To autograph or not to autograph...?

[mi*vida*loca]

I didn't get them on our previous trips but will our next time. We do a lot of character meals and have one planned everyday of our next trip so it works out great! I don't like to stand in line and only stood in line for Mickey in Toontown last time. For what I don't know since we saw him at a two character meals!

 

[loinsley]

Do you know a Creative Memories person...she can sell you the smallest books (think they are 8x8) they sell and then you can add in the pictures and use the page protectors to keep them new looking for years....

Last year I bought each daughter a 5 dollar hooded sweatshirt from Steve and Barrys', bought a 5 pack fabric markers from Michaels and we have the COOLEST memory item ever from our trip - I was shocked that they turned out so nice....probably 40 autographs on each sweatshirt.....girls got into having the characters sign in special places on their shirts....and characters were more than cooperative - many of their "handlers" were very helpful in making it just right! This year I'm hoping to buy long sleeve t-shirts for autographing..........

 

[izzys4]

We did it on two of our trips but now we just get the pictures of the kids with the character and call it good. The kids are getting a bit older now so it isn't as big a deal. (13 and 9)

 

[~Kik-Kik~]

I carry at least three autograph books with me at all times!

I actually paid no attention to autographs until 2002, when a cousin (a castmember) gave my nephew an autograph book in a pre-arranged gift basket that was delivered to our room at the Contemporary. My nephew was excited to get the book, so we started asking characters to fill it up. It was great, as he could flip through and try to figure out which character signed (he was just learning to read at the time). He just loved the book! So on the next trip, all we did was autographs!! I never thought of getting a book before our cousin got us one! Guess I have her to thank for getting my website started!

OMG!!! I never thought I'd actually see you! I love your site!!! It is by far one of the best character sites on the web.

 

[brockash]

emma'smom:
I plan on getting a princess one, but need one for my DS. Do you happen to know which other one (more "boyish") has photo slots?

We were just there about a week and a half ago, and the only boyish one we could find with picture slots was a red one with Mickey on it wearing the sorcerer's (sp?) hat with some character's around Mickey on it. We personally bought ours at DTD, but I saw them all over, including our resort gift shop. The only bad thing is that it only has like 14 slots. It was fine for us, I considered buying another one, but didn't. We got all the main characters and a few others. I know it won't be the last time we go so if it becomes more important later on, than we can get multiples then. This was our first time doing autographs, and my DS (6) really did like it. Honestly, I didn't think getting the autograph book out really mattered. I just grabbed that while I grabbed my camera, and there's always a line for the character's so we had time. Good luck!

 

[amyj1024]

In all my trips to Disney, I never got the whole autograph thing---but now I am going with my 5 year old daughter who is also quite shy. I had read somewhere that it helps with anxiety of meeting the characters for younger children. That is why we are doing it. She has a little clip board and we are using small sheets of paper so then I can put them in a scrapbook with any pictures I take of her.

My other baby is only 18 months, so he won't be getting any autographs really--just along for the ride.

 

[disneybell]

My kids loved getting autographs! We went to a lot of character meals - which is a great way to make sure they get some. We did get Mickey 3 times though!!! I have to say, Mickey does a pretty good job of signing his name the same each time.

Our last trip was 2 years ago and they have loved getting their little books down and looking at all of their autographs.

 

[ILVPOOH]

I took my kids for the first time to Disney when they were 3 1/2 years old. They were really excited about getting autographs. It wasn't a problem to put the books and pen in my backpack. I didn't like waiting around for the autographs (some lines were really long), but the kids wanted to wait. When we took them back a few years later they had no interest in getting autographs, which was fine with me. I was glad we did it when they were young and it's a nice keepsake for them.

 

[elg_s]

This will be our 3rd Disney trip in 3 yrs! We haven't done books in the past, but are planning on it for our upcoming trip. We have a character meal planned every day, so hopefully the kids will be satisfied with those, and not want to wait in long lines trying to get more autographs. We'll see!

 

[karapp75]

In all my trips to Disney, I never got the whole autograph thing---but now I am going with my 5 year old daughter who is also quite shy. I had read somewhere that it helps with anxiety of meeting the characters for younger children. That is why we are doing it. She has a little clip board and we are using small sheets of paper so then I can put them in a scrapbook with any pictures I take of her.

My other baby is only 18 months, so he won't be getting any autographs really--just along for the ride.

YES!! We used them last year when my DS was 3 1/2. He hesitated going up to the characters but with the autograph book it was really great! He has PDD so this was a great way to work on his social interaction. We will be buying books for all 3 of our kids when we go on FRIDAY!!!! Yippee for me.

 

[MissionMouse]

Sounds like my first thoughts about it were right - I guess we'll be getting the books! Do all the official WDW books have pens attached? I definitely want the one where I can put the photo next to the autograph.

We didn't do the autograph books until our girls were old enough to express an interest. For us it is no big deal since we where actually getting the character photos taken anyway.

A comment regarding the photo-autograph books is the picture holder is not a standard 4x6 but appears to be slightly smaller as we needed to cut 4x6 down to fit in the photo slide pouch.

Not all books have pens attached and we went for the larger pens for characters with paws and big hands. Many are also now using stamps too.