Disney pins and autographs

[pingpong 0]

We are making the pilgrimage to Disney in a month. I've heard about the pin trading practice. Anyone have experience with it? Does it get in the way of a good time in the park, or is it a worthwhile activity for the kids?

 

How about character autographs? Another distraction or fun for the kids?

TIA.

[patweisers44 846]

How old are the kids?

 

I dont know about the pin trading, but the autographs can be a fun thing for the kids, assuming the kids dont freak out about the size/appearance of the characters. Its a big difference between seeing Buzz Lightyear on your 42 inch TV and then seeing him as a 7 foot tall bigger-than-life character. Assuming your kids arent affected by that, an autograph book (purchase one beforehand if you dont wanna pay Disney prices) can be a great way for kids to interact and can also be a great photo opportunity for you.

 

I know a lot of people are down on the Disney experience, but for kids of the right age group, the expense and hassle of the experience for the adults are well worth the joy. I can honestly say i have never run into a Disney employee with an attitude or anything like that. Its expensive, but worth it.

 

Where are you staying at?

[Voice_Of_Reason 0]

We take the kids to Disneyland quite often. The pins are not a distraction. You just see a park employee and you give them a pin and ask for any pin they have. The kids like getting the ones they want. But you can buy them too although it is much more pricey to do so.

 

Autographs rocks. Memories of rides and things fade. But my kids still look through their autograph books from years past. It takes a lot of time, but there are ways to make it faster. We take a picture for each autograph so the book has pictures of our kids with the characters to go with. Makes great memories. Some helpful hints. At Disneyland (don't know about Disneyworld), a way to speed up your character signings is to see the characters at events. Instead of waiting in a 2 hour line to see a few princesses, we booked a lunch at Ariels Grotto. All the princesses come to you table. We went to Goofys kitchen too. You get a dinner and maybe 5-10 characters came to our table. You can get a good 10-15 autographs without standing in line.

 

Another cool tip for the family. Have the park take you family photos. They have photographers standing at all the major sites. Have them take a family photo at each. Pick up a CD of all your photos at the end of your trip. Makes for good memories. It's like $50 whether you take 1 photo or 300. So if you are gonna do it, take a bunch.

 

Have fun!

[pingpong 0]

My kids are 9,8,5. Perfect ages. My wife has been crazy about planning, so we do have 2 character meals planned. I've heard so many mixed reviews about the pins, mainly about how kids get obsessed with the pins and forget the rides. Sounds like autographs is a must.

[Sho Nuff 720]

The autographs are a must. But yes, standing in line to wait for them is a pain.

I wish we would have done them on the first trip as we rarely waited in any lines for anything.

The 2nd trip we did the autographs and still only waited in a few lines and did more character meals (we only did one the first trip as we were not sure how the boy would do with the big characters...he was scared at first but was running up to them hugging them by the end of the week).

 

My nieces do the pins and love it, I don't think it has been a hassle for them at all.

[Captain Allen 0]

Just got back from Disney World last night. My 7 and 5 year olds loved the pin trading. (you can buy a "grab bag" on ebay pretty cheap and then they can trade all the ones they don't like. For the autographs, we only took their books to the character meals, this way they sat and ate and when a character came by they had them sign it and then get a picture. Which character meals are you doing? We did the breakfast at the castle (well worth it if you have daughters), the Winnie the Pooh dinner at the Crystal Palace (food not that good), and the Princess dinner at the 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian (was actually the worst meal we had at Disney). It's not a character meal, but our dinner at Boma in the Animal Kingdom Lodge has probably our best meal. If you have any more Disney questions than post here, it's fresh in my mind, in fact I'm still a little jet-lagged even.

[RLLD 4,230]

The kids love the pins.....here is how we work it....knowing that when a kids asks to trade with a castmember, they have to give the kid whatever they want to trade for/with...

 

Go to walmart or something, but the 4-pack of pins for like $8, but a few of them if you want....populate the kids lanyard with the 'scrub" pins to got cheap, then they can trade for really cool ones...

 

Autographs...meh, my kids do love them, but waiting in line is just mind numbing...IMHO

 

BTW, there is a little-known program for guets who bring "magic" to other guests where they give you this coveted pin, and a ton of free coupons to shops, a golden speed pass etc...

 

My wife manage to score one two years ago.....it was focking SWEET

[Barnaby Wilde 0]

My kids love the autographs, like the pins. I must say I enjoy the pin buying and trading myself...we are a big Disney family.

