Disney World pin trading locations and how to save money before you visit

If you have visited a Disney park anywhere in the world, you may have noticed "Pin Boards" scattered around or the high volume of pins available to buy at gift shops. Did you know you can trade them?

Pin trading at Disney has been around for a while now. Long before COVID closed the gates and changed how pin trading operated. Prior to COVID, you could simply find a cast member wearing a lanyard and make a trade for one out of your own stash. That changed and pin trading was relegated to boards instead of lanyards.

Most every gift shop has a display full of pins available for purchase. There are even specialty pins that can only be purchased by pass holders. Some are rather cheap and will cost you only about five or six bucks while others are deemed more valuable and could cost you as much as $20.

On my recent visit to Epcot, I ran into a family from the U.K. Her kids were looking at a pin board and she said that in the two days they had been at Disney she had spent almost $400 getting her three kids a decent collection. I gave her kids about 10 pins to trade and told her that buying them is great but trading is far more enjoyable.

There are two rules when trading pins around the Disney parks. You can't trade more than two, although that isn't strictly enforced at most locations, and you can't trade a pin that they already have displayed on their board. That also isn't always enforced either.

To trade a pin you simply pull one out of your pocket, take off the rubber Mickey head pin back and give it to the cast member and tell them which pin you want. It is that easy and it can be a lot of fun, especially at Epcot where there are so many boards to investigate.

Before we give you the best locations around the Orlando Disney parks (I have not been to the parks in California or overseas) here is a great tip on how to save money before you go to the parks and enjoy the trading.