eye R.N.
<font color=660000>Many TF's like pins ;-)</font><
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2000
- Messages
- 1,252
Well I got to DL the evening of May 1st all set to head to Downtown Disney and Pin trade. I had spent the previous four days in San Diego at a conference and was really looking forward to some recreational pin trading.
So I start looking for CM lanyards, and looking and looking and looking. There wasn't one anywhere to be seen. While in World of Disney buying the Haunted Mansion set for DH father's day gift the CM let me in on the secret. All the lanyards were at "Lanyard Land" having "illegal" pins removed. She then gave me a "Pin Etiquet" (?sp) guideline. OK I thought it's their party and they can play by any rules they want to.
Then I read the rules. It boils down to 1) Very few Japanesse pins will pass. Anything smooth surface is unacceptable. 2) Lots of pins they sell at DL and CA won't pass. The animation pins for example aren't enameled so no go there. Hallmark and "other site" pins won't be tradable with CM's. 4) When in doubt it's the CM's call (more on this later).
At this point I was very happy to have a lanyard full of TDS countdown pins and that I resisited the temptation to get some others elsewhere. I went back to Paradise Pier and waited to see what the morning would bring.
The morning brought a few surprises. It seems that "lanyard land" was overflowing with 45th parade pins and balloon pins and some of the old attraction pins that I thought had all gone out to Character Connection.
All of a sudden there were CM lanyards in every store and on lots of ride CM's. During my morning in DL I traded for all of the balloons except the yellow (althought I had been told it too was on lanyards I never found it) All of the parade float pins except for Tarzan and lots of the parade dancer pins. The attraction pins that made it to my collection were the Haunted Mansion, Carsousel of Progress and Disneyland Castle.
At this point I decided to go swimming and went to the spot on Main Street where the traders hang out. Here I met Mad Strawberry and a number of others who's names are lost in my Jet Lagged brain. Personally I found the water to be warm and shark free. No one wanted what I considered to be unreasonable trades or anything other than a one for one. After an hour of pleasent conversation and good trading I decided I better actually go on some rides and see something of the park. I did return closer to closing and met some more nice traders and one shark, who shall remain nameless. I did not trade with him mostly because he had nothing of any value to me and wanted everything LE in my book. He also bragged about how he traded rack pins for LE's with other guest which is a real turnoff in my opinion.
The second day was when it started to get frustrating. Remember I brought nothing with me that would violated the new rules. Every trade that I tried to make with a CM seemed to be a problem. At one point I had to take a pin out of a bag, show the CM the reciept to prove it was a "legal pin" in order to get him to trade. At World of Disney several CM's had to go to what I assume was the lead CM to make sure a trade was legal. I was offereing pins that they were selling on their racks because I had traded away everything I had brought.
All in all it was a positive experience. I think I was lucky in that there were lots of great pins on the CM's lanyards. It would have been more pleasent if the CM's understood the guidelines as well as the Guest do but this was probably a function of it being a recent rule change. The vast majority of non CM traders were kind, friendly and pleasent people who I enjoyed talking to.
So I start looking for CM lanyards, and looking and looking and looking. There wasn't one anywhere to be seen. While in World of Disney buying the Haunted Mansion set for DH father's day gift the CM let me in on the secret. All the lanyards were at "Lanyard Land" having "illegal" pins removed. She then gave me a "Pin Etiquet" (?sp) guideline. OK I thought it's their party and they can play by any rules they want to.
Then I read the rules. It boils down to 1) Very few Japanesse pins will pass. Anything smooth surface is unacceptable. 2) Lots of pins they sell at DL and CA won't pass. The animation pins for example aren't enameled so no go there. Hallmark and "other site" pins won't be tradable with CM's. 4) When in doubt it's the CM's call (more on this later).
At this point I was very happy to have a lanyard full of TDS countdown pins and that I resisited the temptation to get some others elsewhere. I went back to Paradise Pier and waited to see what the morning would bring.
The morning brought a few surprises. It seems that "lanyard land" was overflowing with 45th parade pins and balloon pins and some of the old attraction pins that I thought had all gone out to Character Connection.
All of a sudden there were CM lanyards in every store and on lots of ride CM's. During my morning in DL I traded for all of the balloons except the yellow (althought I had been told it too was on lanyards I never found it) All of the parade float pins except for Tarzan and lots of the parade dancer pins. The attraction pins that made it to my collection were the Haunted Mansion, Carsousel of Progress and Disneyland Castle.
At this point I decided to go swimming and went to the spot on Main Street where the traders hang out. Here I met Mad Strawberry and a number of others who's names are lost in my Jet Lagged brain. Personally I found the water to be warm and shark free. No one wanted what I considered to be unreasonable trades or anything other than a one for one. After an hour of pleasent conversation and good trading I decided I better actually go on some rides and see something of the park. I did return closer to closing and met some more nice traders and one shark, who shall remain nameless. I did not trade with him mostly because he had nothing of any value to me and wanted everything LE in my book. He also bragged about how he traded rack pins for LE's with other guest which is a real turnoff in my opinion.
The second day was when it started to get frustrating. Remember I brought nothing with me that would violated the new rules. Every trade that I tried to make with a CM seemed to be a problem. At one point I had to take a pin out of a bag, show the CM the reciept to prove it was a "legal pin" in order to get him to trade. At World of Disney several CM's had to go to what I assume was the lead CM to make sure a trade was legal. I was offereing pins that they were selling on their racks because I had traded away everything I had brought.
All in all it was a positive experience. I think I was lucky in that there were lots of great pins on the CM's lanyards. It would have been more pleasent if the CM's understood the guidelines as well as the Guest do but this was probably a function of it being a recent rule change. The vast majority of non CM traders were kind, friendly and pleasent people who I enjoyed talking to.
