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What do you think about kid lanyards? Unfair or not?

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What do you think about kid lanyards? Unfair or not?
I talked for one CM for a while at Downtown Disney this past week and she was telling me the horror stories of wearing lanyards sometimes. She said even the most excited kid has never reacted some of the adults have. All that to say, I think it's nice to have kid lanyards, but with what we saw, they were all willing to trade with adults if you saw something you really wanted. Many times I just hung back and made sure my kids were using their manners, etc. and the CM wearing a kids lanyard would ask if there was anything I was looking for. I also had two cast members tell me it was their choice if they wanted to wear lanyards and I did see quite a few CM's with no lanyards. Honestly, I'd rather them not be forced to wear it...if they don't want to be part of trading, don't wear a lanyard!
 
One of the last times I went to DL I spotted a Dumbo pin I'd been wanting forever on a CM lanyard & was sooo excited, and then was very disappointed when I was reminded by the CM it was a teal lanyard so I couldn't trade for it or any of the other ones he had which were all better than anything Id seen all day on CM lanyards & sure didnt think it was fair that I couldn't trade for it, but if I had a kid with me, I could've.
 
From a former WDW CM's point of view.

I was first introduced to pin-trading a couple of years back when I was a CP. My primary location was with MK Main Street Operations as a Park Greeter and PAC member but I was able to pick up shifts at all the parks and TTC if it had similar training. Overall CM Pin trading was great during the best situations and a major hassle during the busiest; I will always remember the time someone literally stalked me from Liberty Square to the end of Frontierland at the end of a parade because he saw a pin he wanted.To the original question, yes it could be frustrating as a more mature guest to not be able to get a pin when it's right in front of you. From many CMs' perspective though, it is a burden when it interferes with completing your tasks, especially those in merchandise and foods. One way of at diminishing this is by, you guessed it, putting on a green lanyard. The other reason though is somewhat more personal and that is to provide a Magical moment for the younger guests, one of the reasons that pin trading was implemented in the first place. Most parents already spend a fair share's worth on their kids when it comes to going to the parks, why not insure that at least the kids have an opportunity at receiving a really cool pin, not to mention most kids feel like a VIP if they do get a pin they like and not about the "value" of said pin. While I never wore the Green lanyard (I settled for the black side pouch which doubled as an extra pocket), there were a few times I used a pin-trading blind-trade gimmick with the younger and indecisive guests. I would buy NOS/unique pins from Cast Connection and Company D and trade them with guests. My favorite pin that I used with that by far the Jumbo CM TDL Castle. I recall one instance whereas a family with a young girl in her dad's arms, a starter pack lanyard around her neck, was exiting the park. She asks to see my pin pouch but doesn't see anything she likes and then her dad mentions they didn't find anything she was wanting to trade for the whole day. I then asked if she'd be willing to accept a blind trade for any pin on her lanyard, making note that I have a cool pin she might like of which she agrees to trade. I told her to close her eyes and then her dad and I initiated the trade, the family in shock at the pin she traded for. If anything though, the little girl's were the biggest of all. Just wanted to share a little Magical Moment with you all.
 
I can't say I disagree, if someone purposely put those on a kid lanyard. Most kid-only trades are done because the child likes the character/pin, they usually do not know, nor care if a pin is AP, LE, or the newest one out... they are trading for the fun of trading, a concept that each time I head to WDW seems to be drifting into obscurity. The adult lanyards are so crappy because of so many traders trying to make gains on the trade, and trade up. So if the CMs are only getting low-desire or scrapper pins, what is the motivation to put good ones on lanyards? I am not saying that you or anyone here are the traders that cause this to happen. Yes, it does hurt some good traders. But, I have seen where a little good trading etiquette still pays off.
Last year while at DTD West End pin kiosk, I traded with a CM. The pin was not anything special, but it was an LE2000 DLRP or something, and in nice shape. I was polite and made small talk with the CM. I traded for a rack pin that I just thought was cool, and matched one of my collecting themes. The CM looked at what I had traded, and before I could leave, stopped me, and offered a look at a hidden trading book. The result was, I was able to trade for a LE Haunted Mansion pin my wife liked.
I understan it is frustrating when a pin you want is on a green lanyard, and I have had it happen to me as well. However, I think if we all work hard at being good pin traders, and real ambassadors of the hobby, perhaps the tide will turn back.
 
creativextremeties said:
hmmm... after reading all this stuff i say....... ^ ^ ^ +1 ^ ^ ^ I for 1 want to keep feeling like a kid when I go to wdw and there shouldn't be different lanyards for kids and adults :/ Just like when My Hubbie and I went to the Princess store behind the castle, I LOVED getting Dusted with Fairy Dust just like ever other little girl. ;)

<3 Laz
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oh my gosh Laz,, me too! 44 years old and walkin around with pixie dust, mickey ears and singing.....
 
