If you have ever gone to Disney, you must have seen the huge pin trading sites. So if your wondering about it, here's the facts.
One of the newest pins for the upcoming 40th anniversary of Magic Kingdom.
Image from Disney
Disney Pin Trading. The guest can buy pins from virtually anywhere in the parks, in any shape, size, character, theme and put it on a landyard (usually the best for new traders). Then you can trade any pins with cast members in the parks or at Downtown Disney. If they have a green/turquoise lanyard, the cast member is only allowed to trade with younger kids. You are allowed to trade up to 2 pins with each cast member that you see, but the only rule is that you cannot trade them a pin that they already have. Which is usually not a big deal since there are so many pins available.
Now, pins usually costs upwards of $8 to almost 20. So if you don't want to pay tons of money to get into this cool event, then here is my best tip.
Usually on ebay you can get lots of 20, 40, 50 pins for cheap. This is a good idea because then you trade all the ones you don't want for ones that you like.
In the morning, cast members have the most hidden mickey pins. Hidden mickeys pins usually have a little Mickey icon hidden on the pin. These cannot be bought in stores and are part of a larger set of the same kind or theme.
As you can see in the bottom right hand corner, there is a small black Mickey. They are not always so noticeable, but can still be seen. Image from Disney.
I have always been very interesting in pin trading so when I went in May I tried pin trading for the first time. I got a lot of pins from ebay, got a lanyard from Disney, but also had another one that I had found. My princess one that was not from Disney would be for all of the pins I wanted to keep. The Disney lanyard kept all of my pins that I wanted to trade that day with the cast members. Cast members were always amazing even though I was 20 and asking to see their pins. All of the cast members were super nice and were very talkative about the pins and it showed that they liked trading as well. Every time my Mother turned around, I would be off looking at pins and trading. I think it is an amazing way for guests to interact with the cast members and to make interesting memories.
Some people collect different themes of pins. Like having all hidden mickey pins from a certain year or a certain theme. Others want all the Cinderella pins or Minnie pins. Me, I do not really have a theme to my pins but looking all over the internet I saw lots of people with pins from certain rides. I thought that would be a great idea, but the ones I wanted you had to buy. I did buy one set, it was a package of two and you didn't know which ones you got, but I was lucky and got the Haunted Mansion and Soarin. Both great rides. So currently I do not have a particular theme to my pins, but the next time I go to Disney I might pick one.
I almost had a whole set of hidden Mickey pins. They were heart shaped with a princes holding a butterfly. I have 4 of the 6. You can get them on ebay, but that isn't as fun as searching for them.
Conclusion: Pin trading is fun. And I think for most people of all ages would have fun with it. It is a very expensive hobby, but think of the different ways you can save money through ebay or getting pins that are on sale.
