Beginning Pin Trading on Cruise

[dankevork]

Hello All,
I'm interesting in starting my 4 year old ds in pin trading. He is a born-collector, and I think it would be fun for him. Is it possible to start a good collection on the boat, or would he need to have some to start with?
I am not up on the pin thing, so I don't know anything about it. My son is EXTREMELY outgoing, and not shy around adults at all, so I know he will ask for trades from cruisers, CMs, etc.

I haven't been in the Disney Store in a while. Do they still carry pins? I think that's the only way we could get him a few to start with before our cruise next Saturday.

Thanks in advance for your replies!
Ashley
8 more days!!!

 

[DMS_cruisers04]

Ashley (or Dan, not sure), do a search for Pin Trading. There was a really good thread going quite awhile back. It explained where and how and mentioned something about a certain color suspenders CM's wear that "require" them to trade with the kids. Or atleast something to the affect. Good luck and let us know how it goes end you get back.

 

[BELLE16127]

My last trip to WDW the Cast Members who had on GREEN lanyards traded ONLY with children....Maybe it's the same on the cruise now. It makes them easy to identify, hope he has fun trading, I have been doing it since it started and DH thought I was nuts now he is worse than I am inthe parks he looks at EVERY CM lanyard close up, I kinda glance at some and keep moving only to find that he is now way behind still looking at PINS!! Have fun on your cruise and happy hunting.

 

[scrapcreator]

Dd (9) and I plan to do some pin trading. Do you have a Disney store nearby? I'd call them first to see if they have some pins.

Does he have a favorite Disney character?

Jeanne

 

[TheWog]

EBay has lots of pins, you could look there. and for collecting they have many DCL only pins. Some are first released for your cruise.

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

My best suggestion is to buy him a lanyard starter set with 4 pins -- 2 to keep and 2 to trade. Or, if you'll be at WDW before the cruise, go to the Belz outlet for some cheapy trader pins. We buy ours on ebay for our daughter to trade (she's 4), and she had a BLAST trading on the cruise. All CMs on the Magic happily traded with her.

They have a very nice selection for purchase on the cruise, too, if you don't mind paying full price.

Marcy

 

[ivanova]

Disney Stores do not sell pins any more

You can buy "lots" of tradable pins on ebay ... or if you PM me with your address I can send you 10 pins (no charge) for your son to use as traders. You'll need to just get him a lanyard...

 

[dankevork]

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm sad that the DS no longer sells pins. I'm worried that an ebay purchase wouldn't get sent in time. We leave on the 16th. Any other ideas for getting 20 or so pins quickly?
I shouldn't have talked it up to my dis (4). He's so excited now, but I'm worried he won't have enough to really trade.
Thanks again,
Ashley (Dan's wife)

 

[Empire Day]

Althogh they were pricey
dose the Disney Store at MHO still have them? we bought our son a starter set with laynard and 4 pins plus a bunch of clearance and a few nice ones there.

 

[allears]

There are great pins to purchase on the ship, I started collecting on the cruises. In most cases if a cast member on the ship is wearing a laynard, they are wearing pins meant for trading. I was talking to one of the CMs on our cruise and she said that depending on where you duty station is, the cruise line has laynards for them to wear with pins for trading. So don't be shy about trading with CMs on the ship.

 

[scrapcreator]

Marcy - Where is the Belz outlet? Does it have official Disney pins? Is it near WDW? We are taking a town car from the airport, is it near a grocery store?

Ashley and Dan - I know they will have lanyards and pins on the cruise, but if you need any from the Magic Kingdom or Epcot, lmk. We are going there before the cruise. Also, we got some free Sebastian pins at the Pin Cart today. We'd be happy to share. They are small, but they are official Disney. Or, if we make it to the Belz outlet.... We are on the 16th cruise, too.

We ran down to Downtown Disney in Anaheim this afternoon and picked up a few Disneyland pins to trade. Dd picked up Tinkerbell (her fav)

Thanks for your help.

Jeanne

 

[zeke11]

Ashley -

Goodness! You don't need to have 20 pins to begin to trade!!!

I started with about 10 and I see that some very generous person has offered to send you 10 free of charge. That should be more than enough!!

I purchased my first pins on ebay -- most of them DCL pins and a few Castaway Cay. When it turned out that our cruise wasn't going to CC, I had several to get rid of right off the bat - LOL!

