Disney Dream charachter autographs

We are going on our first Disney cruise in February. I previously read that you could turn in a pillowcase or picture frame with Sharpie markers to guest services and you could pick it up before the end of the cruise with the characters signatures on it. I also read that they are not doing that anymore due to high demand. Has anyone had any recent experience in this? Also, since this is our first cruise we can't register until 75 days out. Will we have a problem getting Frozen and princess meet and greets and Bippity Boppity Boutique reservations?

We are going on our first Disney cruise in February. I previously read that you could turn in a pillowcase or picture frame with Sharpie markers to guest services and you could pick it up before the end of the cruise with the characters signatures on it. I also read that they are not doing that anymore due to high demand. Has anyone had any recent experience in this? Also, since this is our first cruise we can't register until 75 days out. Will we have a problem getting Frozen and princess meet and greets and Bippity Boppity Boutique reservations?

The drop off autograph service is no longer done. It ended over a year ago. You can, however, bring items to the various meet & greet ops for signatures. Some characters cannot sign, but most can. I'd also suggest, if you bring an item like a pillowcase, you back it with some cardboard to make it easier to sign on.

There's no telling whether the tickets will all be gone when your window opens, but I'd hazard a guess there will still be some, but possibly not at the times/dates you want. As long as you are flexible, you have a better chance of getting them.

The signing of items dropped off at GS has been gone for quite a long while now. It seems like more than a year, but I'll bow to Shmoo's research.

As above, you can carry items with you and ask characters to sign them.

Bippidy Boppidy reservations--likely not, but keep trying. People do make reservations and then drop them, so you never know when something will open up on line. You can also ask after boarding and let them know if you are willing to take a "short notice" slot. On the other hand, missing this is not the end of the world. You can buy a princess dress or pirate costume to take along on the cruise.

Frozen Meet and Greet is not really that hard to get. Again, book in advance if possible, but if you can't get it be sure to try right after boarding. DCL doesn't want to disappoint people, so there are lots of time slots. The nice thing about doing it in advance is that you can choose a time/date. When they were doing it on board, you automatically got the next available unless you requested something else (like "that's during our Palo brunch, is there any other time available?")

The signing of items dropped off at GS has been gone for quite a long while now. It seems like more than a year' date=' [/b']but I'll bow to Shmoo's research.

 

As above, you can carry items with you and ask characters to sign them.

 

Bippidy Boppidy reservations--likely not, but keep trying. People do make reservations and then drop them, so you never know when something will open up on line. You can also ask after boarding and let them know if you are willing to take a "short notice" slot. On the other hand, missing this is not the end of the world. You can buy a princess dress or pirate costume to take along on the cruise.

 

Frozen Meet and Greet is not really that hard to get. Again, book in advance if possible, but if you can't get it be sure to try right after boarding. DCL doesn't want to disappoint people, so there are lots of time slots. The nice thing about doing it in advance is that you can choose a time/date. When they were doing it on board, you automatically got the next available unless you requested something else (like "that's during our Palo brunch, is there any other time available?")

Well, it is more than a year, by a little, it ended in August 2015:

http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2015/07/disney-cruise-line-discontinuing-onboard-mickey-mail-character-autograph-service-in-august/

Just bumping the thread, since I'd heard "Pillowcase" mentioned in passing with character meets, but didn't know the details.

(I'd sort of liked the idea of a signed pillowcase, but didn't know it didn't involve getting one signed in person. :D )

Frozen M&G's are now part of Disney's online advance reservation service, so it's a good idea to get them earlier out--

My schedule for a Wonder 4-day Bahamas has them meeting during breakfast hours, from 8-9:45 am, presumably so kids won't miss out during embarkation days or crowd the at-sea days.

The advantage of online reservation I noticed on the last land-park visit was that availability could change from day to day with other guests' plans. Not sure if that's as true for "locked" cruise plans, but seems a little more fluid than checking with GS.

In years past, you could drop off an item at GS and have characters sign it. THIS IS NO LONGER POSSIBLE.

You can carry a pillow case or photo mat or whatever with you to the meet and greets and ask the character to sign it--they will if they are physically able to. It helps if you bring something for them to lean on--a piece of heavy cardboard or whatever. Also, bring the marker you want them to use. On a pillow case, place the cardboard between the layers so the marker doesn't bleed thru.

Just bumping the thread, since I'd heard "Pillowcase" mentioned in passing with character meets, but didn't know the details.

(I'd sort of liked the idea of a signed pillowcase, but didn't know it didn't involve getting one signed in person. :D )

 

Frozen M&G's are now part of Disney's online advance reservation service, so it's a good idea to get them earlier out--

My schedule for a Wonder 4-day Bahamas has them meeting during breakfast hours, from 8-9:45 am, presumably so kids won't miss out during embarkation days or crowd the at-sea days.

The advantage of online reservation I noticed on the last land-park visit was that availability could change from day to day with other guests' plans. Not sure if that's as true for "locked" cruise plans, but seems a little more fluid than checking with GS.

The M&G times are pretty locked in on the cruise. Character performer schedules need to be agreed and their working hours signed off. The parks can be more fluid as they may have multiple CM's able to perform certain Character roles, but they have a very limited supply of Cast on the ships.

ex techie

The big advantage to booking the Frozen M&G (and a few others depending on the cruise) is that you can select your time easily. If you do it at GS after boarding, they offer you the earliest available. Unless you ask for something else, that's what you get. I like the idea of being able to see what is available and choosing from that assortment rather than being handed a single time unless I protest.

The M&G times are pretty locked in on the cruise. Character performer schedules need to be agreed and their working hours signed off. The parks can be more fluid as they may have multiple CM's able to perform certain Character roles, but they have a very limited supply of Cast on the ships.

I meant, locked as in, finding out that a 9:30 reservation on your Day at Sea wasn't available, and thinking "Well, that's it, I'm stuck. :( "

On the park Magic Band reservations, it became a favorite countdown game to check the My Reservation pages every day, and seeing if the right time for a sold-out favorite had suddenly opened up. (On my last land trip, it took a little fun obsessive perseverance to manage to nab a Princess Hall Frozen visit and Be Our Guest dinner, the two hardest to get tickets, for the first day.)

But that could be because park guests on land are more prone to changing their plans at the last minute. Don't know if that's always the case with elaborate onboard plans like Palo, the spa or excursions.

so this it totally off topic, but yes when it comes to park ADRs, perseverance (AKA obsessively compulsively checking availability) can sometimes pay off..

DD and her husband did a last minute trip to WDW two years ago...

so naturally, there were almost no ADRs to be had, even for the low demand restaurants..

but i worked on that obsessively every single day, multiple times a day and managed to get them everything they wanted except the elusive BOG....

until the very last day when i was on there almost non-stop and woo hoo, got them the absolutely perfect time for the two of them....success...

i'm sure you could hear me screaming :eek:

I meant, locked as in, finding out that a 9:30 reservation on your Day at Sea wasn't available, and thinking "Well, that's it, I'm stuck. :( "

 

On the park Magic Band reservations, it became a favorite countdown game to check the My Reservation pages every day, and seeing if the right time for a sold-out favorite had suddenly opened up. (On my last land trip, it took a little fun obsessive perseverance to manage to nab a Princess Hall Frozen visit and Be Our Guest dinner, the two hardest to get tickets, for the first day.)

But that could be because park guests on land are more prone to changing their plans at the last minute. Don't know if that's always the case with elaborate onboard plans like Palo, the spa or excursions.