Tips about Characters and Magic Kingdom

MAGIC KINGDOM - The little containers that the individual chocolate cakes come in at the Columbia Harbor House (and other places on property) make great little recycled "terrariums" to start seeds and tiny plants in. Just remember to poke little holes in the top for air to get in or the contents will get moldy! They can be reused several times and are a fun way for kids to remember thier Disney vacation later on in the year. - Lynn Quintieri

MAGIC KINGDOM - The little containers that the individual chocolate cakes come in at the Columbia Harbor House (and other places on property) make great little recycled "terrariums" to start seeds and tiny plants in. Just remember to poke little holes in the top for air to get in or the contents will get moldy! They can be reused several times and are a fun way for kids to remember thier Disney vacation later on in the year. - Lynn Quintieri

Over the years, our tween daughter has filled a few Disney autograph books and is (in her words), "too old for that now!" But her younger brother still likes to get character autographs. So, for her birthday celebration trip I found an 11x14 (easy enough to carry in a backpack), white "signature" photo mat. (You can find these in any discount store, usually in the wedding or scrapbooking sections.) She had characters and family sign it. Inserting one of her favorite photos from the trip, we now have a nice memento and a personalized art piece for her room. - Maura

Instead of the typical autograph books, we purchased softballs and had the characters sign them. Both my children are avid sports fans so when we got home, we purchased the clear boxes to store them in. We added the year after we got all our autographs. This year when we go, we are taking a bag of baseballs. - Natalie

EDITOR'S NOTE: Clever autograph idea! But remember, many of the costumed characters may find it difficult to hold and sign a baseball.

On our way out of the park, my daughter and I spied a silhouette cart down a side alley of Main Street, USA. It was after midnight, but the young woman was still doing silhouettes. We hurried over and she cheerily did one more silhouette for us. We were done in about 15 minutes, and for only about $15 including a frame, I think it's one of the best and most unique souvenirs at Walt Disney World. It's a special keepsake for my 9-year-old daughter of our fun marathon day at Magic Kingdom. - Natalie H.

Magic Kingdom - I enjoyed reading the article on bashful travelers (AllEars Newsletter Issue #460), as I am one myself. I had a comment that might help people who want to see the Monsters, Inc. show in Tomorrowland. There are tabletops in front of everyone when you sit down in the theater. On the tables, there are "reading" lamps every so often. Those conceal the cameras that they use to interact with guests. Avoid sitting directly behind one of those and you should be fine. - Mandy Blank

To make my children's autograph books a little more special we always save a page for each member of the family on the trip. Towards the end of the vacation we share a special memory of each child from that trip. This works especially well when traveling with extended family. I know I still enjoy reading what my grandmother, mother and aunts wrote about our special trip when I was 10, and that was 25 years ago. - Amanda Spears

Going through the metal detectors at the park entrances, you have to remove celebratory buttons and put them in the little bins with other metal objects. This can be a pain, especially if you're park-hopping! Consider wearing buttons on a lanyard or bag strap to make it easier to take them on and off. - Gilly R.

Magic Kingdom - An unexpected bonus tip happened one morning when we entered the Magic Kingdom park early. The opening music was playing. We headed to the Crystal Palace for an early breakfast. Near there was a flower garden, which also faced toward the Adventureland sign. Using my camcorder, I was able to have a few of the songs of the opening music playing as the background for the scenes I was shooting. It was an extra freebie. There are always new scenes to shoot and new movies to make. You could easily find your hardest decision to make is how many cameras to take. - Murry A.

Magic Kingdom - Regarding Mike Scopa's article about saving time (AllEars® Issue #443, March 18, 2008): One of the queues that you can save a lot of time on is the Indy Speedway. The line goes up a ramp and then turns right. From there you can go down the first ramp or continue on the bridge to the second ramp. When I have been there lately, there are two lanes of cars running from the bottom of the first ramp and only one lane of cars on the second ramp. The second ramp is also further away. Therefore, do not go to the second ramp! - Sara

I wanted to capture my daughters' first trip to WDW by collecting character autographs. However, with my girls being 3 years old and 16 months, a collection of autographs in a book wouldn't be much fun for them, so I decided I would make them a blanket of autographs. I pre-washed a heavyweight white cotton fabric and cut it into 7"x10" panels. I found iron-on appliques of Disney characters. I also cut out extra blank panels. I cut foam core to the same size as the panels and secured the panels with binder clips. I found fabric markers that worked well, but the X-tra large chisel tip Sharpies (in various colors) worked great. The characters, especially the princesses, loved being able to sign next to their applique. With the blank panels, I asked characters to sign as big as they wished. I used iron-on transfers to transfer the photos of those characters onto fabric. I then sewed the panels together with a backing fabric and both girls ended up with a custom blanket to commemorate their trip. - Kelly Ostroski

We visited Walt Disney World this past July with five children ranging from 2 to 14 years old. We found the best place to line up for character photos was at Epcot's Character Connection. It is air-conditioned and the staff were very friendly and interacted with the children and adults. The characters went out of their way to please and play with my 2-year-old. An experience as an adult I will never forget: Pluto kneeling on the floor, nose-to-nose with my 2-year-old, and Minnie and his first kiss. - Valerie Fisher

This past year we went to Disney two times in three months. My daughter is 3 and loved the characters and getting autographs and pictures with them! The first time we went I purchased an autograph book that had a space for the picture, for I believe $12.99 The second time we went she said she wanted to get ALL the autographs AGAIN! So I picked up 4x6 index cards on a spiral ring. The characters signed the unlined side and when we got home I put them in a small 4x6 photo album. All it cost was $3. We put a postcard with the year in the front and now we have a wonderful photo album and autograph book! - Tiffany

Last year I bought my husband the "Cooking with Mickey and the Disney Chefs" cookbook. This year when we went, my husband brought the book and requested (at each dining establishment) that the chef sign the page in our book that had the recipe from their kitchen. It was a treat for both the chefs as well as my family when, on occasion, the chef came out to our table. Now we have started a family tradition that we can continue as adults while our kids work on the autographs of the characters. - dollydawne

For our recent trip to Disney World, I purchased an inexpensive 11 x 14 picture frame. The photo opening was for a 5 x 7, so the white mat around the edges was quite large. We had a great time collecting character autographs on the white mat! They had no trouble at all writing with our black Sharpie. Several cast members thought that the idea was really cool. Carrying it around was a breeze, too -- I just wrapped the top and bottom in two plastic grocery bags (so the entire mat would be covered in case of rain) and tied one of the bags to the edge of our stroller. Now we have a family photo with Mickey displayed in it, and a great keepsake of all the characters we love! - Whitney Pruitt