Disney Pin Trading Tips
Pin trading is a popular thing to do at Walt Disney World. It’s a fun way for kids to interact with Cast Members, collect souvenirs of favorite characters, rides, and more. This guide offers money-saving tips & tricks, offering a great entry point to trade without breaking the bank. (Updated March 22, 2024.)
Let’s start with a bit of background. Disney Pin Trading began during the Millennium Celebration. Since then, Disney Pins have become easily the most popular merchandise and collectibles in all of Walt Disney World (and beyond–pin trading is also now popular at Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, etc.) with the possible exception of Vinylmations, which are now rising in popularity.
While some fervent Disney fans scorn Pin Trading (presumably because they oppose good, clean fun), there is no doubt that Pin Trading has been embraced wholeheartedly by the general public and by legions of Disney collectors.
One downside to Pin Trading is that it can be very expensive, as individual pin prices start at $8.99 and only go up from there! When we first started Disney Pin Trading, it was relatively inexpensive. It can be super expensive if you are serious about collecting.
Let’s take a look at what you can do to maximize your Disney pin trading enjoyment!
Disney Pin Trading Tips
Pin Trading is relatively simple in practice: guests interested in the hobby and Cast Members stationed at pin boards trade. While Disney itself allows trading between guests, this is quite uncommon in practice. At present, Cast Members who trade are typically stationed by pin boards found in or outside gift shops and various locations around Walt Disney World.
One way to get the best pins is to trade early. Look for Cast Members by pin boards in the morning as they tend to have “fresh” pins. These pins get picked over during the course of the day (they are often replenished at shift changes), so your best bet is to trade early or hope to get lucky later in the day.
Cast Members are trading pins provided to them by Disney and they will accept whatever trades are offered to them regardless of whether it’s “fair” from the perspective of value.
The good news is that we have another update on pin trading protocol for 2024: Disney Parks has announced on social media that Cast Member-to-guest Pin Trading officially returns to all of Walt Disney World on April 7, 2024.
This follows an update last November that brought Cast-to-guest pin trading back to Disney Springs. Starting next month, it extends to all of Walt Disney World.
Here’s the original announcement of the return of direct pin trading: “Keep an eye out for cast with accessories such as lanyards and pin boards, and ask them how you can join in the Disney pin trading fun. We know just how much our fans have been looking forward to the full return of this beloved tradition of Disney pin trading and can’t wait for this pin-teractive activity to come back to even more merchandise locations across Walt Disney World in 2024.”
In case you don’t follow pin trading closely, the big development here is the return of proper lanyards. Up until now, it’s been pin boards for the last couple of years, with some Cast Members having little badges of pins on their waists. This marks the first return of neck lanyards for pin trading since March 2020!
In addition to trading pins with Cast Members, there are also some “professional” pin traders, but they’re far less common than in years past. From a value perspective, you are always going to save so much more money by purchasing pins in lots on Amazon before your vacation, so we don’t even recommend approaching these “professional” pin traders.
Beyond that, we think they sort of take the fun out of it. Pin trading is great if it’s with Cast Members or even other fans who are casual about it, but many of these pros take a no nonsense approach that’s abrasive and off-putting for pin trading newbies.
It’s unfortunate that a few bad apples give the hobby a bad name, and by no means is every guest who may ask you about trading in Walt Disney World doing it with negative intentions. Nevertheless, you might want to think twice about trades with guests with binders full of pins, as too many of them are overly serious and not particularly fun.
With that said, most regular guests who randomly ask you about trading have no such ill motives–it’s only the super hardcore who bring colossal collections into the parks who can be rude and condescending. While we recommend trading primarily with Cast Members, trades with other guests can be fun and a great way to interact with your fellow guests–most of whom share a common interest in Disney!
