Pin trading: yea or nay?

[tportugal]

We're off to Disney for 4th of July week!

So we'll be there for 5 full days in the parks. Is it worth it to have the girls trade pins?
Thanks for your advice!
Trina

 

[aaarcher86]

OMG. Pin trading is like the black hole of WDW. You'll just never return from it.

We thought it'd be fun for our girls to do it in February since they were younger and shy. And they really enjoyed it. An unfortunately side effect of their pin trading was that my husband found a pin he liked and BAM... next thing I know he's running around like drug addict looking to complete his pin set.

The room charges I paid for that trip for boxes of pins will haunt me for eternity.

We have adult only trip in a month coming up. He's already frothing at the mouth about these friggin' pins. No romance. I'll assume no hand holding lest I be dragged through the streets from CM lanyard to CM lanyard. It's allllll about the pins.

But yes! So much fun! They really are though. I'd just recommend getting a bunch through reputable ebay trader to save some $$.

 

[magicbob]

OMG. Pin trading is like the black hole of WDW. You'll just never return from it.

We thought it'd be fun for our girls to do it in February since they were younger and shy. And they really enjoyed it. An unfortunately side effect of their pin trading was that my husband found a pin he liked and BAM... next thing I know he's running around like drug addict looking to complete his pin set.
The room charges I paid for that trip for boxes of pins will haunt me for eternity.

We have adult only trip in a month coming up. He's already frothing at the mouth about these friggin' pins. No romance. I'll assume no hand holding lest I be dragged through the streets from CM lanyard to CM lanyard. It's allllll about the pins.

But yes! So much fun! They really are though. I'd just recommend getting a bunch through reputable ebay trader to save some $$.

I, too, fell prey to the crack that is pin trading. Fortunately it has not destroyed my marriage!

aaarcher86, it might be time for a "pin-tervention."

OP, pin trading can be fun AND addictive. Keep in mind that you are there at a very busy time and taking time out for pin trading will mean sacrificing some time riding rides. Of course, if you arrive early and ride before it gets really crowded, pin trading is a good activity for when the lines are long during the heat of the day.

Just don't let it ruin your love life!

 

[Disney_Princess83]

OMG. Pin trading is like the black hole of WDW. You'll just never return from it.

We thought it'd be fun for our girls to do it in February since they were younger and shy. And they really enjoyed it. An unfortunately side effect of their pin trading was that my husband found a pin he liked and BAM... next thing I know he's running around like drug addict looking to complete his pin set.

The room charges I paid for that trip for boxes of pins will haunt me for eternity.

We have adult only trip in a month coming up. He's already frothing at the mouth about these friggin' pins. No romance. I'll assume no hand holding lest I be dragged through the streets from CM lanyard to CM lanyard. It's allllll about the pins.

But yes! So much fun! They really are though. I'd just recommend getting a bunch through reputable ebay trader to save some $$.

This is my sister and I! It becomes so addictive very quickly. One day, all we did was pin trade one afternoon at EPCOT and we ended up trading 90 pins between us

It's wonderful fun and a great to way to interact with CM's. There are so many CM's that we never would have even talked to that we had wonderful conversations with, because we stopped to pin trade.

 

[aaarcher86]

I'll just end up grabbing a Lefou's Brew and watch him jog around like a FP runner on a mission.

Keep your fingers crossed he finds that ONE. LAST. CANDYCORN.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

I'll just end up grabbing a Lefou's Brew and watch him jog around like a FP runner on a mission.

Keep your fingers crossed he finds that ONE. LAST. CANDYCORN.

It's so terribly addictive!

 

[jdh008]

This thread has confirmed all of my fears about becoming a pin collector/trader myself. I know that if I allowed myself to buy just one single pin, it would become an obsession.

I just got back from a week in Disney and was tempted to take the plunge into the world of pins, but I somehow managed to abstain.

 

[iamadisneynut]

My kids all love it! It has really added to the experience they have while at Disney! They have so much fun with it!!

 

[aaarcher86]

This thread has confirmed all of my fears about becoming a pin collector/trader myself. I know that if I allowed myself to buy just one single pin, it would become an obsession.

I just got back from a week in Disney and was tempted to take the plunge into the world of pins, but I somehow managed to abstain.

At some point someone's just going to give you one of their pieces of flare in the middle of Main Street. It'll all be down hill from there.

Like a gateway drug.

 

[tportugal]

OMG! This is hilarious!!!
Holy smokes... My DH is not the pin-trading kind of guy, but alas, I think that my girls will indeed have some fun with it then.
Thanks for the laughs and info!

 

[Disney_Princess83]

OMG! This is hilarious!!!
Holy smokes... My DH is not the pin-trading kind of guy, but alas, I think that my girls will indeed have some fun with it then.
Thanks for the laughs and info!

You might be surprised. I never thought I would be into pin trading. My sister wanted to do it and she bought some but I wasn't really interested. And then I found one pin on a lanyard that I liked. I now own approximately 700 pins.

 

[beldred]

Our last trip to Disney was in 2009. My nieces and nephews did pin trading but my son (age 13) said he was too old. That lasted 2 days. Then suddenly I was shelling out for a starter set. For my son. While he was doing a trade in a shop, I was passing the time with another CM, who ended the conversation by giving me a CM pin. Which I tried to decline. She insisted. 3 hours later, I'm buying 2 more starter sets, one for me and one for the hubby. LOL. My husband did the whole insane trader lunatic runner thing that another poster mentioned. I'm more low-key, just trading while my son was trading.

