Pin Trading - Gear for trading

Once you decide to start trading pins, you'll need some gear to help you carry them in the parks. The easiest solution is to buy a lanyard that you wear around your neck. These come in many colors, styles and themes. They can be purchased at the Disney store, in the parks, at stores like Walmart, off the internet, or on Ebay. Some lanyards have a place to hang a lanyard medal at the bottom. A lanyard medal is like a giant pin. Some have a place to hang keys or other small items. My favorite has a small, zippered pouch that I use to store my ID, park tickets, and fast passes. It's great to have the tickets and fast passes in a place that's very easy to get at.

If you don't want the weight of a lanyard hanging around your neck or worry that you may lose pins this way, consider a pin bag. Pin bags come is several sizes, styles, colors, and themes. There are small bags that hold 10-20 pins and large bags that will hold up to 100. It just depends on how much you want to carry. Keep in mind that the more pins you carry, the more weight you will be carrying. For kids, I would recommend a lanyard or very small bag that clips onto a belt or has an across-the-body strap. They probably won't want to carry them all day, but the smaller bags and lanyards can easily be put into a backpack.

So, now that you've decided to start trading, pick a theme, find a lanyard, get out there and have FUN!

Pin Trading - Managing your collection

© Disney

Once you get started pin trading, you will probably have a collection of keepers that grows fairly quickly. Now you have to decide how to keep track of all those pins. How many pins are in a set? Which sets do you have? Which sets are you missing a few from? What do the missing pins look like? The answers to these questions can be found on several websites. 

 Disney's Official Pin Trading website lists all new and soon to be released pins and has good information with pictures of each pin. They also have a few printables to keep track of your cast lanyard collection, pins that can only be obtained by trading with cast members. 

Another great website, called Pin Pics, allows you to not only gather information about each pin, but create a profile that allows you to keep track of which pins you own, which pins you are still looking for, and, if you want, which pins you are willing to trade with other Pin Pics members. I don't trade over the internet, but I do use Pin Pics to keep track of my pin collection. Each pin has a photo and information about the original price, where it was available, rarity, and more. It is a great way to determine whether a pin is worth bidding on on Ebay, too. When you know the original price, you will know how much to bid without paying too much. (I usually don't bid more than 50% of the original price if purchasing from Ebay.) 

A great source of information about pins is Dizpins. They update their information frequently and always seem to know the latest pin news. Now you can easily keep track of your collection and keep up to date on the latest pin news as well.

Pin Trading - Getting Started

In the last few years, I have come to love collecting pins. At first, I didn't understand what all the excitement was about. But now, I love the added adventure of looking for that perfect pin to trade for.

I purchased my first pins off of Ebay. While many collectors complain that you can't guarantee the authenticity of such pins, I've found a few reputable sellers to buy from and haven't had any problems. The great thing about buying off of Ebay is that you can often get pins for $1.50 -$2.00, much less than the $6.50 and up that you would pay in the parks. I generally don't worry about which pins I get when buying from Ebay, after all, you can always trade for what you really want once you get to the parks.

I have several collections of pins that I have put into frames to decorate my home. I love Pirates of the Caribbean and have a frame that has pins surrounding a lithograph of a pirate ship. I also love the Haunted Mansion and have a set of pins surrounding a postcard of the Mansion. It's a fun way to display your collection. For extra pins that I haven't decided where to display yet, I keep them in a soft book with felt pages. Disney sells pin trading bags and books, but they can be a bit pricey, so I made mine. It keeps my pins safe and allows me to look through them quickly and easily.

Once your collection begins to grow, you'll probably want to go through your pins periodically and see if one that you had to have before is now one you'd like to replace with something new. New pins are coming out all the time, so there's always a new set to start collecting. My family likes to trade with cast members exclusively. While some Disney guests will trade with you also, the ones I've met just want my best pins without offering anything good in return. As a result, I just stick to the cast members, who will trade you any pin on their lanyard. You can trade 2 pins with each cast member, each day. This is great for those times when you see more than one pin that you just can't live without. I've gotten some really great, and sometimes rare, pins from cast members. They are a lot of fun to talk to and always willing to trade. Some only trade with children, which is great for the kids, but most will trade with anyone. My niece loves looking at all of the pins and trading with nearly every cast member we talk to, so her collection is ever-changing. She enjoys searching for Princess pins, and pins from her favorite Disney cartoons.

Pin trading is a lot of fun and can be very entertaining. After all, the search for that one perfect pin is a grand adventure. So, get yourself a lanyard and a few pins to get started and get out there, and let the games begin!

Photo of the Week

Every week, I will pick one photo taken by my family on a Disney World trip. This weeks photo of the week comes from The Seas with Nemo and Friends at EPCOT. After riding through on a clammobile, my niece loves to go to the shark room and play with the sharks. There are several little stations for kids to learn about sharks and our oceans. All three of the sharks from Finding Nemo can be found in this room. Kids of all ages like to climb inside Bruce's mouth and wave to the people on the other side. It's quite funny.

