to take it on future trips to fill it up!

 

[Lalalyn]

I debated the Disney Junior Encyclopedia because I really like the book being the keepsake and also reading and learning about the characters.

But, we have three kids in tow and I didn't know if the two younger ones would want to do autographs. To avoid carrying around three or all out war on who gets to hold the book etc. I made an autograph book myself.

I used the 12x12 Disney scrapbooking and cardstock paper you can buy at JoAnn's. Each sheet made two 6x7 and two 5x6 pieces. I then got small three ring binders (with the clear windows in the front). and punch the holes along the longer sides (so the 7 inch and 6 inch sides). I made a cute page with their names and put it on front.

Once we get the autographs, I'll cut the hole punches out (so about an inch) and use the autographs in frames (they will then by 5x7 and 4x6) or in a scrapbook I will make (in all of my spare time ).

I figured the three ring binders are small, lightweight and allow flexibility with what to do with the autographs. And for certain characters, I have a page with their picture for them to sign. For others, I just have random Disney things like Mickey's ears etc. The paper packs have lots of options (all princesses, pooh, michey, minnie, donald etc.)

 

[monorailsilver]

Hats! My kids get to choose a new hat (my son just used his yankee hat) and the characters sign that. This way I don't have to carry a book and just a sharpie and the kids wear the hats.

I have also done a photo mat but I just brought that to check mickeys because I couldn't deal with carrying it everywhere.

 

[dwbrewster]

I debated the Disney Junior Encyclopedia because I really like the book being the keepsake and also reading and learning about the characters.

But, we have three kids in tow and I didn't know if the two younger ones would want to do autographs. To avoid carrying around three or all out war on who gets to hold the book etc. I made an autograph book myself.

I used the 12x12 Disney scrapbooking and cardstock paper you can buy at JoAnn's. Each sheet made two 6x7 and two 5x6 pieces. I then got small three ring binders (with the clear windows in the front). and punch the holes along the longer sides (so the 7 inch and 6 inch sides). I made a cute page with their names and put it on front.

Once we get the autographs, I'll cut the hole punches out (so about an inch) and use the autographs in frames (they will then by 5x7 and 4x6) or in a scrapbook I will make (in all of my spare time ).

I figured the three ring binders are small, lightweight and allow flexibility with what to do with the autographs. And for certain characters, I have a page with their picture for them to sign. For others, I just have random Disney things like Mickey's ears etc. The paper packs have lots of options (all princesses, pooh, michey, minnie, donald etc.)

That sounds great, very ambitious undertaking for your spare time! Would love to see some pictures when its all done!

 

[njpyro]

I use 4x6 index cards in a small photo book (easy to take in and out). I draw all the characters, but you could easily print out the outlines and kids can color in the characters. Many characters loved seeing their picture and when up they saw I drew them, they would stop what they were doing and show other characters, photographers, handlers, other people, etc.
I drew the characters I thought we would see and brought blanks for extra. Then any character that I didn't have ahead of time, I had to show them where the drawing would go, so they wouldn't sign in its place.

 

[Ladcassidy]

I debated the Disney Junior Encyclopedia because I really like the book being the keepsake and also reading and learning about the characters. But, we have three kids in tow and I didn't know if the two younger ones would want to do autographs. To avoid carrying around three or all out war on who gets to hold the book etc. I made an autograph book myself. I used the 12x12 Disney scrapbooking and cardstock paper you can buy at JoAnn's. Each sheet made two 6x7 and two 5x6 pieces. I then got small three ring binders (with the clear windows in the front). and punch the holes along the longer sides (so the 7 inch and 6 inch sides). I made a cute page with their names and put it on front. Once we get the autographs, I'll cut the hole punches out (so about an inch) and use the autographs in frames (they will then by 5x7 and 4x6) or in a scrapbook I will make (in all of my spare time ). I figured the three ring binders are small, lightweight and allow flexibility with what to do with the autographs. And for certain characters, I have a page with their picture for them to sign. For others, I just have random Disney things like Mickey's ears etc. The paper packs have lots of options (all princesses, pooh, michey, minnie, donald etc.)

I make similar books each year. DD loves to look through them and remember our trip. I start with a 1" mini binder, use jewels and Disney scrap booking materials to bling up the outside of the binder and create colorful tabs separating the pages into categories (princesses, Toy Story, Pooh, Mickey & friends) out of heavy card stock. The autograph pages are 5x8 unruled index cards from Staples, which I 3-hole punch. I use a variety of stickers (from coloring books and other sources) to decorate the individual character pages. I make multiple pages for characters we are apt to meet more than once, plus some generic pages The characters love them, too! Last year, we saw Snow White at Princess Hall, then at Akershus. She remembered our book, and the second day, flipped back to her earlier signature and kissed the page, leaving a cute lipstick mark.

 

[mickeyfun15]

We are doing photo mats for our kids (6 & 2) and then I made 4x6 cards with each characters silhouettes and name on them in white on cute colors with a white border, to be added to our scrapbook by the pictures of us with each character. I am putting them in little photo albums so that they can be slipped in and out easy and will be kept nice until we get home. I made a total of 75 cards most have just one character on them but a few are combos since i didn't want a ton of cards...I know I won't meet that many of them but I wanted to make sure to have all that I might meet.

 

[Lalalyn]

I make similar books each year. DD loves to look through them and remember our trip. I start with a 1" mini binder, use jewels and Disney scrap booking materials to bling up the outside of the binder and create colorful tabs separating the pages into categories (princesses, Toy Story, Pooh, Mickey & friends) out of heavy card stock. The autograph pages are 5x8 unruled index cards from Staples, which I 3-hole punch. I use a variety of stickers (from coloring books and other sources) to decorate the individual character pages. I make multiple pages for characters we are apt to meet more than once, plus some generic pages The characters love them, too! Last year, we saw Snow White at Princess Hall, then at Akershus. She remembered our book, and the second day, flipped back to her earlier signature and kissed the page, leaving a cute lipstick mark.

Tabs! Great idea. I was wondering how I would get her to a Cinderella themed page etc. other than trying to put them in some order.

I will let everyone know how this works!

 

[smitty0705]

We took the Jr Encyclopedia for each of our kids and it worked out great! Not too bad to tote around, and kept the kids occupied reading while we waited in line. Also some of our character interaction highlights had to do with the book! Phineas and Ferb are not in the book and signed the first page and added their names to the index, LOL! And Anastasia crossed out all the negative comments about herself in the text and added positive adjectives instead- hilarious! She also drew wavy stink lines on Drizella's picture.

 

[disney is my life]

We have done different things over our trips. Our first 2 trips we bought autograph books in the parks. On our last trip I made autograph books using Shutterfly and we also had a backpack signed. On our next trip I have already made another set of Shutterfly autograph books and will likely be making another one for each dd using golden books. (We usually have 2 each trip because we usually meet the same character multiple times over the course of the trip)

 

[snkasweet]

For those that have a pillowcase signed, did you use a cardboard in between to prevent bleeding through?

 

[jessic2422]

We did pillow cases in our trip this year(first trip) they turned out amazing! My DD sleeps on hers all the time and I've already washed it a million times. Trying to decide if our next trip we should use the same pillow cases and try to get the signatures we didn't this time (we only used one side so if use the other side). Or thinking of doing a mat for a frame and then finding a great photo from the trip when we get home to hang with it.

Did you pre-treat it with anything before washing? I assume you used sharpie. I have one from a cruise we took but I haven't used it because I am afraid to wash it.