Pin Trading at Disney World

If you’re new to visiting Walt Disney World, you might have seen people exchanging  pins with cast members throughout the parks. “Why are they doing this?” You might’ve thought. Well they’re doing what we call pin trading. The short of it is you buy single pins or pin sets at various Disney shops throughout Walt Disney World, and trade with Disney cast members for other pins they have that you would like.

Some cast members wear small pin trading squares with approximately 5 to 10 pins. Other cast members stand in designated locations with a board that contains up to 50 pins. Whenever you encounter either of these cast members, if they have a pin you like on the board or on their square holder, you can ask to trade with them.

The cast members may have pins that have been traded from other guests, such as yourself, but they also have special pins that you can only get through pin trading. A couple of times a year Disney puts out sets of pins with various Disney themes, which are desirable for pin traders.

Pin trading board and lanyard

You may see many visitors with a lanyard around their neck full of pins. Usually these pins are their favorite pins. They want to display and show off to others. If you want one of these lanyards, they are sold in the various Disney shops in the areas that they sell pins. You may want to pick up one so you can also show off your favorite pins.

One final thing, in certain locations, such as Epcot between connection’s Café and Creations Café, and Hollywood Studios at Sid Cahuenga’s, other pin trading enthusiast might sit down with large books of pins to trade with other pin trading enthusiasts. Always ask if you can look at their pins first, but if you see a pin you like you can ask what pin that you have they would like to trade from you.

Pin Set

So there you have it two ways to pin trade in Disney World one with cast members and another with other pin trading enthusiasts.