Look anywhere around a Disney theme park and you’re likely to spot guests wearing lanyards full of pins. Many families enjoy trading pins on their theme park vacations. This week we asked our Parenting Panel: What tips do you have for pin trading with children?
Chris Salata, also known as GusMan, is a Disney-inspired author and photographer, and loves to help people get the most out of their Disney vacation. Chris writes:
While I consider myself more of a pin “collector” it's my son that like to trade pins. I think he first got into the idea simply because there was a pin store underneath the big hat at Disney Hollywood Studios. He would flock to that pin store like there was no tomorrow every time we would visit. That is where he got his first trading set and that hooked him pretty good. Though, I think he liked the idea of the trade more than giving up his own pins. He would love to buy trading sets only so that he could get new pins that he wanted from cast members.
Keeping this in mind, we did have to learn a few things to help make trading more fun, and to protect the overall pin investment. Here are some of our favorite tips and tricks.
- Set aside a reasonable amount of funds aside for your first batch of pins. While trading sets contain pins to keep and trade, as well as a lanyard, there will always be pins that you see for purchase that you know would be difficult to find from a cast member.
- Pins get heavy. Keep in mind, these items are little metal slugs. A pin lanyard filled up can can weigh a few pounds. That may not seem like a lot, but to a small child, it can be an issue.
- Be mindful of the attractions you enjoy with the pins. Slow-moving rides may not be an issue if you are sporting a pin lanyard. However, Tower of Terror or Space Mountain may be a different story. Properly stow your pins during faster attractions.
- Watch the rubber pin backs. They do fall off, which then causes the pin itself to fall off. Disney does offer metal locking backs for the pins at an additional cost. They lock the pin in place using a small Allen wrench. They work great. However, they can get a bit costly if you wear a good number of pins and they do stick out further than the rubber backs. (I do not advise using the locking pins if you are displaying a few select pins on a baseball cap. I speak from experience.)
- Pins can be fragile. This is especially the case with pins that happen to have moving parts or delicate features. They can usually be moved as designed without a problem. However, if you accidentally snag them, it might break at the hinge or other attachment point. (My favorite Figment pin fell victim of this fate.)
- When buying pins, if you see one that you like, do not hesitate and purchase it. Not all pins are available at every pin location. At the same time, some pins are limited in production. If you walk away thinking that you will be able to get it later, you may be taking a pretty good risk.
- Consider displaying your favorite pins at home in a permanent display. This way, you can simply bring only the pins you would like to trade with you to the parks. You pack lighter, protect your investment, while still trading your way to that one of kind pin find.
While my son still loves to trade, I think he is starting to take after me more and want's to simply collect pins. Its a great starter hobby and one that anyone can do. The start up costs are not all that bad and there are many groups that can provide a lot of information about the pins in circulation. Who knows – you might even end up with a rare and somewhat valuable pin by accident.
Sheena also known as Mermaid, teaches first grade in Arizona where she lives with her husband and two children, Matthew (4) and Katie (3). She visits the Disneyland Resort as often as she can and has passed on her love of the parks to her little Mouseketeers. Sheena writes:
Many years ago, before kids, my husband and I looked at people with their pin lanyards full of pins and, quite frankly, thought they were nuts. Why would we spend our money on little pieces of metal? Well, enter the Year of a Million Dreams. We were strolling along Frontierland and—lo and behold—we stumbled across the Dream Squad passing out free pin lanyards and two free pins. Wow, what luck! But, our poor lanyards, looked so lonely with only two little pins. So, we popped into the pin store, we'd just get a couple pins each, right? Oh yeah, and I can spend $10 at Target. Hundreds of dollars later, we are certified Pin People. Well played Disney, well played.
So, of course, Pin People must have Pin Kids. Our kids are 3 and 4.5 and we last visited Disneyland a few months ago. We bought each child a lanyard and gave them each about four pins we had set aside for them. They make kids lanyards and adult lanyards, but there are not a lot of options in the kid sizes. The only ones we found came in a starter set with four pins and we weren't really wanting to spend that much money. We hemmed and hawed over what lanyards to buy. After much consideration, I realized most of the adult lanyards have a little end piece that detaches—presumably for keys. We were able to take that piece off and it made the adult lanyard the right size for my tall 4-year-old son. We went with a different set for my younger child because it was adjustable.… when in doubt, pick the princesses.
