One of the most classic Disney experiences is meeting your favorite Disney pals. The anticipation of waiting in line, to the eager jog up to them – pen in hand, and a wide smile, all ready for an autograph!
While most Disney visitors bring a notebook and a matching pen for Disney characters to autograph – have you ever considered an alternate, more unique method to create a memorable souvenir?
We have done the simple autographs notebooks, but throughout the years, we have decided to upgrade our autograph methods, and give our favorite Disney characters something more unique to sign. Not only are these autograph methods atypical, they also serve more than just one purpose. Instead of a notebook sitting in a drawer after your trip concludes, we have listed our top three unique (and multifunctional) items that your favorite Disney characters can sign!
TOTE BAG
The tote bag method is super easy! All you need is a blank, canvas tote bag and permanent markers. This bag was not only easy to fold up and put away after the characters signed it, but it is also the perfect park bag for us. Magical C and I had these tote bags signed quite a few years ago, and it was the perfect bag for our younger selves to store a water bottle, one or two maps, etc. We even had our names cricuted onto the bags with a little Mickey Mouse head about it. While this step is entirely optional, we thought it was a nice touch! If you have a cricut, all you need is iron on vinyl to cut out a name or design, or you can order one customized off of Etsy. As an alternative to cricuting and ironing a design on, you can use sharpies to write out your name or to draw a Disney design on it. During our trip we brought a whole bag of permanent markers with us in various colors so that we could use a different one for each character who signed. Overall, we found this method to be cost-effective, and is a memento that can be used when you return home, or even on a future trip!
PICTURE FRAME
While this autograph method is a bit more complicated, we found it to be an amazing souvenir, and it is still hanging in our house today! For this one you will need permanent markers and a blank picture frame mat. These mats are picture frame inserts that border the photo in the center. Following a similar process like with the tote bags, we brought a bunch of permanent markers in various colors to create variation in the autographs. When we brought it home, we assembled the autographed mat in all its glory, with a family photo of us in front of the castle in the middle. This is truly such a great display for all Disney lovers!
POLAROID Camera
If you have a polaroid camera, bringing it with you to Disney is the way to go! Every time we met a character in Disney, we would take a picture, and have them sign the bottom of the photo while it was developing. This autograph souvenir is another great way to bring home some Disney magic! When we returned home from our vacation, we took all the polaroids, and decorated a whole wall with our autographed photos. I won’t lie- this process requires more set up, we developed a fool proof method so that every character signing went smoothly and efficiently. To set this one up we made sure the colored markers we wanted them to use were out, and that we had the camera on. Magical Mom snapped the picture of all us kids with our Disney pal, then once it printed out, we had them sign at the bottom of the polaroid picture. Funnily enough, when we met Stitch, he actually signed his name across the whole polaroid. It was so fitting for his character! We were worried it would affect the picture developing but it was a-okay, and it makes this Disney memento even better.
So what do you think? Do you see yourself using one of these autograph methods on your next Disney vacation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!