Of the many things "Disney" that we love, pin trading has to be one of the best! This is our current collection that we are keeping. Each trip to Disneyland we add more. Our first trip to Disneyland we bought pin starter sets for the 4 of us. We thought it'd be fun for the kids, but my husband and I like it just as much, if not more.
Pin trading is simple. Money should not be involved. It's trading one pin for one pin. You'll find many of the cast members wearing neck lanyards or hip lanyards (a 5x5 square on their belt). Cast members will trade you up to 2 pins per person. Any pin of theirs you want for any pin of yours. The cast members don't really care which pin you give them as long as they don't already have it on their lanyard. If you see a cast member with a green lanyard they are only allowed to trade with kids 12 and under, makes them feel pretty special.
Buying pins at Disneyland can be expensive. Pins packs are less than buying individual pins which start around $8.00 each. We now buy them off the internet, usually ebay, for our trips. The problem with ebay is if you don't plan ahead you might not get them in time. We've had so many people want to buy pins from us that we now keep 30-50 pins on hand that we can sell.
All in all I think these are the best souveniers from our Disneyland trips (and the least expensive). The kids look at them often and love showing them off whenever they can. It's fun to be able to add to them each time we go.
