One of my favorite things to do at a Disney park is trade pins. They're the perfect souvenir because they're small, inexpensive, and long-lasting. They're a lot of fun to trade, even for casual traders like me. My pins would be of no interest to the serious pin trader who owns dozens of binders of rare pins worth thousands of dollars, but many Disney park cast members wear lanyards filled with pins, and they are happy to trade any pin you want with them, up to two pins per day. Most of the pins sold in the parks are sold in all parks, but there are some pins that are exclusive to each park. So when we planned our first-ever visit to Disneyland Paris, I was determined to carve out some time to browse, buy, and trade pins.
Pin trading and buying at Disneyland Paris is a little bit different than pin trading at the US Disney Parks. First of all, it's not as popular in Paris as it is in the States. Not many park guests wear pin lanyards. Second, many cast members around the park wear pins, but they don't trade them. Pin trading with cast members is limited to the cast members in the stores. Third, the 2-pins-per-cast-member rule in the States doesn't seem to apply in Paris; I asked a cast member about it and he said, "Trade as many pins with me as you want!". I traded a few pins with cast members, but the pins I got didn't seem specific to Paris, they look like the same cast member pins traded in the US. But I wasn't too disappointed, because the fourth difference is that many of the pins sold in stores are completely different!
There were so many awesome Disneyland Paris pins that I'm never going to see again, so I had to take photos of all of them. I apologize for the quality of the photos; unlike in the US, the pins sold here are all wrapped in plastic (that's difference #5). Below are all of the pins unique to Disneyland Paris that I saw:
These pins feature Mickey and Minnie posing with the Eiffel Tower or a Paris sign that resembles the classic Paris Metro station sign. I usually restrict my pin buying to 1 per trip, and I ended up getting the J'aime Paris stamp pin, but I could have easily bought all of them!
These pins depict Mickey and Minnie as Parisian locals. My favorite one is the Chef Mickey pin!
I noticed that quite a few pieces of merchandise sold around Disneyland Paris feature the US Stars and Stripes and the British Union Jack. Of course, the French Tricolore sports the exact same 3 colors (red, white, and blue), so the patriotic pins below are a nod to all 3 nations!
The Eiffel Tower Collection is really nice, featuring the Eiffel Tower in a themed wrap -- Minnie, Mickey, Tinkerbell, Cheshire Cat, and pink crystals. Jammy bought the Mickey-themed Eiffel pin.
Disneyland Paris (DLP) also sells a few attraction pins; below are five of my favorites because these attractions are unique to Disneyland Paris. I'm including Rock N Rollercoaster even though I now they have it in Orlando, because we don't have it in Anaheim! Space Mountain 2 is completely different from the other Space Mountains, both inside (updated ride) and outside (steampunk design). DLP's version of the Haunted Mansion (Phantom Manor) is also completely different, inside (different graveyard, plus the addition of a ghost Western town) and outside (Victorian manor vs. New Orleans manor). I believe the Moteurs Action stunt show has a similar version in Orlando, but the one in Paris is narrated in French and English -- plus the pin has the French title! Finally, Sleeping Beauty's Castle looks completely different!
The Disney animated movie Ratatouille is set in France, so it is has an entire area of Walt Disney Studios devoted to it (Remy's Plaza) as well as a ride unique to DLP (Ratatouille). It's no wonder that DLP also has Ratatouille-themed pins that uniquely capture the flavor (pun intended) of France.
Disneyland Paris doesn't just sell pins with "Paris" on them. For example, the pin on the top left and the three pins in the bottom row below are unrelated to Disneyland Paris but exclusive to Disneyland Paris -- a vintage Mickey compass pin, an Inside Out movie pin (the French version is called Vice-Versa!), a summertime Anna & Elsa pin (from June 2015), and a beautiful Tinkerbell pin done in an Art Nouveau frame.
One pin (top right) that caught my attention must have been released fairly recently; it's a suitcase-shaped pin with all the Disney Parks locations on it, including the newest Disney park in Shanghai, so I'm guessing it will be sold at all the parks.
Which DLP pins do you like best? If you have been to Disneyland Paris, did you see any other pins?
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