Let me ask you all....

[NHMickey]

If the pin event was held at a location that was ready for it and can handle large conventions would you pay more to go? I mean say they held it at the Contempary or one of the other large resorts on property and it cost $125 to $200 instead of $55 to $100. Would you pay more?

 

[daber]

I'd pay more only if AZ Jeff and Mean Laureen are put in charge!
Otherwise I may not go. They need to improve and they need to be consistant.

 

[Talking Hands]

I would not. I find the Contemporary a hassle to get to because of my wheelchair. DIsney transportation to the resorts from another resort isn't all that good and I refuse to pay the extra cost to rent a lift equipped van if I don't have mine with me.

 

[perndwler]

I already have.... the AK event. If it was run like that, I'd definately pay more. They would have to keep it to a certain amount of people like the AK event. I wouldn't want to pay $125 and have to compete for pins and stuff with people who did not pay. If it ran an entire weekend, then maybe have a public day like Disneyana.

 

[Dom13]

If it was run right I would not mind. There would have to be PLENTY of space (handicapped accessability) with LOTS of tables for trading. Lines would have to be VERY quick moving and an area for returns/replacements SEPARATE from the main registers would have to be set up. RSPs should be used for each day with the understanding that we could pick things up at ANY time during each day.

If the events are run like this one and the Big Pin Game count me out!

 

[olbear]

Well, speaking as one who works in food service, as does my hubby, I would say no. I mean think about it, for $50 we got breakfast and a pin. I will not even touch the subject of lines and the open public being allowed in during "our" time.

Many of us have made fantasy pins, so we know they don't cost much to make. As for the food, I have catered MANY meals including buffet and continental style breakfast. That breakfast, even if you ate like a pig, cost no more than $5 per person. The pin,...what?, maybe $1 or less. So they made a "BUNDLE" on those who paid for our experience and so called privilage. Do the math, 1200 x $50!!! That's some big bucks! So no, I would not pay more. And keep in mind, the "special pin" was LE 2500. A bummer in and of itself. Remember last years event and breakfast pin?? So much for this years.

As for AK event, as it was enjoyable, they did not allow enough time to enjoy all the perks we paid so highly for. My hubby and I barely got to eat after we had finished waiting in line, doing the dig, etc etc. Most of the food had been put up. A few after us got none at all.

After attending every event this year, I just don't know what to say or suggest anymore. I guess the main reason I keep coming back is the same as most. It's because of the friends we get to be with that have endeared theselves to us, because of this insane hobby. LOL!

I must say, Jim Matthews is a true gem. He did something extra nice for my mom as she was a "proxy" for Dana. So he is one of the best when it comes to giving out "magic". Darin was also in great form at the event as well. Bless his heart, he looked like he was ready to pull his hair out on friday in that logo store. But he was a trouper as was Mike. I missed seeing "scoop" at event this year. I met him at the event last year for the very first time. And we did a couple of trades. Oops! Actually I made the trades with his alter ego, Haulland. That was a joy.

All in all folks, I'll keep going back. Just because of all of you and the CM's who know how to produce and share the magic!! I know this hobby has brought some joy into my mom's life and that means quite a bit. Thanks to many of you who have loved on her and shared pins and smiles with her. It has meant so very much.

Keep sharing the magic!!
Winnie- silly olbear

 

[ScottakaMickey]

No,

I would not pay more to have a pin trading event at a resort. I go to Disney to experience the parks and the people that come to the parks. The answer here is keep the event small and run it at the parks. Epcot and AK are the only two parks that could handle it, AK because they have their own Special Events and Epcot because of the size, but that only assumes they let an event be run at the event location, not stuffed into a pizza place.

Disney already has an event that was put on at the resort, Disneyana, and it was moved this past year to Epcot and it too failed. The Disneyana folks were treated just like the Pin folks. Give us your money and go away. If they are to fix Disneyana it needs to go back to the Contemporary and what they did 2 years ago, but I doubt they will.

For me, WDW has one chance to make it all better and that is the upcoming WDW HM event. My expectations are that this will also be a failure. I have set the low expectation because that is what has become the standard and if it can only go up. IMHO Disney got TOO greedy and can not handle an event with 1000 people. DL learned this lesson in 2000 with the Pirates event, which had over 1300, but then if you look at Divas, and NBC the last two years they succeeded because they kept it to around 500. The AK event worked well also, except for the show and no exit gift, but that size was again 500 people. If they can pull off the HM event I might think about others.

 

[Dom13]

In Disney's defense when you add the pin's design (paying the artist(s)), the style (3 parts, the frame, the "photo" and Figment), boxing it up, the holder thingie it came with, shipping, and factor in the CMs hours I would think this "pin" cost them around $10 each. Yes a simple, one layer rack pin probably costs Disney $1-$1.25 to make. Especially as most are based on clip art or logos already in existence. The minute a special feature is added you have to add in the cost of the additional item and the cost of assembly. This probably brings the cost of just the pin up to at around $5.00.

I would think you have to factor in the extra CMs and electricity to hold this breakfast in addition to the cost of the food. Also if I remember correctly it does cost a department to have the characters appear and they had quite a few there including all 7 dwarves. I am not familiar with the food service industry so I have little idea if Winnie's estimate includes these.

I'm not saying Disney did not make money, that is what they are in business for, but simply that labor is usually the biggest expense and alot of people forget this when they think of costs.

By my estimates I would think around $25 of the $50 was profit. This is around the avaerage mark up on collectables.

 

[olbear]

I know this will be taken wrong. And I probably shouldn't say it. But why is it every time I give my mere 2 cents, I wind up looking like an idiot. Never again! I'll just keep my 2 cents. I need it to buy more crazy pins anyway.

I'm sorry, I know I did not go into "detail" about expense, I was just covering what expenses were personal. Like the pin and food itself. All in all I'd still rather not pay more than $50 to go to any pin event.

Nuff said. And I probably said too much.
Winnie

 

[Z's & X's mom]

i've never been to a pin event except to visit friends....so i couldn't say if i'd pay more...but from what i saw at this last one...the answer would be NO....

i am going to the haunted mansion event, so hopefully i will have a good experience.

i'm sure the way things have been going this year, its the reason for only a few pin events next year.

 

[NHMickey]

Some great points here...

 

[Mickey527]

I don't think I would ever pay more than $50 for an event.
And what did we get for the $50 we paid this time?
A pin that is LE 2500. Not tradeable for any of the other evnet pins because they were all LE 1000. That Silver pin holder doesn't make it more valuable.
A breakfast that was no better than what we would find at the local Ponderosa. If they had the type of food that you find at Chef Mickey's or the Grand Floridcian buffet it might make it worthwhile, but dried bacon, and sausage is not on my list of priorities. But the Blintzes were good. I had 4 blintzes and a scoop of eggs.
A chance to purchase the Mad Hatter pin? That pin is UGLY!!!!
And almost all of the pins were such high edition size that : "First chance to purchase LE pins" meant nothing, they were available the next day. Peggie