Of course, now I am wondering.... is there any chance of completing sets we started in 2009 when we finally get to go back in February? I'm guessing they probably aren't still using the same ones, because people who get to go every year would get bored.

 

[wendybeth75]

OMG. Pin trading is like the black hole of WDW. You'll just never return from it. We thought it'd be fun for our girls to do it in February since they were younger and shy. And they really enjoyed it. An unfortunately side effect of their pin trading was that my husband found a pin he liked and BAM... next thing I know he's running around like drug addict looking to complete his pin set. The room charges I paid for that trip for boxes of pins will haunt me for eternity. We have adult only trip in a month coming up. He's already frothing at the mouth about these friggin' pins. No romance. I'll assume no hand holding lest I be dragged through the streets from CM lanyard to CM lanyard. It's allllll about the pins. But yes! So much fun! They really are though. I'd just recommend getting a bunch through reputable ebay trader to save some $$.

Lol, it's true!!!! Our DD was shy too and it helped her, then it was me, I started with a few, then DH found out there were Nightmare before Christmas pins! Framed sets, boxed sets,limited editions, he can't get enough!

 

[Colleen27]

It is fun but I wouldn't play it up too much. Maybe just pick up a starter set for each child and let them trade when the opportunity arises. My kids are all crazy traders with their own little obsessions, but DD5 was rather disappointed in how few trading CMs we encountered on our most recent trip and how little variety we found on their lanyards. She collects Figments and only found one new one to add to the collection over a 5 day trip.

 

[Fueledbycoffee]

DD9 loves it! DS14 likes pins but is happy buying 1 or 2 during the trip as a souvenir. We have bought lots of 50 or so from eBay in the past so we have traders to begin with.

I know dd loves it & I like to trade 2 or 3 during the trip but honestly they drive me nuts! We have to stop to check lanyards, worry about them falling off & then deciding what to keep & trade... This April we are going with DHs family with cousins (who know nothing about it) & I've already declared it a non-trading trip to limit the chaos. I know, I'm a mean mom

IF you can stand it, it is a fun way to meet CMs & keeps DD motivated to keep moving because she knows there are more CMs to trade with.

 

[kbelle8995]

On the plus sides pins are lot easier to pack than vinylmations.

I fell into collecting the pins and love it. I bought one vinylmation and thought okay I'm done. Haven't purchased or traded another one. But pins yeah, I still manage to get a few of those.

So why not.

 

[mhnewcomb]

OMG. Pin trading is like the black hole of WDW. You'll just never return from it.

We thought it'd be fun for our girls to do it in February since they were younger and shy. And they really enjoyed it. An unfortunately side effect of their pin trading was that my husband found a pin he liked and BAM... next thing I know he's running around like drug addict looking to complete his pin set.

The room charges I paid for that trip for boxes of pins will haunt me for eternity.

We have adult only trip in a month coming up. He's already frothing at the mouth about these friggin' pins. No romance. I'll assume no hand holding lest I be dragged through the streets from CM lanyard to CM lanyard. It's allllll about the pins.

But yes! So much fun! They really are though. I'd just recommend getting a bunch through reputable ebay trader to save some $$.

If I didn't see my husband walk through the door every night, I would swear he was a polygamist also married to you. Except for him, it's that ONE.LAST.CAR.

He bought and hung a bulletin board to store our completed sets. And he is PROUD of that board, I tell you.

 

[ObsessedWithDW]

I'll just end up grabbing a Lefou's Brew and watch him jog around like a FP runner on a mission. Keep your fingers crossed he finds that ONE. LAST. CANDYCORN.

My vote is YEA, My family is completely addicted to pin trading (my kids look at their pins daily and we just stocked up & picked thru our pins for our June trip) BUT a fair warning to you... LeFou's Brew is just as addictive. We have found the recipe online and have drank it the last two days with plans do drink it again today.

 

[Jasperann]

All of my kids LOVE pin trading... It is like others say running from one CM to the next looking for that ONE. LAST. PIN. My daughter (she is 17 now) started her collection on our first trip and collected all but two of this Hidden Mickey Tinkerbell teardrop set and every time we went back she looked every where for those two pins to complete her set. None of the CMs that we encountered had even seen them before (except for like two) and she had zero luck.

We got on the topic of trading when the in-laws were over because we are taking them next October with us and the kids will be trading. Well my DD17 got on the subject of her pins and pulled out her 'book' of them (she bought that 60.00 traders book last time we were there to hold all her pins.) she was showing Nana and PawPaw her elusive incomplete set when Nana pulls up E-bay and finds the full set for a crazy expensive amount (60.00) and BUYS it!! Which made my daughter burst into tears... Well the pins arrived about a week later and we found out the ones she had collected before were all scrappers. She would have been crushed if she found a 'real' one in the parks and realized she had collected nothing but scrappers.

So long story short, if you trade you may end up with scrappers, because a lot of people do buy those huge lots on e-bay or amazon that are full of them and then trade the scrappers in the parks. It is a lot of fun to trade, just don't take it 'too' seriously.

 

[photo_chick]

We're off to Disney for 4th of July week!

So we'll be there for 5 full days in the parks. Is it worth it to have the girls trade pins?
Thanks for your advice!
Trina

We'll be there that week as well!


Some love pin trading, some not so much. My kids tried trading but they both found they prefer just buying a few pins they want and leaving it at that. They have a hard time choosing what pins to let go of. So we collect but don't really trade.