When I only had one kiddo autograph's were great. I am honestly on the fence about them with three kids wanting to get them anytime we go thru a meet n greet... anyone have any insight?
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Do your kids do autographs?
- Thread starter Alison1975
- Start date
happymom52003
Active Member
I personally prefer not to do them. To me it always seemed to be a hassle (a small hassle, but a hassle none the less) to get the autograph books out and ready every time, then to get them back so I could hold them during the picture taking, etc... And I feel like it eats up character interaction time. We did it the first time we took the kids because I wanted to...I really don't think my son cared. Then when my youngest was old enough, she did it on one of the trips because she really wanted to. But now that they've both done it, I don't think they really care much about it anymore.
As a guest waiting in line for characters, I also find it annoying. I have seen families take FOREVER with their autograph books because they don't have theirs ready to go.
I guess it depends on how bad your kids want to do it. If mine were begging to do it, I'd probably let them. But if they don't bring it up, we're not doing it anymore!
And honestly, neither one of my kids ever opened up their autograph books again once the last character signed them...I am quite certain they don't even know where they are. I think it is one of those things that seems cool because you see others doing it, but unless you are really into collecting them (which I know alot of people are, and that's cool), you don't give them a second thought once you are done getting them.
As a guest waiting in line for characters, I also find it annoying. I have seen families take FOREVER with their autograph books because they don't have theirs ready to go.
I guess it depends on how bad your kids want to do it. If mine were begging to do it, I'd probably let them. But if they don't bring it up, we're not doing it anymore!
And honestly, neither one of my kids ever opened up their autograph books again once the last character signed them...I am quite certain they don't even know where they are. I think it is one of those things that seems cool because you see others doing it, but unless you are really into collecting them (which I know alot of people are, and that's cool), you don't give them a second thought once you are done getting them.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
We went to WDW a few weeks ago. It was our girls' first trip, so we did autograph books. We actually went as far as customizing ours (you can see the Winnie the Pooh pages in this pic below where Tigger is signing).
Several of the characters really liked that they had their own pages. I also brought along thick washable markers for signing- easy to grip and easy to wash out.
That being said- by day 3 I was sick and tired of finding each character's page and getting everything ready. By day 6, I was tired of them altogether that we skipped signings and just did pictures. Granted, we have 2 girls...but I think I would have felt this way by this point even if it was just one child....and three??? well, I probably would have been done with it by day 2. I want to create framed "art" for the girls with the pics and the signed pages, but they may be in high school by the time I have enough free time to do that...so, I don't know if it was all worth it.
Several of the characters really liked that they had their own pages. I also brought along thick washable markers for signing- easy to grip and easy to wash out.
That being said- by day 3 I was sick and tired of finding each character's page and getting everything ready. By day 6, I was tired of them altogether that we skipped signings and just did pictures. Granted, we have 2 girls...but I think I would have felt this way by this point even if it was just one child....and three??? well, I probably would have been done with it by day 2. I want to create framed "art" for the girls with the pics and the signed pages, but they may be in high school by the time I have enough free time to do that...so, I don't know if it was all worth it.
GenerationX
Well-Known Member
We've had a mix of character interactions with and without autographs. I haven't noticed much of a difference in the quality of the interactions either way. The kids don't browse through their autograph books now, but maybe they will some day.
The best character interactions we've ever had were when I bought a bunch of old Disney comic books on eBay. I had the Alice characters sign the front and back of an old Alice in Wonderland comic, Chip and Dale sign a couple of old comic books of theirs, etc. The characters absolutely loved the comic books (Chip and Dale took time to actually read some of the pages), and these are now prized souvenirs for all of us.
The best character interactions we've ever had were when I bought a bunch of old Disney comic books on eBay. I had the Alice characters sign the front and back of an old Alice in Wonderland comic, Chip and Dale sign a couple of old comic books of theirs, etc. The characters absolutely loved the comic books (Chip and Dale took time to actually read some of the pages), and these are now prized souvenirs for all of us.
I found my son's book from our 2nd trip..he says "oh"..so apparently he doesn't much care LMAO...
I think I will just skip unless they ask.. kinda play it by ear type of thing..
I think I will just skip unless they ask.. kinda play it by ear type of thing..
loveofamouse
Well-Known Member
We've never done it but I do want to do ONE book(even though i have 3 kids) just to add to our Disney Scrapbook
Audrey9505
Member
I've been thinking about a similar situation- I have one DD but am planning a trip with my niece & nephew. I am going to strongly discourage the autograph thing this time because with 3 kids I think it would take forever!! I think it would be annoying to the characters and to the people in line behind us. Maybe you can ask them to share an autograph book?
mickey&me
Active Member
My son's fave way to do autographs was when we bought a solid white baseball cap and a Sharpie. The characters signed the cap (Buzz & Figment stamped) and really liked it. We brought it home & sprayed it with aeresol hairspray to preserve it. He still has it displayed in his room.
