any ideas for autograph books or where to buy them ahead of time

[jeanneg4of4]

I am planning to make my 4 children a "bag" of disney stuff to take down with us to wdw. I need some good ideas for things. we will be driving a total of 16 hours and I have 4 kids dd 14, ds12, ds6, ds3. I have gotten disney books and sticker sets coloring books. But what I really want to know is if there is anywhere I can buy autigraph books or the book for epcot with the diiferent nations. or does anyone have any good ideas on home made books.I tend not to be very creative but would like something special for the kids (first time )

 

[WildGrits]

What a great idea! I'm sure they will be thrilled to get a little care package for vacation. I think that you can find autograph books at most craft stores. Like A.C. Moore. Remember to buy the big pencils because it is hard for the characters to hold a little one with those big hands of theirs. Have a great time.

 

[twinz]

We are going with friends in September, and we bought the kids "autograph" books. They are not really autograph books, just books, with plain paper (no lines) . We got them at a card store (Hallmark). We are going to get the kids to decorate the front of their books, closer to our trip. They are also the ones with the REALLY bright paper (Gel paper), and we bought a fat sharpie. I hope they like them. Plus they are not binded but have spirals, which should make it easier for the characters to hold/sign.

 

[robinb]

Here's a description on how to create a homemade autograph book:

http://www.disneydollarless.com/articles/Tracy012602.shtml

They are only $6 once you get to WDW.

 

[MNT568]

I ordered the Disney autograph book from giftsofalifetime.com before our trip. I also got a couple of the "fat Pens" as well, these were great for the characters to sign with. I also believe they have the Epcot passports. I was very happy with Gifts of a Lifetime, give them a try.

 

[bobcat]

I make goodie bags for each of our trips. I buy disney character party supplies on clearance, gift bags and party treats, usually never spending more than $1 for a package and sometimes only 25cents. I buy all year long and usually end up with more than I use. LOL I have also had good luck buying beenies on sale as well and adding these. I usually make one up for the car trip and one for each day. I add sunglasses, neck cords, hats, chapstick, snacks, drawing paper, new markers, little toys, bubbles, stickers, activity books, cards games, travel games, window clings for the van windows, books, etc.

This is a car activity book you can print out
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/books/cartravelbook/

I also make themed puzzles and they have great mazes
http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/

This is a site that was posted earlier this week that look promising
http://www.momsminivan.com/

 

[WildGrits]

Thanx Bobcat!!!!! That was a ton of information you laid down. I have been looking for stuff to give my younguns to do during the 9 hours car ride to Mickey's house. I'm sure you have just shortened my search

 

[wahoo776]

Hi!

I noticed the link on this board about making the autograph books for the characters. And that they are only $6 in the parks. Well, I have to say our recent trip to WDW was exceptional due to the fact that a good friend of mine made my children autograph books. These books were personalized for each child, and had a page for every character we could think of. The expression and gestures of the characters when they had a page was undescribable. Not once did my children get a 'standard' autograph. We often got hand drawn pictures and had to chase down the Queen of Hearts at MGM when she saw the books, because she had to show everyone that she had a page in our books. She then in true character made Alice return the books to us. And had all of us get in a picture with her and Alice and the books. It was priceless! My children noticed the special attention that was given to them to, Characters often danced, showed other guest and even other characters when they had a page. We even had characters who would initially refused to sign when they didn't have a page. (My son started a list and assured them they would have a page next time. I have a picture of him reassuring with his little arm around a character who was crying!) I'm sorry I could go on and on about this, to be honest is was one of the few things in our 7 day vacation that did go right.
BUT this went GREAT SO to make a long story short (LOL) I can not suggest enough that you and/or your children take the time to make these books. If you would like suggestions as to how the inside pages were done, Feel free to email me.
Thank you,
Amy

 

[Lainy67]

WAHOO 776 -

Do you have a list of the characters in the books (and the list of the forgotten ones)? I am not good with characters, but I think that is a wonderful idea.

I want to do it, since I am into scrapbooking, and would like to do a real scrapbook with my eldest daughter.

 

[rjordan]

We bought an autograph book at the Disney store before we left home. It was on sale for under $3!!! (Plus my Disney Club discount...) I have also seen really cute autograph books at Wal-Mart for about the same price. Have fun with whatever route you choose.

 

[bobcat]

WildGrits glad to help. Most of that info I got here. I look forward to making the goodie bags each trip. They also really cut down on our souvineer spending because the kids have a lot of new stuff left for them each day.

wahoo776 did you use clip art for your autograph books? How did you bind them. If its not to much trouble could you give us a few more details? This sounds like fun.

