I've been coaching my girls that we won't do any shopping or snack buying in the park, but wait until the day after and visit the big Disney store in DTD. But after reading marklodi's wdw trip report and another thread on frozen bananas, I think I might have to reconsider. Would you suggest buying an autograph book for Disneyland? What else would you suggest getting in the park for the young ones??

Let me also just say that I've now spent more time on Mouseplanet then I will in the park. Is this abnormal??

Originally posted by princessmom
I've been coaching my girls that we won't do any shopping or snack buying in the park, but wait until the day after and visit the big Disney store in DTD. But after reading marklodi's wdw trip report and another thread on frozen bananas, I think I might have to reconsider. Would you suggest buying an autograph book for Disneyland? What else would you suggest getting in the park for the young ones??

Let me also just say that I've now spent more time on Mouseplanet then I will in the park. Is this abnormal??

Well, it's as abnormal as you want it to be...

I spend wayyyy much more time here on MP than at the park. We live by San Francisco, so we don't go as often as the locals (obviously)...so this is always a nice way to talk to people and get a quick "Disney Fix".:D
As you can tell by my log on date...I have been doing this for a while...:rolleyes:

Yes...buy Autograph Books for your children. I refused to give into that craze when it first started...but then found that my girls really, really wanted to participate and do it too, as all the other children were doing it. I have more autograph books floating around my home. They are all too old to do it now...but those books are their "treasures".

Why will you not buy snacks in the park? Is it because you are on a budget? You won't be able to buy Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Sandwhiches at The World of Disney Store...;) (one of my favorites). Unless you bring in snacks...you might have to buy some while in the park. Unless you eat great meals, and the children aren't hungry again...But walking by those ODV carts with popcorn popping and that wonderul smell....hmmmm.....It's tough to resist.

Unless you are a stickler for sticking to "no snacks" between meals...it's going to be tough, unless you bring your own into the park.

I bought my son an autograph book at the park. He loved collecting the characters' autographs. Then I told him he had $20 to spend the whole time we were there and to pick things carefully. He eventually chose a little eeyore figurine and a Buzz light-up toy. He still had $5 left. On our last morning, he suffered an unfortunate tumble from his top bunk and hurt his ear so I got him a very cool Mickey sorcerer hat to cheer him up. I think I liked it more than he did.

I liked marklodi's suggestion about getting Guest Of Honor Badges so that characters and CMs can call your children by name.

I know many parents have bought them before they get to the parks - it avoids waiting in line to get them once you get there and you'll have them right from the get go. You can order Guest of Honor Badges from MouseShoppe (http://www.MouseShoppe.com).

Adrienne K
(NOT the Adrienne that owns MouseShoppe.)

Don't forget the Mickey Ears! And Churros.....And Frozen bannanas....And Dole Whipps.......:D ;)

My personal fav... Buy a white disney shirt. (tee, polo, etc) bring along a laundry marker and let the gang sign away!!!!! I have several of these types of shirts.

Originally posted by princessmom
I've been coaching my girls that we won't do any shopping or snack buying in the park, but wait until the day after and visit the big Disney store in DTD. But after reading marklodi's wdw trip report and another thread on frozen bananas, I think I might have to reconsider. Would you suggest buying an autograph book for Disneyland? What else would you suggest getting in the park for the young ones??

Hi Princessmom!

First, I would definitely budget for autograph books. Perhaps suggest that this (and maybe a big fat Disney pen) would be their "souvenir" for that day. They can then spend the rest of the day enjoying that gift as all the Characters fill it up and make it personalized, special and magical for them.

Also be sure to take pictures as they each get their autographs! What I've been doing is taking our kids' autograph books and carefully scanning the signatures into the computer. I then use a program as simple as Microsoft Paint to insert this autograph into the picture of them actually getting it! You can then either print these out for scrapbooking or perhaps create an electronic photo album on CD. Lots of ways to combine these to make lasting memories last longer (and it's a really good excuse to keep reliving the magic long after you've returned!)

I certainly understand the want to use the big Disney Store. First and foremost to us, it offered at 10% discount with our Disney Club Card. So what we did is as we went through the parks, we made notes about which items we really liked and might want to purchase. We then stopped by the World of Disney BEFORE our last day in the parks to see if they had any of these "must-have" items. If they did, we got them. If not, our notes told us where to go back to.

