Maybe you’re planning your first trip to a Disney park, or maybe you’re just here to figure out what the heck your Disney-loving friends are talking about. But let’s talk a little about Pin Trading and what it actually is. I am still relatively new to pin trading, but as soon as a friend introduced me to it – I was hooked.
So what is pin trading?
It is honestly the cheapest way to walk out of any Disney Park with fun memories, and without breaking the bank. Before you go on your trip to Disneyland or Walt Disney World (and the international properties as well), head over to Amazon or ebay and order a set of pins. They tend to come in sets of 10, 25, 50, and 100 and more. I tend to lean towards eBay for a larger lot of pins without the bigger cost. Depending on where you order from, give yourself a week or two.
When your package arrives, go through the pins and pick out the ones you can’t bear to part with. This will happen. And will continue to happen the more you order. Set the rest in your bag and get ready to go to the Happiest Place on Earth!
Once you get to the park, or even Disney Springs and Downtown Disney look for the Pin Trading stores or cast members with pins on their lanyards. Remember all employees are called Cast Members, and I’ve even seen some of the janitorial staff with pins on their lanyards. You can walk up to them and ask to see their pins. If they have one you like, you can ask to trade pins with them. Some wear a small pin purse on their side for the same purpose.
Throughout the parks and even in restaurants, you’ll see boards filled with pins that are available to trade at too. You simply walk up, take the pins you want and replace them with the ones you don’t want.
Now, I’m a huge fan of collecting a couple of pins when I go to the parks. I tend to go for specific ones to remember the trip, but also my favorite characters. So by pin trading, I can find a few other pins I didn’t know I wanted, and not break the bank.
Pins are relatively affordable if you want to buy specific ones in the park – they start at around $8 and go up quite a bit from there. But they are small and easy to carry around the park all day, easy to travel with these small pins hold memories to last a lifetime.
Traveling with kids? Give them a set of 10 or more to trade while you’re in the parks. It makes it a fun scavenger hunt, and they get to choose the pins they like. The best part, is you can get a large set of pins to trade for the cost of a meal or two in the parks!
Once you start pin trading, or even collecting pins – you will end up saying “I Only Need One More” to fill out your board!