Excerpts from the Central Jersey Disney Pin Trading group on Facebook with my own commentary sprinkled in ;-)
John Rick GUIDE TO WDW PIN TRADING LOCATIONS!!!!!
By: MacKenzie Rayman
PinTraderKenzie on Dizpins
Hey Pintraders! I know when going down to Walt Disney World it is always popular to trade with cast members around the parks but I know lots of places around the parks that can really add some fun spots to add to your pin trading experience! So here we go!
Saratoga Springs: Tuesdays from 12:30 - 1:15pm @ second Lobby between Artists Pallette and the Main Check in Area (where the DVC and
DCL people are) However, if you ask down in the bike rental area at Saratoga Springs, you can see the board at any time, it is a very large board and worth going to see. Also, in the artists pallete there is a board behind the left register in which you can ask to see it anytime from noon to 8pm.
King Pin: King Pin is a new trader who comes out at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, Monday through Friday at 3pm. He is a really great guy and it is a ton of fun to visit him. He has a bag full of pins that you can trade from or you can chance taking a pin from his mystery pouch. As many of the other events you can trade 2 pins with him at a time and always is a great photo opportunity!
Beach Club: Here at 6:30pm in the gift shop there is an event called Fishing For Pins in which you can trade two pins in this fun game.
Old Key West: At the register nearest to Olivias Café in the gift shop, you can ask to see the pin board and you can usually find some great pins there.
Contemporary: At the Contemporary there is two gift shops next to each other. One is against the wall and the other is out in the middle which is the middle of the other gift shop and the arcade. This middle gift shop is where the pin board is available. On request they are willing to bring it out from 9-10am and 7-8pm. And of course once a month there is a pin trading night which you can find out those dates on
www.odpt.com.
Downtown Disney West Side: The DisneyQuest shop over on the West Side never seems to get too picked over especially when it opens so that is always a place to look and also when Disney Quest opens (11:30am) all the cast members and managers are just coming on duty so they have fresh lanyards so that is always good to check. Also, when you are walking down to marketplace on your right hand side there will be a pin cart about half way back and they will have a large pin board sitting out and so that sometimes has some good pins to check out also.
Port Orleans French Quarter and Riverside:- Each of these hotels gift shop has a pin board that you can ask to see and in both hotels lobbys at 5pm they bring out a different board in which you can trade two pins per person from.
Yacht Club Resort : This resort has a board in which they bring out at 5pm in their gift shop. This was one of our favorite spots to go to for their event.
Boardwalk: At a pin cart that opens at 4pm there is a pin book that you can trade 2 pins with and it is located just as you come off the boat dock. They also have a board in their upper gift shop which you can ask to see and while I was down there had a lot of great pins on it.
Epcot: Other than the obvious pin trading on the tables outside of the pin trading shoo there is also a board at MouseGears shop at 1pm and 5pm.
World of Disney at Downtown Disney Marketplace: At a table in the pin room of the World of
Disney Store there is an event at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. in which they bring out a book full of pins and you can pick two pins in the order of the trader who arrived first. I would recommend getting there a half hour to 45 minutes early (sometimes I even got their an hour early) in order to get a good spot. Part of the fun too was just trading with all the traders while waiting in line for the cast member to arrive.
Scoop: This trip we met scoop and played secret pin trader game as well as got him to autograph a pin and recieved a continuing the traditions pin! It was so much fun and we got tons of great pictures with him and his dogs! This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip! He is most consistently found early in the mornings in Main Street USA on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Pin Trading Shop at Downtown Disney Marketplace: Various times during the day the workers opened up a 3 fold board on the wall and you were able to trade 2 pins with it. I found quite a few pins I needed just from this board so that was very helpful.
Guest Relations; Every guest relations in the parks and at Downtown Disney have a pin book that you can ask to see, often they are pretty picked over but you never know when they are going to refresh it! So it doesnt hurt to check! (Such as City Hall at Magic Kingdom)
Another BIG Hint: Look for the lanyards on the cast members you are kind of out of the spotlight. Look for custodial people, monorail workers, bus drivers, and workers like those and also, although these are not out of the spotlight, managers always seem to get the good pins so be sure to check every manager you see - you never know what you will find!
Need any of the new Hidden Mickey pins?: The World of Disney at Downtown Disney opens at 9:30am. The Bibbity Boppity Boo store opens at 9am. So if you go there and are waiting at the rope line for the opening to the rest of the store you can really find some great pins on the lanyard because all the cast members are just starting and they each have like 2 of the new hidden mickey pins so it is a great way to get a jump start on your collection.
Psst - guess what - Extra Magic Hours (assuming you are staying on Disney Property) get you into the parks early - make sure you check out the CM's that come out to greet you on Main Street USA - they are just coming on shift and have fresh lanyards!
Hope that helps everyone find all the pins they need next time they go down to Walt Disney World! If anyone knows any different places feel free to add or feel free to ask any questions if I was not clear on any of the locations .
If someone has tips / tricks / hints for DLR/ HKDL or DLRP please post them here or start a new thread!
We did REALLY well with Managers and Custodial staff @ our last trip to WDW - along with the souvenier shops in the Contemporary. Their lanyards seem to get refreshed faster than the Grand Floridian or the Polynesian CM's.
Also - The Polynesian has a Pin Board they pull out from 5-5:30, the Grand Floridian from 6-6:30 and the Contemporary from 7-7:30 so you could hit all 3 boards via the Monorail pretty quickly. Granted - the boards are pretty picked over with a LOT of the babies / starter set pins and the mystery pouch pins but you never know when they might get refreshed or if a CM happens to be working the board with a fresh lanyard.
BTW - They also have a 'secret' board in Tomorrowland (MK) that you have to ask for - not much of a selection last week but we did find a special Tinker for my daughter there.
FYI - Downtown Jewelers no longer carries pins at all. They moved them all to Frontierland and the Pin cart on Main Street USA just before the bridge & the castle. The ONLY place I could get Passholder pins was Frontierland in MK. They also have a pin book @ Town Hall in the MK that you can request - there was nothing worthwhile last week but I met a fellow guest and we had a nice exchange......
Happy Hunting!
I heard guest services at each park is one place, but what about kiosks, etc? Where do they keep the trading "boards" or "books" for kids? Also, is there opportunity for adults to trade, too, or is it just for kids? 
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Otherwise, maybe my DD and I can find some time to sneak away and have some quality mother-daughter trading time.