A few trips ago, we bought a set of pins off eBay. They were inexpensive and have made good trading pins. I have later come to realize these pins are likely not real, so you have to let your own moral compass decide how you feel about that before you buy and trade. But, we had about a dozen left and we gave them to the kids to trade. We found it easier to trade at the pin boards where my kids had a lot of pins to look at and choose. My kids did not know to trade with cast members wearing lanyards unless we initiated it for them. They seemed to feel like they had to trade a pin each time we stopped, so we tried not to stop too often. We chose not to allow them to trade pins we had bought. Originally, I thought each of them could have a themed lanyard (trains for my son, princesses for my daughter) but I quickly realized they just wanted what they liked and went with that. They also enjoyed trading back and forth with each other. The pin backs have been known to slip off, so I made sure to press the back on hard after each trade.
The best thing I did with the pins had nothing to do with trading. It was pure bribery. For anyone who has traveled with preschoolers, you know sleep can be tricky. We went to San Diego last summer and bedtime was awful, they were both up and down way past bedtime every night. This trip, I told them if they stayed in their bed all night long, they could have a pin for their lanyard in the morning. I had a four-pack of Disney Junior pins I bought last year. I figured IF they got to the third night, I'd let them pick one out from the store. Maybe they were extra tired, but those kids stayed in their beds and went right to sleep every night! It was so much more peaceful for everyone and completely and totally worth the cost of the pins!
All in all, pin trading is a fun way to talk with cast members and gets kids collecting. I think my Pin Kids will be collecting and trading for a long time to come.
MousePlanet columnist Chris Barry, his wife, Diane, Samantha (15), and twins Casey and Alex (12), live on Long Island and are all major Disney and Walt Disney World fans. Chris writes:
I think Disney does a wonderful job on their pins. They are well made, highly detailed, and, in my opinion, a good value for a souvenir. As a big Disney fan they’re a real pleasure to hunt and collect. Each of the kids has a lanyard and they’re allowed to fill it up so they can comfortably wear it in the parks. No more, no less. The kids love to fill up their lanyards with pins. We parents manage to snag a few, as well. It’s become a favorite thing to do on each trip to the Walt Disney World Resot.
Pin Trading was a great way to get the kids comfortable talking to the Disney cast members. They love walking up to the cast members and trading pins with them and sometimes striking up conversations with them. They would feel perfectly at ease going up to a cast member if they were ever lost or separated from us. It’s a good safety measure when traveling with kids and pin trading has helped facilitate that comfort level in my family. They’ve met some wonderful cast members this way, as well, and I think interacting with the cast is an important part of the whole Disney experience.
While pins are generally quite affordable in the parks and resorts, they can certainly add up after a while. Buying one or two pins for $7 as souvenirs is a good deal. Filling up a pin board or pin book can get pretty costly. So, how do you deal with the kids wanting more and more pins to trade with the cast members? We’ve tackled this a few ways.
As I said there’s always a limit. Fill up the lanyard, and you’re done for the trip. As far as acquiring pins to trade, we’ve managed to find some fairly good deals on pin sets in the parks that no one in our family was particularly interested in. For instance, there was a set of 8 Club Penguin pins that we found for around $25. This was a no brainer. We bought the set. Each of my sons took half. For around $3 and change each, they were a good deal and it gave them each four pins to trade.
The other cost-efficient way to get pins to trade is by buying them online. Now, believe me, this opens up a whole big can of Disney worms. You can find the much-sought-after Hidden Mickey, or cast member exclusive pins, in big lots on sites like eBay and Amazon. You can sometimes get pins for $1 apiece in lots of 20, 25, or 50. They all claim to be 100% Disney and 100% tradeable in the parks. Some of them are and some of them are not. There are counterfeit pins out there, second-run pins and what they call “scrapper pins.” A site like PinPics.com will be able to clarify the ins and outs of dealing with this issue. There are also some great articles posted online by pin enthusiasts out there explaining the subtle nuances and ways to determine if a pin is real or fake.
I’ve been purchasing pin lots online for several years now from the same exact seller and I’ve never had a problem trading any of them in the parks or resorts. We get a bag of 50. We spill them all out on the table, pick what we want to keep and then bring the rest down there with us to trade. For around $10 per person, we wind up with around seven or eight to trade and a few to keep. It’s worked out very well.
The second-hand pins seem perfectly legitimate to me. Am I certain that all of them have been straight from Disney and none of them are factory seconds? No, I can’t be completely sure about that, but, like I said, it’s never been a problem. We would never try to trade obvious fakes. From what I understand Disney’s unofficial policy seems to be that if it’s stamped “©Disney” and “China” on the back and you follow the rules of pin trading etiquette, then cast members are free to trade with you. That’s what we’ve been doing for several years now, we thoroughly enjoy it and it’s become an integral part of our family’s Walt Disney World experience.
It's your turn—keep the discussion flowing!
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