Character Autograph Book Alternatives?

[Belle Ella]

I've been wanting to start getting character autographs again but I'm trying to decide how to go about it and I need some help/ideas. I don't want to get the little books that Disney offers. I have nothing against them as I loved collecting autographs in those when I was a kid, but I just want to do something a little more fun and creative. I've been doing a little digging to find some ideas but I'm not so certain on what I want to do yet so I wanted to hear some opinions and ideas from the best go-to Disney people around: everyone here on the DIS! Some of the ideas I have been tossing around so far:

1. Purchase one of those park map posters and have character sign that with colorful pens and display it at some point.

2. Print some of the character photos I already have of me with them and have them sign it. Or along the same lines just one of the solo photos if I have one of them and sign that.

3. Bring a mat frame (like 8x10 or something) to get autographs and then put a photo from my trip in there.

And then I get stuck. I would love it if anyone has any other alternative ideas or photos of what they did so I can get a visual idea of what I might like.

 

[CrazyDuck]

Other things you can have them sign: ears, shirts ( easier if you are not wearing it) and CD/DVD cases.

 

[JH87]

I've seen characters sign someone's vinylmation figure....the larger ones. They sell the plain ones that you decortate yourself. I thought that was a neat idea to get various character autographs on it. It might be difficult for characers like Mickey, Goofy etc to sign it but i've seen face characters sign it with no problem.

edit: i just searched on google and came across this

 

[MrsPinup]

I made books for my kids and had them bound at Staples. They had spots for characters to sign, plus things they needed to find (either to write about or to glue an object to the page). My kids seemed to find them pretty interesting since it wasn't just a book with blank pages.

 

[Belle Ella]

Other things you can have them sign: ears, shirts ( easier if you are not wearing it) and CD/DVD cases.

Along those lines, another thing I just thought about would be something like a canvas bag as well.

I've seen characters sign someone's vinylmation figure....the larger ones. They sell the plain ones that you decortate yourself. I thought that was a neat idea to get various character autographs on it. It might be difficult for characers like Mickey, Goofy etc to sign it but i've seen face characters sign it with no problem.

edit: i just searched on google and came across this

I came across that in my Google search but never really looked too close at it. I'm just now starting to get into Vinylmation so this might be a good idea. I just have to decide it I want to spend that much on the large Vinylmation. But even if I don't do it right away I love this idea for some day down the road. Like you was I was a little worried about the fuzzy characters, but the photo gives me hope.

I made books for my kids and had them bound at Staples. They had spots for characters to sign, plus things they needed to find (either to write about or to glue an object to the page). My kids seemed to find them pretty interesting since it wasn't just a book with blank pages.

Nice idea. I've thought of doing it myself, but I personally really want to stay away from anything book related.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

We have been using the Disney Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters. We have each character sign their page. It's a bit heavy to carry around (especially more than one!), but the characters love it and make a big deal about having a page in the book. You can purchase this book on Amazon (right now it's 12.99).

ETA: Just read you want to stay away from anything book related...scratch my idea!

 

[Belle Ella]

We have been using the Disney Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters. We have each character sign their page. It's a bit heavy to carry around (especially more than one!), but the characters love it and make a big deal about having a page in the book. You can purchase this book on Amazon (right now it's 12.99).

ETA: Just read you want to stay away from anything book related...scratch my idea!

It's all good. And I actually saw your idea when I was doing a DIS search for some ideas! Maybe it will be helpful for somebody else as well.

 

[dmked]

We have been using the Disney Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters. We have each character sign their page. It's a bit heavy to carry around (especially more than one!), but the characters love it and make a big deal about having a page in the book. You can purchase this book on Amazon (right now it's 12.99).

ETA: Just read you want to stay away from anything book related...scratch my idea!

I didn't ask the original question, but I have been looking for a good alternative to autograph books in the park and I think my girls would love this encyclopedia thing and it is much better than getting blank pages signed! Should I get one for each kid or can they share the book?

 

[starshine514]

We have been using the Disney Junior Encyclopedia of Animated Characters. We have each character sign their page. /QUOTE]

Was looking at this (my 6-yr-old has decided she wants to start collecting autographs). It looks like it's a few years old, so no Tiana or Rapunzel. Any suggestions for what to do for characters not in the book?

 

[Kayla's Mom]

I didn't ask the original question, but I have been looking for a good alternative to autograph books in the park and I think my girls would love this encyclopedia thing and it is much better than getting blank pages signed! Should I get one for each kid or can they share the book?

