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!
Does anyone know where to get the limited edition pins before they make it to ebay for $150?
We were at Disney in 2011 and my 2 youngest really got into trading. We are going back next summer. I was wondering if any of you had problems with the kids losing the pins with those black rubber backs they come with? Both of my kids lost a couple and they were really upset. I was thinking about checking out Hobby Lobby and getting the old metal backs that have that pincher clasp?
The metal pincher clasps definitely work better than the rubber mickey head backs. You can also buy locking clasps that use a little tool to lock the pin in place, although they can do some damage to the pin by denting the stickpin part.
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I find it entertaining how different people can be in their approach to pin trading. Our trip in January included 5 kids and 3 adults. This was the first trip where I introduced pin trading to the kids. The 13 year old tried to get complete sets of hidden Mickey cast member pins. The 11 year old wanted anything Stitch…but traded for anything and everything she liked. The 9 year old was picky and only traded maybe a dozen times the entire week. The 7 year old traded with every cast member she met. Didn’t matter if they had a pin she liked or not. She had no desire to keep any of the pins. She just wanted to trade. The 4 year old only traded once. She waited until she found the perfect pin, traded for it, and was done. She had no intention of giving up that perfect pin.
What I do is I buy a lot of pin off eBay and I then trade with the cast members for better ones. I also like to keep a few princess ones so I can give it to a little girl. I one filled a lanyard with pins and then gave that to a little girl who didn’t have any disney “bling” on.
I’m keen to buy some pins pre trip for trading but hunting for real ones on amazon and eBay is making me anxious. I was excited to see your links to reputable sellers but thought I’d let you know the amazon link now has a lot of one one star reviews where buyers weren’t allowed to trade in the parks because some/all of the pins they received were fake.
Wanted to give you a heads up to save future readers from buying any subpar pins.
Love your articles, they’re helping me in my mad planning so much!
Thanks for this article. It was very helpful and insightful. My brother, sister, and I (all grown up now) are heading to Disney next week for a much-anticipated vacation (we don’t get away too terribly often).
I guess I get why people go nuts trying to get complete sets or rare pins. Honestly, though, I’m just seeing this is as probably being a great opportunity for interacting with cast members, and would be content just leaving with several pins I really like, no matter what the rarity.
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So I have learned the hard way and bought pins from Ebay just got them yesterday. I’m returning they all look fake to me even though we are new to this. The seller is trying to go back and forth with me.
Now my thing is I am doing this as fun for my 3 year old, now if we do buy the real thing at the park we are not going to know if the cast member is giving us a real or a fake in trade. How can you win at this game?
I think I will just buy at the park and see how we go.
There are lots of other places you can trade pins. It’s not just with cast member lanyards. Many stores throughout the parks have books of pins, hats with pins, boards with pins, & vests with pins. All available for trade. Each park also has a stroller covered in pins. You just have to ask to see it. We last stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge and both Jamba House and Kadani had pin books at the gift shop, front desk, and bell hop. They also had a guy named “King Pin” who traded every Friday afternoon at Jamba house. That one was lots of fun.
I would assume all the Disney hotels would have similar experiences for guests.
My family just went to Disneyland in June and did both parks. I intentionally did not start pin trading until the second day because I didn’t want to make it an obsession. I wanted our young child’s first Disney experience to be more about the parks. I had remembered something about different colored lanyards in your post above and finally got around to getting my son to trade with a cast member the last evening. She told me they are no longer distinguishing the color lanyards for kids versus adults for cast member pin trading. You may want to update your earlier post above so folks aren’t needlessly looking for certain colored lanyards. I can’t thank you enough for all the valuable information on this blog. I will find time later to properly thank you for the photography tips that inspired me to get a new camera and fire up the old photography hobby as if I was in my college days in the 80’s. Fireworks with a tripod and all behind the Partners statute. I will say it is kind of obvious you don’t have kids because I find myself thinking that if you did some of your comments would be somewhat different and essentially more inclusive. Every once in a while you may want to say someone with kids chime in and let give your thoughts. Which obviously many people already do. You give so much good information that the average reader may think what you said is everything they need to know. For instance, I know I have seen this advice somewhere but it is worth repeating. If you have backpacks with stuff and camera equipment you don’t want to put in a locker and or have a kid that can fit in a stroller. Do yourself a favor and rent a stroller and put your bags in that and get your kid to ride in the stroller every now and then so they don’t get too tired if you are trying to stay late. Don’t leave you stuff in stroller when you go on rides or eat. I should give you far more credit for the advice you do give parents because you are obviously still a kid at heart as all of us tuning in here still like to think we are as well. Thanks Tom!
My kids just recently became pin traders and I was going to go online and buy some. Went to the Amazon dealer you recommended in your article and it has had some reports of fakes and pins that have been rejected. They were recent ones too. I just want to make sure that I am getting a reputable seller. Do you have any others that you recommend? Thanks!
