My take on this years pin event..

[olbear]

This was a very nice, and as some have said, "laid back" event. I never felt rushed or stressed. The lines for the boards were really nice on friday. My wait was only averaging 15 minutes. It took a bit more time on saturday, like 30-40 minutes. Still not too bad. I didn't do it much though. I got 2 of the watermelon and about 8 of the blue ribbon HM's. I'm going to use them as award pins for my cafeteria staff at school this fall. They love getting my cute little pieces of metal. So I won't have any for trade.

I was able to get many of my Pooh wants off my list. I've already been busy adjusting my pipics. I helped friends get pins and they helped me get pins. It was just great. I did spend most of my time in the trading area. It was so not crowded. LOTS of room to move around and trade. My little plush Pooh even traded for some new Mini pins. That was fun! He got alot of attention.

I sat with Sue Dewland and Lisa O'Malley and her daughter Meg. Sue's grandchildren were with her. They are a joy. And between her grandson Zac and Meg...they were God sends for me. My suitcase with pins weighed a ton!! And each of them helped me with it. Whew!! And Meg was our lunch hero!! She went and got us Pretzel bread and cheese soup "to go" each day for lunch!! YUM!!

Something really cool happened just as I was packing up on saturday. This fella comes up and is admiring my suitcase. It is covered with classic drawings of Pooh and pals. I have the make up case and duffel bag that match. He asked me where I got it. So I told him. He continues to admire it and then he says, "I really enjoyed drawing these, and haven't seen these drawings in quite a while". It was Alex Maher, and he did the drawings that were on my suitcase!! So what did I do? I had him sign my suitcase!! Of course!! He was taken back by my request, but happily obliged and then took a picture with me and my suitcase. That was fun!!

I did not go back for sunday. I wanted to, but I was so missing my hubby Fred. And I have a bad tooth that was quite painful that morning. So I came on back to Daytona, and got to hubby's job just in time to get a hug and say goodbye. He's a truck driver. The I came home and took care of me and my painful tooth. Gonna get that worked on this week. Then it's back to packing and continuing our move.

But anyway, the event was wonderful and I'm so excited about the new vinylmation Pooh and matching pin. So cute! And the new lunch box pins, gotta have those. There is a beautiful Steamboat Willie pin that will come out the second day of the D23 event. And thankfully a pin fairy, Stephanie, is going to get it for me. YIPPEE!! Thank you!!

I'm looking forward to next years event. I love the theme and I think it sounds like alot of fun. Hope to see many of you there!!

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[agnes!]

It was my first event too. I think we did more trades while waiting in line than at the tables! For a first-timer, it can be kind of overwhelming....so much of what goes on is 'understood' (like how everything is run, where things are, etc.)

Really liked the pin(the Egyptian/Pharoah-looking smaller pin) that we got when we checked in and the large gift pin we got on Saturday - the one that had the Mickey-rendering of "the golden ratio"(I think that's the name) by Da Vinci.

The Showcase is very very very very very far from parking, especially when lugging pins. And we got an Epcot Security guard at the front gate our first day who insisted on going through every. single. book. and bag. of pins. One by one. Now *that* was fun.

On my last go at one of the boards (we liked the "wheel o' coffins" set-up), I got an Artist's Proof pin - that was pretty cool. Havene't had time to look it up on PinPics to see if it made it into production or not.

 

[olbear]

It was my first event too. I think we did more trades while waiting in line than at the tables! For a first-timer, it can be kind of overwhelming....so much of what goes on is 'understood' (like how everything is run, where things are, etc.)

Really liked the pin(the Egyptian/Pharoah-looking smaller pin) that we got when we checked in and the large gift pin we got on Saturday - the one that had the Mickey-rendering of "the golden ratio"(I think that's the name) by Da Vinci.

The Showcase is very very very very very far from parking, especially when lugging pins. And we got an Epcot Security guard at the front gate our first day who insisted on going through every. single. book. and bag. of pins. One by one. Now *that* was fun.

On my last go at one of the boards (we liked the "wheel o' coffins" set-up), I got an Artist's Proof pin - that was pretty cool. Havene't had time to look it up on PinPics to see if it made it into production or not.