Kris

 

[dankevork]

that's good to know. I 'm sure he'll do fine with 10 to start, plus they are for sale on the boat. We'll have to get him a lanyard on board. I think we're getting him a cheap one here so that he can wear them as he boards. I know that some of the cms that greet you as you board will trade.
I can't believe we have 4 days left, and I'm worried about pins! My suitcase sits empty by the closet!

 

[zeke11]

Oh I went through the same thing! Obsessed for months and didn't pack until the day before --

relax -- you'll have a great time!!

Kris

 

[lbgraves]

I have some pins put away for the kids to start a collection with on our upcoming cruise. Are the CMs with the green lanyards pretty patient/helpful with the younger kids. I don't really want to end up being the one trading for them. KWIM? DD is 4 and DS will be 6 on the cruise. What should I tell the kids to do or say when they see a pin they like?

 

[MarcyIn Florida]

Originally posted by scrapcreator
Marcy - Where is the Belz outlet? Does it have official Disney pins? Is it near WDW? We are taking a town car from the airport, is it near a grocery store?

The Belz outlet is off of I-4, about 15 minutes northeast of Disney. Yes, it has official Disney pins and other Disney licensed merchandise.

I don't know if it is near a grocery store, but it near SuperTarget, which, other than being heaven, is also part grocery store.

 

[mom2sean_n_alex]

I was in Treasure's Ketch on the Wonder and happened to comment on a CM's pin.... she asked if I wanted to trade... I told her I had no pins to trade she told me to go buy one and she would put the one I liked on hold for me. She then took the pin off and turned it around backwards on her lanyard!

She and I were talking and we talked about a particular piece of art in the shop and she shared some really neat info with me. I went and bought the pin that was a copy of the piece of art! She nearly fell over when I came to trade with her. She literally ran out from around the counter to hug me! At the end of the cruise (on the last night) I went back to visit her and she told me that she had shown the pin to everyone and that it was definitely one of her keepers! All this and I hadn't even planned on any pin trading! Now I have 10 or so pins hanging in my bedroom LOL I couldn't even bring myself to hang them in DS's bedroom! I think we'll start him a set... or perhaps all four of us a set for the next cruise... ebay and Christmas go hand in hand in our house LOL

Go for the pin trading.... I had a blast!

 

[Whiskers]

I don't do any pin trading (yet! ), but I was just wondering if anyone has ever seen a pin of the three fairies (from Sleeping Beauty) I've never seen one and whenever I ask someone at Disney they have never seen one either. I love those three fairies!

 

[ljm]

We were on the Wonder back in March, and a friend had sent my 6 yr. old DS a pin trading starter set for his birthday (Buzz Lightyear). From what I understand, these are available at the Disney Store. He brought it on board, and his first trade was with a CM (Aileen from Canada - I even remember her name!). When she found out that he was just beginning to pin trade, she asked him if he wanted to be an official pin trader with the crew on the last night of the cruise! Of course, he accepted, and on the last night he went and stood with some of the officers from the ship, and traded pins with the guests. They even gave him one of the ship's pin lanyards so that he would not have to trade his own pins. They also had a book out that had pins in it that you could go through and swap (sort of a give and take) without even talking to anyone. It was a highlight of our trip. Afterwards, they gave him a thank you note and five or so pins that were cast member exclusives (they told him which ones were really valuable, so he knew not to let them go).

As far as trading with a CM, if they are wearing a pin on a lanyard, they are required to trade with you for whatever you want as long as they do not already have the pin you are trying to give them. You can just walk up to any CM and ask for any pin on their lanyard, and they will trade with you. If they are wearing a pin somewhere else (like on their shirt), it is not up for grabs.

As for the outlets, we went to a Disney outlet (not at Belz, I think it was at Orlando Premium Outlets at Disney's Character Premiere Store) and stocked up on pins post cruise for our stay and trading at WDW. DS was not happy wearing a bunch of $1.99 Ariel pins, but I kept trying to explain that he was going to trade them away for the ones he wanted. If you are looking for a grocery store, there was a Publix just down the road from the outlets.

Have fun!!

 

[ivanova]

Originally posted by ljm
As far as trading with a CM, if they are wearing a pin on a lanyard, they are required to trade with you for whatever you want as long as they do not already have the pin you are trying to give them. You can just walk up to any CM and ask for any pin on their lanyard, and they will trade with you. If they are wearing a pin somewhere else (like on their shirt), it is not up for grabs.

One caveat, the pin you trade TO the CM has to be a Disney copyrighted pin.