nobody has mentioned about collecting the WDW pins

[ProudGrandma]

a friend of mine has said her kids like collecting and trading the pins with the characters, but I haven't read one word about that on any of the threads I have started...is that just not all that much fun??? My friend said she bought a whole slew of them on ebay before they left. So what do the rest of you all say about it??

[Jennifer in MI]

Three of my kids used to do it. My 14 yo thinks he's too old now. But, he has kept the pins!

 

My 12 yo had a HUGE number of pins. He bought a few every time we went to Disney. He was on a ride that required he take them off and he left them on the ride. He was SOBBING when he realized they'd been stolen. We went to report it to security, which happened to be near a store. A Cast Member saw him sobbing (this was two years ago) and helped calm him down. Then she asked him which pins were his favorites. He said he liked Stitch. She went and got a NEW starter Stitch kit for him!!!!! She GAVE it to him. I still get tears when I think of this. It was a $50 kit!!!!

 

He has since added a number of pins to that collection, but he is now quite leery of taking his lanyard to the parks. He trades on the cruises or at the resorts.

 

My dd does it too. She LOVES it!! And, I love it because it is relatively inexpensive. Each pin runs you from$6 - $15 or so. And, I love it because now I can finally buy the GIRL pins!!!

 

If you buy some, be sure to get some you don't LOVE so that you can trade them. Occasionally, you'll hit it off well with a Cast Member and they'll give you pins. My dd was asking a CM from England about her country. We had just had houseguests from England and she was telling them some of the differences she had noticed (shopping cart vs. shopping trolley) and the CM thought she was cute and gave her a really nice Ariel pin!!!

 

So, we love it. But, it's not something I mention in the general threads about Disney because there is SO much other stuff to love!

[FriedClams]

My kids love the pin trading thing and the pre-buy on ebay is a great idea. There is etiquette to the trading so make sure you read up on it before you go.

 

Our biggest hit for the last trip was the Sorcerer's Apprentice game at the MK and trading the cards there. It was AWESOME. If you do plan on doing that - buy a folder designed for trading cards before you go. They're hard to find at MK and expensive. I got 2 at Walmart when we got back for $4 each but it would have been better to have one with us at MK.

 

If you want to learn more about the Sorcerer's game - look here.

[Jeannie in NJ]

my dd buys 2-4 pins on each trip but she does not trade them. She keeps them on her Disney bulletin board in her room.

[tabrizia]

I love pin trading and I figure my two elders will do it next time we go. If you don't buy pins before hand, they often have a set of 6 or 7 pins that is around $20 that you can buy and use for trading. I tend to buy one or two of those sets when I leave so that when we come back (normally in 2 years or so) I have a set of pins all set up for trading. For adults if the cast member has the pin on their lanyard you normally can't trade your pin that is the same with them for a new pin, they are more lenient for kids.

[mumto2]

My kids love pin trading and have tons -- around 200 each. We buy some in the parks. Also off ebay then trade. They brought part of their collections back to the UK this year along with 20 or so traders for our trip to Disney Paris. They are probably happier about the pin trading potential than going to the parks.:lol::lol::lol:

 

Personally I would fix each child up with a lanyard and several pins so they can keep retrading throughout the trip for their souvenirs. They might keep them longer then a t shirt but that is me.

[Dmmetler]

We don't do the pin trading at Disney (or, haven't yet), but my DD7 LOVES mini-fig trading at Legoland and Lego discovery centers (and it's a great use for all those duplicates we end up with in trying to get the series mini-figs).

[Rhonda in TX]

I love pin trading. My best friend and I went to DW this spring and had a blast doing it. She is huge into it (they go to DW regularly), but it was my first time.

[ProudGrandma]

My kids love the pin trading thing and the pre-buy on ebay is a great idea. There is etiquette to the trading so make sure you read up on it before you go.

 

.

 

ok..tell me about the "etiquette" involved. Or where I can go to read up on it.

[sparrow]

ok..tell me about the "etiquette" involved. Or where I can go to read up on it.

 

My kids love pin trading! We've had some really neat experiences with Cast Members through it.

 

There is information here about Disney's guidelines.

[DawnM]

I tried really hard to get my kids to want to pin trade. I bought them lanyards and pins when they were really little and we lived near DL and went all the time.

 

They just never really wanted to do it. My oldest is an Aspie and he only picked the pins HE liked and he wasn't about to trade them or give them up.

 

Middle son (was youngest then) hated wearing it or stopping to try to trade.

 

So, alas, we don't do it.

[jujsky]

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but if you want to get pins cheap to get your kids started, they sell them in lots on e-bay. It doesn't matter so much which pins they start out with because the cast members will trade with them for better pins.

[DianeW88]

We love pin trading!!! We're always on the lookout for new and different pins and my dd finally found the one she'd been looking for FOREVER on our last trip. It's really fun and we all love it!!

[8circles]

For those of you who do Disney a lot. How many days do you usually stay? There are so many things we'd like to do but we never seem to find the time.

[tabrizia]

For those of you who do Disney a lot. How many days do you usually stay? There are so many things we'd like to do but we never seem to find the time.

 

How often do you consider a lot. We like to go every 2 years or so, though it will be 4 years between our last trip and our next one, due to other issues. When we go we normally stay for 12 or 13 days. That way we get to see what we want and still have time to relax.

[Jennifer in MI]

For those of you who do Disney a lot. How many days do you usually stay? There are so many things we'd like to do but we never seem to find the time.

 

We usually go for 4 - 8 days. We're in FL a lot visiting family and we just tack on a Disney trip. We go when they have offers that are too good to refuse for our family. (This next trip is four nights, five days. Free dining. Port Orleans Riverside. 2 park days. We paid $1600 - I think. It was around that.)

 

I jsut read the other post. What do you mean by often? Good question. We go once or twice a year.

[8circles]

How often do you consider a lot. We like to go every 2 years or so, though it will be 4 years between our last trip and our next one, due to other issues. When we go we normally stay for 12 or 13 days. That way we get to see what we want and still have time to relax.

 

We usually go for 4 - 8 days. We're in FL a lot visiting family and we just tack on a Disney trip. We go when they have offers that are too good to refuse for our family. (This next trip is four nights, five days. Free dining. Port Orleans Riverside. 2 park days. We paid $1600 - I think. It was around that.)

 

I jsut read the other post. What do you mean by often? Good question. We go once or twice a year.

 

We go every 2 years or so, so far. We usually have 4 park days. It never seems like enough. Maybe that's more a function of have 4 children wanting to do different things. I'd love to stay 12-13 days or go more than once a year. Jennifer, that deal sounds great! Where do you find these or is it just the standard rate at that time? We've never been to Disney just to go there, its always joining my DH on a conference or something.