Collecting autographs from your favorite Disney characters can be one of the most fun parts of a trip to any of Disney’s parks. While planning your trip, in addition to ensuring that everyone collecting signatures has an autograph book, you’ll want to make sure to bring the right pens or markers for each character to sign your autograph books with!
Might sound like a simple, quick purchase before you go, but you’ll want to make sure you have the right pen or marker for those lovable characters’ big, and sometimes fluffy, hands. This means grabbing a small ballpoint pen from your desk drawer probably isn’t the best decision. Here are some of the best options:
Retractable Sharpies
Commonly mentioned by other blogs and forums as one of the best options, retractable sharpies are big enough for Disney characters to grab onto. They also feature retractable tips, making it easy for characters to use, and less worry about losing a cap. You’ll even notice that many of the Amazon reviews come from Disney travelers using these markers for autograph signatures.
Sharpie Retractable Permanent Markers – Black (x3)
These are the sharpies that many recommend. Retractable, black for bold color, and quick-drying ink. And they’re big enough for Disney characters to hold while signing your autograph book. This pack comes with 3 markers, great for multiple kids or to have extras in case you lose one.
Sharpie Retractable Permanent Markers – 12 Colors
If you’re looking to add some color to your Disney autograph book, these markers are a great choice. They come in a 12-pack, with colors including Black, Blue, Turquoise, Green, Lime, Aqua, Yellow, Orange, Red, Berry, Purple, and Brown. One unique idea is to use a unique color for each character, whether it’s the color of their dress or the color of their fur!
Sharpie Retractable Permanent Markers – 3 Colors
A nice mix between adding a little color and going for the full twelve-pack, this set comes in black, red, and blue.
While retractable Sharpies are commonly recommended, there can be a few drawbacks. Because Sharpies are permanent markers, they can potentially bleed through pages of autograph books. Also, because they’re permanent, families should use these with caution to avoid any hard-to-remove stains on clothing or other accessories.
Thick Retractable Pens
Since Sharpies have a potential of bleeding through autograph book pages, an alternative is thick retractable pens. While you may not get the thicker, defined outline of a Sharpie, there’s little risk of ballpoint pens bleeding through pages or leaving hard-to-remove marks on clothing.
Disney Parks Mom’s Panel, in fact, recommends a thick barrel retractable pen.
Paper Mate InkJoy Pens, Gel Pens, Medium Point (0.7mm), Assorted, 20 Count
If you’re in the mood to add a lot of color, this may be just the pens for you. These pens come in every color an autograph-seeker could want: Bright Red, Carrot Orange, Orange,Yellow, Light Green, Medium Green, Dark Green, Atrovirens, Sea Blue, Light Blue, Deep Blue, Dark Blue, Purple, Light Purple, Rose Red,Pink, Light Coffee, Brown, Dark Red, And Black.
These pens are great for matching the exact color to your favorite characters. Reviewers generally commented that these pens do not bleed through paper unless coloring in large, solid sections (which isn’t typical with character signatures).
Super Big Fat Pens
These pens mix a lot of the features of a perfect autograph book pen: ballpoint for less bleed-through; large shape makes it easy to hold; rubber grip so it doesn’t slip. An added benefit that these pens come with is a detachable lanyard that makes it easy for kids to carry these pens around without losing them.
Multi-Colored Ink Shuttle
The benefit of multi-colored pens is that you can access multiple colors in just one pen, rather than carrying around multiple individual pens for different colors. Don’t expect characters to be able to choose the colors, you’ll need to choose before you hand your pen to them. The pens linked above come in a bulk pack (20 pens), but you’ll likely be able to find smaller amounts elsewhere.
Character Pens or Markers
If you’re set on carrying your favorite character around with you for autographs, you can find pens with almost any Disney character on Amazon, other online retailers, physical stores, or Disney gift shops
These Mickey and Friends WDW Four Park Pens are click-top and feature Mickey Mouse and other popular characters, including Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto.
You can also go find pens for all of your favorite movies, including one of the most recent favorites, Toy Story 4. These 5 Toy Story Pens feature characters from the movie.
Where to buy pens or markers for Disney autograph books
One of the easiest places to purchase pens or markers is through Amazon because they have a huge selection and you can often have the pens or markers delivered to your house within a few days. However, there are plenty of other places where you can get great deals on pens or markers for your upcoming trip:
- Dollar stores – Check out your nearby dollar store, where you may be able to find a variation of some of the pens or markers above for cheap.
- Walmart – No matter where you are in the country, you likely have a Walmart somewhat near you, and they often have a large stock of office and craft supplies at low prices.
- Craft stores – Try out your local craft store, as they’ll likely have plenty of options to meet your needs, and may even have some helpful recommendations if you tell them exactly what you’re looking for.
- Disney – Yes, you can, of course, purchase pens from Disney gift shops and hotels. You may pay a little more in these places, but you also might be more likely to find authentic Disney pens or markers.
The “Green Sharpie” Rumor
Across the web, there are some mumblings that some Disney characters won’t use a green Sharpie marker because this specific color is incredibly hard to stain remove if it gets on a character’s costume. There seem to be varying opinions of how true this really is.
Some forum contributors have shared experiences where characters or their handlers have refused (or preferred not to) use a green sharpie. However, there are just as many experienced Disney travelers that counter that this has never happened to them. Just a quick word of warning as it is mentioned in several Disney forums and communities.
No matter which pens or markers you choose, make sure you’re prepared and get them ahead of time along with your Disney character autograph books of choice.