I am noticing a big difference between the posts from you folks that trade the THE LAND vs THE WORLD....it seems things are a bit more aggressive in the land than the world in the pin trading experience? Maybe us East Coasters need to come over their and teach everybody some manners....Sopranos style:rant: lol jk jk
 
I hate to butt in to this but I have to remind you guys of this line I found on http://www.justdisney.com/disneyland/history.html:

"One day Walt Disney had a vision. It was a vision of a place where children and parents could have fun together."

Once we cross the entrance to that magical domain, we are all kids and everyone is equal. But the real kids are a bit more equal ;) And thanks God for that!

During our last trip to DLR, I could clearly see the difference between the LAND and the WORLD - and it was not only the size.
 
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Add me to the list of people who like the teal lanyards for kids! I have 4 (kids, not teal lanyards :p), ranging in age from 7 up to 15 (today!!). It's something special and stress-free for them (they have been reached over, pushed aside etc by adult traders). After all, there will always be "the pin that got away" be it on eBay, or trade request or on a lanyard. Easy come, easy go, c'est la vie, and so on. I wholeheartedly agree that you can be a kid at any age! That's the great fun of Disney. Don't let a teal lanyard get you down! The next great find could be on the next adult lanyard. :)
 
I'm fine with the kids-only lanyards, even though in practice, it doesn't always work for the intended purpose--to let kids get "good" pins and keep the sharks from getting ALL the good ones. I do think it's a bit ridiculous to put AP pins on a kid's lanyard, only older kids who can trade from those lanyards might know and value those types of pins. A five-year-old isn't going to know or care. Also, the five year old is going to most likely choose the cutie pins (for example) over a pin adults will value.

As far as whether the CM will trade from the kid's lanyard to you or not--ultimately (as I've posted before), it's up to the individual CM whether they will trade to an adult or not (at least, at DLR, where it's also optional for the CM to wear the lanyard in the first place, as opposed to at WDW). I never assume a CM wearing a teal lanyard is going to trade with me (sometimes I will go over to a CM wearing one and say, may I look at your lanyard, I know it's a kid's, I just want to see what you have? and they are fine with that). Most won't, but once in a while (especially if it was a slow day at the parks, I've noticed), they will offer to trade with you, which I consider a nice thing to do.

I think it sucks if a CM loads up their teal lanyard with good pins that most experienced adult traders want and not put ANY on the other lanyards when they refresh, but, sigh...nothing we can do about it.
 
Yeah, there's a big difference between trading at DLR and WDW. I was blown away when I went to WDW last year, and found such an incredible abundance of not just lanyards, but books and boards as well. Not to mention that the current HM's were absolutely everywhere, as opposed to DLR where they're really scarcely distributed on each refresh. I'm not sure why DLR is so miserly with the new stuff. It only really helps the regulars / insiders, who have the time to find those pins and then place a high value on them when they trade them via Pinpics. Don't get me wrong, I made out like a bandit because of that level of scarcity last year, but I really don't think that's what HM's are meant to accomplish. You wind up getting half a dozen people there every morning who are having the time of their lives all day long because they have a wealth of experience, while a huge portion of other guests who are less diligent wind up with nothing from the new stuff. It's a really derpy way to run things.

As for kids' lanyards, I love the idea and the motivation behind them, but in reality it just doesn't work out. Not only do you have endless workarounds, ranging from helpful CM's to just conscripting / borrowing children, but you also get sharks who just come in with their three or four kids multiple times a week to demolish all the kids' lanyards for their own personal profit. I've seen at least two mothers who bring their school-aged kids to the park multiple times a week during weekdays, grifting the kids' lanyards to pretty obviously fuel their eBay stores. They're the same people who used to show up to the DSF on weekday releases with a bunch of sleepy kids in tow, buying eight to ten copies of every pin they felt they could flip at profit.

