A yikes moment - have a question & apology

[anewvance]

We are planning a trip for late April even though i've been having a tough pregnancy. We take a few weekend trips to disney a year but only one real vacation a year and this will be our last year going for a few years. I promised the girls last trip that when we took our real "vacation" that they can get some pins for trading.

My YIKES is that my girls are still remembering that I promised them they can get some pins for this trip to trade. And my QUESTION is, is it at all possible to find pins & lanyards for relatively cheap? I looked on ebay & they seem pretty expensive. I've heard some people buy them at the disney outlets for less & we have an outlet down south but they sell the pins for the exact same as in the parks. Being sick & all, I just can't afford the $25 each we are looking at just to get them a lanyard and 3 or 4 pins. So any tips you can give me would be appreciated. Thanks... anewvance@aol.com


APOLOGY AT END OF THIS POST...

 

[castlegazer]

I have always found pins on E-bay for between $1-$2, so try searching again. I would not get more than four each. I also do not use lanyards I have been using some fake lanyards I got from a health care facility - they work just fine. I also used last year a coloring picture my son had done that I laminated - so I stuck the pins through that and we carried around with us, taking it out of the stroller pocket when we wanted to trade.

Try E-bay again - that's your best bet. Do a lot of different searches for Disney Pins an dthen go through the sub categories. There should be plenty to choose from that are dirt cheap.

 

[oogieboogie]

cheappins.com has them anywhere from 3.33 on up. That's a good place to grab some.

Also the Character premier at Belz outlet mall has some pins for around 3-4$.

 

[DizBelle]

The cheapest pins available at WDW are $6.50 and there are plenty of those. Then there are some that are $8.50, $12.50, up to $15. The more elaborate the pin, the more expensive. The ones with blinking lights and the magical moments pins are the ones that are $15. It is typically the multi-part and movement pins that are $8.50 and $12.50. But the basic pins are $6.50 each.

There are a variety of lanyards also ranging in price (if I remember correctly) from $6.50 up to $22 or so. The ones for $6.50 are just a plain lanyard with a plastic card as the pendant. I got the "build-a-pin" lanyard where you buy the lanyard for $12.50 and then pick 3 little additions that are welded on to the metal pendant part of it for $2.99 each. I think this is the most expensive it can get for a lanyard.

There are also "build-a-pin" pins which can get expensive. You buy the pin for $8.50 I think and then add 3, 4, 5 or more of the little additions (depending on the pin) for $2.99 each.

All in all, I think your daughters can both get lanyards and a few pins for a somewhat reasonable amount.

There are HUNDREDS of pins to choose from so set the limits ahead of time so they don't want every one of them.

 

[anewvance]

I rechecked ebay... seems single pins go for about $4 and people then want $3.95 for priority shipping for ONE pin!!!

Then I look at lots of pins and then they throw in a bunch of crap (not actual trading pins) with 2 or 3 GOOD pins or they'll have a "set" of pins for way more then I can afford.

 

[pintrader]

have you read your emails or PMs??

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I don't mean to sound rude, so please don't take this the wrong way. I know you are concerned about disapointing your daughters, but I think maybe the best thing to do, if paying $25 is just too much, is just tell them the truth. Tell them that Mommy is sick and that the most important thing right now is that Mommy get better so that Mommy & their new baby sister or brother will be ok. Explain that pins cost money, and when you promised them the pins, you did not realize that you would not have as much money for this trip as you did last time. Tell them that they are very lucky little girls to be going to Disneyworld again and say you are sorry that they can't get pins this time.They may be upset, but they certainly are not going to hold it against you forever. And I think once they are in Disneyworld they will forget about it and just have fun.

As far as Ebay goes, I can say, honestly, that prices vary. Many selelrs will only charge the $3.95 once for however many pins you buy. Also, I bought from a seller not long ago who only charged $1.80 or so. Tell them you don't want Priority mail. My local PO told me for small packages that there is no real time difference between priority and regualr (by small packages they meant padded envelopes). I got the pin from this seller in about 4 days.

I paid a lot for the pin, but that was because it was the only one on Ebay of it's kind, it was a semi "rare" one and I was willing to pay whatever it took to get it for my neice, because someone swindled her out of it when she was in WDW on Christmas. However, I think you can certainly get some common pins as a lot fairly cheap on Ebay. Keep checking. Once you find a seller you like, see if they combine shipping.

