Autograph Books and Pen

[KJGrilliot]

I live in Ohio and we are going to WDW on March 12th. I was wondering if I should buy an Autograph Book and Fat Pen where I live or can I buy one at the hotel gift shop? We are staying at the All Star Sports Resort. I was hoping to get a neat Autograph Book; not just a plain one. Any suggestions on where to buy one?

Thank you!

 

[doombuggy]

First & most importantly, welcome to the DIS!

If you are looking for a cool Disney autograph book, your best bet is to wait until you get to Orlando. There is a Disney owned shop in that airport (NOT a Disney Store, it is part of the parks) that may have some books. Our local DS had some autograph/photo books called "Disney Funseekers," but they are all sold out (were 50% off). The t-shirts that matched were cute.

Have a wonderful trip escaping from the winter!

 

[Ratpack]

You should be able to buy them in any resort gift shop. If you had time, I would recommend making your own book. It is much more personal that way. But definitely buy the fat pin at WDW unless you can find one local that is a ballpoint pin, NOT a sharpie.

And Welcome to the DIS!!!!!!

 

[E&B's Mom]

I would buy the fat pen at home (kids don't really care about the pen) but wait until you get to the World before you buy the book. Just about every kid has the same book, and if you don't want the child to feel left out it's worth getting. I tried for weeks to find one in a Disney shop before we left - no luck. But we stayed at All-Stars too and made a production about buying one in the gift shop whil DH was checking us in. If you really, really want it before you leave check out giftsofalifetime.com

 

[bobcat]

First welcome fellow Buckeye! I envy you getting out of this snow.

The autograph books are easy to find and you can get one when you check into the hotel. They usually have them and the fat pens at the register in the giftshop. If you don't get one there they are available almost a everywhere. They are $5 for the book and $2.50 for the fat pen, give or take a dollar for disney inflation. My kids love the fat pens as they have different characters on them and they use them when we get home. As for the autograph books we made our this last trip and they were a huge hit.

Have a great trip!

 

[KJGrilliot]

Thanks for all the tips! How do you make them? What did you do?

 

[bobcat]

To make the autograph books I purchased two spiral notebooks the same size as a regular autograph book. I think they are close to 5x7. I then found a list of the characters and I searched for clip art. I have a xyron sticker machine so I printed out the clip art and I also used some scrapbook paper with characters on it and some regular character stickers I had around and made a page for each character. I grouped them together by movie to make them easier to find. If I was to do it over again I would only put one character on a page and not have them on both sides. The kids helped with making the stickers and putting them on the pages and this helped keep them busy before the trip. Over all I spent a couple of hours on these but it was worth it. Many of the characters spent time looking at the book and the kids were so proud of them. I also make a sticker for the front cover with the kids names on them. I will look for a previous post where I listed the characters I used and some of the clip art sites as well.

 

[Zoo Keeper]

I'd buy the fat pen at home too. DD had quite a few that stopped working after one day (and during our Princess breakfast-luckily the princesses could all sign in crayon)
We even had one where the ball point tip came off--what a mess. I'm going to the dollar store and buying quite a few of those fat multi color pens. If they don't work I won't be upset. The ones at Disney are around $2.50 each.

 

[The LK 4]

Here's a great tip that I learned on these boards and we put to good use during our trip in January:

Have the character sign the page and keep the opposite page blank so you can later paste your child's picture with the character on it. It really made a nice keepsake, and it helps figuring out whose autograph it is.

 

[Crazy Hakim]

Whatever you decide to do (buy or make)...........

Be sure to clearly print your child's name and mailing address on the inside cover of the book. Two main reasons......

So characters will look to see the name and may personalize the signature, but more importantly, if you loose the book on Disney property, and it is found, it will be mailed to your child.

 

[DolphinBoy]

I have been reading to get a "Fat Pan", but not a Sharpie? This may sound like a basic question, but what type of "Fat Pen" do you reccomend. Ballpoint, Marker, how fat ???

I guess I am being clueless and don't get the concept.

 

[ddisney333]

Why not a sharpie?
If you make your own autograph book with clipart make sure to use scarpbook paper that is acid free. Regular printer paper will turn yellow and ruin your clipart.
Does anyone have a list of characters that they saw recently. I am making autograph books for my sons and would like a list of characters that were seen. Are there alot of villians around the parks to get autographs of? Thanks for the info.

 

[Fatboy]

Thanks for the suggestion about leaving the opposite page blank for a photo with the character. I never would have thought of that.

Do all the autograph books have the same cover?

 

[The LK 4]

I think all of the "official" books look the same with a bunch of characters on the front.

Fatboy - I like your avatar!

 

[staylor]

Last time we went I brought along one of those camera's that takes the picture on sticker paper. Make sense? I got it at Walmart or Target. There are 2 types of film you can buy for the camera, sticker film or pocket film. Anyway, get the sticker film. Take a picture of person with character then stick picture next to the autograph. Small pictures but very cute! And instant gratification.