We love pin trading in our house. My daughter really really gets into it and has a blast doing it. For anyone who may not know what pin trading is, every cast member has a collection of pins that they wear that they will trade with anyone who asks. In any given day, you will see hundreds of guests (of all ages) walking up to cast members and asking to see their pins. It is a great past time and provides a fun and memorable souvenir from every trip.
There are a few rules to pin trading. First of all, you must have a genuine Disney pin to trade. These usually have a rubber mickey mouse shaped head for a back and say pin trading on the back of the pin. Second of all, if a cast member has a green colored lanyard (this is the necklace or square piece that the pins are attached to) then only kids can trade with that particular cast member. As far as I know, these are the main "rules" that apply to pin trading.
Pin trading has saved our sanity many times while standing in long lines. Just when my daughter starts to get antsy and start asking how much longer we have to wait, we often reach a cast member who has pins. My daughter passes the time by looking at their pins and making the hard decision of whether or not to trade. It's actually often pretty easy for her. She usually knows exactly what she wants....first choice is Ariel, second choice is most any Princess. If there are not any of these available, she often moves on. Every once in a while she sees a fun one that is not a Princess, but that is a not the norm :) She also enjoys looking at pins that the other guests have. Although you can most certainly trade with other guests, my daughter doesn't like to do this. I guess it is more fun for her to stick to the cast members.
So where do you get these pins? You can buy them at Disney for a price of anywhere from $5.95 upwards to $15.95. They sell pins individually, or in "starter sets" that include four pins and a lanyard to put them on for around $24.95. These are great options for people who don't know about this past time before the trip and get pulled into the fun while there. We however take a different route. We buy our pins in bulk before our trip and trade them while we are there. We go to EBAY several months before our trip and look for sellers who allow you to pick your "lot" size and get pins for around $1.00 a pin. This summer we bought a few for $1.15 each and chose 20 of them. A few weeks later we won an auction that allowed us to get 100 for around $65 shipping and all. When you combine the amount we paid and the number of pins we received in both shipments, it averaged to $.80 a pin. That is a WHOLE lot better than the average price we would have paid at Disney. The great thing about ordering them the way we do is that we get a huge bunch of pins that my daughter doesn't like. This makes it super easy for her to trade these "ugly" ones for the beautiful Princess pins that she so covets during our trips.
This year, since we have so many pins, we are allowing our daughter to pull a pin from the "Mickey bag" each week leading up to our trip. It gives her something to look forward to each week, and is helping the time to pass a little quicker leading up to October. We have her lanyard bought (for $1.00 at Party City) and are getting ready for another fun round of pin trading. It is always so much fun to return from a trip and see all of the pins she comes home with. We often remember how and where she acquired each pin and it brings back fun memories of our amazing trips. I can't wait to see what pins, and memories, we bring home this year!
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