Princess Autograph Books - a little review

[BevS97]

We were quite excited to see that they had brought out new Princess Autograph books, as we already have 4 of the old blue ones, so it was nice to get something different.

These new books are much larger than the old books, and have a place for a photograph on the left page and the facing page is for autographs. They are more expensive than normal autograph books, I think they were $10 plus the pen

It's quite a nice looking book and it has a silver loop on the side to hold the pen, which is a nice feature, however we had a few niggly problems with it. The actual book is quite large which makes it a bit more inconvenient to carry around - we were ok as we have a stroller, but it wouldn't fit in a bum bag.
Other than that we were quite happy with the book until about halfway through our trip when we ran out of pages - I think for a short trip it would be a perfect size, as the normal books can look quite empty if you don't fill them, but unfortunately we filled the book on Day 6, and ended up having to buy another one (a normal blue one this time)

I have just discovered one final flaw - we got our photos printed today and Katie and I just sat down to put them in the book. The plastic pockets for the photos are tiny - I think they must be for 3.5x5 photos rather than 4x6. We have just stuck our photographs over the pockets and it looks quite good but it was disappointing.

In Conclusion, this is quite a nice book and it's refreshing to see a different option (althogh something for the boys would be nice too), while it has a few flaws, I think it's made a nice souvenier and we are more likely to look at it then the previous autograph books.

 

[jcemom]

Thanks for the review. I've been debating whether or not I wanted to get one for DD before our next trip. It's nice to have additional information to help with the decision.

She'll only be 2 1/2 and I really think we don't need to do autographs. But, you know kids. Even at a young age they pick up pretty quickly on what other kids are doing. I'm thinking that when she sees others getting autograps she may want to get them also. I'm sure she would enjoy looking at the autographs and pictures afterwards.

Is there even anywhere to get 3.5x5 photos made anymore? I have a digital and can't remember if I've seen the option for the smaller prints or not.

 

[kupperman]

Thanks for the review. I too have been debating on which book to buy. I think we might stick with the blue one.

 

[SnoWhiteRabbit]

Thanks for the review. I ws contemplating this one, but thought it might not have enough pages. Now, I am considering getting it for just princess signatures -- we're going to both princess breakfast. Could be fun....Not sure yet.

 

[margiemc]

Where were you able to purchase the new books? Are they available at the resorts or only at the parks? We have a late check-in (around 7pm) and are planning on hitting MK first thing the next morning. We have 2 princesses on our trip who would love these!!

 

[BevS97]

they were everywhere that normal autograph books are (which is pretty much everywhere)

 

[margiemc]

Thanks! The first time we ever went, we went to Chef Mickey's for dinner the day we arrived, without an autograph book in hand. My then almost 4 yr old DD wanted to know all about those and could she have one so her "friends" could sign it! Lesson learned!

 

[alloyd1170]

Jcemom: I got a autograph book for my 2 yr old back in Feb. We didnt go out of our way to collect autographs since we were on ly there a few days, but this is what I did: for each character we did meet, I took a picture of it and my son. When I got home, I printed up the pictures really small on sticker, or regular photo paper. I then put the photos on the pages with the signature (we have the small Mickey and friends album). I will be taking that book back to WDW until its filled. Whats neat about this is that each time we go he will be older, so its a great record of how much hes grown. Also, I will know what characters he already has and wont need to wait around for another autograph. Of course, if my son wants to see a character I wont deprive him of the opportunity! There are so many characters, and we dont go very often, so it may take many trips before we get them all!

alison

 

[jcemom]

I love the idea of adding the sticker photo to the autograph page! That's a really good idea, thank you!

 

[CadiesMom]

Thanks for the tip on the new Princess books, we will be picking up one of those! On our last trip we took an I-Zone camera with sticker back mini photos to place in the autograph book! Hubby snapped the sticker shot while I snapped the regular camera shot!DD had lots of fun matching up the stickers with the autographs and placing them in the book. This worked out very well and made a great remembrance for daughter. We are leaving in the AM and have the I-Zone and sticker film packed, lots of laughs!

 

[jcemom]

Thanks for the tip, CadiesMom...I forgot my boys even had one of those IZone cameras, we haven't used it in a long time. Have a safe and fun trip!

 

[disneymom71]

Thanks for the review...Another good idea to consider....

 

[disneymom71]

 

[princesslulu]

I love the I-zone camera tip! thanks alot! I have to check into getting one of those cameras.

 

[Maureenmouse]

I was thinking of buying the princess autograph book for my 2 princesses. How many pages does it have? We'll be at the parks for 7 days. Do you think it will fit all the autographs/ Or maybe I should buy one for just the Princesses and another for other characters. The only problem with that is we'll have to tote around 4 books. We have light up princess pens already. They have a lanyard on them, so they can wear the pens around their necks.

 

[MECH8T7]

We just got back and my impression of these books is that there are not enough pages. They should have had pockets for photos on both sides of the page. My DD needed two to cover two character meals and a half dozen other character photo ops. I just finished putting the photos in the books this weekend. I printed the photos myself in 4 x 6 size and they fit the pockets just fine.

We bought our books in advance from laughingplace.com. I bought a different (i.e., non-Princess) Disney photo and autograph book for DS. This other one appears to be only available from Disneyland but it had photo pockets on boths sides of the page. The signatures go below the photo pockets, so this one probably holds double the photos and is much more likely to be adequate for a multi-day visit. I am a little concerned about the durability of the binding. If it holds together, it will be a great keepsake.

http://laughingplacestore.com/Product-2406.asp

 

[sd mouse]

I was thinking of buying the princess autograph book for my 2 princesses. How many pages does it have? We'll be at the parks for 7 days. Do you think it will fit all the autographs/ Or maybe I should buy one for just the Princesses and another for other characters. The only problem with that is we'll have to tote around 4 books. We have light up princess pens already. They have a lanyard on them, so they can wear the pens around their necks.

Where did you get the light up princess pens with the lanyard? that will be great for autographs and pin trading!!

 

[Maureenmouse]

The light up pens were a gift from my old next door neighbors to my girls. I think they bought them at the Disney Store, but they gave them to the girls at Christmas, so I'm not sure that they are still at the store. They really are darling.
I still have them in their packages and they come with extra batteries as well. The contact info on the package is Penguin Pens Brewster, NY 10509

800-662-5372
www.penguinpens.com
Good luck finding them.

 

[Nicolepa]

I bought the princess one for my daugher. She was 4.5. We were there for 7 days and filled the book up on day two. We did hit the Epcot bus with the Characters so that was one reason we filled it up so quickly, but it would have been nice if it had more pages. I wouldn't have let her do some of the lesser know characters if I'd known we'd run out so fast.

For the person wondering if they should get one for their 2 year old, I would wait and make sure they aren't afraid of them first. My ds was 2.5 and he loved looking at them but didn't want want to go anywhere near them. I'm glad I didn't get him one! When we went at 2 he was fine with them!

 

[GreenFroggy]

We've used the Disneyland books with the photo pockets. They worked great! My daughter took her polaroid into the the park and I would take two photos, one polaroid and one with my digital. We would put the polariod in the book right away. The characters loved it. My daughter would go up to Tigger for his autograph and Tiigger would start looking through the book. Tigger got really excited when he saw the photo of my daughter with Pooh. Many characters did this. It added a lot to the experience and the books have made great keepsakes.