Tip Tuesday: Pin Traders

Welcome to another Tip Tuesday!

As I continue my series about Downtown Disney, I thought I'd share a quick tip about pins and pin trading at Downtown Disney. This will be very different from my previous Tip Tuesday post about pin trading the family fun way (meaning trading with cast members).

This is for serious pin collectors. You have been warned.

Located across from Once Upon a Toy and next to Goofy's Candy Co. is the Pin Traders shop. If you're looking for pins at Downtown Disney, this is the place to do it. The shop is similar to a huge gazebo with pins arranged completely around the circular center and walls. Tons of standard and limited edition pins can be found here as well as some exclusive pins.

A little clarification about pins here, I think, is warranted.

The pins you can purchase online at DisneyShopping.com represent there merest fraction of the total number of pins available at Walt Disney World (and Disneyland). There are so many pins available that I would be amazed if someone actually has them all (though I'm sure serious collectors are trying pretty hard to do so).

If you find a pin you've been searching for or that you like, you may want to grab it, as pins do sell out and are retired.

Now, there's another way to acquire pins that doesn't involve money, but it does require some bartering material -- pin trading. Serious pin trading.

Disney provides several tables where pin collectors can display their collections and make trades. This is where the warning for novice collectors comes in -- if you're not a serious collector, you can easily be intimidated by these pro collectors. I'm not saying don't trade, just be sure you know what you're doing. I've tried a few times to trade and I kept coming away with the feeling I was being swindled. Maybe it's just me.

Anyway -- for you serious pin collectors out there, the Pin Trading shop is a fun way to share and enjoy pin trading. So grab that huge pin collection and head out to the Pin Trading shop - you never know what you might find.