Place to trade pins with CMs at Disneyland, DTD and the hotels.

[james g]

I just started trading pins at Disneyland with my family 2 weeks ago. Our annual passes are ending next weekend and we are surprising the kids with the Halloween party next Friday night. We will also be staying at a hotel near the park for 2 nights. Sunday (October 6th) is our last day at Disneyland for a while and we would like to find some good places for my kids to trade their pins where most people don't trade pins. Maybe at a Disneyland hotel or somewhere else on or around the parks? Was hoping to get a room somewhere on the property but we couldn't afford the high prices.

Does anyone know of some good places for my girls (5 and 9) to trade. I am planning on taking them to a character breakfast at 8am on Saturday (not sure if that is smart to do after the Halloween party), maybe the CMs have good pins there or at the party?

Just want to go out with a bang because when they found out we weren't renewing our passes they started getting sad whenever we talked about Disneyland. The idea of no more going on the weekends and now, what they think is no more trading pins breaks their hearts. We live 60 miles from Disneyland so driving to downtown disney to trade isn't hard. I just want to make out final trip worth wild so we can last how ever long it takes us to get new passes.

Thanks for the help!

James G

 

[Shelterkat]

PM sent:wavey:

 

[JKrolak]

Hmm... that can be a little challenging.

Over on the CA adventure side, you can find a trio of good spots near The Little Mermaid ride. You have Ariel's gift shop and their pin board, the pin cart right across the way, and the vending carts there and cast members coordinating the Phineas and Ferb and other parades all tend to be there. Another potential spot was the Bear Mountain store, as between the store, cast members at the challenge course, and cart vender you can usually find a few lanyards. To be honest, I'm still scouting out the area since they finished remodeling.

Over on the Disneyland side, I have always had my best luck working my way either up/down the parade routes. Lots of cast members are out, many with lanyards. You can also catch the occasional Disney supervisor and their lanyards. Mind you this may not be a practical strategy with younger children. Other than that, the Princess faire and New Orleans square may be good under explored areas. I would have recommended the Big Thunder Ranch, but with construction that option is not available.

 

[markheardjr]

Each hotel guest services have a board and Grand Californian Hotel has a littel visited 6th floor for concierge guests only, but they have 2 hip lanyards up there usually. Sometimes travel pins are traded by the top tier guests so it's worth trying. Just look out for the kids turquoise lanyards. They aren't attacked as often as the adult lanyards with the sharks so they have a good chance of spotting one on there. Even if they already have a new hidden mickey, grab a duplicate and head to Little Green Men and see if you can swap the new HM for a different you need. Most people will swap 1 for 1 for the new ones as long as they are legit.

 

[TCox91]

Another good source for traders- Custodial CMs! A lot of guests tend to walk right past them since they're usually sweeping the streets and queues, but most of them do have lanyards and are always willing to stop what they're doing to trade with you. I myself used to work in DCA Custodial (I'm in a different department now though), and I always LOVED it when guests stopped me to pin trade. As with all Cast lanyards, sometimes they're pretty picked over, but if you catch them early in the day you can find some good pins, especially the Hidden Mickey ones.

Good luck, and enjoy your trip!