Pin Trading “Hot Spots”

[roger8918]

Hello,
We are heading to WDW in 10 days and my children are addicted to pin trading so I would like help them out and find all of the “Hot Spots”. They are especially fond of the “Lanyard Pins” so if anyone knows any special “must go” places in the parks please help me out.
Thanks

 

[Micca]

Roger welcome to the Dis I'm not a pin trader, but in my frequent trips to WDW, I couldn't help but notice some fairly large kiosks with pins at every park, resort, DTD...everywhere. I'm sure we have some Disney pin fans that will respond, but I think you'll see trading and collecting everywhere.

 

[Mady/Sophiemom]

I think the exposition hall at MK, is pretty good. We didn't do a whole lot in there, but made a couple of pins. Kind of neat, to pick the add-ons.

Also, their are pin trading events at POR, & CR. I think the POR is on Wed. ,and CR is on Fri., but I haven't been able to find out what times.

 

[Sam60]

It is my understanding that cast members receive one or two "Lanyard Pins" when they start a shift. They are mixed in with the other "common" pins.

Since cast members aren't likely to volunteer which ones are "lanyard pins", it is important to know what they look like before begining trading. eBay is a great reference to see what the latest lanyard series pins look like.

As for strategies to find these pins, here are a few....

1. Trade with cast members when the parks first open. If you are fast, you may beat the other hundreds of other pin traders to the punch.

2. Find cast members in secluded places away from the throng (good luck!). Examples might be small souvenir shops well away from the main park entrance.

3. Later in the day, scan for supervisors- with practice you can learn to spot them walking purposefully across the park. They may spend part of the day away from guests, and so their pins are less picked over.

4. If you can figure out where cast members enter the park, sometimes you can waylay them before they reach their posts. One example is at the big wooden fence near Africa in the Animal Kingdom.

5. One spot where I frequently see lanyard pins is at the water parks. Guests typically don't think to bring their trading pins here, and locals pin traders with Florida Resident passes don't want to pay extra to go into the water parks. This can be a bonanza for lanyard pins, especially in cold weather when the water parks are nearly empty.

That is all I can think of at the moment. Good hunting!

 

[Baloo]

I'm going to move this over to the Collectors Board,those folks over there can help you too!

 

[ROCK1472]

If you ever go to N.Y.C. , go to the World of Disney (55th & 5 ave.) you would think your in heaven . It's a little (4 floors) secret Disney treasure I call it. Every cast member has lanyard pins (& you can ask them) They refresh them every morning .They even sell Limited Edition NYC pins (their hot to trade in florida).

 

[tap & dap]

Here are some great Pin Meets and Places to Trade:

1. All Star Resort Sports Food Court - Thursday Nights at 7:00pm special kids board and all.

2. Contemporary - Friday Night next to gift shop special kids board as well.

3. Downtown Disney Pin Traders - All the time, but usually the place is surrounded by Sharks so be careful.

Hope that helps and enjoy pin trading.

 

[KAP]

I would advise against #4 - ambushing people as they come on stage. They are likely holding pieces of paper on their way to start a sequence of bumps. You hold them up they'll be late to their station and the whole cycle of bumps is late. You could eat into someone's break time or make them late for walking. And don't try to stop a characer escort as they are coming on and off stage. Their first duty is to the character and they cannot leave the character or make them stop while you scan lanyards and debate a trade.