Disney Pin Trading: Personal Collection
I've been pin trading at Walt Disney World and on the Cruise Line for over 20 years, and I've amassed the kind of pin collection where I don't want to part with any of my personal collection. In fact, last time I visited Walt Disney World, I bought a pack of 100 random pins just so I would have some to trade with.
Some people might not understand the allure of Disney pins. After all, they are a little bit expensive, and have a pretty limited function. Personally, I think they are a great souvenir. They are small so not a problem to carry in luggage. They are each unique and help preserve memories of Disney. They can be sentimental, even, as many of mine are.
In this post, I thought I'd show off my favorites from my collection so you can see what kinds of pins are out there and what the allure is.
Let's start with the ones with years. The above pin was actually bought for me by a friend who lives in California. I have never been to Disneyland, but feel like it's awfully neat to be able to own a piece of Disneyland in spite of that.
I took my first Disney Cruise in 2011. I love this pin because it has the names of THREE ships printed on it, which were the only ships sailing at the time we took our cruise. You could only purchase this pin aboard a cruise ship.
Now, on to my Animal Kingdom pins:
It's no secret that Animal Kingdom is my favorite park. I have quite a few Animal Kingdom themed pins, but these two are my favorites. The one above has fibers from one of the costumes from the show in that little bubble.
This one is just pretty! It's the original symbol of Asia at Disney's Animal Kingdom, and if you look at the smoke from the dragon's mouth, it is meant to loosely resemble the word Asia.
The following pins are some of my most treasured because you can only get them if you are a Cast Member. I can't get Cast Member pins anymore and Cast Members won't trade for their Cast Member pins.
The above pin was the pin I got for being a Cast Member at Disney's Animal Kingdom. We got these at a Cast Member event after hours at the park. The event was epic. We got a private show in the Festival of the Lion King theater and the tumble monkeys did a, uh, very g-rated strip-tease. After that, I got to join a friend of mine and fellow Cast Member who was "very close friends" with Mickey Mouse to see where the characters hung out when they were not on stage. It was a really neat place, almost like a gym/lounge. Oh, memories!
I love that the symbol across the top of this pin is the old Animal Kingdom symbol with the dragon because this was back in 1999 when there was still talk of making a "mythical creatures" land in Animal Kingdom. In fact, there was still a dragon on the Discovery river between what was then Camp Minnie-Mickey and Africa that would shoot fire out of its mouth.
This pin is nestled between my Harambe Village pin (pretty generic pin, so no picture, but I love it anyway) and my EPCOT world in Mickey's hands pin.
The above pin is not the most well-made pin in the entire world, for sure, but I love it anyway because each Cast Member got this at the end of 1999 as a thank you for continuing to deliver the magic.
Company D is one of the best perks of being a Cast Member! It's a Cast Member only Disney merchandise store, literally the company store. There were a few locations, always only accessible backstage. There was also a clearance every Thursday in the big parking lot behind the Magic Kingdom (that most people don't know is there) where tons of merch that was either damaged or overstocked was sold for extra cheap. Company D is where I bought my favorite sweater ever which was an embroidered wool sweater with a very discrete Mickey on the pocket. It retailed for $80 or so. I got it for about $20.
Oh, man, what a nostalgia trip! Ok, time for other random cool pins:
Let me just start by saying Tink looks downright sassy in this one, doesn't she? This was an Event-only pin for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. The moon glows in the dark.
Heya. Heya nay nay. Hey ay hey ay. Oh hey nay.
For some of you that is garbledygook and for others, you are singing those words in your head because this pin depicts one of the puppets from the best parade ever - Tapestry of Nations at EPCOT. This parade ran for a very limited time, but was SO good. At one point, I had three of these in different colors. I traded two away. And then Tapestry of Nations ended its run and I will not part with this one.
The above pin is my most recent acquisition. I think Mickey is sunburned! From a dream stay in a DVC suite at the Polynesian Village Resort.
I have a thing for gimmicky pins too. If it turns, opens, etc, I want it. This one turns so you can make your own fireworks show behind the castle.
This was the first pin I purchased for my daughter on her first Disney vacation when she was 4 years old. But then she started collecting her own pins and ran out of room for this and I seem to have inherited it. I love it though. I mean, Yoda, in a Mickey hat, eating a Mickey bar, and encountering the fairly standard 40 inches size restriction. What's not to love? Maybe we have no wee ones anymore, but I think this pin is a keeper.
Finally, my very favorite pin, which I've turned into a magnet so I can see it more often:
The outside says "It all started with..."
Then you open it and it says "Walt Disney", which is sort of a play on the "It all started with a mouse" quote. The inside has depictions of Steamboat Willie and the famous Walt and Mickey photograph. I mean, put Walt on just about any pin and I have to have it. We should never forget the man behind the magic and he's always going to be more important to me than even my favorite character, Buzz Lightyear.
I hope you enjoyed this little showcase. You can see my pin collection is all about memories and sentimentality. Well, and also gimmicky pins, but hey! There are some really cool pins out there. Check out last week's post about pin trading if you haven't already, and if you like this blog, send a friend to our site. See you next week!