Common Types of Disney Pins
One of the fun aspects of Pin Trading is that there are so many pins (if you’re a completionist, this can be a drawback). This means that you can go for certain categories of pins (my favorite are pins with the Epcot character “Figment” on them), and there will be plenty of different pins within that category for you to collect. Some fun options include:
- Hidden Mickeys (These are semi-common pins with small mickey heads hidden on them that are available in a series that are unique because they’re not available for sale in stores, and can only be found with Cast Members)
- Characters (Choose your favorite character and trade for as many pins containing that character as you can)
- Series (These are groups of ~4-8 pins that have a similar theme but are substantively different)
- Retro Disney (Pins featuring Disney attractions, characters, and films from years past)
These are just the basic common categories. There are tons of specific series, including ones that are only available to Annual Passholders, Disney Visa Cardholders, and LE Pins for special events. There are even pins made specifically for special pin trading events! The number of Disney pins available is quite mind boggling!
Pin Trading Controversies
If you buy pins from third party sellers, the pins you purchase might be “scrappers.” We think of these as being like factory seconds or production overruns, which is essentially what they are. Hardcore pin traders view them as bootlegs or counterfeits, and not worthy of being added to their collections.
However, all Cast Members accept scrappers for trades. Walt Disney World had no official policy against scrappers, and the pin trading boards you encounter around the parks and resorts usually have scrappers on them. Nevertheless, we advise against purchasing scrappers like the large lots you’ll find on Amazon or eBay for $1 to $2 per pin or so. Although they’re significantly cheaper than the real deal, they are fake. Just like we don’t recommend buying bootleg mouse ears, we don’t recommend scrappers.
Scrappers are controversial with hardcore Disney Pin Trading fans, and you’ll see many complaints about them in the comments below. Scrappers exist because Disney produces pins at factories that are known for producing overruns and counterfeit items. If Disney wanted to put an end to scrappers, they could easily do so by producing the pins elsewhere. Disney has made a business decision to allow them to continue, likely because moving production would cost more money and would be bad for business. Regardless, we do not recommend rolling the dice on scrappers. It’s simply not worth the savings.
Using Disney Pins?
If you’re collecting Disney Pins, you probably know what you want to do with them. You have cases or some method of displaying them. Of course, if you already collect pins, you probably don’t need an article like this introducing the hobby of pin trading to you.
However, if you’re a novice or a parent who is contemplating buying some pins for a souvenir, you might wonder just what you can do with Disney pins. Unlike shirts, hats, or other souvenirs you can wear, although you can wear pins around on a lanyard or hat, most people don’t actually wear lanyards full of pins in the real world. So pins might seem to have less practical purpose than other souvenirs you can buy at Walt Disney World.
However, we’ve found a great use for Disney pins, and that’s pin boards. Move over, Pinterest, because these are real life pin boards that you can hang up around the house. The boards can serve a practical purpose (such as posting notes or messages) or can be purely for novelty or fun.
Pins are great for dressing up these boards, and are a great way to display them. All you need are pins and a cheap tack board. We use our pin board for fun, pinning Disney countdown calendars, old park tickets, and other paper goods we’ve collected from the parks. It’s a great reminder of your Disney trip and great way to look forward to the next one! There are plenty of potential unorthodox uses for pins besides just storing them in boxes or cases, so get creative.
Our Disney Pin Trading Story
We were once avid pin traders. Pin trading allowed us to interact with more Cast Members than we ever did prior to trading, we’ve had more fun hunting pins than Hidden Mickeys on attractions, and it even got us selected as the “family” of the day in the Jammin’ Jungle Parade!
Moreover, I have found that pin designs are by far the most unique merchandise in all of WDW (extinct attractions, attraction anniversaries, rare characters, you name it). If you do it right, it’s an incredibly cheap hobby, and it provides you with cheap souvenirs, especially in comparison to those costly and large Big Figs I had been collecting.
