Park pin trading experience March 14

[bankr63]

Just back from our first post Covid park visit. DW is a big time trader, I am a minor trader dabbling in Goofy pins. We have been trading for about 12 years.
Today was a MK day and a bit of a bust for someone who goes to the parks mostly to trade. Don't judge Disney, you created us! We didn't find a single CM who was trading. MK has about a dozen shops with trading boards, but mostly contained garbage pins. We actually threw a few of our trades in the garbage they were such obvious scrappers.
We did have a lovely CM at Star Trading who circled all the trading spots on a park map for us, including a few that aren't marked. We didn't notice that the maps have pin trading spots marked out, and this was near the end of the day. Thanks for the pixie dust to her, we had only found about half the locations by then so we looped the park one more time hitting them all.
The biggest problem with the 'new way' is that the boards are always behind the cash, and if the cash is busy you are waiting and then slowing down guests with purchases to make.
Anyone else with tips to share on in Park trading these days? We are hitting DAK tomorrow with only 5 marked locations for trading. Considering we are spending about C$100/pp to trade, that will be a pretty disappointing day.

 

[Her Dotness]

Pin trading began becoming less common even before the pandemic struck, I think. I recall seeing lots fewer people wearing lanyards as long ago as 2014-18 and wondered then if pin trading was running its course.

Last trip in fall 2021, I rarely saw anyone wearing lanyards, not even a half dozen people the entire week.

I'm hoping pin trading picks up again once the pandemic-induced fear of objects wears off somewhat. Collecting and trading pins is such fun.

 

[DL1WDW2]

I think I saw some adorable pins a few months ago at Bonnet Creek Hilton …gift shop.
I used to be a big pin collector but loved my pins too much to trade.
Did you go to the big store in Disney Springs .?
I think they have. Bulletin Board on wall for special activities regarding pin trading. …probably not updated tho
Good luck

 

[bankr63]

An update on day 2 of trading. Technically @DL1WDW2 this is actually day 3 of trading because yes, we hit Pin Traders @ DS on Sunday. Trading there is not what it used to be either. The board comes out occasionally and the CMs still aren't wearing lanyards. Surprising for the premier pin outlet in the area because the whole model of pin trading is to encourage trading.
Happy to report that DAK has trading much more under control and back in business than MK. First you should know that Trading doesn't start until 10:00 am currently. It also closes early in most locations, but all were open until 5:00 or 6:00. We counted 10 pin trading locations.
Unlike MK where pin boards are kept behind the cash, the trading locations at DAK are all separate tables outside the stores. Boards were all jam -packed with pins all day long. MK boards usually have 10 or less pins. The best thing is that CM s attending switch every 30 minutes it seemed, so you aren't (in our minds) breaking the 2 trades per CM rule if you circle back occasionally. We did about 5 loops of park in total.

Lots of pin traders in the park too. We had several trading sessions break out spontaneously around the trading boards. We were able to spread some pixie dust to the younger traders. DW carries a separate pouch with very special pins and it's fun to let the new traders get some very special pins.

All-in-all this was a great trading day experience and we left feeling very satisfied. Oh yeah, we did also manage to ride all the headliners between all that trading. Even made a few trades waiting in line for FOP.

 

[Auti97]

An update on day 2 of trading. Technically @DL1WDW2 this is actually day 3 of trading because yes, we hit Pin Traders @ DS on Sunday. Trading there is not what it used to be either. The board comes out occasionally and the CMs still aren't wearing lanyards. Surprising for the premier pin outlet in the area because the whole model of pin trading is to encourage trading.
Happy to report that DAK has trading much more under control and back in business than MK. First you should know that Trading doesn't start until 10:00 am currently. It also closes early in most locations, but all were open until 5:00 or 6:00. We counted 10 pin trading locations.
Unlike MK where pin boards are kept behind the cash, the trading locations at DAK are all separate tables outside the stores. Boards were all jam -packed with pins all day long. MK boards usually have 10 or less pins. The best thing is that CM s attending switch every 30 minutes it seemed, so you aren't (in our minds) breaking the 2 trades per CM rule if you circle back occasionally. We did about 5 loops of park in total.

Lots of pin traders in the park too. We had several trading sessions break out spontaneously around the trading boards. We were able to spread some pixie dust to the younger traders. DW carries a separate pouch with very special pins and it's fun to let the new traders get some very special pins.

All-in-all this was a great trading day experience and we left feeling very satisfied. Oh yeah, we did also manage to ride all the headliners between all that trading. Even made a few trades waiting in line for FOP.

Would you be willing to share the locations? I am going for the first time with my family in 10 years and when we visited last pin trading was a big part of our trip. Part of the fun was hunting for those cast members with the pin bags. My dad would spot them a mile a way and send us kids to go stop them so we could all trade. It was so much fun! I know its no longer the same but anything you can share about the pin trading locations would be such a huge help!