Happy President's Day!

I hope everyone has a fantastic President's Day! Enjoy the day off and have a little fun with the kids. I would recommend some crafting using ideas from Family Fun, a Disney owned family magazine and website. Check out the Presidential Portrait game featuring Abe Lincoln or the Rescue Flat George game. Try making cherry pie and Lincoln log cake, a chocolate roll up cake. Talk about the Presidents and above all, Have Fun!

Outlet Store vs. Park, or How to buy the cool stuff without spending a fortune

I love going to Disney World and strolling through the shops browsing for fun new items to add to my ever-growing Disney collection. However, unless you find a rare sale or clearance item, you can end up spending a small fortune. A few years ago, I heard about the three Disney outlet stores located near Disney World. One, Character Outlet, is fairly small and sells both Disney and Universal Studios merchandise at a decent discount. There are two that sell all Disney items and are licensed Disney stores. Disney's Character Premiere, has several items that are discounted 50% or more, but also a lot of items that are regular price. The last store, Character Warehouse, sells items removed from the parks to make way for new merchandise, at a steep discount. This is our favorite Disney store. We've purchased a lot of fun items there at a great price. They have had everything from toys to Pal Mickey costumes, to t-shirts from Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and EPCOT's Food and Wine Festival, all for 50-70% off. They usually have a wide selection and a wide variety of price ranges, with something to suit everyone. We've purchased pins there for $4 or less, picture frames from Tower of Terror ($1) and Star Tours ($5 and it even lights up!), scrapbooking items for 75% off the original price, and a ton more. This store also gives stickers to kids that come in, just like the stickers given out in the parks. It's a little farther from the parks than the others, but offers the best value.

One of the best ways to save money at Disney, is to buy your souvenirs from an outlet store at some time during your trip. Because we usually drive down, we drive right past our favorite store on the way to the parks. As a result, we like to stop BEFORE going into the parks and pick out a few new things. We always budget for souvenirs and allow Bean to pick out a new toy and accessories at Character Warehouse, then don't purchase much in the parks. She usually gets more this way for the same amount of money that we would have spent in the parks. Also, this means that she has something new and exciting before we even get to the parks and so she's less likely to fall in love with something in the parks. If you want to go to the parks first and are spending several days, you still may want to check out the selection at the outlets at some point during your trip. We have often found the same or similar items from the parks in the outlets at a much lower price. It's a fantastic way to save money and still make the kids very happy.

If you would like to visit the outlets, here are the addresses.
Disney's Character Warehouse
Pr1me Outlets International, Suite #95
Mon-Sat 10AM-11PM, Sun 10AM-9PM
4951 International Drive, Orlando, FL 32819
(407)354-3255

Disney's Character Premiere - Suite #1252
Mon-Sat 10AM-10PM, Sun 10AM-9PM
8200 Vineland Avenue, Orlando, FL 32821
(407)477-0222

Character Outlet - Lake Buena Vista Factory Stores
Mon-Sat 10AM-9PM, Sun 10AM-7PM
15629 Apopka Vineland Road, Orlando, FL 32821
(407)238-9301
charout@embarqmail.com

Autographs - An Adventure in Collecting, Part 5 EPCOT

EPCOT is a great place to collect autographs. The lines are generally short and there are many opportunities to meet characters at this park. There are a few character Meet'n'Greets in Future World and several in the World Showcase. And if you're a Disney Visa cardholder, don't forget to take advantage of the special Meet'n'Greet in Innoventions. Not only will your family get a private session with some of the characters, but you'll also receive a free 5x7 photo from the session.

Characters that can be seen on normal days:
Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto
Chip & Dale
Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie*
Alice
Mary Poppins
Mulan*, Mushu*
Belle, Beast*
Snow White, Dopey
Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Piglet

Characters that are sometimes available:
Governor Radcliffe
Marie
Baloo
Donald Duck in 3 Caballero's clothes*, Jose Carioca*

* = only at this park

There are also some special event characters that you can meet at Christmas, only at EPCOT, and sometimes they do sign autographs. They also tell stories about the winter customs of their countries. The stories are very interesting and help children learn about other culture's customs without realizing they are learning. I would recommend getting to each storytelling early and standing as near the front as possible. Depending on when you go, you may be the only family waiting for a storyteller, and you may be chosen to help with the story. (Bean was chosen to help La Befana by holding her broom!)

The special Christmas storytellers are:
Nowell the Lumberjack (Canada)
Father Christmas (United Kingdom)
Pere Noel (France)
Taarji (Morocco)
Daruma Doll Seller (Japan)
Santa & Mrs. Claus (American Adventure)
Hanukkah (American Adventure)
Imani (American Adventure - Kwanzaa)
La Befana (Italy)
Helga & the Nutcracker (Germany)
Monkey King (China)
Sigrid & Julenissen (Norway)
Los Tres Reyes Magos (Mexico)