The size of the pins is a big deal for us. We love to collect things, but if we continued to accumulate large items at our pre-Pin Trading pace, we would have needed to invest in a large warehouse to store everything. I have boxes upon boxes (we have storage rooms reminiscent of Citizen Kane or Raiders of the Lost Ark) bursting with Disney items that are just waiting to be unleashed, upon our future home. In this regard, especially, pin trading has been a good hobby, as our entire collection can be condensed into just a shoe box!
That said, we haven’t become nearly as addicted to Disney Pin Trading as many others have; it can become just as expensive and space-consuming as collecting other Disney pieces, as Disney churns out tons of pins on a monthly basis all with varying price points, designs and edition sizes to satiate all of those interested in Pin Trading.
We pretty much stopped buying new pins once we had enough to fill our pin board, as we didn’t want to pins in boxes and not look at them for years. Disney Pin Trading has become so popular that Disney holds special conventions dedicated to Pin Trading each year, and even a few websites devoted to following the Disney Pins exist.
While you certainly don’t have to become so invested in the hobby that you have thousands of pins, sometimes it’s difficult to resist. I’ve heard of many unassuming Disney fans getting hooked and spending substantial amounts of money on the hobby. So, be warned. But if it’s something you end up enjoying a lot and it isn’t really “dangerous,” do you really need a “warning”?
Ultimately, if you commit to only buying a limited number of pins to trade, and stick to that plan, you can have fun without getting hooked. You’ll also spend a lot less money on souvenirs and it will enhance your Walt Disney World or Disneyland vacation as pin trading is almost like an interactive game!
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of Disney Pin Trading? Are you a fan of it or not? If so, which pins are your favorites? What are your Pin Trading tips? Do you buy the lots on Amazon or eBay for you or your kids to trade on vacation? Let us know your thoughts or questions in the comments!
Please answer…..
Why is that adult woman grabbing that lanyard?
Does she notice it is around a man’s neck?
NUMBER ONE RULE … NO GRABBING
IF YOU NEED A CLOSER LOOK, ASK FOR A CLOSER LOOK AND THE CAST MEMBER WILL REMOVE IT FOR YOU.
Never ever go up to a stranger and touch them without permission.
Never touch, poke, or pull a lanyard attached to a person.
Common courtesy.
Please add to your “tips”.
Also, if your Ebay pins are in bad condition, the cast member will not accept.
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You are advising people to buy counterfeit pins in bulk. These pins are low quality and the sheer number of them floating around in the parks is really spoiling pin trading for everyone! Please, please, PLEASE don’t recommend that to people!
Other than that it’s a lovely article, but pins sold in bulk like that are NOT official Disney pins, even though cast members will accept them for trade! Imagine the little kids who are trading their pins for fake ones; it makes me sad.
My kids LOVE pin trading and look forward to it all year!! Here’s a fun “secret” we were told by a cast member this year-in Animal Kingdom they have a pin vest in the store right outside the park-outpost? I think it is called-and also a pin stroller located at the stroller rental pavilion, both covered with loads of pins. You have to specifically ask to see these and now we are curious to discover what other hidden pin items are in the other parks…
How many pins should we start with?
Wow. Great Article, touched on a lot of topics I had questions about. I am currently starting out and wow, I never knew there would be so many.
Another fun thing to do with your pins is to pin them on a small loop of ribbon and decorate your Christmas tree with them!
Great idea! 🙂
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They’re beautiful pins.
If someone want to make these pins, maybe i can help u.
For people who are weary of possibly purchasing counterfeit pins from an online source, I would say the only way to guarantee the pins you buy are genuine Disney pins is purchasing pins from DisneyStore.com where you can also buy a starter kit with pins and a lanyard included, or the Disney resorts shops. Like some others mentioned if it seems too good to be true it might be. For the purpose of trading, they sell mystery bags of pins that are not too expensive and contain simple character pins that you can keep, trade or exchange for pins you might like better at Pin Traders found around the parks or from they store they were purchased! So you really can’t lose. My personal preference is to buy pins legit and not from online sellers that sell pins for $2 a piece.
