Teenagers and Character Autographs

[mocame]

Do teenagers think it is still cool to get a character's autograph or is it mainly the younger children that get autographs? I was thinking of getting autograph books as a surprise for my teenagers but I didn't know if that was still the "cool" thing to do.

 

[mom2rtk]

Some do. Most probably don't.

 

[strat68]

I doubt they will care. Ours didn't. They know it's just a person in a costume.

 

[Alesia]

Do teenagers think it is still cool to get a character's autograph or is it mainly the younger children that get autographs? I was thinking of getting autograph books as a surprise for my teenagers but I didn't know if that was still the "cool" thing to do.

It just depends on the person.

 

[WEDWDW]

I'm going to guess about an 80/20 ratio with 80 % having no interest and 20 % into it.

 

[Maresc]

Our daughter is turning 16 and it's a tradition to get our picture with Mickey, Minnie, and Mary Poppins. It's great when we get others too. I asked her if she wanted to use a FP in Epcot for it on our trip this month and she agreed that it would be good to use as it beats standing in line. We don't get the autograph anymore though. Maybe a Disney photo album would be nice.

 

[Anal Annie]

It might depend on if it's a boy or a girl? Our DS was no longer interested by the time he hit his tween / teenage years. I do remember once catching him start to wave at Buzz Lightyear but then he caught himself and quickly pulled his arm back down and stuck it behind his back before it really got to a wave. Like it just popped up half way then he realized he was doing it. I remember thinking it was sad that that era was over for him. He's 18, soon to be 19 now and will barely tolerate photos with characters if we do a character meal (which is rare now).

You could always get one there if they show interest.

 

[mocame]

Our daughter is turning 16 and it's a tradition to get our picture with Mickey, Minnie, and Mary Poppins. It's great when we get others too. I asked her if she wanted to use a FP in Epcot for it on our trip this month and she agreed that it would be good to use as it beats standing in line. We don't get the autograph anymore though. Maybe a Disney photo album would be nice.

The photo album is a good idea! My dd (16) would probably be okay with that.

It might depend on if it's a boy or a girl? Our DS was no longer interested by the time he hit his tween / teenage years. I do remember once catching him start to wave at Buzz Lightyear but then he caught himself and quickly pulled his arm back down and stuck it behind his back before it really got to a wave. Like it just popped up half way then he realized he was doing it. I remember thinking it was sad that that era was over for him. He's 18, soon to be 19 now and will barely tolerate photos with characters if we do a character meal (which is rare now).

You could always get one there if they show interest.

I have a dd (16) who wants to experience all of Disney (but be "cool" about it) and a ds (13) who is very sentimental so he doesn't mind being seen with characters he loves from earlier in his childhood. This is our last Disney trip so the kids are okay with character meet & greets and meals. As long as that isn't all we do!

 

[Hannahinwonderland]

I like the 80/20 ratio. As a teenager, I loved characters, but the group of 4 other friends I traveled with on our school choir trip would have rather been caught dead than meeting Mickey Mouse.

 

[whitney37354]

Our niece was 14 on her last trip. She and her bff loved getting autographs & having their pictures made with characters. Maturity level has something to do with it. She's 16 now & would still love it but most other 16 year olds probably wouldn't.

 

[MacDalt]

My teens love getting pics and doing meet & greets but no autographs.

 

[HelloMimi]

My 18-year old sisters love taking selfies with the characters, but they have no interest in autographs. One of them really enjoyed going around World Showcase for Kidcot though!

 

[L&Lfan]

I never had any interest in the characters except to see them at a (short) distance. But I was 7 when I made my first visit to a Disney park. I never believed they were "really" the character, especially as the dwarfs are bigger than Snow White!

 

[SparklesFam]

Last time I went I was 15 or 16 and my sister was 9ish. She got a few autographs but wasn't super into it but we BOTH really really enjoyed collecting stamps and signatures in the different worlds in EPCOT. That's the only thing I was into signature-wise as a teen.

 

[Indio]

My kids never had any interest in autographs. Wouldn't take pictures unless I made them either! They are all boys so I don't know if that makes a difference or not.

 

[123SA]

My 15 has been doing it for years and loves it. Autographs and photos, as many characters as possible. We actively figure out how to meet as many as we can. However, if she hadn't been doing this on her 10 trips since she was 3 years old, I don't think she would suddenly pick it up as a teenager. It's probably best just to ask the teenager. But make sure knows, she will not be the only non-child doing this. Lots and lots of teenagers and adults, both genders, wait in line to meet characters.

One of my favorite memories from last summer was my 15DD talking my 12DS into introducing himself to Pocahontas as John Smith. It was so much fun. He was so deadpan with it, she looked actually confused. The character handler asked me if it was really his name.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Do teenagers think it is still cool to get a character's autograph or is it mainly the younger children that get autographs? I was thinking of getting autograph books as a surprise for my teenagers but I didn't know if that was still the "cool" thing to do.

It depends on the teenager, I think. Maybe instead of an autograph book (blank pages) - they'd be more interested in getting a book like the encyclopedia of animated characters and having the characters sign their pages? That particular book may be a little too young...I dunno, I probably would have had fun with the challenge of trying to fill the book (as much as you can with the characters that appear) when I was a teen (but I wasn't a typical teen WRT Disney either ).

 

[princessesandpascal]

I did my first trip at 12 and got autographs until I was 18. One year I got characters to sign pieces of card stock that were incorporated into our scrapbooks which I thought was pretty cute, and the last year I got the autograph book that had photo slots on the other side so it made a little photo album once we were home.

 

[KaSe]

I second (Third? Fourth? LOL) the photo album idea of pictures with the characters. If they do want autographs, maybe have a notebook along & those can be saved in the photo album along with the picture. My DDs are almost 18 & 15. There are certain character meets they MUST do every trip. It's not all the characters, but always their favorites & sometimes a few extras thrown in here & there if they present themselves . A few years ago (they were 14 & 11 at the time), I made the ridiculous suggestion to not do character meets, thinking they probably wouldn't want to, especially my oldest who was a freshman that year. Seriously, the look they gave me -- geesh! You would have thought I'd suggested a round kick to Mickey's head or something. So, maybe just plan on asking when you see characters or when you pass the area they're in, "Hey! It's Tigger. Do you want a pic with Tigger?" and then go with the flow.

 

[nilla]

My experience with teenagers is that they have a very flawed idea of what is and what isn't cool.