Pin Trading

What is Disney Pin Trading all about anyway? In our family, it has become a fun tradition that we look forward to every time we go on a Disney trip. Each person has a lanyard in our family. Although, some people use hats to hold their pins or special cases or vests, you can be creative! Everyone has their own lot of Disney pins. THEY MUST BE DISNEY PINS or no cast members will trade with you.

All of the cast members inside the grounds of the Walt Disney World wear lanyards with Disney pins to trade. The cast members with the green lanyards are only allowed to trade with children, but the other colors can trade with anyone. Pin trading is for adults and for children of all ages starting around age 3. You will find pin trading happening in the parks, in the hotels, outside of the parks, in the stores, in the restaurants, basically everywhere inside Disney.

How does it work? You approach a cast member and as I always remind Hook, Tink and Cinder, (Beast has not started yet) to use good manners, we typically say "Hello, can we please check out your pins?" If no one finds a pin they are interested in trading for, we say " I like your pins, thank you" If you find one you are interested in, you ask "Can I please trade you for that pin?" and let them know which pin you would like and then select the pin you are giving them from your collection. The cast member must trade with you except, as I said if you are an adult trying to trade with a green lanyard, they will not trade with adults or if the cast member already has the pin you are trying to give them You must give the cast member a different pin than the one they already have.

It is that simple. My kids often pick a theme that they are aiming for on a trip and will hunt for pins that fit into that theme. For example, one trip, Hook focused on transportation, so he collected Different types of Disney buses, boats rides with cars or planes and monorails. Another trip Hook focused on Star Wars pins. Tink and Cinder have focused on princess themes, and Minnie themes. The options are endless for picking a theme based approach. When I trade, I typically will focus on searching for pins that hold a special memory for me. For example, I have a Dumbo, Splash Mountain and Goofy Barnstormer pin that reminds me of the first times, I took my children on those rides. I also will always buy a special pin if we are there for a special occasion. For example, I have an Easter 2006 pin for when we spent Easter in Disney that year, I have a pin for Mickey's Christmas party and Halloween party.

I have different categories of pins. The pins that I will trade and the pins that I will not trade, the event pins, I will not trade. I typically will leave these pins home when we go on a trip. When packing the pins, I always ask the children to look at their lanyard and if there are any pins they do not want to trade to take them off and leave them home.

How do I get started? Starting pin trading is a hobby and therefore, there is a small investment of money. Pins are a bit expensive and range in price from $4 a pin, up to $10 a pin. We typically stay in the $4 range. Lanyards you can buy at Disney or get anywhere, Walmart and Target are often a good place to look for a vest or a book or a hat for this. You can buy sets of pins when you arrive in Disney or you can often find sets of pins being sold online at eBay. This is how we got started. Please make sure that they are in fact Disney pins, look at the pictures of them and ask to verify this. You can buy a set of pins and save bundles.

My kids each have about 12 pins and typically we will only buy them one new pin on a trip. They just keep trading the pins they have as we go back for more vacations. Once you have made the initial investment, pin trading is free. I do on occasion buy a bag of replacement backs for $2.00 because inevitably some pins backings tend to fall off.

The benefits of pin trading are never ending. It is a fun hobby and can take care of the souvenir issue or dilemma of kids wanting to buy everything they see in store there and take home more junk you do not need. Your souvenir for the trip for the kids can be the pins! It helps build literacy and communication skills. Tink, the shy one in our family has mustered her courage to speak and approach cast members when she sees a pin she is motivated to trade for. Also, Tink had just started to read this past trip and she was very excited to try to read all of the words on pins she saw. A Disney trip can be educational! It also helps reinforce opportunities to teach your children manners while trading. Additionally, it is a fantastic way to deal with delays and waiting in line. If you are waiting for a dinner reservation, or waiting in line for a ride, the kids can pin trade and suddenly a 20 minute wait for Pooh Bear happens with no whining or boredom!

My kids will often trade with other children in the park as well and have made some nice friends and connections with children form all over the world while in Disney pin trading.

I know there are many doubters out there that think your kids won't do it or who say my kids will never let the pins go, but you would be surprised, there are so many interesting pins out there. The kids love this, the adults love it! To get started, just buy them a set if you are in Disney of pins you think they would trade, for example, don't start your 4 year old daughter out with a set of princess pins! Buy her the generic characters so she can search for fun princess ones to trade for.

Charming was sceptical about pin trading at first, but now he loves it! The Mickey baseball pins for the different teams and the star wars pins got him hooked!

Pin trading is another way to capture the magic of Disney and bring it home to keep those memories of your fantastic family vacation alive for years.