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!
I’m wondering what changed for you regarding scrappers. Since the pin boards are full of them and don’t show signs of stopping, that’s all I’ll buy for my daughter to trade — since reading the former version of this blog post. If she’s getting scrappers in return I’m not spending extra for her to trade away better ones. Happy to change my behavior once WDW does…
Last November, Disney changed some verbiage on its Disneyland page that suggested they were going to start only accepting authentic pins. But nothing actually changed, it was just words. And those same words were never added to the Walt Disney World page.
Still, it puts me in a weird spot–I don’t really want to recommend scrappers given Disney’s new language, which could make buying them risky. But they’re not backing it up with action, so if I were personally pin trading, I’d probably still buy scrappers for now. YMMV, I guess.
Makes sense, thank you for the reply! We’ll keep waiting to hear about changes. It’s really one of my daughter’s favorite things!
We are casual Disney folks, but we love getting pins as relatively cheap, portable, and display-able souvenirs when we go. A favorite tradition is getting a pin when we ride a big ride (especially since my kiddo is big enough and brave enough).
One of my favorite memories is a kid coming up to me to trade (I had no idea this was a thing then). I wasn’t willing to give up my Bing Bong pin, but I happily traded my Fear one for a Tinkerbell, which I then traded at a post for a She Hulk. His mom made sure it was fair, but I really didn’t care. It was fun and a way to share the magic.
Well, that did not take long since the last update: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disneyland-bans-benches-scrappers-in-new-pin-trading-etiquette/
Here’s hoping this is actually enforced, and the boards and lanyards are once again full of good, official pins.
I’m confused as in the same post you mention (and provide a link to) the value of buying from Amazon but the also go on to rail against it. Am I missing some delineation between the two?
You go in HARD on trying to convince people that scrappers are okay, Tom. They’re not, and they never will be. Disney apparently thinks so too (according to @Lisa’s comment), but even if they didn’t…it’s other fans you’re ripping off with your scrappers, not Disney.
I searched the site, and the only other post of thousands that mentions scrappers is a DCL packing list. I wouldn’t say that’s going hard. I would hope I’ve presented the bad and good of scrappers so that first-timers can make an informed decision. Obviously, my perspective is what it is.
Tom, I was told this past weekend by several cast members there is a park-wide shortage of official pins at the trading posts. At one, I noticed the board was fairly empty and the cast member let me know they are having a problem with too many fakes. They are not supposed to accept fakes but sometimes they slip by and then all the “good” pins get taken by those who just gave a fake. She eluded that this is a major problem and they need to find a solution as it’s no longer enjoyable by the collectors.
Very interesting, thank you for sharing! Perhaps there will be an official policy change by Walt Disney World. If so, I will definitely update this post accordingly!
I am heading to WDW in July. My family loves pin trading. I am finding mixed reviews and blogs about pin trading.
Are castmember lanyards coming back?
Are pin trade boards hard to locate?
Is the pin trade going away?
Any updates would be appreciated.
Instead of buying scrapper pins, why not join a pin trading group on Facebook? I have found many legitimate pins for in the $3-$6 range. its not $1 but at least you would be trading something real. I also do not have buckets of money to spend on the hobby for my daughter, but $30-60 for 10 legitimate pins to trade is more than acceptable. We were very sad to see that almost all of the pins that she traded for on our last trip were fake, this was before we knew that these fakes even existed.
I have to say, I know this is supposed to be fun, but if you see someone with a lanyard of really nice pins, don’t expect that they’re going to fork over their best one for some non-descript, scratched up piece fished out of the bottom of a bag because they’re afraid to disappoint a child. I had a parent send their kid up to me with a pin from whatever corporation mom worked for; the kid then pointed out the most expensive articulated Haunted Mansion pin I’ve had for twenty-five years, expecting me to give it to her. That was a very uncomfortable conversation.
Thank you we don’t collect pins so I had no idea where to get them. We’re going on a cruise soon and I heard there might be a pin trading thing. I thought it might be something nice for my littles to do for socializing and feeling a part of something by participating. I completely understand the frustration of fakes and over populated pins but in my situation this is exactly what I need. Even if my kids receive cheap knock offs from their trades, as long as they’re happy and feel they were apart of the magic. Thank you again!
Hi, there are Disney pins at stores such as box lunch. Would that be considers authentic or a scrapper?
As long as they have Disney’s copyright stamp on the back, pins purchased at stores like Box Lunch or Hot Topic are considered authentic and tradeable. Only ones I so far know not to be are fan made “fantasy” pins that don’t have Disney’s markings on the back.