My question is… We were are just doing this for fun with our little ones and our primary goal is to get pins they like. That said, how do we also have a general idea of the value of the pins so that trade out a “valuable” pin.
how much do you think a pin is worth if they only made 25 of them?
As much as some sucker is willing to pay for it! 😉
I think that it is very hard for people to tell counterfeit from real pins. I know someone that I worked with that has a huge ebay disney pin business where he sells counterfeit pins. He actually visits Disney several times a year and buys real pins and sends them to china and has them manufactured. He then sells them in his ebay store as “used” since he doesn’t have the little card they normally come on. I’ve reported him but nothing has been done about it. He has about 20,000 feedback for the past 12 months with about 99.5% positive. That proves to me that either China is getting better at counterfeiting these pins or most people don’t care if they are authentic or fake.
Hi Tom – I’ve enjoyed reading your blog very much and wish I had done so before I purchased my pins for trading on Oct 24th 2013. I am not a trader. I own about 10 pins total and only wish to trade for my sister who wants a particular type of pin. I was advised to simply purchase some inexpensive pins on ebay for trading. I did this and then found all but 1 of the pins on the PinPics site. I discovered every one of my pins was either a scrapper or conterfeit. I’ve enjoyed learning all about the pins so all was not lost and about 5 look nice enough to trade. I’ll keep a few because they are cute. Some I’ll just give to the little kids we’ll meet on our trip.
This is what I have learned: First, all but 3 of my pins were missing the clear coat which gives them a nice gloss. The missing gloss is your first clue that something is wrong with the pin and it makes a big difference in the appeal of the pin. Second, look for the two stabilizing nubs on the back near the pin that are usually (but not always) on Disney pins. Third, conterfeit pins generally have thicker metal lines then the originals and the details are not clear or even missing. Colors are often slightly different than the real Disney pin, and more often the colors are not in the correct places. (Years ago I purchased a Jasmine pin (#15139)and decided to look her up on PinPics yesterday. On close examination of her face, she is missing the nice curve to the tip of her nose and the dot beside it. Her eyes are just globs of metal lines, not at all the pretty expressive eyes of the princess. Others have reported that the cut-outs around Jasmine’s hair were filled in. Now for the worse news — I purchased this counterfeit pin inside the Disney World resort. (Note: there is such a thing as an error pin – these are very rare, which may get into the parks, but many people have reported the problems on the face of Jasmine and as I said it is very clear when looking at the eyes that it is not a Disney product. So, when you buy a pin or trade for one, look it over carefully and if you like it – take it – in the end does it really matter if it is slightly flawed or a fake? I have a flawed pin where Donald Duck’s tail is not white, but the same color as the background. It’s still a really cute pin and the best one in my pile of scraps. I hope this helps all those new to trading like me.
Hi Tom,
Thanks for your GREAT info!!
I Love LOve LOVe LOVE your photos, info, and blog!! This is the kind of blog I would do (if I blogged :)). I haven’t read all of your wonderful information but obviously LOVED what I have read so far!
FYI, I just purchased several pins on ebay for our Disneyland trip next week. I’m going to share them with my 6 grandchildren and we are going to have SOOO much fun trading together!
I have always bought “special” pins (wherever I travel – especially Disney) for my private collection and I started trading Disney pins a year ago at WDW and I too was worried about scrapper pins etc. before I left so I bought expensive packaged pins to take with me to trade. I was so surprised when I started trading with the CM’s that most if not all of the pins I saw them trading were the inexpensive pins I saw on ebay! I wouldn’t trade any of my expensive pins for theirs so this year I bought equivalent pins to theirs for trading.
BTW, I would like to see other Disney sites you have and get any other fabulous ideas or places to look? I love to read all things Disney and I am preparing for a Disneyland trip for Sept. 29th with 12 of my family members and I’m always the designated ‘Tour Guide’! I love to surprise them with new and unique info, things to do, and places to eat! In fact, can I just adopt you and your wife?? I would love to take you with us!! Ha!
