Autographs

What has been your favourite item to get autographed by characters while cruising? Keeping in mind that my children are small, so I will be carrying it with me for both of them. A photo frame mat? A simple autograph book? I have a feeling that book will never get looked at again...thoughts? What worked well for you? What did you love?

Thanks!

Our mat has become quite the discussion piece for visitors coming to the house. Having something stiff to back it while signing was a good idea for us.

What has been your favourite item to get autographed by characters while cruising? Keeping in mind that my children are small, so I will be carrying it with me for both of them. A photo frame mat? A simple autograph book? I have a feeling that book will never get looked at again...thoughts? What worked well for you? What did you love?

Thanks!

We'll be on the Fantasy in two weeks. Does anyone know if you can still leave items to be autographed at guest services? I've heard conflicting stories. Any info will be appreciated. Thanks.

We'll be on the Fantasy in two weeks. Does anyone know if you can still leave items to be autographed at guest services? I've heard conflicting stories. Any info will be appreciated. Thanks.

You cannot drop off items for signatures--this ended a couple years ago.

You cannot drop off items for signatures--this ended a couple years ago.

thanks for the clarification moki'smommy

What has been your favourite item to get autographed by characters while cruising? Keeping in mind that my children are small, so I will be carrying it with me for both of them. A photo frame mat? A simple autograph book? I have a feeling that book will never get looked at again...thoughts? What worked well for you? What did you love?

Thanks!

Yes, Autograph books don't usually get looked at--

I tend to go for something more useful: One year I was at the land Parks for the Food & Wine festival, and found a children's cookbook of Disney-character recipes (and a separate one for Tiana, obviously).

I thought it would be funny to get the characters to autograph their "own" favorite recipes--even Snow White was amused to see her apple-dumpling recipe down in print ("Oh, that's Doc's favorite!")--and children's cookbooks are surprisingly helpful afterwards for basic-meal reference.

And Aladdin wanted to see Abu's recipe for monkey-bread, which has since become a cookie-weekend favorite over here. (Merida saw a recipe for target-shaped pizza and vanilla-oatmeal ice-cream, and said "Ice cream and pizza, that's what princesses should be eatin'!")

On the first cruise, I'd heard the old legend of sending a pillowcase to Guest Services--which, again, they don't do anymore--and wanted to do it anyway. I ended up getting a microfiber pillowcase, which was probably too "slicker" to hold ink than a plain old cotton one, and couldn't find a sharp enough Sharpie to take signatures without a minute or two of smudginess. But I still like it.

Ok, I will bite, what Amazon Prime recipe book has the "most" characters we would see on a Disney Cruise?

Yes, Autograph books don't usually get looked at--

I tend to go for something more useful: One year I was at the land Parks for the Food & Wine festival, and found a children's cookbook of Disney-character recipes (and a separate one for Tiana, obviously).

I thought it would be funny to get the characters to autograph their "own" favorite recipes--even Snow White was amused to see her apple-dumpling recipe down in print ("Oh, that's Doc's favorite!")--and children's cookbooks are surprisingly helpful afterwards for basic-meal reference.

And Aladdin wanted to see Abu's recipe for monkey-bread, which has since become a cookie-weekend favorite over here. (Merida saw a recipe for target-shaped pizza and vanilla-oatmeal ice-cream, and said "Ice cream and pizza, that's what princesses should be eatin'!")

 

On the first cruise, I'd heard the old legend of sending a pillowcase to Guest Services--which, again, they don't do anymore--and wanted to do it anyway. I ended up getting a microfiber pillowcase, which was probably too "slicker" to hold ink than a plain old cotton one, and couldn't find a sharp enough Sharpie to take signatures without a minute or two of smudginess. But I still like it.

Ok, I will bite, what Amazon Prime recipe book has the "most" characters we would see on a Disney Cruise?

Non-themed Disney Cruises tend to have either the Princesses or the VIP's (Mickey, Donald, etc.)

Think I'm not allowed to link, but the Disney Princess cookbook was the one I'd used, and had some good ideas. (Also big "portrait" pages of the princesses with an index to their recipes.)

I'm sure there are other books themed to the basic Disney characters, but I didn't look.

And if you're on the Wonder, Tiana's cookbook may be out of print, but there are copies still on Amazon.

OK, I 'll bite. Will DCL Characters during photos shoots sign "photo frames" ?

I've heard they will sign photo albums. .... What ever that is.

Is that the book "album" you buy aboard? ... Is that smaller than a large picture mat ? ...

But will they sign those huge picture frames pax used to leave at guest services. ?

As to where, I have heard it is only at the character meetings. IOW, At those events only,

Definitively not at Guest Services as we all know now.

May we all survive somehow with limited access to signatures.

I suppose it makes those past signature mats more valuable.

Yet may increase the character lines too aboard.

Best of Luck to All

THey will sign anything that they are physically able to sign. The written policy says "Disney merchandise only," but they will sign anything that is not clearly a competitor's brand. For instance, they won't sign something from Universal. They must be able to sign the item while standing at their station. This means that if you want a pillowcase signed, you need to bring a piece of heavy cardboard, a book, or something else to serve as a thing to lean on. Yes, they will sign your photo mat or photo frame.

I don't know about the "meet and greet only" thing, but it is basically true. There are events where they won't sign stuff, and if you see them around the ship it is a "sometimes" thing. In order to sign, the actor must have been cleared for a particular signature and have the time to do it. If you see a character around the ship or in an elevator or whatever, it is possible that they are on a time commitment to be somewhere and really don't have the time to do a signature.

OK, I 'll bite. Will DCL Characters during photos shoots sign "photo frames?

I've heard they will sign photo albums. .... What ever that is.

Is that the book "album" you buy aboard? ... Is that smaller than a large picture mat ? ...

Oh, you've heard of photo albums--Any book (Disney or not) where you might put print-photos on the pages after your trip. (Or maybe during, at Shutters, and get the signature ahead of time.) Then again, maybe folks nowadays haven't.

They don't have to be bought at the onboard stores, you could get them at any Disney store before boarding, or any scrapbooking store.

I don't know about the "meet and greet only" thing' date=' but it is basically true. There are events where they won't sign stuff, and if you see them around the ship it is a "sometimes" thing. In order to sign, the actor must have been cleared for a particular signature and have the time to do it. If you see a character around the ship or in an elevator or whatever, it is possible that they are on a time commitment to be somewhere and really don't have the time to do a signature.[/quote']

 

Yes, characters used to roam at random in the early-early days of WDW and Disneyland, but after they became too popular, the parks decided to keep the meets only in certain locations with their "handlers" nearby to keep the lines safe and moving.

If you see a character in the halls, and they're not cutting up or waving hi, they're probably on their way to or back from the offstage areas, and usually with their handler to ask permission from first.

 

 

 

Yes, characters used to roam at random in the early-early days of WDW and Disneyland, but after they became too popular, the parks decided to keep the meets only in certain locations with their "handlers" nearby to keep the lines safe and moving.

If you see a character in the halls, and they're not cutting up or waving hi, they're probably on their way to or back from the offstage areas, and usually with their handler to ask permission from first.

True about the parks...but on the ships there are still surprise appearances. We even had Goofy and Max in the fitness center one morning! We've been surprised by Chip and Dale on the pool deck shortly after embarkation just wandering around and greeting guests, multiple characters on elevators (obviously going somewhere), etc. Goofy once instituted a "sword fight" with my daughter on pirate night outside the dining room....lots of fun times on board. Yes, if they are obviously heading somewhere they will not take time for a photo or autograph. And "somewhere" includes backstage.