Pin trading at Disneyland

Every time we go to Disneyland, I like to buy the kids a Disney themed t-shirt.  This time around, we found that the shirts I got them for our previous trip still fit them, so I decided to buy them some pins and lanyards instead. 


I've seen people go around Disneyland wearing lanyards studded with pins, but the pins sold at Disneyland seemed so expensive (between $8 and $14 per pin, times 3 kids!), so this time around I planned ahead.  I went on eBay and bought a random assortment of 25 pins for $15, plus 3 lanyards for about $6 each.  Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to get all 3 kids set up with pins to wear for the same cost as a new starter pin trading set! 

All the pins were genuine and in good condition, but since it was a random assortment, there were some pins that no-one wanted.  I told them that Disney cast members wearing lanyards and pins would be happy to trade with them, so after drawing lots for the in-demand pins, they divided the unwanted pins between them, and set out to discover the world of Disney pin trading.

Who would have thought that pin trading could be so much fun?  On earlier visits, when the kids were younger, we would stop for the Disney characters; this time around, we stopped whenever the kids saw a cast member with pins to trade.  They really enjoyed picking out the pins they liked and deciding which of their pins they wanted to trade for it.

While walking in Frontierland, we came across a set of tables where some serious pin trading was taking place.  These people had literally hundreds of pins, and believe me, they knew the value of each and every one.  I doubt if any of my kids' pins would interest them, so the kids didn't even try to offer any pins to trade, but looking at all the collections of rare and limited-edition pins was really interesting.

Unfortunately, 3Po and The Pea lost a few of their own pins while going around the park.  I guess one of the drawbacks of buying used pins on eBay is that the rubber pin backs had become so loose, the pins just fell off without our knowing it.  I bought new rubber pin backs, as well as some locking pin backs so they could secure the pins they didn't want to trade to their lanyards.    

The next time we go to Disneyland, we're going to make a little side trip to eBay once again, to stock up on pins to trade.  What a fun new Disney pastime we've discovered!