pin trading - alternatives to a lanyard

[blemon]

We are going to start pin trading on our next trip.

I don't like heavy things around my neck.

What are some alternatives to wearing a lanyard? Anything in the parks? Any DIY things?

I do carry a small backpack.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

I keep my pin lanyard in my purse because I hate wearing it. Some people use the little pin trading books and either carry them alone or in a bag.

 

[Hisgirl]

I got a kavu, cross-body, string bag which has a long strap that hangs down in the front. It's just long enough to attach about 7-8 favorite pins.

 

[Mome Rath]

We've used; hats, shirt sleeves, the strap of a purse, pockets, and you could use thin straps on a backpack if you have any. One of the tricks is making sure you don't accidentally pop off the pin, so think about where you put them.

 

[Klayfish]

I'm with you. I love the pins, but do not like wearing the lanyard around my neck. As you can see in my avatar photo, my kids are into it big time too. I've seen all kinds of creative things. Disney sells pin books, which have straps so you can carry them like a purse type thing. I've seen people put them on backpacks, vests, hats.

 

[lovethattink]

My son keeps them in his pockets. One pocket for traders and one pocket for keepers.

 

[gatorlisa]

I don't like the weight of a lanyard filled with pins either. Even when I went to Disneyland where I used a lanyard to hold my ticket and paper fastpasses, I ended up with just one pin on it. The pins that I like to display while at the parks I pin to the outside of my sling bag. I use locking pin backs so that they don't accidentally fall off. Multiple trips with this method and so far have not lost any. The pins that I use for trading I keep on this Disney pin thing (that I don't know what to call) that can hang from a lanyard. It's like a square of canvas with park logos printed on it and can hold 8-10 or so pins, depending on the size of the pins. I keep the pins on that and then keep it in a pocket of my sling bag, just pulling it out when I see a CM who has something I'm interested in.

 

[Klayfish]

My son keeps them in his pockets. One pocket for traders and one pocket for keepers.

Sure hope he keeps the backs on them. Otherwise, ouch!!! with every step...

 

[blemon]

These are all great ideas. I like the idea of the "disney pin thing" that is canvas.
I will look for one of those.
I think my daughter will really want to buy a lanyard so we will do that when we get there and I'll keep it in my bag.

And yes, we will definitely organize the keepers and the traders!

Thank you for the ideas!

 

[gatorlisa]

I looked it up in my PinPics account. They call it a hip lanyard. It came with a clip on badge reel, and the canvas square can be attached to the badge reel. You could also hang it from a regular lanyard, but it would probably be just as heavy as lining a regular lanyard with pins. You could also attach it to a bag or belt loop with a carabiner.

WDW Hip Lanyard

 

[Travis B]

I keep my traders in a little canvas pencil bag, which I carry in my larger park bag. You could use something as simple as a zip-loc bag. I might think about having one spot for traders, and then removing any pins you purchase or trade for and definitely want to keep. That way you don't have to try and sort through everything to choose the pin you're getting rid of, don't accidentally trade off something you mean to keep, etc.

I got myself one of the new style lanyards that lay flat in the front, and definitely prefer it to the ones that 'twist'. I like to wear my lanyard and display any specific pins I am collecting that trip. While at DLR this spring I had several CMs dig into their pin stash to help me complete the Hidden Mickey set I was collecting. If they hadn't seen my lanyard I would have been limited to whatever they had on their lanyard or pin board. I also was approached by another guest (I think it was off-duty CM) because I had a pin he was looking for to complete a collection. I was able to get rid of something I didn't particularly care about for something I really wanted. So there are benefits to displaying your pins. I'll definitely be buying locking pin backs now as I lost a couple of pins off my lanyard over the course of the day. I just consider them sacrifices to the pin gods .

 

[Klayfish]

These are all great ideas. I like the idea of the "disney pin thing" that is canvas.
I will look for one of those.
I think my daughter will really want to buy a lanyard so we will do that when we get there and I'll keep it in my bag.

And yes, we will definitely organize the keepers and the traders!

Thank you for the ideas!