Also, do not buy the Disney Laynards. You can find Laynards very cheap and a lot of places give them away free. Or don't use a laynard at all.

Also, call Disney Merchandise. I saw some pin trading starting laynards that were not $25. I forget how much they were but I know they were not that much. I would have made a comment if they were.

Another thing to consider is cutting another expense from your trip. Cut out a sit down meal and have counter service and buy the pins with the savings. I think you would be able to do that.

But really, if it were me, and I had no way to make it work, I would just tell the girls the truth. I sometimes think adults make more of a deal about promises we make to kids than the kids do.

Best,
Sheri

 

[anewvance]

Well I guess a better way of putting it was not that we couldn't AFFORD the $25 each for pins, it was saying I didn't want to have to PAY $25 if I could help it... was just wondering if there were cheaper ways of getting them.

We never have sit down meals in disney, very rarely have a character meal. Mostly we eat breakfast in the room and a quick lunch dinner counter service. We already have tickets so our only other real expense is hotel room. My hubby is getting a bonus this month which will help pay but most of it is coming from my paypal savings from ebay which i haven't been able to do much of lately because of being sick. So I was just hoping to find pins cheaper, sorry if I bothered you guys... lol.

Pintrade, I haven't gotten any new emails or pms??? Did you try to pm or email me????

 

[Synonymous]

The pins on E-Bay are cheaper when you buy a bulk lot of them. I got pins a couple times for about $2.00@, in groups of 10-12 pins. Of course, they're nothing great, but there's no sense buying expensive pins if your kids are just going to trade them with cast members.

 

[Ratpack]

I just checked cheappins.com and they have a Meriweather and an Eeyore pin on page 13. You can only order 3 of each but if you order thee each in one girl's name and then turn around order 3 each in the other girl's name then each would have 6 pins and the total cost with shipping should be around $40 total. Then as others have suggested, don't use a lanyard. Anything the pins can punch through will be fine. I use a hat while I am down there so I put my pins on it to trade. I know $40 is not that much less then $50 but they will have more pins to trade. Also a warning, pin trading is very addictive. My DD5 has her own storage bag and everything. I started the same way you are, just getting a few pins for DD to trade and see what happened, well, I enjoyed it as much as she did and now we both do it. Together we have over 150 pins.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Originally posted by anewvance
Well I guess a better way of putting it was not that we couldn't AFFORD the $25 each for pins, it was saying I didn't want to have to PAY $25 if I could help it... was just wondering if there were cheaper ways of getting them.

We never have sit down meals in disney, very rarely have a character meal. Mostly we eat breakfast in the room and a quick lunch dinner counter service. We already have tickets so our only other real expense is hotel room. My hubby is getting a bonus this month which will help pay but most of it is coming from my paypal savings from ebay which i haven't been able to do much of lately because of being sick. So I was just hoping to find pins cheaper, sorry if I bothered you guys... lol.

Pintrade, I haven't gotten any new emails or pms??? Did you try to pm or email me????

I think on Ebay if you buy in bulk (4 or 5 from one seller) it won't be that much. Really.

Where are you thinking of staying? A lot of offsite hotels offer shuttles and are a lot cheaper than onsite. Check priceline.com you can probably find something there and save a lot.

You're not bothering anyone That's what this board is for.

 

[maggiew]

My daughter, 8, just liked the trading part. The pin didn't really matter. She may trade for a pin with a cast member and then turn around and trade it again with the next! So, if you buy one or two for each they may be happy with trading these 2 over and over again.

Another thing I did to help "contain" the pin craze was make them pick a theme and stick to it. Otherwise, my 8 year old would have traded with every single CM. So, she picked Cinderella. So she could only trade if she saw a Cinderella pin.

I bought most of our pins last time at the Disney Store when they were on clearance. I am not sure what I am going to do this time. I have been watching cheappins.com because they have a "Bakers Dozen" for $25 every once in awhile (so I am told). Also, I did a search on eBay for "Disney pin lots" and found some I may start to bid on. I have been trying to follow a few auctions and see how they end up.

My girls used a lanyard the first trip. But it quickly became a pain for them to wear around. What we ended up doing was put all the trading pins in a zip lock snack bag and carrying that in our fanny pack. Then when they wanted to trade, we would just pull out the bag. Then, if they traded for a "keeper" pin, I would put THAT pin on a lanyard that I kept in the fanny pack. So, I think you could get away with not having a lanyard. But, they may like to have it the first time so they could feel like they were real traders.

