Pin trading questions

[lotsahrt]

Hi,
I have a few questions about pin trading. This is our family's first trip to Disney.
Should we keep only the pins we want to trade on our lanyards? When trading with a CM you get to pick the one you want off of their lanyard, do they pick the one they want from you or can you choose which one to give them in trade?

Anything else I should know?

We are going in 2 weeks. I have about 25 pins (dh,me,13yr daughter, 4yr son)
I will give the majority of the pins to the kids to trade but wanted a few for dh and I. I don't want to get heavily into trading them but do you think I have enough?

Thanks!!!

 

[StuZioCardyni]

HaHa be careful because you WILL get hooked!!!

But basically when you approach a cast member choose the pin you like and ask them to trade. after that, hand them the one you want to trade with (you can choose any pin you like, they don't choose). and there you have it, trade done. Your children will be able to trade with cast members wearing green lanyards as well as blue (well...depending on how old your daughter looks) but adults and older children can only trade with cast members wearing blue.

Have fun...you may need more than 25 though

 

[adctd2WDW]

I was at the World last June and it was my 8 yo son's 1st experience with pin trading. I ended up getting him a set of princess pins he did not want because we found it on sale at one of the parks and he needed more pins to trade. At 1st he did not like wearing the princess pins, but they were easy for him to trade away. Also, he became slightly more enamoured with trading than with the actual pins. When he got to where he had only pins he wanted to keep I wanted him to learn to be choosy and not trade with every CM he saw. Did not work.. He traded pins he liked for pins he did not like just to trade.
The big picture is, he was having fun and my normally shy son was interacting with many more people than I expected. There is more to it than what pins you bring home.
Also, every now and then my kids (also had a more discerning 15 yo dd trading) would trade a CM for a pin that another CM would not take in trade later on because it was special in some way. This actually frustrated them because my kids did not necessarily like the pin in question.
I would make sure you have lots of extra pins you do not want for kids to trade. My kids loved trading with CM's and began to spot them from quite a distance.

 

[Tammy296]

This is FUN and yes, you will get hooked on it. 25 pins? Sounds like my first visit. You will want more trust me....

I'd say take about 50 with you and a good sturdy landyard. I did not wear my landyard because I was always afraid I would lose the pins! I kept them in my pack and took them out when I found someone I wanted to trade with. Cast members are REQUIRED to trade with you depending on the color of their landyard. Some are specifically for younger children only.

By the time I left WDW in 2007, I bought a second landyard for my daughter (then 8) to trade and several new pins that were released that year. So not only did I TRADE the ones I brought but I bought some too! I had a very hard time being selective.

I did have one bad experience with this though. We were leaving an attraction and I saw a girl (cast member) I wanted to trade with. Her pin was on backwards (pin front facing her shirt and back facing me). She had the right kind of colored landyard on so I could trade. I wanted to and asked her and she wouldn't do it!! She said she didn't have to trade the pins that were on backwards (backs facing you). I was not happy believe me!! Ever since then I wondered if that was true but I never had a problem trading with another cast member with their backs facing me. I figure she must have had a very valuable pin!

But when you go up to a cast member, just point to the pin they have on their landyard and ask about it. Show them yours and point to one on yours and ask to trade. If you don't care what you trade on your landyard you can always ask a cast member which one they want. That's how I did it.

-T