Finding the best souvenirs to take back home with you from Disney World can feel like a never-ending search. So, sometimes you just need to get a little inventive!

Sometimes, the souvenirs you can buy in stores just aren’t our style or can get really expensive — merchandise adds up quickly. That’s why we decided to test out our own version of a souvenir idea and we think it might have been one of our best ideas yet!

Meeting characters at Disney World has got to be one of our FAVORITE things to do when visiting the parks. Every day, thousands of people come to Disney World’s parks to meet with some of their favorite characters, say hello, exchange a friendly hug, and, if you’re lucky enough, have them sign something super special to cherish the memory!

While you may be familiar with some of the common souvenirs people bring to collect character signatures, we set out on a mission to collect character signatures around Disney World on a DIFFERENT kind of souvenir! Here’s a story about our experience, and it all started with the right brainstorming and preparation.

When we started thinking long and hard about what we could have Disney characters sign that would give us sentimental and practical value, we came up with potentially the perfect solution. All we needed to gather were the right materials. Since we know staying hydrated is important everywhere, not just while visiting Disney World, we thought an all-white water bottle was just PERFECT for the occasion!

We chose the white color so those character signatures would easily seen and really POP against the plain background, but Owala has dozens of styles and color combos to choose from!

Get yours HERE

That wasn’t all we needed, though! A normal pen to ask the characters to sign with just wouldn’t do, so we opted for some markers in lots of COLORS!

Having a wide variety allowed us to choose the perfect color coordinated to each of the characters, but you could totally have them all sign in the same color if that’s your preference.

Get yours HERE

After we’d gathered what we needed, we were ready for a fun day at Disney World, meeting with some of our friends! We met characters like Jack Sparrow…

… Donald Duck…

…and Daisy, of course.

We also got Minnie Mouse to sign our water bottle…

…Peter Pan…

…Cinderella’s stepsisters, Anastasia and Drizella…

…and even stopped by to see Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater!

Once we’d gathered our signatures, you would have thought our work was done, right? Well, we did, too…except we ran into one little problem. We’re not sure if it was the heat or the oils from our fingers, but we noticed that some of the signatures started to smudge a little, so here’s the solution we came up with!

By spraying a sealant over the finished bottle with something like Mod Podge, we were able to preserve these signatures and take our new accessory with us wherever we went with peace of mind!

Get yours HERE

Here’s a look at what our water bottle looked like when we were finished!

We had TONS of fun visiting the characters and getting their signatures on something we’ll use every day even when we’re not in Disney World. Make sure to check out the links for all of the products that we used, and stay tuned with us at Disney Food Blog to see what fun souvenir ideas we come up with next!

This Is Every Mom’s FAVORITE New Souvenir in Disney World

What kinds of items do you bring to Disney World and ask your favorite characters to sign? Tell us in the comments below!