DimpledDevil18
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure if they sell this anymore in the parks, but I do have a distinct memory of my sister buying a baseball cap with the characters on it that came with a fabric marker for the characters to sign. I think she bought it at one of the shops in MK. Of course this was almost 10 years ago, so I'm not sure if they still sell them, but something to look into.
Mr.Skunkape
Well-Known Member
We do the autograph books at the character meals ( we do one character meal per day) this way we do not have to wait in lines at the parks and it kills two birds with one stone as you get a meal and autographs done at the same time. Also it seems that the kids get a more personal time with the characters at the meals then they do at the meet n greets
Hello everyone! new to the boards... but just wanted to chime in. We went in October (me, DH, my DDs4 plus my brother, his wife & their two kids - 11 & 12) and none of the kids did autograph books. My girls were happy to give hugs and pose for pics.
Though I do have to admit, the cap & sharpie idea is great! I wish I had thought of that one...
Though I do have to admit, the cap & sharpie idea is great! I wish I had thought of that one...
I think we will do the Autographs only at Character meals.. and I am going to encourage pin trading as their in park activity..
SpoonOfSugar
Member
I will say It is a lot easier to get the books out and everything at character meals. you can just leave the at the edge of the table for when they come. As for in the parks, I have 3 girls ages 18, 14 and 11 but they have been going to the parks since they were really little so here is what they say/do.
DD18- My biggest disney fan has two autograph books. The first one she did when she was around 8 and on every page with a signature, she would draw a picture of herself with that character. (she looks at this one from time to time and love it) Her other one she got about 3 years ago and its more of a "mission to find characters" type. She only has every character once and she is trying to get the rarer ones in there. I think the last trip she only took it out twice because she wanted Alice and Max's signatures.
DD14- She doesn't car about it once she leaves the parks. I think I have bought her a new book every trip because she still wants to do the autographs. :brick::brick:
DD11- She enjoys doing it. She reuses old books and after every trip she puts a page saying what year our next trip will be. She doesn't really look at it once at home but it is displayed in her bedroom.
HouCuseChickie
Well-Known Member
A side note here...if you do autograph books and have young children who think they are little artistes...after you get back- keep those books out of sight/out of reach/away from markers or any other writing instrument. DD4 has managed to locate hers and her sister's and color all over them...with a Sharpie 
4everDory
New Member
This year, when we went for The Ultimate Field Trip for homeschoolers, each of the kids got a small backpack. My DD's carried these around the park with them, with a couple of things they wanted in the parks with them, and we got these autographed. More fun than autograph books. You could also do t-shirts (characters cannot sign shirts that the kids are wearing, though...carry it w/ something hard to press down on, like a book or piece of cardboard) or pillowcases (very cool to do, and the kids can actually use them, too!) The easiest thing to bring for characters to sign with is a retractable black Sharpie.
The Ultimate Field trip would be so awesome.. I wish we could part.. if we were able to go just a few days later..oh well..
I make our kids autograph books each year - I have the characters sign one page, and the opposing page is left blank. When we get home, I put a picture of my child with that character on that opposing page, and write any memories or notes about that interaction on the page.
Our autograph books are our scrapbooks, and my kids look through them all the time - its really sweet.
They take the time to help me decorate the covers before the trip. We visit our craft store and they pick out the special stickers for their books.
We never take more than a few seconds to have our books sign because I am always ready in line or during a character meal.
We love the autographs!
Our autograph books are our scrapbooks, and my kids look through them all the time - its really sweet.
They take the time to help me decorate the covers before the trip. We visit our craft store and they pick out the special stickers for their books.
We never take more than a few seconds to have our books sign because I am always ready in line or during a character meal.
We love the autographs!
We can't change our dates this year..but next year.. we can totally plan then.. that would rock!!!
Note cards
My DD, age 6, brought note cards and sharpies with her to meals and to the parks. We only needed a handful each day that we kept in a ziplock and could store autographs safely in our room afterward. I took pictures of her getting each auto graph and also posing. Back at home I used a small but thick Disney album to display the autograph and the best pic side by side. My DD likes to look back at these pics more than most we have. She takes it to show and tell each year. This year were going to bring notecards again and add to our collection. We will get one autograph per character and a pic with both kids so it won't take too long at all.
My DD, age 6, brought note cards and sharpies with her to meals and to the parks. We only needed a handful each day that we kept in a ziplock and could store autographs safely in our room afterward. I took pictures of her getting each auto graph and also posing. Back at home I used a small but thick Disney album to display the autograph and the best pic side by side. My DD likes to look back at these pics more than most we have. She takes it to show and tell each year. This year were going to bring notecards again and add to our collection. We will get one autograph per character and a pic with both kids so it won't take too long at all.