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For more than twenty years, Guests visiting places like Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort have been able to purchase collectible pins and trade them with other Guests and Cast Members. While Disney has always had pins for sale, pin trading as Guests know it today didn’t start until 1999. Disney introduced pin trading as part of its Millennium Celebration. Pin trading is now an incredibly popular thing at Disney theme parks, with Guests loving getting their hands on a much sought-after pin.
Credit: Disney
Recently, on Reddit, user Whirlwindofemotion asked Guests things that they won’t do at Disneyland. Whether there were certain attractions they wouldn’t experience or restaurants that they never go to. One user chimed in that they never buy pins or popcorn buckets because they will just end up as clutter or tucked away somewhere and forgotten about.
What is something that you refuse to do in the parks?
byu/Whirlwindofemotion inDisneyland
While it may not have been the intention of the Redditor, that comment kicked off a stream of follow-ups, where Guests said that the worst thing about Disney pins is the pin traders. Specifically, the pin traders who set up shop every weekend on the benches at the front of Frontierland in Disneyland Park. These pin traders bring massive binders of pins to the Park, are there when the Park opens, and stay until almost closing. They take up nearly all the bench space at the front of the land, so no Guests can sit there.
Credit: Disney
Many Redditors thought that the pin traders should be kicked out of the Parks. Disney prohibits people from conducting a business while they are in the Parks. These big pin traders don’t just trade the pins. They try to sell them to Guests as well. A lot of the traders have limited-edition and rare pins, so they are hoping Guests will want to purchase them. Redditor u/husbunny says they are one of those people who are trying to ban them.
FYI I’ve made it a mission to get them banned from the SEATING benches in fantasyland. It’s a business they are running in the parks which violates Disney terms of service.
Edit: Fronteirland
Credit: Disney
A lot of commenters called the pin traders/sellers scammers. Someone who was not familiar with the controversial Guests asked why they were scammers. They received an informed and detailed answer from u/vino23.
- They take advantage of people who don’t know the value of the pins and they will give you worthless pins for your best pins that are worth a lot.
- I heard they convince kids to go into stores and buy limited pins (the ones that are one per customer) and when they return they will give the kid a worthless pin in exchange for the limited edition, more valuable pin.
- Lastly, I heard they’re very pushy. One person I remember had a lanyard of pins on his neck and the guy pulled on it to look at it and attempted to trade one of the kids better pins for a less valuable one. The kid said no of course and pulled his lanyard back.
- Also, there’s a huge market of fake pins that people trade. Not sure if the traders on the bench have fake pins but they could. And those are basically worthless.
Credit: Disneyland
Pin trading has become very popular at the theme parks. Disney has dozens of starter packs — a lanyard and various themed pins — as well as hundreds, if not thousands, of pins for sale. If you are looking to do some pin trading, you can always ask a Cast Member. There are also pin boards at a number of cash registers. Cast Members are always willing to trade with Guests.
