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Walt Disney World Pin-Deavour Visit Report For April 7-12th 2019

Walt Disney World Pin-Deavour Visit Report For April 7-12th 2019

NCDragon

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My DW had a conference planned for at a WDW resort during the 2nd week of April, (Coronodo Springs to be exact!). I managed to stow away as excess baggage. I packed some loose fitting shirts, some good walking jeans and what I thought to be good walking shoes. And of course… PINS!!!

To save some time, and effort, instead of pinning all the pins onto the cloth pages, I loosely packed the pins in a couple of plastic freezer bags and rolled them up to fit inside the trader bag, along with my Kindle the mp3 player and earphones.
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At the airport Security check-in X-ray machine, the TSA rep liked to blew a gasket! Little did I realize that the pins, rolled up as they were, looked VERY much like a couple of sticks of dynamite inna carry-on bag! After the support of a back-up rep to explain what “Disney Trading Pins” were, I was allowed to proceed with just a snarky glare for “giving her the business”.

We arrived around mid-day Sunday and took the Disney Magic Bus to the resort where they DID have a room for us, earlier than expected! The bags were expected later so… DW went off to her conference lecture, (she joined me in the parks after Tuesday), and I took off to Disney Springs to trade some pins with Cast Members! (Thanks to all who helped me out with locations to find pins at!). And, the pins were there. Each Cast Member in the stores had a lanyard or access to a pin board. There were quite a few that I had not seen and a few that looked very much like the scrappers of old.

The next day, Monday, our Park Hoppers kicked in and I made a bee-line to the Magic Kingdom. I needed some Disney MAGIC and that is still the best place to find it! Once I cross under the RailRoad and into the Town Square, I forget the world behind me!

The Pin Station, in Celebration Central, was the first place I visited. LOTS of pins on lanyards and a pin board that they brought out for me to drool over. I talked with the Manager briefly about what pins I was likely to see in MK and what known scrappers were being dumped on lanyards. She told me that the CMs were being told to accept all pins, regardless of pedigree, and to smile and thank the person for trading.

I found loads of pins and LOTS of friendly smiles behind each lanyard everywhere I went. Most of the pin lanyards were either with the CMs in the stores on Main-Street USA or in the stores associated with rides and adventures. I went nutz for the vinylmations, which had not come out until after my self-imposed pin-sabbatical began. These are unique and I’ve fallen into the trap of needing them all, of course!

Next, Animal Kingdom and its steamy path-ways (even in April!). There were a few pins tucked away here in different places, always traded with a smile and kind thank-yous! The fun place, was the store just as you come in from the parking lot. The pin hat nearly always had something I could drool over!

BTW, Pandora, for the immediate future, has NO pin trading within the area of its realm. The reason being? They finally received their new Pandora/Avatar pins and will ONLY be selling those for awhile it seems.

Hollywood Studios was a bit of a disappointment for me in both pins availability and with the original Disney art store that used to sell serial cels for collecting. The pins were mostly scrappers, from what I could tell, and oddly colored to boot! The art store had no cels and had not seen any for quite a few years. Another Disney cool collectible, at least on those I could afford, gone!

EPOT/World Showcase. My 2nd most fav place at WDW never fails to please, pin-wise and Magic wise! Quite a few of the CMs in EPCOT and the World Showcase had lanyards, more than I seem to remember from earlier visits (?). I had REALLY hoped to get the Micky Icon lattice-work flag pins for each country but, those were no longer being offered. Instead, I found the Micky Face flags, (and had to buy those!).

The two resorts I visited, (Coronodo Springs and The Polynesian), had GREAT pins! I visited the Coronado Springs shop daily and always found some good trades. I usually trade/buy a resort pin from each place we stay but, Coronado Springs was out and expecting more. Does anyone have one for trade or can sell me? Thanks a gazillion!

Some thoughts that come to mind:

Pros:

There are more kidlets involved in pin trading it seems! Each time I saw a first time child enjoying the art of pin-trading I always stopped and gave them choice of one of any of their fav pins for their budding collecton…gratis. I had parents try to pay me for that and all thanked me profusely for making the smiles on the kidlets I hope a little wider.

I had my US Army retired hat on to forgo sunburn/stroke and each time I interacted with a CM I was thanked for my service. EACH time…. which tells me that this is being taught in the CM prep training. I gotta admit, it made an old Vet feel proud. At Hollywood Studios, Chip in costume, even stopped to give me a snappy salute and then applauded me in front of the crowd. Pleased to the point of tears, I thanked Chip and beat a hasty retreat.

Cons:

The pin prices have become totally out of whack! Most pins start at $10 and go up tremendously from there. How is a family of two or more kidlets supposed to afford this magical hobby? Pins packs are there to gain a few for trading but, they start at $25+ a pack? Its no wonder peeps are going to Ebay to get pins cheaply. IF Disney really wants to keep families involved in this adventure, they gotta come off the prices a bit! And don’t even get me started on ticket prices! $109 for one day at one park? They are gonna price themselves right out of the range of most of middle income families quick!

Disney Magical Moment:

Judy Hopp was out in Town Square right before the 3:30ish parade. The canny fox, Nick Wilde, came along with her and was messing with peeps doing selfies and such. Judy was busy giving kids her magic hugs and bunny fist bumps. A woman with a fold-up stroller, occupied by a sleeping kidlet came across the square to see Judy. As she was about to wake the little one, Judy motioned for her to stop, came over and then kneeled in front of the sleeping tyke. As she tapped his knee, he woke up, saw who it was and jumped up to give Judy a tight hug. My heart melted, as did half the crowd’s around us all.

The pins!

The top rows are what I traded for. Some are no doubt scrappers as the colors seem a bit off from Pin-Pics but, they’ll hold a place until I can replace them with the real McCoys.

The bottom rows are the ones I bought this trip. I usually buy a few… this trip since I was making up for lost time. I kinda went overboard!

All in all, another wonderful visit to the Mouse’s House(s) in WDW! I always have a blast here, and hopefully will always be young enough at heart to be able to!

Thanks for letting me ramble!

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The top rows are what I traded for. Some are no doubt scrappers as the colors seem a bit off from Pin-Pics but, they’ll hold a place until I can replace them with the real McCoys.
Unless colors are completely different or in the wrong places, don't always judge them by a picture as the exposure and lighting can cause them to look drastically different.
 
Omg, your trip report is wonderful! You can “ramble” on anytime and I’ll be hanging on every word. You have a fantastic attitude about getting (maybe) a couple of scrappers. Placeholders is the perfect bright side. :D

And as a Navy brat, I also thank you for your service! So glad you had a great time!
 
Thanks for sharing about your trip. It sounded wonderful. I wonder if I can convince
my DH to go to Disney for a conference.

Thank you for your service.
 
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