Disneyland pin trading complaint.

[tinkerbellfan117]

Disney World and Disneyland are two different parks. When I started back in the good old days of 2008 before the stock market crash you could find a lot of good pins. Now no one wears pins at Disneyland anymore. Sigh,I wish we could break WDW off of Disneyland. They seem to have made pin trading a living nightmare. Disney World has taken full control of Disneyland's pins and they are doing a horrible job distributing them. No pin holds its value anymore. Why should Disneyland be treated like its a second rate theme park? Who is in charge of the pins in Florida? We have to share all of the new limited edition pins with Florida and it makes pin trading boring. Anyone who is reading this please tell them to sign a petition to change Disneyland pins to their former glory. Florida was second to Disneyland after Walt E. Disney was dead.

 

[disUSCney]

I've felt this way for years now, most of it culminating in that horrible Summer Dateline Disneyland event in 2010. I will never do a pin event again, not after those fantastic years of Disney pins and events. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I'll never be fooled again!" is pretty much the motto I take to Disney and their decision making abilities in marketing toward their Disneyland consumer who expects an entirely different approach to pins.

The Disneyland consumer is unique, they are more than likely a return customer who spends money on unique offerings, ie, a local. The WDW consumer is more than likely a once a year, or decade, consumer. What they expect out of a product is entirely different, but no one on the pin team understands this concept any longer. Or, what I'm convinced of, they just don't care about their consumer any more. I'm not going to purchase a pin that is going to lose its retail value, I'm not going to buy a pin that I can get in florida, and I'm not going to buy a pin that has a similar or shared release in Florida. Simplicity is key. I don't care about chasers. I don't want a black and white version, or a colorless version, its frustrating, not fun. Going back to the basics would be beneficial, but I'm not holding my breath.

Until Steve Miller is removed from overseeing this division, it will not get any better. The entire pin team needs to look into their history and figure out why the last three years had literally seen the death of pin trading as we knew it. They're idiots.

They need to get it through their pea sized marketing and dollars driven mindset that you can only fringe the customer so many times with prices hikes and offering reductions until you disenfranchise the long time consumer. But it's their loss not mine, I'm probably saving $350 a month now! If you can't make something that is worth my time and money in collecting then I'll put my money elsewhere, and that can be said for nearly every line of Disney merchandise anymore. Hell, it makes me happy to know how much I'm saving!

I took a trip to WDW last spring, and boy did it reinvigorate me toward the pin trading experience! Hotels refreshed their lanyards every hour it seemed, they had trading boards, the CMs in the parks had refreshed lanyards. Then I got back to DL; 9 months later and I don't even carry trader pins in my pocket anymore, not like I'm gonna find anything. I mean, it only took 5 months for me to finally find 2 Casey Jr Train Cast Lanyards, and to infuriate the Cast Member who seemed to be quite annoyed I took both of the pins. The problems extend from the top all the way down.

I could go on and on with the frustrations...

 

[magicmickey89]

It really depends on the day you go i traded 20 pins with cast members great pins one was even an artist proof yesterday. And most people anymore just collect not so much trading anymore i only trade my crapper pins i dont like ive gotten in box sets

 

[Abyssinian28]

You know, I hear this complaint all the time, but I'm just not buying it. Name one pin release over here that trumps what you guys are getting, really. And blaming a PARK seems silly to me- the pins could suck just as bad if the offices were based at DLR as if they were based at WDW. You should be mad that they're not putting money and effort into pins, not that pins are being run out of one park over another. After all, they could still be doing things right out of WDW if they had the money and people for it...and cared.

With the exception of the Duffy releases, I haven't bought pins at WDW for a long, long time. In the past year, from DLR, I wanted the Disney Girls Reveal/Conceal, the lithograph pins...Not to mention that the CA people get WDI and DSF, plus all the D23 events as well as the large Disneyana shows. I would swap you releases in a heartbeat.

I still think what you should really be angry at is the overall decline of pin trading in general (pin trading/releases at DLR a few years ago Vs. DLR pins now). EVERY facet of pin trading has declined- WDW, DLR, Tokyo, and even DS.com. Only the Soda Fountain and Paris are going strong.

This is not a WDW vs. DLR situation, or really a Steve Miller situation- this is Disney cutting corners to save money situation. The reduction in the pin staff, fewer releases (with less creativity), trying to fit both parks under one banner...they're piling more and more work on fewer people all the time, and it shows.

They seem to have made pin trading a living nightmare.

How has WDW specifically made pin trading "a living nightmare"? Pins were well on the decline before the pin staff was cut. And if we're talking about Traders...I definitely have better experiences at WDW. Some of the DLR sharks/mean traders are really, REALLY vicious. There are good and bad traders at both parks (obviously), but there was something less...welcoming...at the DLR event.

Disney World has taken full control of Disneyland's pins and they are doing a horrible job distributing them.

How so? It's not like we're rolling in the releases over here. I think you should be angry at Disney as a company, not a specific park. We're not getting any 'special treatment" over here, you know.

