31 Days: Capturing the Disney Memories

Whether this is your first trip or your fortieth trip, especially when your kiddos are involved, make sure you capture those memories to remember for a good long while to come! I look forward to one day showing our future grandkids photos of the first time we took their parents to Disney World!! Here just a few ideas of how to capture the memories...

Autograph Book

This might be the quickest way to organize your photographs. Buy a traditional 4"x6" photo album, one that has only 1-2 photos per page. Then make a DIY "autograph book" for when your kiddos meet the characters, and make sure the pages are also 4"x6"- just put one or two rings through the corners to bind the book together. Then when you get home, take the rings out and pop the autographed pages into the photo album. Slip in a photo of your child(ren) with each character on the same or opposing page (depending if it's 2 or 1 photos per page)- instant memory album of your trip!

Photo Book

There are tons of online sites available to upload your photos to and create a printed photo book. My favorite is Shutterfly, and they always have some sort of promotion/coupon available. This is probably one of the easiest ways to create a whole memory album of your photos!

PhotoPass & MemoryMaker

This is Disney's version of Shutterfly. In the parks, you'll find Disney's PhotoPass photographers stationed throughout, ready to capture great photos for you. They'll also use your camera, if you'd like. At the end of your trip, you'll log onto your My Disney Experience account and view all of your photos. You can also then create photo books, calendars, photo mugs, etc. You can also choose to just download a photo or two and then print them out yourself. If you plan to get a bunch of photos, purchasing MemoryMaker is your best bet- get all of your photos and then some on one CD. Make sure to purchase your MemoryMaker package more than 3 days before your trip, otherwise you may miss out on some of your photos!

Scrapbooking

This is my personal favorite! If you're crafty, make sure you journal throughout your trip so that you don't forget any of your magical experiences. Get your kids involved- have them journal or draw out what they did that day! I tend to keep a lot of memorabilia from my trips- everything from luggage tags to receipts, wristbands to colored-on-placemats! You can do the easy and popular pocket scrapbooking method or do traditional full-page layouts!