[Sho Nuff 720]

Just got back from Disney World last night. My 7 and 5 year olds loved the pin trading. (you can buy a "grab bag" on ebay pretty cheap and then they can trade all the ones they don't like. For the autographs, we only took their books to the character meals, this way they sat and ate and when a character came by they had them sign it and then get a picture. Which character meals are you doing? We did the breakfast at the castle (well worth it if you have daughters), the Winnie the Pooh dinner at the Crystal Palace (food not that good), and the Princess dinner at the 1900 Park Fare in the Grand Floridian (was actually the worst meal we had at Disney). It's not a character meal, but our dinner at Boma in the Animal Kingdom Lodge has probably our best meal. If you have any more Disney questions than post here, it's fresh in my mind, in fact I'm still a little jet-lagged even.

 

Interesting that you did not like the food at the Crystal Palace.

It was one of the better buffets I had there the two times Ive been in the past 3 or so years.

Prime Rib one time, a nice smoke turkey another.

And great desserts.

[shotsup 832]

Autographs at meals were cool. They were ok getting them in the park if the line was relatively small. They do have doubles. If Buzz goes for a break - "he" comes right back out a minute later.

[RLLD 4,230]

Interesting that you did not like the food at the Crystal Palace.

It was one of the better buffets I had there the two times Ive been in the past 3 or so years.

Prime Rib one time, a nice smoke turkey another.

And great desserts.

 

 

I would concur with the previous poster that the Crystal Palace dinner is meh at best......

 

Chef Mickey is the poop, and breakfast with Cinderalla is as well....we also did a Norwiegan meal over at Epcot that was greta. Honestly, one of the better "dinners" is the Hoopty Doo Review.....

[Barnaby Wilde 0]

I had Thanksgiving dinner at the CP in 2004. The food was outstanding and my kids loved hanging out with Winnie the Pooh and company for dinner.

[pingpong 0]

We have Hoopy Doo review scheduled for the night we arrive. Bastages are making us pay cash to sit near the stage. the meal plan folks have to sit in the back. that being said, we are taking advantage of free meal plan offer since this is their low season.

I think we have Cinderella's castle and Chef Mickey for the character meals. We have a joint in Epcot, and a place in the Animal Kingdom also reserved.

I just received my autograph books in the mail, and decided to forgo the pin collecting. My little guy would be wicked pissed if Mickey 'stole' his favorite pin, and we did not want to invite a scene. We also went with the single park passes for 6 days as opposed to the Park Hopper. For the extra scratch, I can't see the need to do multiple parks in a day.

3 more weeks until we leave.

[ToledoLurch 0]

I took the family down in January, now I always get asked about when we are going back.

 

My big tip is to make sure you are at the gate when the park opens and to have a plan on what you want to ride for your first few rides. You can do more in that first hour than you can all afternoon.

 

I would guess that the 5 year old would be perfect for autographs and the two older ones more suited towards pins, so you may get stuck with doing both.

[pingpong 0]

I took the family down in January, now I always get asked about when we are going back.

 

My big tip is to make sure you are at the gate when the park opens and to have a plan on what you want to ride for your first few rides. You can do more in that first hour than you can all afternoon.

 

I would guess that the 5 year old would be perfect for autographs and the two older ones more suited towards pins, so you may get stuck with doing both.

I'm hoping that going during the low-low season, we won't need the plan as much, but you can bet that I will have one, which includes waking the family up for first tracks in the park.

[Sho Nuff 720]

We have Hoopy Doo review scheduled for the night we arrive. Bastages are making us pay cash to sit near the stage. the meal plan folks have to sit in the back. that being said, we are taking advantage of free meal plan offer since this is their low season.

I think we have Cinderella's castle and Chef Mickey for the character meals. We have a joint in Epcot, and a place in the Animal Kingdom also reserved.

I just received my autograph books in the mail, and decided to forgo the pin collecting. My little guy would be wicked pissed if Mickey 'stole' his favorite pin, and we did not want to invite a scene. We also went with the single park passes for 6 days as opposed to the Park Hopper. For the extra scratch, I can't see the need to do multiple parks in a day.

3 more weeks until we leave.

 

The park hoppers are great though.

We went to multiple parks quite often...especially good for planning around these character meals and planning when to see each parade and fireworks shows.

[RLLD 4,230]

Leverage that parent swap pass, you can hit every single ride in each park if you execute well.....

 

We always hit all the rides with ease, no waiting....