Trading Pins and Autograph books???

[SoonerSarah]

So what is the big deal about these? I don't know what the trading pins are at all, and DH doesn't think there is any point to doing an autograph book (which makes me think that we will get there and then our oldest will really want one).

Tell me everything.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

I think it's an individual thing. My guys really liked the pins, but didn't care at all about the autographs. Pins and autographs are another way to make memories/have an interactive experience at the World.

Might depend on how old your children are, how often you've been/are going, etc. With my guys, we didn't do the pins/autograph book until they were a little older, but I know many people on here do it with their kids from very, very young. Nutshell: If you feel like checking it out, try it! If not, there's tons of other stuff to do/see and your kids will probably never miss it if you don't point it out. Hope you have a great trip!

 

[Michelle and crew]

my kids liked trading pins. I introduced my sister to them last visit, and it was a hoot. she felt it was like shopping without spending money!

 

[mom2att]

So what is the big deal about these? I don't know what the trading pins are at all, and DH doesn't think there is any point to doing an autograph book (which makes me think that we will get there and then our oldest will really want one).

Tell me everything.

Pins--you buy the pins, wear them on a lanyard, and trade with CM's wearing pin lanyards (which is most of them). We found it was great when my dd was a pre-teen who had already been to Disney many times. My younger children also got involved when we won pins and lanyards, but I personally wouldn't choose pin trading for a younger child, mainly because it can get expensive, but also because there's so much else to see and do.

Autograph books--you can buy the book, or you can just use any blank book. If your child likes meeting the characters autograph books can be fun. We have a whole book of autographs and the pictures to accompany them from when my daughter was young. The great thing about autographs is that they are free. Even if you decide to buy the book there, it's only about $12, and after that it just involves some waiting to see the characters, and if your child likes characters you may be doing that anyway, autographs or not.

Long story short--for a child the age of your oldest, I'd go for the autograph book if she is going to be into the characters anyway. Don't worry about pin trading just yet!

 

[Michelle and crew]

ftr, both slow down the travel, just so you know. we preferred pins over autographs because it is quicker.

 

[woodkins]

If you plan on meeting characters or doing character meals an autograph book is a great way to create a memory. We like to take the autograph page and scrapbook it next to the photo of my daughter with that character. Sometimes the character even writes a cute note to them. DD had a chip and dale outfit on last week & chip wrote "I want one!" I buy the hard bound journals from the Disney store when they go on sale usually for $1.99 or $3.99 and bring it from home. This way I can easily pull out the pages later on & the hard cover protects the book in my tote bag.

My dd LOVES pin trading. She is an only child so I can spend a bit more as I don't have to buy for 3 kids, but I started her off with a lanyard and 10 pins. You can look at disney stores and disney online for pins on sale. We only let her trade with CM's and she loves checking out all of their pins, searching for specific ones and chatting up new people. This past trip her focus was on finding puffle pins from club penguin. Last year it was Marie from the Aristocats. It is a fun way to meet new people, teachers her manners and socil interactions & the pins are an awesome souvenier.

 

[mupt02]

I would say it completely depends on what your kids are in to and what they want to do. My older 2 (4 and 2) were not tall enough for the "big" rides (and I think they would have been scared to death anyways), but they were very excited about getting autographs. We ended up with about 70 from the parks and almost 30 more from character meals. For us it was great.

If your kids are in to meeting the characters, an autograph book is a great way to capture the memory. You can buy ones that let you put a picture in as well if you wanted to.

I can't speak of the pins as my kids were not interested at all (and too young in my opinion).

 

[Minnie Melissa]

We did both the autograph books & pin trading. My kids (ds10, dd8 & ds7) loved both! I bought a lot of pins on eBay for $20 and I got 20 pins. They were assorted but doesn't really matter since your trading. The kids still talk about how much fun that was & we will do it again on our next trip.

 

[SoonerSarah]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'm thinking at this point it's not something that we will do. I'm betting she would prefer to have money spent on other items.

ETA-The pins that is. I don't think we will do the pins. My brain is sleep deprived. I'm not sure about the autograph book. I'll figure that out later I guess.

 

[monorailsilver]

I never did the pins. I might buy one or two that I like but I never got in to it.

As far as autograph books, I did it for 2 of my kids & guess where they are? In a closet stacked under a bunch of craft stuff.

Back (eons ago) in 2008, I vowed not to do one. I bought a 5x7 picture frame with an 11x16 mat & I had plans to bring it around the park (short lived). The first night we went to Chef Mickeys so I had them sign it there and said to my dh that it looks good so we don't need to cart it around (I was using a stroller).

A few days later, my kids got hats so we had the characters sign the hats instead & they wore then the entire trip & still wear them 2 years later.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

We aren't into pin trading at all, but we did buy a few pins from our favorite characters/movies. We won't let them go though...

As for autograph books, it's just fun. It helped my kids (DS2.5 on our first visit and DD just turned 2 on our 2nd family trip) have something to do with the characters as opposed to just seeing them. It helps break the ice, especially if the books are tiered toward the characters or you have an exceptionally large pen (like we had - made for EXCELLENT conversations!).

When we get back, I take the autographs out of the kid's books and put them in the scrapbook from our trip next to the picture of the character.

 

[luckylady131]

We are going for the first time in a couple of months. I am not really sure what trading pins are, and may figure it out this time. But my oldest DD is 4.5 years old and I thought she would love to get autographs.

After looking at various autograph books, I ended up choosing this book: http://www.amazon.com/Disney-Junior...6704/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286205950&sr=8-1

It's not heavy and will easily fit in the back of our stroller, or backpack. It has all the new characters, including Pixar characters. I got that one because 1. we can read about all the different characters. 2. I don't even know all the Disney characters, so if we come across someone we don't know, we can look that character up really quickly. 3. It's something else to have and use, instead of a blank piece of paper with a signature on it. There's enough space on the pages for them to write on.