Hopemax , thank you for your wisdom. I've added the ebay search and requested joining those pin trading groups on FB. Still no luck sourcing one of the pins with all 3 ghosts, but from what I am seeing on the FB pin trading pages, your theory looks correct. I also have a good pin story. We were at DL for the 50th. We were one of the lucky groups that got in at park opening. We were thoroughly and pleasantly surprised at how we were literally walking onto almost every ride! It was almost like going in the off season...but we couldn't help but wonder where everyone was. The crowds seemed to have disappeared. We decided to head towards Frontierland and that's where we found the crowd. They were snaked back and forth in a queue around rivers of America back towards where the BBQ place was. I was stunned...like what is so important that you'd line up in this line instead of enjoying the park? I had to stop and ask and my wife had told me but I couldn't believe it. They were all lined up for exclusive 50th merchandise. As the folks bought their treasures, they then filled the park out but again, I was floored. As the day progressed, I noticed a disturbing trend with my wife and suddenly it dawned on me that she wanted some of that stuff too! So I said let's go see if that tent is open and what's left because it closed at 4pm. We literally walked right into the tent and there was nobody there. We bought everything she wanted with the exception of one pin. That pin you apparently had to be amongst the first 5 or 10,000 people they let enter the park and you needed this voucher. Of course, we didn't have it.
Fast forward a couple of months. She's in the backyard playing with the dog. Doorbell rings and it's the FedEx dude. I sign for a package addressed to her from someone in SoCal. I didn't think anything of it...so I opened it. Lo and behold, there's that special 50th pin. I thought "that's cool she got her pin!" Then I saw the receipt. She paid someone like $300 for it on eBay. Now that's sneaky...so I set the pin right where she'd see it when she came in with the dog and waited silently. She comes in, sees the pin and immediately breaks down crying. Unfortunately it wasn't because of happiness at the sight of her pin, but rather the receipt that was next to it. She thought she was in trouble. Now, my wife almost never cries and I've known her for 27 years. I immediately felt like a complete jerk. Of course I apologized profusely for being the jerk then as well as not understanding how important that pin was to her. So...when I dropped the ball on this HM pin this was my fault entirely. I just hope that I can find it for less than $300! lol
PS - I'm glad that the 60th anniversary at DL was much more toned down with less merchandise exclusive to that day! Made it a lot easier on my conscience knowing I wouldn't be at fault for something she didn't get because they didn't really have anything to begin with!
PPS - I think that DL 50th pin can be had for well under $50 now!
Good pin story! My family, was in that long, snaky line on the 50th. And yep, the pin was a LE5000. We were in the outside the park line at 4AM, and ended up in a queue outside the Jumping Jellyfish in DCA waiting for the park to open. Once let in, we immediately followed the group heading for the merchandise venue, and found the end of the line over by Splash Mountain. When the line moved enough to get down by the Rivers of America, there were 2 CMs handing out the vouchers. Technically, we could have gotten out of line at that point, and come back later in the day to pick up the pin, but there were other items my Mom wanted. So my husband and my Mom waited in line, while my Dad, me and a friend of mine snuck in a couple attractions. We made it through the line with a few minutes to spare to make our lunch reservation at the Blue Bayou. In fact, my Mom was still checking out after we had already been seated. But we had her order, and she did make it the table before the Monte Cristo was served. So you probably had a lot more fun, and positive memories than we did, waiting in a line all morning.
The 60th was so much an easier affair. My Dad and I went, and we were meeting Disney friends. They wanted to get in line at 5AM, and that put us in the queue by where you get the buses from the Toy Story lot. Went through security, was able to line up at a short line at the turnstyle, because there are 1 people seem to miss because of the placement of a couple trees. The "Day of" pin, was made in massive quantities, all the shops had it. So it was a quick purchase and then we could spend the rest of the morning doing attractions while other people were buying T-shirts and a few other things. The "big" pin problem for the 60th, was the series of Walt Diamond Quotes they did, one per month, leading up to the 60th. Those people were lining up overnight for, and selling them for $75-$100. But most pin people don't really like those pins. They were LE3000, had words on them, and weren't Princess related. Many people in line bought, just to try and flip it for cash. But the prices are starting to come back down. I have pins that I collect on the "10 year plan." Unless the pin is LE300 or less, everything eventually shows up at a price you can stomach.
But sometimes the price is worth owning something for many more years. Good luck!
