My 12-year-old daughter, my wife and I are heading to WDW for 5 days. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and we won’t be back for a long time. With that in mind, is it worth it to do pin-trading, or do you think it would be more of a distraction from the experience for us? Please let us know your thoughts. I can’t wait to take my family to Disney!
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My DD-adult did pin trading everyday a few weeks back. Most of the pins are behind counters and she had to seek them out, but she did. They had some limitations, as usual… like only two trades per visit etc. And they had you put your pin in a box for cleaning b4 they used it for trade later.
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Thanks for that! It’s good to know pin-trading is alive and well – and fun, even with COVID restrictions.
My concern isn’t so much about the current COVID situation. It’s more about the fact that we probably won’t be coming back. Most of the posts for pin-trading seem to be by people who visit the Disney parks frequently. Is pin-trading worth it for one-time guests, or will it be more of a distraction, since we will be trying to do as much as possible while we are there?
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oh my… only you can answer this question: Will it be more of a distraction? We love doing it and find a way to integrate it and make time for it, but that’s a personal preference. When it’s really hot out I won’t wear my trading lanyard. My DD carried a small bag of pins to trade. She was very excited about it. I think if it’s important to you then it becomes part of the memory and CMs are very chatty lately. It might be a nice way to take a break from the afternoon heat too since most of the trading happens at counters???
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I think it’s really a matter of personal preference more than there being a right or wrong answer – personally (adult, F, 41) I love it and I would have fun even as a one off activity. Not everyone probably feels that way though. My suggestion would be to buy a bunch on ebay as a starter pack. They’re probably not all legit but it gives you a gateway to the fun and it was awesome for me.
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yep yep yep. We call this trading fodder 
and, much to a friend’s dismay, gave his children pin fodder and now they are HOOKED… bwahahahaha
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I (old person) love buying pins, and generally don’t often trade them because the ones I buy…I really love.
That said, we did trade the generic ones that came with our lanyards when we started and when we did long, family trips I would search for sales on pins to use for trading (didn’t often find many).
Over the years my kids enjoyed wearing pin lanyards and buying pins w/ their favorite characters, and would occasionally trade but for them it was more about wearing their favorites.
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all of this 
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Yeah it is really fun if you’re into it. I think it’s probably like running though: there are people all along the love it to hate it spectrum.
If you have an inclination that your daughter would like it, give it a shot. Some markers would be:
- Likes to collect things
- LIkes to notice things, including small details
- Enjoys hunts (think scavenger hunts etc)
If you think this sounds promising, you’re willing to invest $25 to get started, and it wouldn’t compromise the experiences of those she is traveling with give it a shot.
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Agree with this. I also have fun with it at night. I take the ones I really like out of rotation and put the crappy ones I want to trade for something I like more on my lanyard for the next day. It is something to remember the day with and mentally wind down with; better than spending more time on my phone.
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My girls always look. They may not trade, and they don’t spend a lot of time looking. They are pretty quick at scanning to see if there is something really unique or their special character. If something catches their eye, then we take just a couple of minutes. But, we don’t view it as a distraction.
Now the pin displays at the gift shops…they could spend tons of wasted time there looking at all the new stuff they want.
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We had a great time trading pins in 2018. We went to the Disney Character warehouse to buy legit pins on sale and used those to trade with. Our problem is that we got so many that we liked in trade that we didn’t want to trade them, so we stopped! I think it’s worth the time because it was fun.
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All these suggestions are extremely helpful. Thank you everyone; you have convinced me to go for it! I suspect I will be into it even more than my daughter!
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I may be the only one who is not interested in doing pin trading. Every person is different, and only you know your daughter. This is your one-and-only trip in a lifetime, with only 5 days there. Will this take too much time away from your plans for rides, dining, etc? Will your daughter be willing to part company with her starter pins (even though she might get one she likes better)? Is she willing to interact with strangers about this?
I guess I’m more into noticing hidden Mickeys or finding interesting ride/design details mentioned in books - while I’m already walking places or standing in lines. No need to take time out for going into stores hunting for these.
If you choose to do it, I hope she has a great time with it.
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Excellent balance to the discussion. Thank you mkmuzzy!
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My daughters (6 and 8) got lanyards and pins for Christmas and we just completed an April trip. My daughters enjoyed trading and at times it was a welcome distraction. For example, when I wanted to walk from HS to the boardwalk area to check it out I let the kids know there is a pin trading location there so they more eagerly took the walk while tired from the park. We just kept the pins with us and if there was an opportunity and they wanted to we would trade. I enjoyed seeing their choices and how surprising decisive they were.
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IME - Yes. You are wasting time & money with pin “trading” if you don’t visit regularly. This doesn’t mean pins aren’t nice souvenirs. My daughter who has never “traded” a single pin typically gets one or two per visit.
I, personally, am a pressed penny fan. They are fun, way less expensive and can actually be collected - as they are finite / only rotated every few years.
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Nope. Not the only one. Our family has no interest in it.
Actually, we were introduced to it many moons ago when the year of a million wishes was going on (or whatever it was called). My kids were so excited because as they were getting off Barnstormer, some CMs gave them free pins!
They did try to trade them, I think, once, but then didn’t care. The excitement was in getting them for free, not in the pins themselves. But I think Disney was doing it as a way to get people to start trading pins.
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My DD10 loves trading. she also loves just looking at her pins and arranging them on a board at home long after a trip.
One tip to work around the 2 pin trading limit. If there are 3 of you you can each trade 2 pins. So if she see more that she would like you can trade them for her. (we took advantage of this a couple of time on our trip last month)