Disneyland Pin Views

General Goods

Collectors are further encouraged by special events held throughout the year at the Disneyland Resort. These include pin-trading days, private pin-purchasing opportunities, and limited-edition pins created for every conceivable event, happening, holiday, opening, closing, change in weather, and film release.

Pins have always been present at Disney parks, but it wasn't until 1999 as part of the Millennium Celebration [2] that Paul Pressler introduced Disney Pin Trading at the Disneyland Resort. The next year, the craze spread to the Walt Disney World Resort, which has become the home of most Pin Trading events. Since then, Pin Trading has spread to Disneyland Resort Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and Disney Cruise Lines with each location creating their own pins and traditions. Although the trading of pins has been suspended in Tokyo Disney Resort, pins are still offered as prizes at carnival games, and a relatively small amount of pins are available.

In all Disney resorts, a large variety of pins are available for purchase and trade. Most merchandise cast members wear pins on lanyards around their necks, or on a pin display card or hip lanyard (a 4” by 5” piece of colored nylon fabric) clipped to their belt. Additional cast members may wear lanyards if pin trading does not distract from their responsibilities; some managers choose to wear lanyards, but ride operators are not permitted. Some cast members wear a teal colored lanyard at Disneyland and a green lanyard at Walt Disney World with pins only tradable to children (12 years or younger).

The specifics of what make a pin acceptable for trading varies from park to park. At Disneyland and California Adventure parks, the cast members are instructed not to accept pins that have a clasp or brooch-type backing (as with jewelry). This limitation is new as of 2008, and notable because it bars cast members from accepting pins that Disney specifically designed and made in the 1980s. The new rule about the pin backing type is printed on brochures and certain informational boards.