Character Autographs

[gila]

i'm taking my 5- and 9-year old nephews to WDW for the first time. are boys that age interested in collecting character autographs? i have no idea. i don't know if i should prep them with the idea and the materials, or wait and let them see others doing it and see if they want to do it or not at that point. advice?

 

[ltl engine]

For my boys I don't push it to ruin the Magic--some days they want to other days not. A cheaper way to do it that makes a great keepsake is to use blank 4x6 note cards with the larger sharpies. When the kids are getting autographs or when they are done take a picture. You can buy a Disney photo album at the Dollar Store or Walgreens then put the picture in with the autographs. Kids love looking back at it later!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

That's the age where the autograph madness is at its peak, I believe.

Autographs are actually an inexpensive (money-wise... not time-wise) souvenir. I purchased a book about seven years ago for $6. They probably run around $8-10, now. They sell a variety with photo slips that are more expensive but have less autograph pages (we purchased this kind at DL for the 50th anniversary and ran out of space by the end of the week).

It's also inexpensive to make your own autograph books. They can be as simple as index cards or pages cut in half, then folded in half and stapled in the middle (we created some like this for a group of kids to personalize) and as elaborate as scrapbook paper, photo slips, laminated covers, and spiral bound books. I believe some DISers have posted photos of their hand-made creations on the boards. Try searching Autograph books.

As for pens, you can buy an 8-pack of thick crayola washable markers. Sharpies also work well (but are permanent and more expensive).

 

[SmallWorld71]

If they are anything like my kids, then the answer is yes! yes! yes! Their desire to meet the characters, and DS's desire to collect autographs is so strong, that I have been known to distract them with something else when I see a character just so we don't have to wait in line! While I agree that you could make one or get one elsewhere, my kids like picking theirs out at the resort gift shop as their first disney purchase.

 

[DOES THE SHOE FIT]

My DS was 6 the first time we went and 8 when we went last November. I think he was more interested in the autographs when he was 6, but I'm not sure if it was due to his age or because it was his first time at WDW. But even at 8, there were times when he would see a character and want to stand in line for a photo and autograph. What you don't want is to be caught where the boys want to get autographs and you have no book to sign. I recommend either buying an autograph book at your hotel or making one before you leave and bringing it with. I recall even before we got into AK, there were characters to meet with minimal lines so if you wait until you get into the parks it may be too late. I used the retractable sharpies and the characters really seeming to like these...they were thick enough to write with but no cap to mess with. Good luck

 

[Mike Wazowski]

The last two outings to Disney we have had we did the following: 1) bought them each a spiral notebook of index cards (so that we didn't have to worry about individual cards getting lost or messed up) and then went to Home Depot's paint section and decorated the outside of the book with Mickey Heads or the bedroom design pamphlets they have in their Disney section, and 2) We found a post that someone had for a half sheet of paper for each Disney character. We were able to print 2 to a sheet and kept them in a folder. They were very nice and made nice souveniers!

 

[DISNEYNV]

A poster on the DIS had a really cool idea! Get the matte board for a 5x7 picture frame and different color sharpies and have a few favorite characters sign it. Then when you get back or at the park put in a favorite photo in a frame I think I will do this on our trip in May for my kids plus autograph books of course!