{"id":1038,"date":"2011-02-09T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2011-02-09T17:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_guest\/?p=1038"},"modified":"2022-05-05T13:59:04","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T17:59:04","slug":"a-lesson-in-disney-pin-trading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/a-lesson-in-disney-pin-trading\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lesson in Disney Pin Trading"},"content":{"rendered":"

Someone recently started a thread on the MouseForLess Yahoo group about Pin Trading at Disney World and it got me thinking about buying some pins for my upcoming trip in June.\u00a0 I always see questions popping up wondering when children are old enough to trade and who or where to actually trade the pins with.\u00a0 As for when a child is old enough, I think this is subjective and really depends on the individual child.\u00a0 My first experience with Pin Trading was in 2006 when my daughter was almost 4 and my son was 15 months old.\u00a0 Now for obvious reasons my son didn\u2019t get into trading and while I wouldn\u2019t say my daughter got into it, she did enjoy the trading aspect of it.\u00a0 I had purchased about 25 pins on Ebay with the thought that it would be a fun diversion if it worked out.\u00a0 I had no idea how big of a diversion it was going to be.\u00a0 You know how every attraction at Disney World exits through a carefully themed gift shop?\u00a0 Well how many children go through said gift shops with the gimmees?\u00a0 I would venture to guess most children find something that they \u201chave to have\u201d at least a few times a day.\u00a0 As a parent I can fight the battle or give in to the whining (as Disney hopes you will do).\u00a0 Giving in is not an option for me because we do travel on a budget.\u00a0 This is where the pin trading came in as a life saver.\u00a0 I put a few pins on my daughter\u2019s lanyard and told her that we would trade them for different pins when we saw one that she liked.\u00a0 Of course she didn\u2019t fully understand the trading explanation at first, but after we found a Cinderella pin that she liked on a Cast Member\u2019s lanyard and traded it for one that she didn\u2019t care about, that is when it clicked and she got into it.\u00a0 All of a sudden she was on the lookout for pins that she wanted to trade for.\u00a0 I did put limits on her trading and told her that we weren\u2019t going to trade with anyone except the people that worked at Disney.\u00a0 We are not serious pin traders and I have no clue what any individual pin may be worth so I am not going to even begin to trade with the people who take this seriously.\u00a0\u00a0 When we left Disney World after our five day trip, my daughter had successfully traded all of her pins at least once and a few were traded more than once.<\/p>\n

Our next trip was about 18 months later.\u00a0 My daughter was now 5 years old and my son was almost 3.\u00a0 This trip included a few cousins who were 6 and 8 years old.\u00a0 I decided early on that pin trading was going to be an activity that everyone could participate in and have fun with.\u00a0 Again, I went on Ebay and bought a lot of pins for trading.\u00a0 I gave everyone 10 or 11 pins, explained it to the cousins and we were off.\u00a0 At this point all of the kids had favorite Disney cartoons or characters and they each had a different theme that they were after.\u00a0 My 8 year old cousin wanted Winnie the Pooh characters.\u00a0 My 6 year old cousin wanted all Chip and Dale.\u00a0 My son (with help) was looking for Cars characters.\u00a0 My daughter was a little broader in her search and was looking for the Princesses and Tinker Bell.\u00a0 We had fun trading on that trip and the girls really got into the trading.\u00a0 So much so, that they almost forgot about asking for souvenirs, I said almost!\u00a0 They were so busy looking for their pins that they didn\u2019t focus on the toys in the gift shops, instead they were looking for Cast Members wearing pin trading lanyards.\u00a0 We had a few Magical Moments that trip as well.\u00a0 We were walking through the lobby of the Beach Club on our way to Beaches and Cream when one of the greeters approached the girls and handed each of them a card with 2 Tinker Bell pins on it.\u00a0 The card explained that one was to keep and one was to trade.\u00a0 The girls were thrilled to have more pins to trade!\u00a0 One morning while we were waiting for rope drop at Epcot, an older couple struck up a conversation with my 8 year old cousin.\u00a0 She was wearing a \u201cMy First Visit\u201d button and the couple ended up giving her a pin to trade since it was her first visit.\u00a0 And then, on our last morning in the Magic Kingdom, we were going into Buzz Lightyear when a Cast Member approached the girls and asked what pins they were looking for.\u00a0 She told them to wait a minute and she disappeared for a bit.\u00a0 When she came back she gave each of the girls a few pins each that matched their theme.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Our next trip was the following year in 2009.\u00a0 My daughter was 6 years old and my son was almost 4.\u00a0 This time they knew the drill and they were ready to trade!\u00a0 My son stuck with looking for Cars pins, although he did look for Buzz Lightyear and friends too.\u00a0 My daughter was still looking for Princesses and Tinker Bell for the most part, but there was special pin that she was on the lookout for.\u00a0 On our first morning, we were in Epcot and we passed the Pin Trader cart.\u00a0 My daughter slowed down to look and when she did she saw a Marie pin that she just had to have.\u00a0 I looked at the pin and almost bought it for her (for $7.95!).\u00a0 But then I had a thought.\u00a0 I told her that I wasn\u2019t going to buy it right then.\u00a0 I wanted her to look for it while we were in the parks and if she didn\u2019t find it to trade for by the end of the trip, I promised I would buy it for her.\u00a0 That gave her a mission and she took it seriously.\u00a0 I thought that it would keep her busy for the rest of the trip and I would end up buying her a Marie pin before we left.\u00a0\u00a0 Wrong!\u00a0 The next afternoon she found a Marie pin to trade for! I really do not know if it was the exact one she had seen before, but she did not seem to care.\u00a0 I think the pin was even more special to her because she had to find it instead of mom just buying it for her.\u00a0 She still looks at that pin and remembers how she had to search for it.<\/p>\n