Thanks again!
Kelly
The prevalence of the cheap pins is why I wouldn’t buy expensive ones to trade with Cast Members. Regardless of what the pins are (official second-run? scrappers? etc.), they are widespread in CM trading, and it’s too late to “un-ring” that bell. A few people purchasing more expensive pins to trade isn’t going to change the prevalence of these pins, but instead will only cost those individuals more money. So why bother?
This is not something that can be “self-corrected” by traders. Only Disney could make the change, and the Company has shown no desire to do so.
AMEN to that Tom, and kudos on your fantastic site! Personally, I’ve had nothing but positive experiences on eBay the few times I’ve done this, so while one’s skepticism should be healthy, there’s no need to obsess over this. While I’m not a professional collector/pin addict, I’m certainly well aware of pinpics and other sites that can help one to identify what’s what, if it REALLY means that much to you. The experience of trading with CMs has completely been eclipsed by the ‘gimme gimme’ trend of simply getting ‘the best’ pin or ‘the most rare’ find. If you like the pin, that’s all that matters (at least that’s what I tell the kids)! I cringe when I see individuals (> 50% of whom are ADULTS) barging up to CMs after the rope drop, sometimes pushing ahead of other people in a crowd, just to get a glimpse of their pins. Then it’s ‘Yeah, I want that Belle one’ or maybe ‘Can I have the Donald?’ NO hello. NO conversation, or even asking, ‘May I see your pins?’ In short, no manners at all. It’s become a spectator sport, and honestly, a large part of why I don’t trade in the parks as much as I used to. 🙁
well if your questions cannot be answered here I would say to check out this person youtube account disneypro33 it is useful for me he/she answered all of my question maybe your can be answered too!!!!!!!
Had it not been for this post, we might’ve learned the hard way. For our upcoming trip (only 10 days away), my wife heard me mention that I had never pin traded and I thought I might have fun. WIth all good intentions, she bought a lot of 25 (for only $11) from ebay from the seller main.street.mania. Once receiving them, she noticed a misspelling on the back of one and we learned that they were all fake (the seller called them “factory seconds”…clever word for “fake”). Further reading (here and some of the legit sites mentioned above by savvy readers) uncovered the truth. Of course, the seller has a great feedback rating, from people like us had we not gotten lucky and noticed an obvious flaw. The seller offers a 10 day return policy and we are returning all of them.
In minutes, we easily located sellers who are collectors with extras to sell (or people who no longer want them) on ebay who specifically state these are all legit (and also have good comment from users specifically stating they are legit pins). If they are on a pin site “green list” of sellers, all the better. So, instead of paying .50 each, we’re going to get a set of 25 where we pay 1.44/each. That’s a pretty cheap way to get into the hobby and still do the right thing to protect intellectual property. If it was your IP, you’d want it protected, right?
Yeah, we would’ve “gotten away with it,” I guess, but you can also dine free by sprinkling ants on your dessert. And you wouldn’t do that just bc you think the meal prices are too high, right? 🙂
Thanks Tom and readers!
Pin trading is an experience. We went in 2008 with my teenage kids. Had a blast going store to store and searching for the pins we wanted. In 2010 our family had a celebration with 15 of us…each person had a different character they collected including the kids. We all had a blast and after park hours and during meals everyone compared pins. I collected tinkerbell and we have made 5 trips in the past 4 years. My daughter gave me a shadow box to display them in for Christmas. Its not about the value of the pins but the fun we all had at searching for them and the memories. Could care less whether they are real or counterfeit. My husband and I ate headed back in September for our first trip with no children and looking forward to trading again.
A cheap way to get pins for trading in disney is to go to a gift shop outside of Disney and buy a pin with Disney characters on in for like 3-5 dollars. Most people can’t tell the difference.