how do you manage autograph books year after year?

[smnornes]

We;re heading back to WDW and I'm trying to decide how to handle autograph books. DD5 has one from last year that has every page filled up, but DS7's autograph book has plenty of open spaces. Do you bring your existing books back to WDW to more autographs, or do you get a new book each time? Do you only get NEW autographs so there are no duplicates in your book? Curious to hear what others do. Thanks!

 

[Leanne1977]

We buy new ones. We had our first trip last year so obviously had to buy them. We then went to Disneyland Paris in January and i got another 2 for my boys.

We are going back to WDW in 9 days and i will get new ones again. I think it will be nice when the kids are grown up to see each book which i will date so they know what holiday it was and i will keep it with photos from that holiday for them.

We did get duplicate autographs last time but that doesnt bother us.

 

[720L]

We don't buy new ones we fill them up then get a new one. We have lots of multiple autographs also.

 

[bleeps]

We get a new book for each trip and date it. (Rather than the WDW books, I buyy high quality, spiral bound, small (4x6) artists' drawing books -- less expensive, heavier archival paper, and easier to handle with the spiral binding.) I scan in the autographs and print them out to display along side the pictures with the characters in our scrapbook. We do duplicate characters year to year, and add new ones as we are able to. DS, 8, loves being able to go through a book and remember a particular trip, and it's great to be able to scrapbook pages that show his growth next to his favorite characters.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

We buy new ones every year for our two children. For us, it is part of the fun--buying a new book and pen. They are all lined up in a shelf in my office--looks pretty cool.

 

[mattsdragon]

Here's how we handle them. . .

We arrive, the wife realizes she forgot to pack it, we buy another.

It makes her scrapbooking easier too. She rips the autographs right out.

 

[TEK224]

bleeps - I'm thinking of doing a scrapbook of all my photos with the characters. I was going to get some small cardstock sheets and spiral bind them together to make a small (3x5) autograph book to take on my trip.

Then when I get home, I would be able to cut the autographs to the size I want for my scrapbook pages and put it next to the photos.

Does this sound like it would work? I'm very new to scrapbooking, so I just want to make sure. I figured the card stock sheets would be a little more sturdier than the regular autograph books.

Thanks!
Terri

 

[Windy City Heather]

I make them and my dd gets a new one everytime. Many times she comes back with multiple autographs from the same character. If she see's them in the park she wants their autograph and then we see them at a meal.

I get the 3 by 5 pre cut colored paper at Michael's or Joanne fabric. I pick out the colors I want and put them in the order I want them. I then take them to Office Max or Staples and have them put a spirel binding on with a black plastic back. I then stamp my dd's name on the front and put a Disney Character sticker on them. There are all kinds of Characters out there but I put one Halloween exampt below in the link.

http://www.joann.com/catalog.jhtml?CATID=61174&PRODID=102716&source=search

My dd gets lots of attention from her cool autograph books and the face characters will call her by name sometimes from looking at the front.

 

[cinnamon-sugah]

I agree, I have always made my kiddos books but I use 4 x 6 spiral bound scrapbooks and we put stickers of them on "their" page. I think the characters enjoy seeing something new. I've had a lot of them comment on them and sometimes even call other characters over to see. Definitely worth spending the time putting them together for the extra attention for kiddos!

 

[Tink&Belle's Mom]

Last year we took a Disney story book that the girls had gotten from their grandparents. All the characters loved signing near a picture of themselves, or on the opening page of their story. Only a couple didn't have stories in the book (Mary Poppins comes to mind) so we had them sign on the title page of the book.

We have also used post cards (individual on the princess book set) for the characters to sign. Then you can send them to family and friends back home!

 

[MassMom94]

On our first trip (2003), a friend had WDW Florist deliver us a tote bag full of goodies which included two autograph books and pens. My daughter (then 11) only wanted Mickey's autograph, and that's all she got in her book - son (then 5) got a lot more.

This trip, DD (now 14) said she was too old for autographs. We took DS's old one to be added to. He didn't want any duplicate autographs, but there were quite a few new characters who signed this time. We even took the old pen back - turns out they don't sell that particular one anymore - and Wendy (of Peter Pan fame) even commented on it as she signed DS's book. She thought it was cool that the characters move through a window as you turn the top - "It's like a parade!" Finally Peter Pan told her, "Wendy, give the kid's pen back!!"

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

We buy new books for every trip and date them. Then we get every autograph we possibly can find!

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

we didn't start until 92 and what we used was the parks guides
to "collect' autographs...now.. we used the books we buy the year
before [ & pics]...for the upcoming trip..it always a good experience
when we ran into the same lil "character" from the year before...

they really like "seeing" themselves from the year before...

 

[lisadam]

For our last trip we had the characters sign on every other page - then when I got home I glued pictures of the characters with DS (or the whole family) right next to the autograph. The blank pages at the end of the book were used for extra pictures or to write down a memory or two.

We'll bring a new book next time and do it all over again - I'm too lazy to scrapbook and this is an easy way to get a book of the trip.

 

[Tink-n-Belle]

For those of you who are thinking about using the 3x5 colored index cards
Go to the craft section of the disboards- there are alot of great ideas.

I downloaded some of the character pictures (like the seven dwarfs) and printed them onto the index card. Now the index card is already decorated and is just awaiting a signature. (you can also decorate them after you get the signatures too).

Another idea is to purchase a small 3x5 soft cover photo albumn instead of binding them onto a spiral. Its easier to carry and you can add and subtract the index cards once you get the signatures you want. I'm also carrying blank cards for the characters that are unusual and will decorate them once I get home.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I have seven autograph books, some filled and some almost filled. I bring them on every trip, since I designate one page per character, and put a little picture of the character on the page. Then when I find a character I don't have, I whip out the autograph book and flip to their page. I only recently got Brer Fox, as I been carrying that particular autograph book around since 2003. I also have blank one with no pictures, in case we find a character we didn't anticipate. That is very rare - I think the only times that happened was meeting Pain, Panic, and the two Little Pigs.

But I am probably going to start getting some new autographs for many characters, as some of their autographs have change slightly over the years.

 

[Carrie772]

We don't use autograph books. I buy the kids a new Disney hat for each trip and have the characters autograph them. Really fun to wear after!!!