Our 14 year old twins tried pin trading for the first time on our last WDW vacation and they both loved it! It’s like a scavenger hunt finding the trading locations and a treasure hunt swapping for the pins you want. We ended up spending a LOT of time on it but the kids pin collections are the best souvenir we’ve ever purchased at Disney.
We have been to Disney World three times, and are heading there in November of 2023. Pin trading is one of the favorite activities of my three girls. We found scrappers the second time we went, and will be utilizing them again on this trip. With two adults and three kids, the cost can be daunting. We do buy pins while we are there, that’s fun too, however we love to trade with cast members. If we trade it is because we like what we see, not if it is a genuine pin or not. Thanks for the advice and links.
I found like 8 pins that I’m looking for on the picture of the board you posted!
I purchase one or two pins as an inexpensive souvenir each trip; usually resort or DCL ship specific, or special events.
Several years ago while having breakfast outdoors at the Boardwalk Bakery, we met a few couples on their way to a “Pin Event” in Epcot. They were each strolling several large rolling suitcases full of pins. One couple estimated that they had spent over $100,00 in pins, the other couple estimated that they were in for over $200,000 in their years of collecting pins.
My husband no longer grumbles about my pin budget of $10 to $20 per trip.
I saw this post a couple of years ago or one like it. It was the most fun the little ones had at the parks and the resort. Never even knew about pin trading before reading this blog. There would be no way we could afford to buy pins for 6 kids. It’s something they still talk about. By the way, we also bought our Disney t-shirts at Kohls. Because we didn’t buy them at the parks are they somehow fake? Disney has a business with other companies to sell their items. Disney allows the companies to have the scrappers to sell.
This is exactly why we share the scrapper recommendation. Pin trading is a great activity for kids, but one that would be inaccessible due to the cost for many families. Scrappers get many kids into the hobby, which is a GOOD thing if you ask me. I think many of the ‘pin purists’ are missing the forest for the trees.
With that said, the Kohls shirts example isn’t quite apples to apples. What’s likely happening with scrappers is that factories in China that produce pins for Disney are making overruns on their own, and selling them via third parties. That, or they’re selling the imperfect pins they know Disney would reject. Not quite the same as licensing out characters for third party products.
Still, if Disney wanted to stop scrappers, they absolutely could. Why random people on the internet feel that it’s their job to “police” this practice–even when it’ll have zero impact–is absolutely beyond me. Scrappers are not going anywhere unless Disney wants to put an end to them. They don’t, so they won’t!
Beyond disappointed that your advice to people is to buy fake/scrapper pins off of eBay or Amazon and trade those in the parks. You can get official Disney pins from Shop Disney on sale if you watch for them. I love pin trading, but there’s nothing more frustrating than coming to the parks with authentic pins to trade, picking out one on the board, trading my real pin for it, and then getting a closer look and realizing it’s fake. Yes, the cast members can’t turn it down from someone, but at that point your just taking advantage of them and knowing they can’t tell you or your kids no as you rip open a bag with a Alice pin where she’s got green hair and no pupils on the pin. Buy authentic pins and if you can’t maybe you don’t need to participate in pin trading!
If the differences between scrappers and authentic pins are so noticeable, why make the trade in the first place? Either they’re obvious, or they aren’t.
While I understand your sentiment, the reality is that scrappers are all over pin trading boards, and have been since we got into the hobby over a decade ago. Disney could change their policy on them (either the production of scrappers or accepting them for trades), but they’ve opted against doing so.
No individual action is going to change the reality of scrappers. That’s why we recommend parents who don’t really care either way just save the money and buy scrappers. Obviously, the advice is different for serious collectors–but they’re likely not reading a 101 article for advice.
Hi Tom, HNY to you and Sarah.
Your recommendations on this post for buying pins cheap are put of stock, and don’t look likely to be back available (unless you know otherwise?). Do you have any up to date recommended sites etc please?
Cheers,
Gary.
Thanks for the heads up–I’ve updated the links!
I am going to let you know that if you are buying those pins for cheap, you are getting scrappers or fake pins! Those aren’t the real version of the pins and it can be slight differences that you might not even notice. Disney boards have tons of fakes on them, but it isn’t really being ethical when you trade for a fake pin for a real pin….You shouldn’t be telling people to buy fake or scrapper pins.
Enjoyed your information given. THANKYOU!
I collect pins from Disney PLACES and EVENTS. I buy one each time we visit a new Disney resort hotel. This includes the ones at DL, WDW, Tokyo, and Hilton Head. I have one from each park I’ve visited. Also any other Disney place that has pins…Walt Disney Family Museum, Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, etc. Events would be the grand opening of a new attraction or land, a park anniversary, etc. If I didn’t limit my collecting to places and events, I’m afraid I’d go crazy and have to rent a storage locker!!