autographs for a 2 year old?

[nancy drew]

i didnt think we were going to do the whole autograph book for my dd, who turned 2 in february, but every now and then i think it might be a fun way to remember the trip. id want to do something to help her remember who signed each page, or do the books have specific spots for characters? is it something we should save for future trips or would a 2 year old actually enjoy this?

 

[DisneyDadof3]

i didnt think we were going to do the whole autograph book for my dd, who turned 2 in february, but every now and then i think it might be a fun way to remember the trip. id want to do something to help her remember who signed each page, or do the books have specific spots for characters? is it something we should save for future trips or would a 2 year old actually enjoy this?

We buy photo albums (that hold 4x6 pics) that have space below to journal in - have the characters sign right below the slot for the picture - then you have the picture with your DD and the autograph on the same page!

 

[Disnicole]

Our son was 27 months when I first did the autograph thing. I bought a book off of a scrap booker on another disney boards who makes and sells them. It allowed me to leave enough room for a picture opposite the signature. I don't think that he truly "got" the whole autograph thing, but it gave him a little something to give the characters to do while he was feeling a little shy at first, it was a good ice breaker for him. Once they signed his book then he was all high fives and hugs.

 

[nancy drew]

disney dad- that sounds like exactly what i was hoping to have, something with a space for a photo or something that would help dd remember who had signed what. did you buy it at the parks or at home?

disnicole- i was thinking that too, that it might help her not be so shy about giving a hug or a high five to the characters. right now she is soooooooo excited to "see bickey" but im afraid that once she is face to face with him things might change a bit.

 

[scrapmoose]

My DD was 2 1/2 when I took her. She LOVED the autographs. She was gung ho about giving each character her book and pen. I got a spiral bound scrapbook 7x8 in size from Walmart. Each character used a sharpie and signed one page. This past weekend I took all the autographs out and made a scrapbook for each child. One side had the picture of my girls with the character and the other has the autographs. My kids love them. They also love going back and looking at each autograph. The 2 1/2 year old also can tell stories about each character. She remembers alot about it and the books help.

I did not predecorate anything since I didn't know which characters we would see. I did that when we got back.

If you use a WDW autograph book and want to use a sharpie bring some cardstock or cardboard to be a buffer between pages as they are signing or the sharpie can bleed though to the other pages. Sharpie makes a great thick marker that is great for the gloved characters to sign.

 

[susykt4]

What I've done our 2 trips is buy a spiral-bound book of multi-colored index cards (less than $2 at WalMart) for each child and have the character sign the unlined side. I then buy a photo album at WDW and put the picture with the character in the top slot and the autograph in the bottom slot of each page. The kids absolutely love these albums. The best thing is that the index card books fit easily into a <gasp> small fanny pack so I'm not lugging around an album all day or worrying about it getting stolen or rained on in the stroller. Another bonus is that my kids absolutely LOVE choosing the color of card each character will sign. This kills some time in the character lines and it is hilarious how seriously they take the task.

 

[sara74]

I'll be the one 'no vote' on the autographs for a preschooler. After one character encounter, DD was totally into seeing all of the characters. She met Jasmine first and was a little star struck 1) because she was a Princess, 2) because she was beautiful and 3) because I sprung Jasmine on her (I snuck out of our lunch at Marrakesh and found Jasmine out on the street with no line at all so I grabbed DD and took her out without telling her why we were out there!!) Anyway, after that first encounter, she was really into the characters and had a great time interacting with them. I'm not against the books, and autographs, but I think it was much more memorable for DD to tickle Goofy, to tell Peter Pan and Wendy that she had seen their play at our local high school, and to play peekaboo with Eeyore's ears, than to hand a book to characters that have great big mitts on their hands and can barely scratch out a legible semblance of their name for a kid too young to read it anyway.

I know this sounds harsh, and I am not against other people having the books, but I think they take what is an opportunity for one's child to have a unique interaction with a character and turns it into more of an assembly line. DD had a card that she wanted to show to Woody, and since I think it is probably hard to hear from up there in Woody's head, he misunderstood that she was trying to show him the card and he got his own pen and signed it. Not that that was a bad thing, but she didn't get why he signed his name to it.

DD is pretty perceptive and saw other kids books, but when she asked what they were I said, "some people think it is cool to have famous people write their names down for them" She nodded and moved on.

Just my .02 on the topic. I'm sure that the books are helpful for shy kids who still want to get close to the characters. I am willing to bet that we will have a book with us on our next trip, but for our first time, I am glad that DD had more time to play and we'll get the autographs on a return trip, if she wants to.

 

[mannatee]

I know this sounds harsh, and I am not against other people having the books, but I think they take what is an opportunity for one's child to have a unique interaction with a character and turns it into more of an assembly line.

I totally agree (and of course, this is just my opinion). I saw no reason to place my three-year-old in a line to see a character. We saw plenty at character breakfasts and dinners with no waiting. There were times when we would walk up on one just entering the park or leaving, and I pretty much left it up to him as to whether he wanted to say hello.

We took a white t-shirt and sharpies and had characters sign it at the character meals. Just be sure to hold it tight to help with the signature. They will not sign if your child is wearing the shirt.

The time will come soon enough when he will be one who stands in line for an autograph, but until then, it's really nice to forego (spelling?) the lines and get to the things that your preschooler will understand and totally enjoy! Like Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood Playground and the Boneyard and hundreds of popsicles! Thanks for reading.

18 more days!
dh
me
ds

 

[lovethattink]

We have annual passes and our youngest just turned two. We do not bring an autograph book and let him interact with the characters on his own. There have been so many magical moments this way. Once we went to visit Mickey at MGM studios. I asked if the line was long, and the cm said no. There was one family ahead of us. No one ever came in line behind us. Our son talked to Mickey, hugged him, sat on his lap. Then Mickey stood up, took his hand and walked out on the street to drum up so more "business". It took a while for ppl to notice him. All the time, he interacted with our son. Another time, he had his toys in his hand, and the characters played with the toys with him. Had we had autograph books, he would have been hustled along and would have missed the opportunity to "really" interact with them.

 

[beattyfamily]

I didn't do autographs till my two girls were ages 3 and 6 and it was mostly for my 6 year old; the 3 year old had no interest. They actually share the autograph book too. I felt they were too young before that.

 

[emma'smom]

My three year old LOVED the whole autograph idea. We did NOT stand in a lot of lines for signatures though. We had them sign at character meals, when we saw them standing around the parks (with no lines), etc. It gave her a great way to interact with the characters and we also took time to talk with them after they signed the books. The only problem was that she would see characters multiple times and want them to sign her book again and again. So we have three mickeys, three minnies, to jasmines, etc. I don't see this as a big deal since it was all about the experience and not the final product.

However, I do like the tee-shirt idea!

 

[2sweetangels]

my DD's eill be 2 when we go to WDW and I am so excited about getting her an autograph book and having it signed with as many characters as possible. I just hope she ain't afraid of the character's.