I mean, if an adult trader wants to come in and enjoy hunting for new stuff on a regular basis, that's fine, that's the game as it currently stands at DLR, whether I think it's good for the hobby and the majority of guests or not. But these kids should pretty clearly be in school. There's no way any teacher is letting them off two or more days a week, and there's no way any kid who's being legitimately homeschooled should have that much free time to go serve as child labor for their parents.

There are way easier ways to systemize pin-driven magical moments for kids. As other posters noted, it's pretty easy to just equip CM's with a handful of cool pins to keep in their pocket, to trade to younger guests or older enthusiasts who are clearly supporting the CTT spirit. Even just flooding the park with new HM's to devalue them would make for a better trading environment for everyone, kids included.

-JDG
 
weRsiamese said:
Why did they do that? To rub it in that its an AP & that you can't have it? That wasnt very nice...
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No, I don't think so. I knew they had just refreshed and those 2 pins were just amazing! You never see them on a lanyard. I kind of figured they might be. So I asked if they were AP and they checked and said yes.

Don't get me wrong. I was not upset with the cast members. I don't do that. I am always very nice and they are always very nice with me.

I just thought that maybe since I was there at the right time, which is very rare cause I am always a minute too late, I would be able to find something. So I was disappointed when they were only on the kid lanyard. They could have put just one on the adult lanyards.
 
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I've only been collecting for a couple of months, and didn't know about the kids only lanyards. One CM who I approached ended up telling me the green/teal lanyards were for kids only. I apologized, but then she let me trade with her anyway. It's funny, I don't see the color of the lanyard, I just spot PINS!!! I've been turned down a couple of times, but it doesn't bother me. But, I always ask!! :)
 
Based on what I read about trading at DLR, I have to say I have way more good experiences at the World than bad ones. I always find that 95% of the CM's are friendly and many times Managers have stopped when they see me notice their lanyard and ask if I see anything. I've gotten great pins, good pins and sometimes traded just for the fun of it (trader for a trader). I've rarely had a "bad day" at WDW. I'm hoping to go to DLR this year and then I'll know for sure if WDW is really the best park in the world like I believe it is.

I love the idea of kid's only lanyards and I think it's very fair. I have never seen an adult push a child out of the way, but I'm sure it happens. Disney is for kids - all kids - all ages - and if we act like kids, we will be kind to each other. When I pass through the gates to the Magic Kingdom I get goose bumps and I can literally feel the magic fill my heart with joy. I'm not 64 years old anymore - I'm 10 and having the time of my life!!!
 
I have to agree with everyone here...Trading at the World is much more fun and pleasant that at the Land. Way more lanyards, much better attitudes and I've had better trades...I still enjoyed the Land, but the World was still the place my family enjoyed trading the most.
 
I like the teal lanyards for kids because I have three 5 year-olds who will just walk away when crowded by adults. I, though, am one of those moms who asks my kids to get me a pin if they don't spot two they want. They then spend the rest of the trip ransoming it off. LOL
 
As with everything in our hobby. A lot comes down to how we all act. The teal lanyard is a very good thing. IF IT WORKED... OR WHEN IT WORKS LIKE ITS SUPOST TO WORK. With that said. they are for the kids..and u are not supost to send ur kid to get u stuff. It would b such a nice world if things always went as they should. My fam is kind of new to trading but have been to DLr about 20 or more this past year. We always have fun but do see how things can b diffrent at times.

As for the lanyard. We didnt know about it till one day when we saw one in WOD. The CM at first seemed to not like us or think the trade was for us not the baby. So we showed th CM his lanyard and that the pins were his and locked on cuz he keeps his stuff. I will give the trader and he keeps pin forever. The baby just needed one WOC pin to complet the set. Here is the cool part. The CM gave him the pin (no trade) and told us thank you for being good traders.

ps.. side note.. this was the same CM that told me they would hide pins and lanyards from the X-CM that was making and selling the fakes.

in the end... the lanyard is to keep the magic for the kids... its bad moms and dads that send there kids to get them pinsd that makes it all bad. PPL hate to follow rules...and think its ok to brake them as long as u use loophole.. Thats Flat BS and why we have trouble in our hobby. Whatcha think guys??
 
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