 

[wahoo776]

Good Evening to everyone!
I have received several emails in regard to the autograph books so I decided to post here rather than send emails. But first, I must not take any credit for these, they were made by a good friend. I will do my best to get this as acurate as I can.
They are made out of 5x7 3 ring binders. She got white ones with clear covers so that you can put any picture in it you would like. She put a picture of the child and their favorite character on the front of each book. (This made it very easy to pull and hand to a child out of the back of a stroller!)
The inside of each book she used a thick paper which it looks like she pulled apart(?) Most pages have only one character on them, but some have 2. They are divided into sections with file folder tabs so that the children could easily find what character they were looking for. To decorate the pages she used a combination of Disney Print artist, stickers and books that she picked up at several different discount stores and at the Disney store. (She can spot a bargain a mile away, I swear!) She then decorated the pages even more with squiglies lines to like frame them. They are absolutely wonderful!

Here is a list of tabs and then the character in each:
(I will put a star by the autographs that we got.)
1.Mickey and Friend
Mickey Mouse * (Of course!)
Minnie Mouse *
Daisy Duck * (She went nuts over hers and she was hard to find)
Donald Duck *
Goofy*
Pluto *
Chip and Dale *
2.Pooh and Friends
Christopher Robin
Pooh
Tigger
Eeyore*
Piglet
Kanga
3.Toy Story
Jessie
Piggy Bank
Woody*
Buzz Lightyear*(They don't actually sign, they use a stamp,
could write a whole page on what a bad day this was!!!)
4.Princess
(Essential if you will be going to Cinderalla Breakfast!)
Cinderella*
Fairy Godmother*
Prince
Mice
Snow White*
Dwarf
Wicked Witch
Ariel
Princess Jasmine*
Alladin*
Jafar
Genie
Mulan*
Ping*
Pocahontas
John Smith
Belle*
Sleeping Beauty
Esmeralda*
Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hercules woman(?)*
Hercules
5.Alice in Wonderland
Alice*
White Rabbit*
Tweedledee and Tweedledum*
Mad Hatter*
Queen Of Hearts*
6.Robin Hood
Sherrif of Nottingham
Robin Hood
Princess Mariam
Prince John*
7.MISC
Brer Rabbit
Brer Fox
Sulley
Mike
Monsters
Flik
Princess from Bugs life
Tarzan
Kala
Rafiki*(This is a great character!!!)
Timon*
Pumba
Peter Pan
Tinker Bell
Captain Hook*
Pinocchio*
Jiminy Cricket*
Cruella DeVille
Puppy
Luke Skywalker
R2D2
Blank Pages for forgotten characters.
Mary Poppins* (We saw her at the Cinderellas Breakfast!)
Baloo*
Farfellow(Pinocchio)*
Green Army Men*

I took lots of pictures and I am planning on using them in combination with the removable autographs to put together a scrapbook of the trip for each child.

I hope this helps! These probably cost between $10/15 per book to make and she made 7 at once for everyone who was going! I know the cost is more than the ones in the parks, but it was so worth it.

Good Luck,

 

[jldriscoll]

I've spent the last half hour adding all your wonderful ideas to my planning notebook!!!

My kids are going to have the best trip thanks to the generousity of people here. Thanks for sharing your ideas!!!!

 

[jeanneg4of4]

thank you all for the wounderful ideas. I have plenty to go on and I know the kids will love a personalized autograph book.I am getting sooo excited. thanks

 

[bobcat]

Thank you wahoo776! I am going to make these for our next trip. The kids have filled up their autograph books on the last few trips and we were wondering if we should by another. I like that I can use these to scrapbook.

That took a lot of time to post so thank you for making the effort!

 

[sjh801]

Thanks, WAHOO 776!!! What a great post. I've been looking for something different for autographs and am going to use your idea.

Thanks for the ideas!

Sjh801

 

[trayletha]

Thank You Wahoo 776. I was just going to buy the disney albums but yours sound sooo great I can't wait to start on one for our DD's First Trip.

PS. Woody and Buzz were a bust?? Could you post more on that, they are DD's favorites (even more than the princesses). Also does anybody know if there is a Jessie??

 

[llane]

trayletha ... there was a jessie in 2000. See was adorable.

 

[lisaost]

At this website there's a downloadable MS EXCEL spreadsheet called the Character Location Matrix which would probably help you with identifying all the characters. VERY COOL SITE!

 

[trayletha]

I found this site too

http://www.toonfinder.com/wdwpalm.htm

pretty good and you can down load it into a palm - I'm going to try tonight.