No pin holds its value anymore.

I'd just be happy with pins I like being released. Park pins haven't been good in a while, with a few exceptions.

Why should Disneyland be treated like its a second rate theme park? Florida was second to Disneyland after Walt E. Disney was dead.

Wow. Melodramatic much? We should all be happy just to HAVE Disney parks near us- very few of us do. I'd love to have the PTN pins over here instead of in Paris, but I don't think I'm entitled to them...

They need to get it through their pea sized marketing and dollars driven mindset that you can only fringe the customer so many times with prices hikes and offering reductions until you disenfranchise the long time consumer. But it's their loss not mine, I'm probably saving $350 a month now! If you can't make something that is worth my time and money in collecting then I'll put my money elsewhere, and that can be said for nearly every line of Disney merchandise anymore. Hell, it makes me happy to know how much I'm saving!

This is pretty much spot on. I can't even tell you how much money I saved from DS.com this year.

Finally, I honestly don't know if replacing Steve Miller will do any good or not- we spoke to the staff at Love is Magical (right after they dissolved the pin trading lead position), and from what they said, pins is basically under the merchandising umbrella, which is why it seems deflated. Unless they really decide they're losing too much money and assign someone to look at why, I doubt anything will change.

 

[magicmickey89]

I just understand its not about the retail value, or if you can trade for something later on. For me i get pins that i never plan on trading or selling, and as for takes 5 months to find a pin you just need to know where to look i got all the Casey Jr Train in one day. And i have met a lot of cm that love to trade more then one pin, And so what if both parks have the pins. You want to save money get a premium annual pass, If your only going once a month or less don't complain. Myself and few other friends always find what we want we go twice a week or more. Its like people that don't go to black friday at night then come in the morning and b*tch everything they wanted is gone.

 

[tinkerbellfan117]

That is true too.

 

[destiny117]

Abyssinian28, I totally agree with every single word you said. It is not about this park against that park, but a lack on Disney's part to promote the hobby.

Magicmickey89, you are so right about getting pins and the fact that you can do it, means everyone else can too. Sometimes, it is just a matter of timing.

 

[Vala]

You hit the nail right on the head, Abyssinian.

I still think what you should really be angry at is the overall decline of pin trading in general (pin trading/releases at DLR a few years ago Vs. DLR pins now). EVERY facet of pin trading has declined- WDW, DLR, Tokyo, and even DS.com. Only the Soda Fountain and Paris are going strong.

You've seen that Paris only has one pin on the release schedule this month? And that one was available in December already.

And if we're talking about Traders...I definitely have better experiences at WDW. Some of the DLR sharks/mean traders are really, REALLY vicious. There are good and bad traders at both parks (obviously), but there was something less...welcoming...at the DLR event.

The only time I have been to WDW I have not been trading, so I can't comment on the WDW situation. But I do agree that some of the local DLR traders are indeed very, very vicious. Vicious to that extend that I am not blaming any CM that possibly refuses to wear lanyards because of the aggressive traders. And the "Not enough lanyards" or "CMs don't care" are probably the two most frequent complaints I see about DLR. One thing DLR traders seem to forget are that the CMs are people too.

I'm coming to Disneyland once a year and it's very obvious that I am a tourist. You can so tell that the CMs approach me differently than some local traders. I have even had someone giving me an AP that they were about to refresh their lanyard with and another one put a Hidden Mickey on her lanyard because I was wearing a hat with the same character. Another one went backstage because they had seen I was wearing a lanyard full of Chip and Dale pins and she had seen one backstage that she thought I'd like. They see I am enjoying myself and I am not one of those "traders" that turn around and will put the newest hidden Mickey on ebay as soon as they left the park. I've chatted with some of the CMs and they do know their sharks for sure.

Treat the CMs like human beings and you will have a way better experience. If everyone could get that in their heads that would help. I am by no means saying all DLR traders are sharks. But what's the saying? Once bitten, twice shy. One bad experience with a shark will make a pin trader leery. It's got to be the same for the CMs.

 

[destiny117]

Vala said,

Treat the CMs like human beings and you will have a way better experience.

This is another thing that is so true. Abrasive individuals can ruin it for so many.

Also, I think the pushing of vinylmation trading etc. is another thing hurting the pin hobby. They are trying to create the same hobby with them, and you can see that lists to check them off have been posted. So they want you to try to collect all of them, like we have done in the past with hidden mickeys. I know I am not doing it.

 

[elaw]

I do think the pin trading thing is very different WDW vs DL..... It seems almost every CM at WDW has a lanyard but you have to hunt for CM's to trade with at DL and some seem kind of put off by it.