I have been to all the annual pin events since 2001. But as of the last few years they have had dogs to "sniff" our bags at the entry gates. I'm sorry you didn't have this done. I came in through the back entrance of EPCOT via the Beach Club both days. And they had the dog there. It is so much better. You just park your bags and the dog checks them out, the you're good to go.
Sorry you had to go through that hassle. I do remember that being done in the beginning years. What a pain!!

Glad you had a nice time. And yes, the gift pins were quite nice. I wasn't crazy about the stamp pins. They were OK. The jumbo was indeed quite nice. By the way, did you see me in the back? I was the one with the large Pooh balloon on saturday at the back trading area. My other Pooh pal was in front of me with her pooh balloon.

Here's a trick to help with the "long walk" to world showcase. I always have breakfast at the one of the EPCOT resorts. Boardwalk, Beach or Yacht Club. Then I go through the resort entrance in back. Much less of a walk. I have also stayed at Beach Club which is even more convenient.

See you next year. The theme sounds great!

Blessings,
Winnie

 

[megaelch]

sounds like there were not that many people attending this year ?? Did they ever announce it to be sold out ?
You are moving ???? I did not know they are renting out the Beach Club Villas on a monthly basis right now .. but with this economy you will never know .. So where are you heading to ??? Hope to see you in late August when we roll in with the whole family
Glad you had fun and next time grab extra lanyard pins to trade .... !!!

Stephan

 

[NHMickey]

Sounds like you had a good time...

 

[olbear]

sounds like there were not that many people attending this year ?? Did they ever announce it to be sold out ?
You are moving ???? I did not know they are renting out the Beach Club Villas on a monthly basis right now .. but with this economy you will never know .. So where are you heading to ??? Hope to see you in late August when we roll in with the whole family
Glad you had fun and next time grab extra lanyard pins to trade .... !!!

Stephan

My dear friend Stephan!
It's always so good to see you. I have been busy busy!! Yes, we are moving, but not too far. We are moving from Ormond beach to another Daytona area city, South Daytona. We are moving into my sister's home. She passed away 2 years ago this August. So it is bittersweet. We are buying from my brother in law. We already have one of the four bedrooms designated as the Pooh/Disney room. And we're planning on putting cork board on one of the walls to display our pins! But Beach Club Villas, I WISH!!

It will be so good to see you this summer. Hopefully we'll be able to afford renewing our passes. The economy has hit us pretty hard. But I may have a special employment and can work it out. That's all I'm sayin!!

But when you come, don't forget the "gummies"!!
{{hugs}} to you and family!
Winnie

 

[lucas]

Dh and I had a great time at the event. We gots lots of artist proof pins off of the trading boards. I never made it to the back room as I spent all of my time trading off of the boards and in line.

We stayed at the Beach Club and it was so convenient to walk thru the back entrance.

We were always pretty close to the front of the line each day waiting for the event to open. We always got in line about where the coffee cart is. The trading board lines were only short 1st thing after the event opened. After that the waits were always 30-45 minutes. I wish they would hold you to the 60 second rule. We were timing how long it took some people at the boards and they were taking 3-3 1/2 minutes. I mentioned it to Steven late on Friday and on Saturday the CMs did seem to use their stop watches more. Some people were trying to stall their times at the board for family/friends following them in line if they knew a re-fresh was coming up. We were there until 11:00 on Sunday, when the public came in. But we went back at about 3:00 on Sunday, right before closing and the lines were very short and we still got some artist proof pins.

 

[megaelch]

well let me guess.... you might work at a theme park in central Florida ????
Glad you are ok and are looking forward to your new home .... make sure to have an extra bed for surprise visitors .
We are still looking for a hotel / condo from august 23rd to august 28th at the east coast for some beach days .. anything you can recommend in your area ????? rental homes are ok as well .. but must be on or very close to the beach !!
Then it is 2 weeks at Cypress Palms in Orlando ...
Hope we can meet for dinner and i will make sure to write down the recipe for Sauerbraten and bring spices for it !
Hugs and greetings to Fred .. time for a revanche on TSMM .. will beat you this time

 

[agnes!]

I didn't really understand about getting Artist Proofs off the boards but on my last go-round finally went "DUH" when I saw a large pin & thought "Gee, I wonder if that is one of the APs...". So here is the PinPics pic of my AP...

We also completed the Cast Lanyard alphabet and the new bottle-cap set, but I swear I am never going to do another set (and tnhis time I might actually stick to it).

agnes!