We got one for each of our daughters. I guess it depends on your kids. I think my girls like having their own book to hand to the character.

Was looking at this (my 6-yr-old has decided she wants to start collecting autographs). It looks like it's a few years old, so no Tiana or Rapunzel. Any suggestions for what to do for characters not in the book?

We have them sign the inside of the cover or back cover. We have done that with Tiana and Prince Naveen, Jack and Sally and Bert and Mary Poppins.

 

[tink2dw]

My Dd wore a white Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle's shirt to WDW and we had a Black Sharp and all the turtles and April their news reporter friend signed Dd's Shirt while she had it on. But this was a shirt she loved to wear, so it needed to be washed and the Sharpie would start to fade out to an ugly green so I would have to copy over the signatures several times till she out grew the shirt 3 or 4 years later.[she was a little bitty thing for a long time!!]

 

[skiingfast]

I find this strange but on the DCL cruises people often have pillow cases signed. It's a popular idea there but not elsewhere apparently.

 

[LoveMyBeautifulGift]

Was looking at this (my 6-yr-old has decided she wants to start collecting autographs). It looks like it's a few years old, so no Tiana or Rapunzel. Any suggestions for what to do for characters not in the book?

Actually picked up a copy today; I'm thinking I might try to print pages for the missing characters using autograph pages from the Disigns since I am going to try to get it rebound (spiral) anyway...if it works, it would definitely be easier than making a whole book from the Disigns...

 

[rainyday77]

I bought a 6x6 scrapbook album for $5 at Walmart. I am doing a scrapbook autograph album with a photo of my daughter and the character on 1 page and the autograph on the adjoining blank page. If a page is not done yet, I will have the character sign a blank page and then add the scrapbook page for next time. I scrapbook digitally so after each trip I will update the photopage, but you could also do a permanent scrapped page with a photo you can replace after each trip.

 

[ladeeesquire]

I saw a man there on friday with a really nice disney sweatshirt he was using for autograph collection. Nice guy! He said he'd been collecting them for a few years. It was pretty covered. Kind of cool.

 

[tlovesdis]

I'm a scrapbooker and have made a few autograph books for my nieces over the years. What I do is buy a spiral book of index cards and take that and a big marker with us to DL. We have the characters sign on the unlined side of the index card. It's nice to have the spiral one so that you just flip to the next one. When we get home, I buy a 6x6 or 8x8 scrapbook and do the picture on one side and the autograph on the other. I use stickers and such to embellish the pages. Here are a few of the ones I've done:

 

[Belle Ella]

I saw a man there on friday with a really nice disney sweatshirt he was using for autograph collection. Nice guy! He said he'd been collecting them for a few years. It was pretty covered. Kind of cool.

That would be fun! I would be so worried about the signatures fading though.

Keep the ideas coming! Anyone have any more ideas of non-book related alternatives?

 

[KBelle5]

Have you thought about those paintings that are sold in (totally don't remember the name!) the store on the right side of DL when you're facing the castle, kinda across from Gibson Girl? They have some really expensive paintings, then paintings with a colored border around them that sell for $35.

I have one with the castle on it, which would be a good generic one for a bunch of characters to sign. I got the Mary Poppins still life and had her and Bert sign it for a Christmas present for a friends who loves MP.

The only problem with it is that it's kind of small, so the character would have to be careful and not sign too big.

Here's a pic of what I mean, although the border kind of blends in with my wall.

 

[tlovesdis]

That would be fun! I would be so worried about the signatures fading though.

Keep the ideas coming! Anyone have any more ideas of non-book related alternatives?

Oh sorry, didn't realize you were only looking for non-book ideas!

 

[Belle Ella]

Oh sorry, didn't realize you were only looking for non-book ideas!

It's all good Personally, I'm looking for non-book stuff. But I'm sure they will be helpful to someone else.

Have you thought about those paintings that are sold in (totally don't remember the name!) the store on the right side of DL when you're facing the castle, kinda across from Gibson Girl? They have some really expensive paintings, then paintings with a colored border around them that sell for $35.

I have one with the castle on it, which would be a good generic one for a bunch of characters to sign. I got the Mary Poppins still life and had her and Bert sign it for a Christmas present for a friends who loves MP.

The only problem with it is that it's kind of small, so the character would have to be careful and not sign too big.

Here's a pic of what I mean, although the border kind of blends in with my wall.

I know what you're talking about. I have some things I have gotten from there but not anything i would consider getting signed at this point but it could work. Kind of like bring a mat frame and getting it signed and framing it with my own photos.