I have heard WalMart has lanyards for a couple dollars. We got ours for free from Kelloggs promotion. Also check the Disneystore.com. They sometimes have pin sales.

Maggie

 

[anewvance]

Most of the trip will just be me and the girls so really need to stay onsite for convience... will probably stay at All Star or PC for $59 a night...

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Good deal. I like the All Stars and I'm staying at PC for the first time in Dec.

I think you will have a great trip no matter what happens with the pins!

 

[WDSearcher]

Originally posted by anewvance
Pintrade, I haven't gotten any new emails or pms??? Did you try to pm or email me????

I e-mailed you at your aol.com address ...

 

[leighe]

I know nothing about pins, but I just had to say that your daughters are just beautiful! I bet your baby boy will have those gorgeous big eyes also!

 

[anewvance]

Oh gosh, thank you Leighe, that was sweet!!! It's going to be So different to have a boy but i've heard they are easier to handle then girls so we'll see...

WDWSearcher, I pm'ed you back...


After re reading my post, I feel kinda stupid. Like if I can't afford pins for my kids, then how can I afford Disney. And it sounds stupid to have made a promise to a 4 and 3 year old.... but you have to know the whole story, lol.

You really don't have to read the story, but thought i'd share because I have the most deserving little girls and I love them to death and just feel SO guilty..... so here goes:

Like I said, i've had a horrible pregnancy so far (cronic headaches & dehyration)... been in the hospital for weeks at a time and not being able to see my girls made me so upset. I felt almost like I was neglecting them, even when I was at home I wasn't 100% there for them because of medication.

We just won't be making it to Disney any time soon after the baby is born for a number of reason so I wanted to make this vacation awesome for them.... they deserve it!!! They've been SO good this whole time for whoever was watching them whenever I couldn't... my grandma, mom, hubby.

Like I said as well, at least our only real expense is the hotel room... I even plan on having most meals in our room. We usually only go to Disney for 2 or 3 days at a time and the girls get so worn out (not to mention mommy) because we rush to get everything done. I can't WAIT for this vacation (probably 6or 7 days) to relax with my girls and not feel we have to be somewhere all the time. After all i've been through the past 8 weeks, boy I can use the break!

Being sick HAS dampered our funds (hospital bills & not being able to ebay) but I do have a little bit put away just for this vacation. But unfortuneately it won't be enough to make this trip SPECTACULAR as I had planned, gosh I even wanted to stay at the Contemporary (life long dream) even if it were a wing room. And if I had had more time, I probably could have achieved that. But this trip has to be done in the next 8 weeks or so because I have problems with pre term labor and can't be away from home.

Pins are a truely stupid thing to worry about but for the past 2 mini trips ii've promised them that they could do some pin trading on our actual Disney vacation. I just want to make this trip 100% special for them and I'm getting nutsos trying to figure out how to do it all, lol.

Ok, thanks for listening.... lol, I rambled because I am on demerol right now for pain and my family told me I never shut up when I'm on it!!!

 

[Jaklackus]

The box of Froot Loops that I bought last week had one of those pin certificates on the side...trade in 3 certificates for 1 pin deal. These pins seem to be geared towards the family gatherings push that Disney is doing now. The last time they did this(100 years of magic) we tried to redeem the certificates at the big pin store at DTD but they were out and we ended having to mail away for them..after 2 separate trips months apart, so I wouldn't mention it to the girls unless you had actual pins in hand. I don't know what you serve for breakfast but it might be worth asking around to see if anyone else has these certificates taking up space on their cereal boxes that they don't plan on using. Cold cereals have been on sale alot lately so it might not cost you $5 a box to get a certificate.

 

[Keeva]

I found lanyards at our Dollar Zone for one Dollar.They weren't Disney but they had all colors.

 

[kaylajr]

HI
i know nothing about the pins although my daughter is educting me because she wants to trade when we go

but i felt i needed to post to give you
i totally understand where you are coming from and a promise to kids even as young as yours are is VERY IMPORTANT
if there is anyway you can keep it
that is how they learn trust and keeping there word
my DH and i take alot of flak from his family because we are really big on keeping promises to our children and always have been .


yes i know sometimes you can't keep a promise and that is how they learn about disappointment but they are young and if it is at all possible i say your a GREAT mommy for trying to do it

this is your chance to enjoy some special quality time with them before the new baby

so sorry no help on the pins but just need to say

You sound like a GREAT mom
those kids are lucky