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[Aveen2008]

FYI, Disney have now confirmed the pin trading night and it is from 6pm-9pm. Shuttle buses are to be arranged. If you are intending to go to the night, you may wish to check the final details at a Disney hotel concierge.

All my previous posts have been updated.

Thanks Adam ! Can I just ask what or who you meanby a disney hotel concierge? :oops: do you usually have to make a booking to go?does it cost anything and on average how many people show up? Are most sellers that go only interested in LE pins?

 

[Clarebelle]

Every Disney Hotel has a Concierge desk its normally in the lobby near to the check in desk

[Masamune]

I can answer those questions for you Aveen, having been to two Pin Trading Nights at DLRP. First of all, it costs nothing to go to one. All that costs money are the things that you buy when you're there (PTN Pin, cocktail pin, etc). There will usually be one or two PTN pins available, and sometimes they'll do a pre-release of a pin that's due out the following month. Your voucher entitles you to buy two of each pin (so be prepared to spend!). Also sometimes they will give out a "free" pin when you buy a cocktail. The cocktail costs like 7 Euros, so ask to see the pin first and decide whether or not you want it! The cocktail pin tends to be a Cast Lanyard pin that's going to be released soon.

Because there's no way of booking in advance, you really do need to show up early. If the event starts at 6pm, you're best off showing up at about 4pm, or even earlier. The reason for this is because the que for the vouchers to claim a PTN Pin tends to start about an hour early (so at about 5pm), meaning you'll be stuck in that que for an hour without getting the chance to look at all the pins (unless you're planning on staying there for hours and hours). The que isn't meant to start early, but there's always someone who ends up stood where the que is going to be made, and so people stand behind them, etc.

There's usually a LOT of people there. The amount of pins on offer is mind boggling! The PTN pins always sell out, and people almost always tend to buy two. So if the pins are LE of 400, that means that probably only 200 people are going to get them, which is why it's important to get in the que as soon as it's formed. Some people are specifically there for the PTN pin, so I've found that the event has gotten slightly quieter once those pins have started to be sold at 6pm. Still, it's always very busy, so try not to get too stressed if you can't get to a certain trade table because too many people are in front of it!

Unfortunatly, yes. Most people with stands/tables there are only interested in LE pins. In fact, when I went to the one in April there was actually only one stand that I found that had only open release pins. Everyone else just has LE pins. Which means you need to trade LE pins in order to get LE pins. It can be a bit awkward/frustrating sometimes. For starters, not everyone there speaks very good English. Then you get some really awkward people who will only trade you a LE pin if the one you have is lower than their's. For example, if you want a LE 1000 pin off them, they may want a LE 500 pin from you.

The worst they can say is no though. I did some really good trades in April, as most of the people I spoke to didn't fall into the two above categories. Most people there do speak good English (some actually ARE from England!), and most are polite/friendly enough to try and work out a deal. Some will only trade for specific characters, but some are so nice that they will trade with you if they see that you really want a certain pin. There's really no telling what each individual person if going to be like until you speak to them, so don't be shy!

^^ If you have anymore questions, just ask!

[Aveen2008]

wow thanks so much for all the info, that really helps!  how much are the PTN pins?

are you allowed to take photos/film of the event? Its just I have rarely seen any footage of any of these events except one you tube video! :?

how many hours does the event last? is there places to sit? Just asking because my mum will be with me if I go and she probably won't want to stand in queues and stuff.

on average how many tables or sellers is there?

Where either of your PTN's in Davy Crocket ranch?

Sorry for all the questions but thanks for all the information! =D>  =D>    

[Aveen2008]

oh and another question sorry.. how many pins do you normally take with you to trade?

[Masamune]

^^ Thanks for the nice PM Aveen, I'm glad I could help!

The PTN pins from when I went in April were 10.90 Euros and the pre-release pin was 11.90 Euros. I don't know if they always sell a pre-release pin. Also, they don't always do two PTN pins. Sometimes it's just one.

In regards to take films/photos, I'm not 100% sure. At the PTN in April, Goofy was there, so people were taking photos of him. I think if you wanted to take pictures of people's own collections, it would probably be best to just ask them. Since you're dealing with mostly other guests as opposed to Cast Members, it would just be safer to ask if you want to take photos of them and/or their pins.

Generally they last until 9pm, but both times when we have gone we've ended up leaving soon after getting the PTN pins. This is because we got there early so we could have a good look around before queing up and getting the PTN pins. Like I said earlier, it does seem to get a bit less busy after the PTN pins have gone on sale, so there's always time to go and have another quick browse.

Both the ones we've been to were at the Santa Fe. It was set up in the dining area, so there were plenty of chairs to sit on! I imagine that in other hotels it would be a similiar set up, so I wouldn't worry too much about your mum not having anywhere to sit.

One thing I will stress is that there's no actual sellers there (not that I've seen anyway). People are only there to trade, but to be honest, I've never actually asked to buy a pin off another guest, so you never know! There are always tonnes of tables. Each person tends to have one or two full tables to themselves. At the April one there was about 30 to 40 tables. And I'm not talking small tables, I'm talking big ones. All covered in pins. :lol: It can be a bit over-whelming.

