Pins or Autographs again for 6 & 3yo's?

[specrn]

We went last year and did autographs with the characters which went over BIG for both my 6 and 3 year olds. We are going in the summer and am wondering if pin trading would be as much fun or as good? Is that really better for when they are older? Thank you!

 

[kmb584]

We went last year and did autographs with the characters which went over BIG for both my 6 and 3 year olds. We are going in the summer and am wondering if pin trading would be as much fun or as good? Is that really better for when they are older? Thank you!

It really depends on the kid and how into it they get. I tried DD with pin trading when she was 4 and she wasn't interested. At that age she simply wanted to keep all of the pins that I initially purchased and that was fine. She just turned 5 prior to our most recent trip and again, she showed zero interest. However, when it comes to autographs, she's all over that. We have 10 completely full autograph books from various vacations and she's still excited when a character or princess signs their name.

 

[visitWDW]

Your 3 year old is probably too young to really enjoy pin trading, but your 6 year old might like it. It really depends on the kid. My daughter started pin trading when she was 6 and still enjoys it. She's not shy though and actually likes walking up to the cast members and asking to trade. It's definitely a great way to meet some interesting people.

 

[TempleOT]

I brought lanyards and pins for my 7 and 4 year olds this trip. My 7 year old loved it. My 4 year old did trade a couple of times, but he definitely cared less about it. They both enjoyed getting autographs as well.
Deidre

 

[MandiC]

I agree that your 6 year old may enjoy it but your 3 year old probably won't. Another thing to keep in mind is that pin trading requires interaction so if you have shy kids it might not go over quite as well. Though not always. My girls are pretty shy and pin trading helped as a conversation starter between them and the CMs, especially the ones in Epcot so that was nice.
One thing they will both likely enjoy is a passport book for epcot (I printed one on cardstock and had it bound at OfficeMax, found the designs on the CreativeDis board), even without a book they can color Duffy at each station for free They would probably like the Wilderness Explorer activities in Animal Kingdom too.

 

[specrn]

Thank you all for the input! Where can I get passport books? I think that may make more sense. Thanks again

 

[Pesky]

I'd vote autographs versus pins in this scenario. When we went to DLR, DS was 4.5 and DD 6.5. They loved getting autographs. DS was totally disinterested in pins. DD made one trade and then nothing. She actually wanted to give them to the cast members, not trade! So I figure this is something the kids can do when we go to WDW in a few years and might be more into then.

 

[MandiC]

I just printed my passport book, you can find several designs
http://disboards.com/forumdisplay.php?f=105
I printed on cardstock and then had it bound, super easy and cheap but I believe that a premade one is about $10 in Epcot