Character Autographs

[WDWNY]

I saw these girls getting pillow cases signed by characters at MK the other day and loved the idea. Autograph books are fun, but i think they just get put away after a trip and thats it. Was wondering if anyone had any other cool ideas!

 

[cassie58]

I have seen people do baseball hats, t-shirts(ones they brought, not had on!), and picture frame mats. We once did large index cards to put next to pic of character in a photo album where you could slide then in side by side.

Thanks to someone on the Dis, we also bought Disney Encyclopedia of Animated Characters book, took it to Staples to have it spiral bound, cover laminated, and add extra pages for new characters(inexpensive). It has been awesome, as kids can read it while waiting in line, and it provides great character interaction, as they love to see themselves in the book, and will do fun things with it. Stepsisters crossed out bad things about themselves and good things about Cinderella, and write in new words to look good - hysterical! Woody and Jessie fought over who got to sign first. Provided lots if great memories, and 13 yr old still used it last yr for trip when she was 12, and keeps it in her room.

 

[Stitch808]

We did a blank Vinylmation doll this past trip. It went well until we started to run out of space! Overall, it was a great way other than an autograph book and we can display the doll with the signatures.

 

[AshleeH]

We've done T-shirts and I've seen photo mattes (great in theory, but I wouldn't want to try to keep that perfect though the parks). We're taking a Disney storybook that has nearly every character on our upcoming trip. I'm going to post-it the characters that are in the parks and have them sign the book - then every time she reads it at home, she'll remember the trip.

 

[AshleeH]

Computer glitch - Double post

 

[Carla1183]

Thanks to someone on the Dis, we also bought Disney Encyclopedia of Animated Characters book, took it to Staples to have it spiral bound, cover laminated, and add extra pages for new characters(inexpensive). It has been awesome, as kids can read it while waiting in line, and it provides great character interaction, as they love to see themselves in the book, and will do fun things with it. Stepsisters crossed out bad things about themselves and good things about Cinderella, and write in new words to look good - hysterical! Woody and Jessie fought over who got to sign first. Provided lots if great memories, and 13 yr old still used it last yr for trip when she was 12, and keeps it in her room.

Did you get the hardcover newest version? If so, how did you handle doing the cover? I wish they could punch through the original cover to spiral bind it!

edited to add...i just read that it is a dust jacket! so you can have that laminated and use it as the cover. thats great!

 

[WDWNY]

I've seen photo mattes (great in theory, but I wouldn't want to try to keep that perfect though the parks).

I agree with this, it looks so cute and I'm sure with a picture it'd be cuter but I also wouldn't know which characters picture to put

 

[cassie58]

Did you get the hardcover newest version? If so, how did you handle doing the cover? I wish they could punch through the original cover to spiral bind it!

edited to add...i just read that it is a dust jacket! so you can have that laminated and use it as the cover. thats great!

No, we had started using it in 2011 I think, so used this one:https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1423...characters&dpPl=1&dpID=61tSrisVjUL&ref=plSrch
It didn't have all the characters, but added blank pages for newer and nonanimted characters. It was soft cover which was easier to carry and open flat - it is nice they finally updated it, but I don't know if I'd want to carry a hardcover. This one is a little heavy, but we had the stroller in the beginning and now DD carries her own in backsack. But I think either is a great way to gather autographs and have a great keepsake!

 

[twinmom2012]

I brought a small sketch book (5x7) with perforated pages the last time we went and then I put them in a scrapbook with the pictures we had of my kids meeting the characters. I'm debating about doing that again this year or letting my twins carry their own autograph books that they received as gifts from their uncle.

 

[MSPeeler]

For those who had autographs on shirts/apparel, did you use a special fabric pen or marker, or what do you recommend to reduce fading or bleeding?

 

[Disney_traveler]

We do a photo mat every trip and put a picture from the trip in it. We have done characters and also take it to the kidcot stations and have them write something in their language. We also just found a pack of sharpies that are just gold, silver and bronze metallic, so we are saving those for whenever we do another trip (probably the 50th anniversary) so,it's a classy look. We have a clipboard kinda like the one below in the link. We have the mat in a ziplock for protection and a ziplock with sharpies that lays flat in the case. Easy to keep up with, fits perfect in park bag, and the clipboard part is helpful too.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Saunders-SlimMate-Clipboard-1-Pink/16671259

 

[Xennia]

http://www.parkboundbuttons.com/store/c8/GIANT_6"_Buttons.html

These look like my next purchase. You can easily display this with a ribbon on the wall. I've purchased several of her pins and they are well made. I always keep my eyes out for something fun.

 

[KyGirl]

Last time we went when DD was two I bought a standard white pillow case and had DD's first name, Walt Disney World, and the year of the trip embroidered near the edge. Then we took good fabric pens I got at a fabric store and had the characters use those to sign the pillow case. I also took a small clipboard and binder clips so that they had a hard surface to write on and the binder clips held it in place. This allowed me to kind of control where the characters signed so they didn't all bunch up in one place. It worked really well. The only downside was that I was always scrambling to have it all set up before we got our turn in line. In a longer line for one character that wasn't a problem but when there was more than one or at something like a character meal, I would sometimes be panicking trying to get ready for the next one.

It was worth it though because it is an awesome souvenir. Our trip was two years ago and DD has slept on it every night and I wash it once a week and it has held up great. We still look at it all the time and talk about the signatures. She's now learning to read and a lot of them have sort of "context clues" about who they are (like a pirate sword for Jake or pixie dust for Tinkerbelle) and she's so proud that she can point them all out. I know we have gotten so much more enjoyment out of that than we would have a book on the shelf.

We're getting ready to go back (eight more days ) and I was just trying to decide last night if we should do the same thing this time. The lady that did the embroidery for me last time isn't available so I wasn't sure about having something sort of the same but a little different... I'm kind of thinking about buying some plain white fabric and cutting out quilt squares ahead of time and having one available for each character, with the same clipboard and fabric pen system, then when we get back I'll get some sort of colorful or disney fabric to mix in with those squares and have my mom turn them into a quilt. I could just write or stitch her name, WDW, and the date onto a corner square or something. Then DD would have sort of a pillow and blanket set from her two trips. I haven't worked out all these details in my mind yet...

 

[Stephiehun]

My sister was there in 2015 for the CP, and had characters sign a backpack every time she went to a park. I'm pretty sure she did something to waterproof it once she came home. It's really cute.

 

[WDWNY]

Then we took good fabric pens I got at a fabric store and had the characters use those to sign the pillow case.

Do you happen to have the pens/ know what kind they were?

 

[KyGirl]

They were Tulip brand I think? They were kind of skinny and I thought the characters might have trouble with them but it was all fine. None of them complained and they worked great!

 

[MSPeeler]

Do you happen to have the pens/ know what kind they were?

I bought these and they work well,

 

[WDWNY]

thank you! I was thinking getting a white pillow case and then maybe dying it to match the bed set once we got all the autographs.

 

[WDWNY]

We're going to do the pillow cases, is there a list of characters who sign/ don't sign? We've met them all before so we don't want to wait if they don't sign. Some I know for sure don't but some I can't recall.

 

[MSPeeler]

I made these shirts (tutorial on Pinterest) & I'm curious what anyone would recommend to keep the fabric taut so the characters can sign without smearing? I've thought about and embroidery hoop, or a clipboard using a binder clips on the sides… Any advice?