Of course, sometimes Disney sells out or moves merchandise quickly. So if you see something you simply must have and notice it only in one shop and only a few there, you might want to take the leap and buy it right away. I speak from recent experience on that one! :(

My little girl absolutely adores stuffed animals. If your girls do as well, I would make a game out of it and suggest a "stuffed character" hunt. Perhaps even make it an "Adopt-A-Character" search. First, establish the dollar limit for the toy. A reasonable limit would be $20 (which will get one medium sized stuffed toy), but adjust it to your budget of course. Next, bring a couple of packs of those tiny post-it notes with you. On entering the park, be sure to get each of the girls a park map.

Tell them that they can stop in any store they want and look at JUST the stuffed characters! Remind them about the budget, and tell them if they see one they really like, write it down on a little postit, along with the price and store name, and then put this post-it on their park map, on top of the location of the store where they found it.

Towards the end of the day, stop and buy them each a Mickey Ice Cream Bar (again, these go a long way as morale boosters and cost very little), and grab a table or nearby bench. Look over their maps, now festooned with little yellow postits. Which one did they really like? Which one is their choice for adoption? Then head back there and make the purchase.

One whole day. One souvenir only. One snack only. Two very happy (and probably tired) kids. And be sure to keep these maps! When you get home, you could make a little home-made adoption certificate, listing their name, the name of the character, the location and date of the adoption, and the map showing all the places they visited. If you wanted, you could arrange this on a large piece of poster board and put into one of those inexpensive poster frames from Wal-Mart. Makes a great poster for their room, reminds them of the trip and cost you only the frame and poster board. :)

By making a "budget" into a "game", it becomes comfortable and fun for all of you. Above all else have a wonderful and magical time! :)

I love the white shirt idea!!!!!

We let our kids purchase the miniature die-cast vehicles from any ride that they went on. They cost $6 each, and there are maybe a dozen total available. We ended up with die-cast vehicles from Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan's flight, Alladin's Magic Carpet, Small World, Big Thunder Mountain, Spash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and Test Track.

8 Toys, total cost $48.

They were great to play with in the stroller or while waiting in line as we motored around the parks.

When we got home, I pulled out clean copies of the WDW maps for them, and they recreated the whole theme park in the basement.

One thing about the autograph books is that they are really overpriced (no more than other stuff at Disneyland, but still). I think they go for $5 or $6. However, I agree that having an autograph book is a wonderful thing for a child. So, my wife usually helps the kids make their own autograph books before we go. They use heavy white construction paper and decorate with some Disney stickers.

My daughter took one up to Snow White and when she noticed that there were different character stickers on different pages she told my daughter that she wanted to sign on "my page." She found the one with the Snow White stickers and signed her name there.

Bring a fat pen as its easier for "head characters" to hold.

Thanks for all your advice. Just got back from the park. Had a really great time. The girls loved the autograph books. But I wish I had the advice sooner about making our own books. Two pens and two books cost over $20. But they are authentic Disney souvenirs. I love Eeyore's signature with the little rain cloud.

The girls were really great about not wanting to buy whatever they saw. We brought our own snacks - Fruit Loop necklaces and boxes of dried fruit and "Princess" fruit snacks. It was my husband who went out of control with churros and stuff!

Oh, and by the way - three of us fit in Dumbo just fine.;)

One thing my seven year old son really enjoyed last year when we went to DLR was collecting pressed pennies. This was something that I hadn't even considered for him, but the first machine he saw enthralled him so much that I bought him the little collection folder to keep them in, and he had lots of fun choosing the ones he wanted. These are very inexpensive ($5 for the folder and 51 cents for each penny).

Originally posted by adriennek
I liked marklodi's suggestion about getting Guest Of Honor Badges so that characters and CMs can call your children by name.

I know many parents have bought them before they get to the parks - it avoids waiting in line to get them once you get there and you'll have them right from the get go. You can order Guest of Honor Badges from MouseShoppe (http://www.MouseShoppe.com).

Adrienne K
(NOT the Adrienne that owns MouseShoppe.)

