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Think Outside the Book

We have all seen them-the traditional autograph books that are sold in the Disney Stores that have a cute picture on the front and tons of pages for character signatures. I still have mine from my first trip from 1994, the pages are yellowing and its been shoved in a drawer at my parents house since. The one my daughter picked out had the princesses on the cover. It now has black sharpie drawings because she got 'bored' and that was the only paper she could find (It's not like I don't work from home and have tons of paper around). Well, here is the thing.... what in the W O R L D are we going to do with that?

I mean really, where can this be displayed or carried that it won't get ruined by a 7 year old in-between trips? That is what got me thinking.... what  E L S E can we use to capture autographs that can be enjoyed or seen, but not be a hassle to carry around in the parks?

Here are my first few thoughts:

• Metal Water Bottle: Most of us use them daily, kids need them for school or practices, and if your at Disney hopefully you are hydrating walking through the parks in that Florida heat. Since you are carrying a water bottle into the park anyway, it is nothing extra to keep up with either! Win, Win- right? My choice would be a plain white one and a pack of colorful sharpie markers for the characters to use. You can find cheap bottles on Amazon or splurge and get a name-brand bottle if that is your preference. Personally, I carry my Stanley or Yeti everywhere. This is something that would keep me in my Disney bubble when I am out and about and can be used daily.*photo belongs to @agirlnamedkristin on Tik-Tok*

 

• Photo Frame: Lets face it, you are going to be taking T O N S of pictures while you are on vacation. If you purchased the memory maker, then you will have photos from rides and from PhotoPass photographers at your favorite spots around the park. What better way to print your favorite photo from the trip and have the mat full of autographs hanging on your wall for everybody to see! If you don't want autographs- you could get cast members from World Showcase to write a word of your choice in their native language. Some ideas for words could be: hello, welcome home, happy or whatever means the most to you.

 

• Golden Books: If I had to guess, we have 50+ Golden Books in our house right now, most of them being Disney related. If you don't, then you can find some at bookstores, Wal-Mart, Target, or Amazon. They are fairly inexpensive AND light. My thought would be to take the character books and have that character sign the inside of it. It would be a story for the storybook and promote reading for kiddos. Anything I can do to get my kid to read, I am down for.

 

• Polaroid Snaps: I know, you are probably thinking... Do they even make those anymore? The answer is actually Y E S ! Last Christmas the Polaroid camera came back, retro style! We personally didn't buy the Polaroid version for our daughter, but we DID buy the FujiFilm version for her. It came in tons of different colors too. How this would work, take the photo of the character and whoever with it, and then get the character to sign the bottom. This is perfect if you are a scrapbooker or if you want some nostalgia in your life.

 

• Popcorn Buckets: This would depend on which bucket is being offered at the park however, if its one that has space and not a ton of writing on it- it would work. People collect these, so what would be better than getting one that you love A N D have the signatures on them?!

Depending on what choice you choose, make sure you cure the item properly if needed. If something is plastic it may need modge podge or clear nail polish to seal. If it is ceramic- it may need to be baked.

Whatever you choose, should be important to Y O U and something you will cherish. What ideas do you have?

If you need help planning your next trip, send me a message <3