Autographs??

[DisSarahK]

I'm debating whether or not my 4.5 year old will be all that into getting autographs at DL. It will be her first trip and I don't think it would occur to her to ask for autographs (heck, she doesn't even know what they are!) but I don't want her to feel left out if everyone is there asking for autographs and she isn't.

I take lots of pictures and she expects that, but I'm dithering on the autograph book thing. Do the characters write cute messages or is it just their Disney signature? Both children will be wearing cute custom clothing, so I think the characters will like their clothes.

Thanks for your patience with all my questions!

 

[Canyon girl]

My ds (4.5) last year noticed the autograph books that others had. I would play it safe and get a small one to have on hand. Don't want her to feel left out. I purchase mine on www.laughingplace.com. I like them because they are smaller and easier to carry. They don't have places for pics, but they are cheaper as well. Just make sure you get a generic Disney one, not Disney World. Laughing Place is out of Florida. Have fun!

 

[Disneylvrforever]

Well if you get an autograph book for your DD, you can just tell her to ask the characters to sign her book and then explain how cool it is to get their signature. lol. The fuzzies will usually just sign their name, but if you incounter a face character, then they might write something extra. It just depends. Once when I was at Goofy's Kitchen, Goofy signed the paper tablecloth and drew a self-portrait of himself for me. You never know what a character will do.

 

[DisSarahK]

Oh I know I could show her what the autograph book is and she would get into collecting them...but, to be honest, I don't really mind skipping all of that until my little ones are older--but I don't want her to feel left out if all the other children are getting autographs.

I probably should either get or make one just in case.

 

[canadadisney]

When we went we didn't get auto books for our two girls age 4 and 6. The 4 year old didn't even notice. The 6 year old wanted one by the second day as she saw all the other kids with their books. We had already done both of our charachter breakfasts so we didn't get them.We are going again in 6 days and I bought both girls auto books for this trip. In fact that is how I broke the news to them that they were going. I wrapped up the books and then when they opened them I asked them what they think we should do with them and then told them it was for the characters to sign when we go to Disneyland. They screamed!

 

[DisSarahK]

When we went we didn't get auto books for our two girls age 4 and 6. The 4 year old didn't even notice. The 6 year old wanted one by the second day as she saw all the other kids with their books. We had already done both of our charachter breakfasts so we didn't get them.We are going again in 6 days and I bought both girls auto books for this trip. In fact that is how I broke the news to them that they were going. I wrapped up the books and then when they opened them I asked them what they think we should do with them and then told them it was for the characters to sign when we go to Disneyland. They screamed!

Oh that is such a cute way to tell them! Hmm, I do wonder if my 4 year old just will be so overwhelmed with everything that she won't notice. Maybe I'll save the autograph books for a future trip.

 

[DL4my2kids]

autograph books. I thought they were great back then. I have take my 2 kids 2 years in a row now and they could care less. DS is 7 and DD is 4.

 

[kdzbear]

My 8 year old has autograph books from when she was 2 and still looks at them and now she can read who signed her book. I took my 2 year old son last year and he loved running up to the characters with his book to have them sign it. It only took a few characters before he knew what to do and he got so excited. They are around $6 or $7 and they are worth it in my opinion. I plan on getting a new one for my son when we go to DL this Fall.

 

[DisneyJamieCA]

I can't answer whether your daughter will notice other kids with them, but I will say that it's something my girls love. I'm not sure my 2 year old really understands it (she'll go up to get the autographs, but I don't think she'd care if we didn't have a book) but my 4 year old really gets it. We've gotten them a book to share on each of our trips and they have filled each time (sometimes we've had to buy an additional book!). I like getting the ones with the place for a picture. They make great souviniers....my girls look through our old ones all the time.

 

[heatherleigh]

I loved them on my first trip to DW. I really got into it back then. My kids haven't noticed them yet. I don't really want to introduce them to it yet either. I guess I'm just not into them so I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. But for whatever reason, I loved them on my first trip.

 

[bumbershoot]

but I don't want her to feel left out if all the other children are getting autographs.

I probably should either get or make one just in case.