My kids love their lanyards. They will take them off on rides like RnR, or if they've been wearing them all day, but they are a "prize possession" to the kids. They've each bought pin books in addition to the lanyards, because at this point they each have 30 or more pins, but the lanyard displays their favorites. My youngest son lost his original one (left it in the pocket of Space Mountain) and was devastated that it didn't show up at lost and found...though he had a ton of fun "rebuilding" and trading. They are now paranoid about them and check them every single ride.

One thing that we love about staying off property. There is a specific gift shop outside WDW that the kids love. They sell discontinued pins, I think most gift shops do, at a steep discount. They're typically about $5 each or a pack of 7 for $20-$23. They'll buy those, keep the 3 or 4 in the pack they like and trade the rest. They, and I, have built their collection nicely that way.

 

[Travis B]

My kids love their lanyards. They will take them off on rides like RnR, or if they've been wearing them all day, but they are a "prize possession" to the kids. They've each bought pin books in addition to the lanyards, because at this point they each have 30 or more pins, but the lanyard displays their favorites. My youngest son lost his original one (left it in the pocket of Space Mountain) and was devastated that it didn't show up at lost and found...though he had a ton of fun "rebuilding" and trading. They are now paranoid about them and check them every single ride.

One thing that we love about staying off property. There is a specific gift shop outside WDW that the kids love. They sell discontinued pins, I think most gift shops do, at a steep discount. They're typically about $5 each or a pack of 7 for $20-$23. They'll buy those, keep the 3 or 4 in the pack they like and trade the rest. They, and I, have built their collection nicely that way.

Do you remember the name of the shop you buy your discounted pins at? I'd love to stop there when we visit in December.

 

[ejdmomma]

Does anyone have a specific brand of locking backs that fit Disney pins? I had purchased some off amazon and they are too big/don't fit well. We have lost pins when the kids wear their lanyards

TIA!

 

[ArchPsyduck]

On our last few trips, my wife and I made sashes (like Wilderness Explorers) to attach our pins to. It allows for a large number of pins and displays them really well.

 

[gatorlisa]

Does anyone have a specific brand of locking backs that fit Disney pins? I had purchased some off amazon and they are too big/don't fit well. We have lost pins when the kids wear their lanyards

TIA!

I have used the ones that Disney sells, with the little allen wrench you use to secure the pins. I also got some off of eBay that require no tools. The pin back has to be handled in a specific way to release the backing. No specific brand though. They just came in an unlabeled ziplock baggie. Those work ok, but have still had a couple fail. If you don't need or want to rearrange them while on the go, I find the Disney ones to be the most secure of the things I have tried. If you want to be able to remove them while out and about, you might want something that does not require the use of any tools.

 

[angierae]

The last time we went, since we had magic bands and thus didn't bother with lanyards, we just kept them in a baggie in our backpack and pulled them out when neccessary, but it was only a three day trip, so who knows if that would have gotten annoying on a longer trip.

 

[lovethattink]

Sure hope he keeps the backs on them. Otherwise, ouch!!! with every step...

Lol. Yes, he keeps the backs on them.

 

[blemon]

One thing that we love about staying off property. There is a specific gift shop outside WDW that the kids love. They sell discontinued pins, I think most gift shops do, at a steep discount.

Do you remember what the place is called?

 

[Klayfish]

Do you remember the name of the shop you buy your discounted pins at? I'd love to stop there when we visit in December.

Yes, it's called "Bargain World". It's on S. Vineland Apopka Road, directly across the street from the Sheraton Lake Buena Vista hotel. There's a Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins attached to the gift shop. It's a favorite non-WDW night time activity for the kids. Go to Dunkin' Donuts/Baskin Robbins for ice cream and then walk around the gift shop. They only have two of those tall spinning racks of pins, but the racks are overflowing with them. Like I said, they're discontinued ones or I suppose less popular ones that WDW couldn't sell, but we still like them and have bought many of them. I'm sure most other gift shops have something similar, but we just happen to stumble on this one. If I recall correctly, we found it 13 years ago before any of our kids were even born. But it's become family tradition to go there...the kids set money specifically aside for it.