Do you HAVE to trade pins?

[McKelly]

Last time we were at Disney my DD6 expressed an interest in pins. I told her next time, which is coming up, but my thoughts are she will NOT want to trade, she is very shy and I am thinking if I only allow her 1-2 pins a day, she will pick out the ones she wants and will be mortified if somebody approaches her and suggests "trading" Do you "have" to trade? Do a lot of people approach you to trade? I have absolutely no knowledge of pin-trading and want to avoid a meltdown at all costs! Thanks for the help, as always!

 

[hockey mom]

My kids have never been approached to trade a pin. If they have traders they will go up to a CM and look at thier pins and trade if they see one they like, but nobody else has asked them to trade.

 

[seashoreCM]

No, you as a guest do not "have" to trade pins with other guests.

However if you are wearing both a lanyard with pins and a(n oval) guest of honor badge, other people might mistake you for a CM.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[eeyore45]

I wouldnt have even known about pin trading if not for these boards... same for my dd8, she just as well keep the ones she has, she loves them!! I got a few off ebay, but some of them were plastic, some she loved too much... so she just loved having her "collection" to remind her of WDW!!

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

My kids have never been approached to trade a pin. If they have traders they will go up to a CM and look at thier pins and trade if they see one they like, but nobody else has asked them to trade.

Ditto- My kids were never approached to trade. Some children admired their pins, and struck up a conversation about them, but nothing aggresive. They have only traded w/ cast members. The cast members don't pick from the customer's pins, the customer picks for the CM.

When my oldest was younger, she seemed to be under the impression that you had to trade w/ a CM, if you looked at thier lanyard. It was so frustrating at times, because she would "miss" the pin she had traded. I kept telling her she did not have to trade, and she finally got the hang of it by day 3 or so. She would just trade, and trade, and trade.

My younger one, doesn't really like to trade. We bought a bunch of pins off of Ebay. She had about 30 to start her trip. Traded maybe 10 of them. She just likes to buy more. She was much pickier about her trades, and has a definate idea of what she likes.

If your child is shy, just start slow. She will see others trading, and might think it fun to join in. If not, she will like her collection. Maybe buy some cheaper pins, that she isn't so attached to for her to have in her pockets to trade that she won't be disapointed parting w/ them.

Have a great trip.

 

[McKelly]

Okay, thanks, that eases my mind. I checked on E-Bay for some cheaper pins, I think I might get into this too!! LOL!! Maybe I will pick up a few I know she will like anyway, just in case she clams up, but she might really like it, who knows!! And, my 1-2 pins a day might be going out the window!! Oh well! They are only young once!! Thanks!

 

[lbgraves]

I introduced my kids to pin trading on our last cruise. They surprised me. DD 4 came out of her shell & actually approached CMs nearby on her own. She started talking to them & they made a big deal over all her pins. I think that it is a great thing!

 

[ReninDetroit]

I don't trade them, I collect them and my 15 year old is the same way. My 8 year old has a collection but never really got into it, so he doesn't wear a lanyard.

Most of the time park guests won't go up to kids, knowing that they don't usually want to trade. Kids definitely "miss" pins they trade and get rid of. Like what's been said above, the child picks both the pin to take from the CM's lanyard and the pin the CM gets in return. And CM's aren't told to approach children for trading, children approach the CM's.

 

[Lizzybee]

My kids are very out going in general, especially my 11 yr old son (10 at the last WDW trip). He LOVED pin trading because it allowed him to strike up conversations. I think he traded with two kids and the rest were CMs. He even got a limited addition CM pin with some special logo on it from what looked like an "executive" CM when he didn't have his lanyard. He gave it to my son because he was observant enough to notice it was a "special" Cast Member Lanyard pin. I know he traded with a teen from Mexico, I'm not latina but I am fluent in Spanish and I heard them discussing my son's pins so I acted as an interpreter and made sure the trade was fair. There were some pins he wouldn't trade for the life of him, one prized Epcot one with flags on it that spins and the one from POR with Mickey fishing with a pole that has a real string hanging from the pole come to mind. My son loved how trading pins gave him the chance to make new "friends".
My 7 yr old daughter didn't decide to get into pins until the day before we left. A lady gave her an extra lanyard and we bought her a couple of pins. We didn't even leave the pin booth when she traded one of the pins with a little girl her size. I didn't think she'd be one to trade but she liked it too.

 

[Eeyore2003]

I wouldn't worry about it. My neice and nephew had them last July and weren't approached by anyone. My nephew is more reserved and didn't trade, only collected, and my neice traded with the CM's. They are really fun and good about it. I think they enjoyed it.

 

[cseca]

You or your kids does not HAVE to trade with anymore. The fun part is to trade with CMs anyways... . CMs can't initiate a trade with guests either, only the other way around. And CMs with lanyard have to trade if requested. The pins on CMs lanyards are disney properties. Only pins on their lanyards are tradeable with guests. Sometimes CMs wear pins on their shirt (showcase pins) and those are not tradeables.

Other guests won't usually approach your kids for a trade. Unless they are kids also... I've seen some kids try to make a trade with another kid with lanyards. That's cute to watch.

Anyways, basic rule is you or your kids do not have to trade with anyone you don't want to. CMs are the only ones required to trade with you. And you don't have to wear your lanyards to trade.

Have fun!!!!

 

[Joanna71985]

Only exception to trading with a CM- if the pin you want to give them is on their lanyard, they probably will not take it (you're not supposed to have doubles of pins on your lanyard).