Most of the other kids will be getting autographs. We *never* expected our then 3.5 year old boy to want autographs, but as soon as he saw the other kids doing something more than just taking pictures, he pretty much NEEDED to do it too. He's not normally a big one for peer pressure, so we were shocked.

We're still on a quest to get Buzz's signature to go along with his picture, b/c Buzz was the first character encountered, and that line is when DS learned about autographs, and we just weren't quick enough to buy a book right then. Buzz has eluded us since then so far, though!


What I'm saying is...be prepared. I personally don't find the books to be that expensive on property (about $7 for a small one that comes with a nice fat pen, and about $12 for a big one with room for a horizontally-aligned photograph on one side of the page, that comes with a gel pen) that I need to get them ahead of time. So I would just get one, keep it wrapped and hidden perhaps from her (since you would be fine skipping it), and IF she notices others and IF she wants to do it, you are the hero as you whip it out of your bag. But if she doesn't, then return it.

 

[mad hatter fan]

Most of the other kids will be getting autographs. We *never* expected our then 3.5 year old boy to want autographs, but as soon as he saw the other kids doing something more than just taking pictures, he pretty much NEEDED to do it too. He's not normally a big one for peer pressure, so we were shocked.

We're still on a quest to get Buzz's signature to go along with his picture, b/c Buzz was the first character encountered, and that line is when DS learned about autographs, and we just weren't quick enough to buy a book right then. Buzz has eluded us since then so far, though!


What I'm saying is...be prepared. I personally don't find the books to be that expensive on property (about $7 for a small one that comes with a nice fat pen, and about $12 for a big one with room for a horizontally-aligned photograph on one side of the page, that comes with a gel pen) that I need to get them ahead of time. So I would just get one, keep it wrapped and hidden perhaps from her (since you would be fine skipping it), and IF she notices others and IF she wants to do it, you are the hero as you whip it out of your bag. But if she doesn't, then return it.

Does Buzz even sign? Our last trip was DisneyWorld and I believe he did not sign or even stamp the books. What does Buzz do at DL?

 

[abby]

My dd was almost 5 on our first trip. I got an autograph book because she was somewhat afraid of the characters, they seemed so big to her. It gave her a reason to approach them. The pictures are funny. The first few days she would get an autograph but only stand a few feet in front of the character for a picture. By the end of the trip she was letting them put their arms around her.
So it was a useful thing for us. I got one of the books where I could put the pictures with the autograph, she still loves looking at them.

 

[MonkeyDishwasher]

Does Buzz even sign? Our last trip was DisneyWorld and I believe he did not sign or even stamp the books. What does Buzz do at DL?

Yes. Buzz does sign when he's at DL in CA. The original park doesn't lame out on things like that.

 

[DisSarahK]

Okay, you all have convinced me! I will buy a book and just hold onto it in case she wants it. (I am repeating to myself that I will *buy* the book, not spend oodles of time stressing out over making it!)

 

[bumbershoot]

Yes. Buzz does sign when he's at DL in CA. The original park doesn't lame out on things like that.

Yes Buzz was indeed signing.

Buzz's times are even listened in the Entertainment Times Guide! He's in different parts of Tomorrowland during each time, but the times themselves are listed.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

We went to WDW last year with four little kids (age 4, almost 3, almost 2, and 1.) The almost 3yr old and 4 yr olds were sooo into getting autographs! It was a major thing with them (both boys, not that it matters.)

I also wanted to mention that my DS first got into getting autographs when he witnessed a Suess character signing autographs at Universal Studios when he was just over 2 yrs old. We were in a store and he saw it through the window. He watched for a little while, then looked around the store for a minute, found an autograph book at his level and tried to walk out of the store with it! Of course we bought it for him and then went and waited in line for his turn. Even though he was sometimes a little scared of the big furry characters, he still wanted to wait for ALL of the autographs he could find the next couple of days. He was immediately in love with the idea.

So definately be prepared. There is a good chance your little one will like it too.

 

[Caseydilla]

Oh yes, I bet she will love it. My daughter was 4 when she got her first autograph book for Disney and was very excited about it. I put a picture of her with the princesses on each signature. Most of the characters we have met, do fancy signatures. Mulan drew little butterflies with her name.

Tigger on the other hand, has bad handwriting, though.