The best thing to ask each trader is whether or not they have pins featuring a certain character or theme, or whatever it is you're wanting. I found that most traders had all their pin bags/books/etc set out either by character or by film (or even both!). So for example, I'd ask people if they had any Cheshire Cat pins, and usually they could point me in the right direction if they had any.

At the PTN in April I only traded with four different people. People are really desperate for multiples of the PTN pin from that night, so if you find that you don't like it (in April one of the two pins available was Meet the Robinsons, which I hated) you'll definatly be able to trade them. I actually traded one of my Meet the Robinsons pins for TWO LE pins from one trader, and I traded the other for a LE 300 pin. I was so happy with both of those trades. The other two trades I did were using UK Disney Store pins. One was for the Lady and the Tramp pin (got a LE pin for that) and the other was for two of the Cast Lanyard Gift Box pins (got LE pins for them as well).

Not everyone is gonna want to trade with you, but I'd say just have with you as many LE pins as you can afford, just so the traders have options. You've also gotta keep in mind that people are constantly trading on the DLRP pin boards. I got an awesome Ratigan pin off there that wasn't there when I checked literally like 10 minutes earlier. So yeah, you'll be trading off there too.

I hope this was helpful as well!

[Aveen2008]

thank you so much for all the help and advice you have given me! It is hard to find someone who has even been to one of these events! It sounds etc and kinda stressful hehe!  :wink:

When you say DLRP pin boards do you mean there are pin boards there or the pin boards that are in the park?

You have been great, thanks so much!

[Masamune]

Again, I'm glad I could be of help!

Yeah, they're the very same pin boards that you find in the parks. When I went in April they had two at the event, and like I said, people are constantly trading on them. To get the Ratigan pin I traded a UK Disney Store Lady and the Tramp pin. As soon as the Cast Member popped it on the board, a French guest immediatly pointed at it and shouted something in French. :lol: I'm guessing he was just saying that he wanted it, as the Cast Member quickly took it back off the board and took a pin off the guest in exchange.

[Aveen2008]

oooo I am so excited hehe!! Its great to know all of this stuff! Are traders interested in the UK store pins over there? Did you do much trading with cast members in the parks?

[Masamune]

It certainly seemed like it yes. I traded away two of the Cast Lanyard Gift Box pins (Mickey and Goofy) for two LE pins. I did explain to the lady that my ones weren't LE, they were just only available to trade from Cast Members in the UK. She totally understood that and she was still more than happy to give me any two LE pins I wanted. These are the two I picked.

http://www.pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi? ... 2530669.v2
http://www.pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi? ... 2530669.v2

I also traded one of the Lady and the Tramp pins with a gurst, and got a great Cheshire Cat pin in return.

http://www.pinpics.com/cgi-bin/pin.cgi? ... 2530669.v2

If you want a certain pin from another guest, you should offer them ALL the pins that you're willing to part with. At first I'd only offer one at a time, and that didn't seem to go down well. So then I just layed out every single LE pin that I was willing to trade, and things just seemed to go smoother. They would either pick one or just say no thank you.

I always do lots of trading with Cast Members in the park. I used to be a bit shy about asking to see their lanyards, but I've gotten much better at it now.

[Aveen2008]

This will be my first pin trading holiday to DLP! So I think I will be nervous asking to do trades. The Cast members will trade for core pins though won't they? They don't have to be LE?

I love the pins you traded for, esp the Chesshire cat one, its brilliant!

By the way what is your real name? lol

[Aveen2008]

oh and I forgot to ask... do they see cast member uk pins as LE pins..if you know what i mean? are they as good for traders?

[Masamune]

Lol, my name's Lindsay. Is your real name Aveen, or something else?

Cast Members HAVE to trade with you, so long as the pin that you give them (a) is an official Disney pin and (b) they don't already have it on their lanyard. Some Cast Members like to pick which pin you give them, so be sure to only have pins on your lanyard that you don't mind trading.

All Cast Members are usually very nice and are always more than happy to show off their lanyard. A UK Disney Store pin would probably be no more special to a CM than any other pin, so you should probably try and save all your UK Disney Store pins for the Pin Trading Night. It's up to you though. I traded a few of my non-LE Disney UK pins with CMs. The only ones I saved for the PTN were the Gift Box pins and the LE pins.

[Aveen2008]

Lol, my name's Lindsay. Is your real name Aveen, or something else?

Cast Members HAVE to trade with you, so long as the pin that you give them (a) is an official Disney pin and (b) they don't already have it on their lanyard. Some Cast Members like to pick which pin you give them, so be sure to only have pins on your lanyard that you don't mind trading.

All Cast Members are usually very nice and are always more than happy to show off their lanyard. A UK Disney Store pin would probably be no more special to a CM than any other pin, so you should probably try and save all your UK Disney Store pins for the Pin Trading Night. It's up to you though. I traded a few of my non-LE Disney UK pins with CMs. The only ones I saved for the PTN were the Gift Box pins and the LE pins.

aw good!

opps I actually meant do the people at the PTN's see the cast members lanyard pins as, as good as LE pins lol not cast members lol..sorry i should have been more clear:) I am only taking pins with me that I want to trade...and they are all pins I have doubles off! For the past few months I have been buying doubles of pins so that i could have ones to take with me on this trip lol!

[Aveen2008]

...oh and yep my real name is Aveen