My family went to Disney World in 2013. Before we left I bought everyone 6 pins and a lanyard from a seller on E-bay. The day I handed everyone the lanyards with the pins on them I got a so-so response. Our first park the year was Epcot and it took awhile for the first member of the family to trade. Everyone was watching this transaction and the interaction with the cast member. After that the trading was on. It became the favorite activity of everyone. We started hunting our favorite sets and trying to complete them before we went home. Except the 5 year old. He would trade with everyone for anything. On the way home everyone decided that pin trading was the most fun we had. And I might add my family are ride freaks so we had fun with that too.
Awesome to hear that pin trading went over so well. To me, the interactions are what make it fun…not the possibility of getting some “valuable” pin.
Thanks for the great info. I was very interested in learning about pin trading before my trip and this was very helpful. Here’s what I’ve come back with: The lots of multiples of 25 on ebay cost on average 47 cents per pin and are all scrappers/fakes. Pins in the parks start at $7.95 per individual pin, and less for starter sets, but never anywhere near the ebay price. I interacted with about 30 CMs at DW and saw their lanyards, and saw the pin boards at our resort hotel, MK’s Frontier Trading, and MK Emporium. These were almost exclusively, in my estimation, fakes. Occasionally there was a pin that looked like it came from a starter set, but I never saw any pin for trade that was currently available as an individual pin for sale in a shop. There are 95K+ pins listed on pinpics. CMs have no idea whether a pin is real or not and don’t even look at them. They also don’t vet their pin boards before bringing them out at their designated display times. I’m sure they know that they are displaying fakes, but if you want to trade a real pin of yours for one that is fake, they aren’t going to stop you. The ebay pins are generally ones that are small and simple. I bought over a hundred and saw only a few that had the same design as those currently for sale. Given that the CMs and bulletin boards are displaying almost all fakes, it makes no sense to go buy a real pin just to trade it for a fake. It’s a shame, but that’s just how it is. In the end I bought about 12 pins that I loved — glittery ones, ones with moveable pieces, multi-level ones – and I traded my ebay pins for other ebay pins that I liked better. My guess is that this sort of approach is not uncommon and benefits Disney because people still end up spending a lot of money on official pins.
Thanks for the great info. I was very interested in learning about pin trading before my trip and this was very helpful. Here’s what I’ve come back with: The lots of multiples of 25 on ebay cost on average 47 cents per pin and are all scrappers/fakes. Pins in the parks start at $7.95 per individual pin, and less for starter sets, but never anywhere near the ebay price. I interacted with about 30 CMs at DW and saw their lanyards, and saw the pin boards at our resort hotel, MK’s Frontier Trading, and MK Emporium. These were almost exclusively, in my estimation, fakes. Occasionally there was a pin that looked like it came from a starter set, but I never saw any pin for trade that was currently available as an individual pin for sale in a shop. There are 95K+ pins listed on pinpics. CMs have no idea whether a pin is real or not and don’t even look at them. They also don’t vet their pin boards before bringing them out at their designated display times. I’m sure they know that they are displaying fakes, but if you want to trade a real pin of yours for one that is fake, they aren’t going to stop you. The ebay pins are generally ones that are small and simple. I bought over a hundred and saw only a few that had the same design as those currently for sale. Given that the CMs and bulletin boards are displaying almost all fakes, it makes no sense to go buy a real pin just to trade it for a fake. It’s a shame, but that’s just how it is. In the end I bought about 12 pins that I loved — glittery ones, ones with moveable pieces, multi-level ones – and I traded my ebay pins for other ebay pins that I liked better. My guess is that this sort of approach is not uncommon and benefits Disney because people still end up spending a lot of money on official pins.
Thanks for the advice! I’m going to DisneyWorld in a week and it will be my first time pin trading! Your article helped me understand what to expect! Can’t wait to get a taste of the world of pin trading 🙂
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Have read the article and some comments…I actually have had cast members refuse a couple of pins because they knew the pins were fake…I didn’t know, so they told me of the stamp on the back, the ones we had didn’t have the stamp…now I kind of look but just have fun collecting and trading…my son does Stitch and some others but I do Alice in Wonderland and a few sets. We just think its fun to hunt for the ones we need in the collections & sometimes we hunt for pins more than doing the attractions. I’m not even sure how many we have, but it’s a huge amount! We just love fun of the hunt, it’s like a scavenger hunt and seeing how the different cast members interact. Some are very nice and informative and have even given some to us without trading but there was also one that wouldn’t even let me touch a pin or the landyard…not a Disney friendly cast member! Have fun all…it is all just in fun!!!
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Disney provides a “Pin Trading Etiquette” print out.