For our upcoming June 2011 trip I am trying to talk myself into buying a 100 pin lot off of Ebay.\u00a0 We are going to be at Disney World for 8 days so I am thinking that we are going to need quite a few to keep the kids busy trading.\u00a0 My son is still talking about Cars and Buzz Lightyear pins so I sure that is what he will be looking for, although I would like to see him branch out a little.\u00a0 My daughter hasn\u2019t settled on any one thing, but she has said that she would like to find some different Marie pins.\u00a0 My husband is going on this trip and he wants to look for Stitch and the Seven Dwarfs.<\/p>\n

If you think that pin trading is something that your children may enjoy, I suggest starting small.\u00a0 It really isn\u2019t for everyone.\u00a0 Some kids don\u2019t understand the trading aspect of it and the fact that they do not get their original pin back.\u00a0 Approaching someone to trade can be unsettling as well.\u00a0 I suggest making it a rule to trade only with the Cast Members.\u00a0 Cast Members will always trade with children and they let the kids pick which ever pin they want.\u00a0\u00a0 You can trade with anyone who has a lanyard who is willing to trade, but some people are serious about their pins and it could be a less than positive experience for the child who can\u2019t trade for the pin that they want.\u00a0 Another helpful tip is to bring a quart or gallon size zip lock bag to keep the lanyard in.\u00a0 My kids don\u2019t walk around the park with their lanyards on for multiple reasons.\u00a0 First it can be heavy and rubbing on the neck can get irritating after awhile.\u00a0 Another problem that we have had is that the back can fall off and then the pin can get lost.\u00a0 When the kids see a pin they want to trade for, I pull out their lanyard and put it around their neck.\u00a0 They make their trade and attach the new pin to their lanyard.\u00a0 I let them wear the lanyard for a few minutes and then put it back in the bag for later.\u00a0 Disney does sell locking backs for the pins, but they can be costly so we don\u2019t use them.\u00a0 Another word of advice is to leave the \u201ckeeper\u201d pins at home or in your room.\u00a0 No need to bring them to the parks and risk losing them.\u00a0 Finally, if you do chose to buy your pins online before you go on your trip, do some research, actually do a lot of research and check feedback of the person you are buying them from.\u00a0 If it seems too good to be true, it probably is, so be careful!\u00a0 A safe option for beginners is to buy a starter lanyard at your resort gift shop or at the front of the park on your first day.\u00a0 A starter pack comes with the lanyard and four pins and runs about $25.00 for the set.\u00a0 The Disney Store (online too) sells pins on clearance every now and then.\u00a0 Remember, it doesn\u2019t matter what the pin looks like, you are going to trade it away so go for cheap!<\/p>\n

Well, I am off to buy some pins.\u00a0 Happy trading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Someone recently started a thread on the MouseForLess Yahoo group about Pin Trading at Disney World and it got me thinking about buying some pins for my upcoming trip in June.\u00a0 I always see questions popping up wondering when children are old enough to trade and who or where to actually trade the pins with.\u00a0…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-walt-disney-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86591,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1038\/revisions\/86591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}