Tips about Pins

You don't have to wait for your next trip to WDW to show off your favorite Disney pins. I use my smaller pins (Goofy is my favorite) for tie tacks. I just use a tie tack back/chain from a "real" tie tack. I work at a K-3 grade school, and the kids love to check them out. They also look great on my collection of Goofy ties. - Paul "Goofyhouk" Houk

My husband and our two daughters age 3 and 5, love to pin trade when we visit Walt Disney which is usually 2 times a year. As anyone can tell you the pins are not cheap and usually when we buy some they don't want to trade those away. So on our last trip in April 2004, I started collecting pins on ebay and Disney Deals.com at a much cheaper price a few months beforehand and those we took to the theme parks and traded away. My husband and daughter's loved it and it was much cheaper too. - April Coughlan

I noticed the first time my girls were so caught up in the pin trading they were trading pins they had just purchased for different pins, just to trade them at the next store or ride. So i came up with this idea and it was great...Before you go to DisneyWorld, get online and shop for pins. Usually discontinued sets are a real bargin! Be sure and purchase original pins (no one wants a knock off).Ttake these pins on your trip and then you will have all the fun of trading and chance of getting a unique pin. not to mention the pins that you trade may be ones others are looking for! - Sam Knight

Pin Trading Backpacks - they are great because the straps are comfortable on the neck and back and they hold a lot of pins. The lanyards tend to be heavy, bother some folks/kids around the neck and sometimes the pins fall off. But beware......if you set the backpack down you may not see it again. My 12 yr old's backpack was stolen from a bench at the Wishing Well near the castle in the MK last week. We checked lost and found daily, but it was not returned. There was a Pal Mickey in it as well as probably $500 in pins. Make sure you put a luggage tag on it just as you would any other bag you're travelling with. - Michele M. McQuillen

My tip of the week is an interesting twist on pin collecting. We just returned from WDW for spring break and our 3-1/2-year-old daughter had finally reached the 40" tall mark. To celebrate her first rides on Test Track, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Tower of Terror, and others, we would find a pin that represented the ride she had just experienced for the first time (not hard since you almost always get dumped into a gift shop post-ride) and have a "ceremony," placing it on her lanyard. We would make a huge fuss, and more often than not the Cast Members who worked in the gift shops would really help us ham it up. These "ceremonies" were the highlight of our trip. The thought of the "ceremonies" also helped bolster her courage when she was not sure if she wanted to ride a particularly "scary" attraction. - Scott Hart

For avid pin collectors, it is usually difficult to find good trading pins on Cast Members' lanyards once we have a good size collection of our own. If you wander back into the little shops in the countries in Epcot (especially the ones farther back, such as Morocco) you have a much better chance of a good "find" on a Cast Member's lanyard. Please save one or two for me, though!!!! - Peggy from Florida

My 13 year old daughter and I bought personalized "Guest of Honor" pins at one of the Disney's Hollywood Studios stores. We wore them every day of our visit this year and the reaction was AMAZING! Yes, Cast Members are already friendly and personable, but if you want EXTRA attention and interaction, WEAR ONE OF THESE PINS! Our server at our Chef Mickey's Character Breakfast called us by name from the start and wanted to know why my husband didn't have a name tag. Several characters including Ariel and Mickey Mouse signed my daughter's autograph book "To Christine" and that's pretty cool given that Mickey doesn't talk! Everywhere we went - rides, shows, food stops - we got "Hello, Brenda and Christine" and extra attention. I have two theories about why - one is that maybe they thought we were visiting Cast Members, the other is that wearing these pins made it clear that we were truly in the "we're ready for fun at WDW" mode. Whatever the reason, these pins were the best $3 investments we could have made for making a great visit even better. - Brenda Burchett

We just returned from a fab tour of Disney and we met a Cast Member who gave our 8-year-old daughter a little tip. There's a series of pins out called "Wild About Safety." They feature Timon and Pumbaa and give advice on how to stay safe on Disney rides. It was our understanding that only CMs who work the attractions will have these pins. They will often be a "mystery" pin on the CM's lanyard - pinned so the pin is facing the CM and hidden from view. Some will give a little clue by having a safety pin pinned on their lanyard above it. Happy pin trading! - Michele

Looking for a unique way for your youngsters (or anyone else for that matter!) to carry around their pin collection? During my recent 8-day stay, I noticed several children using the long, floppy ears attached to their Goofy hats as the perfect place to display their pins. Not only did it allow them to avoid having a strap around their neck during the warmer afternoon hours, but more than a few cast members working at the various pin trading outlets were overheard lavishing praise on the young traders. - Richard Simms

My boys, ages 3, 6, and 7, are very into pin trading. They have large collections that reflect their interests. When we were home I found the pins were collecting dust, so I created pin boards for them. I bought an artist's canvas then covered it with a thin layer of batting and some fabric they chose from the fabric store. My husband added a bit of wire to hang them and voila! Their pins are on their walls, over their beds where they can show them off to guests or do some trading with each other. It has really made the magic of Disney a daily occurrence in their bedrooms! - Beth Spellman