Where can you get the Guest of Honor badges in Disneyland and how much do they cost? They are a great idea.

Originally posted by 100thGrimGrinningGhost
Where can you get the Guest of Honor badges in Disneyland and how much do they cost? They are a great idea.

When you enter the front gates of Disneyland, go to the tunnel under the train tracks on the right. At the end of the tunnel, there is a kiosk on the right. The badges are there. They run about $5.50 each. I can't remember if the personalized ones are more, but if so, they wouldn't be that much more.

the 'custom' ones are the same price as the "rack" Guest of Honor badges, be aware that the policy is 'proper names' only no nicknames or screennames....Unless you look them straight in the face and dare them to tell you that it isn't your given name :)

6'2" 275 pound silver-haired man standing at counter..."Yes, my parents named me Kikimalaka!"

Originally posted by Kikimalaka
6'2" 275 pound silver-haired man standing at counter..."Yes, my parents named me Kikimalaka!"

I would just love to see the look on the CM's face! I wonder how often they get that?

When we went in October, we did not buy a single snack in the park and neither of my girls asked for one. We were very interested in seeing the characters and riding the rides and didn't even realize we didn't have a overpriced snack until the long drive home to Boise.

In December, we bought a popcorn to feed the ducks and that was the best snack money we ever spent. Ashley tossed each piece singly to the hungry ducks and it took over an hour. Giving my sister and I plenty of time to single ride Indy and splash with out having a cranky toddler.

I did breakdown and buy Ashley an autograph book, the one that you can place pictures in. She, at 3, is still too young to fully understand the concept and colored on every page while we were strolling along on a busy sunday morning. Marking over the character signatures we already have and in every picture of her and the characters there is the autograph book. So, needless to say, when we go in March, I'm going to "forget" the book and hopefully get some more pictures I will want to frame and hang on the living room wall.

I think the autograph books are great! (Either Disney's or handmade!)

The first time we went to WDW my two daughters were 2 1/2 and 10 1/2 months. I purchased them for both of them. My older daughter LOVED going up to the characters and getting autographs. She also got her sister's book signed since her sister was a baby. We took tons of pictures and also videotaped it all.

We just recently watched that videotape and had such a blast watching the delight in my older daughter's eyes. She had such a great time! My daughters are now 8 1/2 and 6 1/2 and they still have the books. They enjoy flipping through them from time to time.

We are going to Disneyland in a few months and already have the books - this time the Princess ones to insert the pictures also. (We still have to purchase the fat pen.) They also received as a gift a starter pin set. That should be a lot of fun also! Cannot wait!

Glad you had a great time!

:)

just a piece of advice from a LONG time 'autograph hounds' mom....the fat pens are fine but you are really better off going and buying some of the felt tip pens, the ink in the fat pens isn't as reliable and especially with the new princess autograph books there isn't a lot of room for the actual autograph. I'm proud to say that Maynard was so impressed with the pens we had that I happily gave him the one he used to sign my daughters autograph book (I buy them by the dozen on line).....

That is good to know Mammasilva! Where do you purchase them online? Is any felt tip pen okay to use?

J-L :)

I buy them online because Brandy needs them for school .. she is visually impaired, but you could just buy the old fashion flare felt tip pens and they would work fine I would think.

Thanks Mammasilva! :)

No problem :)

I was thinking of buying glow-in-the-dark necklaces in advance to save money... Does anyone know how much they are in the park?

Since prices change faster than the weather ....what I can tell you is that on our last trip the simple no frills glow in the dark tube necklaces went for $5.00 at the various ODV carts.....the Glow Mickey ears (which seem to be more 'seasonal') were 3.50 the last time we bought them.....my daughter and niece and nephews LOVE the glow stuff, so I buy a tube of them thru Oriental trading....it's more expensive "up front" I suppose, but since I'm usually buying for 4 or more kids I always save a TON doing it that way. We also saved our headbands from our Glow ears and now I buy the 'glow bracelets' to replace our 'ears' they are a tad bit 'smaller' than the ones on the ears at the park but not enough that any one notices except I always buy the multi colored ones so our ears are 'different' than the ones available on the carts.

We've also bought the battery operated necklaces that glow in the dark and the kids loved them and they last a LOT longer than the glow tubes do.