 

[bankr63]

Happy to @Auti97. As mentioned, there is a "Disney Pins" logo on the park maps for many, but not all, locations and they can move around a bit according to a couple of the CM's we chatted with.

For Magic Kingdom, around the park counter-clockwise we found pin boards at:

Town Square Theater (in the shop area, marked)
Main Street Cinema (beside Uptown Jewelers, not marked)
Star Traders (not marked)
Big Top Souvenirs (marked)
Bonjour (Beside Gaston's - not marked)
Sir Mickey's (Beside Princess Fairytale Hall, not marked)
Fantasy Faire (not marked)
Memento Mori (marked)
Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe (marked)
Frontier Trading Post (marked)
Big Thunder Mountain - on the promenade in front of the ride, the only location NOT in a store, (unmarked)
Pirates of the Carribean (in the dump shop, unmarked)
Emporium (cash closest to the front of park, on the right as you face the door, marked)

For DAK, same rotation:

Garden Gate Gifts
Discovery Trading Company
Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures
Outside Restaurantosaurus (unmarked)
near Dino-Bite Snacks (unmarked)
Serka Zong Bazaar
Beside Mahindi (unmarked)
Near Na'vi River Journey (unmarked)
The DVC kiosk in Pandora was also trading (unmarked)
Island Mercantile (directly across from Discovery Trading above. hit both twice, once on the way in and again on the way out).

There were a lot of unmarked locations in DAK too, but they were easier to find as they were always out in the open.

Happy trading!

 

[bankr63]

I actually just spent some time this weekend inventorying my trades. I added almost 40 new Goofy pins to my main collection. A couple are suspect scrappers based on comments on PinPics, but most appear to be legit. We tossed a few very obvious scrappers while we were in the park.

Worst trading moment was listening to a DVC CM advising a group to just buy a bunch of cheap pins (scrappers) on Amazon and bring them to the parks to trade.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Did you say that the maps that you can get as you enter the parks now have the pin trading spots marked on them? And in AK, there are some unmarked places that trade? Thanks! I like to trade also, and when I stopped at one of the "blue umbrella" (Guest Experience?) spots in DHS, they circled all (or at least most) spots in DHS for pin-trading. The best I found was at Sid Cahuena's. Also, most Disney hotels trade in the front lobby and the hotel's major store (like the front desk at Beach Club and the Beach Club Marketplace.

 

[serenitynow]

Happy to @Auti97. As mentioned, there is a "Disney Pins" logo on the park maps for many, but not all, locations and they can move around a bit according to a couple of the CM's we chatted with.

For Magic Kingdom, around the park counter-clockwise we found pin boards at:

Town Square Theater (in the shop area, marked)
Main Street Cinema (beside Uptown Jewelers, not marked)
Star Traders (not marked)
Big Top Souvenirs (marked)
Bonjour (Beside Gaston's - not marked)
Sir Mickey's (Beside Princess Fairytale Hall, not marked)
Fantasy Faire (not marked)
Memento Mori (marked)
Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe (marked)
Frontier Trading Post (marked)
Big Thunder Mountain - on the promenade in front of the ride, the only location NOT in a store, (unmarked)
Pirates of the Carribean (in the dump shop, unmarked)
Emporium (cash closest to the front of park, on the right as you face the door, marked)

For DAK, same rotation:

Garden Gate Gifts
Discovery Trading Company
Chester & Hester's Dinosaur Treasures
Outside Restaurantosaurus (unmarked)
near Dino-Bite Snacks (unmarked)
Serka Zong Bazaar
Beside Mahindi (unmarked)
Near Na'vi River Journey (unmarked)
The DVC kiosk in Pandora was also trading (unmarked)
Island Mercantile (directly across from Discovery Trading above. hit both twice, once on the way in and again on the way out).

There were a lot of unmarked locations in DAK too, but they were easier to find as they were always out in the open.

Happy trading!

Thanks!

 

[bankr63]

Did you say that the maps that you can get as you enter the parks now have the pin trading spots marked on them? And in AK, there are some unmarked places that trade? Thanks! I like to trade also, and when I stopped at one of the "blue umbrella" (Guest Experience?) spots in DHS, they circled all (or at least most) spots in DHS for pin-trading. The best I found was at Sid Cahuena's. Also, most Disney hotels trade in the front lobby and the hotel's major store (like the front desk at Beach Club and the Beach Club Marketplace.

Yes, but as you can see from my post above, the markings on the maps are far from comprehensive - maybe half the locations are marked. Some of that is probably because some of the locations are mobile, and others aren't actually on the maps (like Sir Mickey's shop in MK). It is worth keeping your eyes peeled.

As mentioned in my first post, the CM we traded with at Star Trading (not a marked location) did something similar for us; circling all of the Pin Trading locations on the map for us.