 

[dawny]

alot of good points made here. I am new to advid trading since jan 2011. Before that i'd get a pin a day (and my 2 kids) during vacation and the choices over the past decade in WDW were wonderful, trading bountiful and super fun....now i have gone to WDW 3 times this year and trading off cast lanyards is pathetic, almost all cutie pins, baby characters and scrappers, not many guest to guest tradin NOTHING in the outlets...really boring. Like i said before i basically have my fun giving away my traders that dont move- to kids. And in 12 mo. the pins for sale at the shops and pintraders are the same, very few new pins. oh well all we can hope is that people clean out their play rooms, toy chests and sell them at garage sales or what not to get pins into market. To all you experienced traders, isnt there a link or site to write some pleas to the powers that be? I think some of what you wrote is great. Be happy!

 

[KT07]

ok...let me try to keep this short and sweet...than hope ppl can sum how understand.. Treat CMs nice and they will do the same for u. Our best pins have come from CMs that were so nice and wanted to help. Funny part is most the time we were not even looking for pins. We just enjoy the park and get pins for fun.. seems to work well for my fam.

oh we did have one CM think we were sharks cuz the baby trades. (guess sharks use there kids) After we talked to her and she saw we are true disney fans and that my baby has the best pins.. she gave us a HM wow we needed and didnt even ask for a pin in trade. Just said thank u for being a good trader. So try it..u may like what happens.

Another CM told me that most familys just use her/him and than forget them once they leave. Thats not cool. CMs are ppl and have feelings. Please treat them well... as u would also like to b treated. There is lots of CMs with lanyards and now hip-traders also.

Side note... Slow down and dont swim so fast... If u want to scare the CMs... by all means... get to the park at 730..and than whn gates open... swim as fast as u can to every CM with pins u can find...lol

ok off my soap box now..sorry was not to short

 

[magicmickey89]

One day of trading with cm and the top one in the right corner is an AP

 

[KT07]

sweet...good job...guess there are sum CMs with pins... i see u got 17... not bad for one day.. mayb the ppl that think u cant trade at DLR. Dont find 17 to b a good day. I for one have fun at the parks on days i get 2 and days i get 17. just to spend a day with my family at the parks is what matters to me. but i know we all have diffrent ideas of whats fun or what it takes to make us happy.

glad u had a good day magicmickey89.... thank u for the pic

 

[markheardjr]

I have a premium pass and I only find maybe 2 or 3 pins each trip. And I am looking. It is very obvious when a shark is near you. They barge in, take all the good ones, and leave the cm and the other traders with that awkward wham-bam-thank-you-man feeling. I have been searching for the Casey train locomotive and second music car since these things came out. I was next in line for a Locomotive pin on a CM lanyard and someone waited like 3 minutes for their significant other to return so they could trade 3 pins total and took it. I was so pissed off. The cast member was fed up with traders by that time and they had nothing left. I have actually overheard DLR cm's that were happy when they filled up their lanyard with starter pins, they knew the sharks wouldn't bother them anymore that day.
I work full time like most of us. I am not retired or living off some other means. I cannot go to the park when they open every weekday and run around like the sharks. I have only pulled a handful or LE's that were authentic off a CM lanyard in the 8 months I have been trading. I've never seen an AP pin or saw CM refresh anything other than new HM's. I walk the parks and look for pins but apparently I go when it's busy and all the good ones are gone. I can only go weeknight or weekends so apparently for us working folk we only get the leftovers and the occasional recently refreshed HM lanyard.

 

[bretu]

Steven Miller is not in charge of pins anymore, hasn't been since last winter. I don't know who is in charge but I agree that things are going downhill. Only one pin event and that's in September. I agree that it seems like Pins are under the merchandising umbrella with no clear leader. And by the way what happened to Disney Shopping. I"m saving a fortune and never have to get up at 3AM.

 

[halloweenfiend]

When I've visited DL, I did take time to talk to the CMs. I was disappointed to hear their normal experiences with guests is being treated rudely - guests grabbing their lanyards without asking permission, interrupting and demanding attention when the CM is already with another guest, dealing with ungrateful guests with an over-developed sense-of-self-entitlement, etc. Polite guests are not as frequent as they should be. Its understandable why so many have become gun-shy.

Wanna' rock their world (which, I'm reasonably sure this group already engages in)? Be nice, use manners, smile at them (.....stop staring at their bodacious lanyards :lol: ), say "thank you" - that is a huge one for them.

I do think when our economy rights itself we will see a resurgence of our beloved hobby.

 

[tinkerbellfan117]

It has become such a problem. I agree with some.

 

[swim2sea]

I'm so grateful that my home park is WDW and not Disneyland. After I read about the pushing, shoving, yelling, screaming and other things that happen at the events at DLR it makes me sick. I have NEVER been to an event at WDW where people were rude or mean. I've never been shoved away from a CM by someone trying to get a pin. I am sure there are bad traders at WDW, but based on the number of people who complain about DLR and how nasty the sharks are I'm glad I only have to go there to visit.

And I agree that PARKS are not the problem, it's the Disney Company. The quality of pins has steadily declined over the last few years and it has nothing to do with "sharing" between the parks. As far as value of pins - NOTHING has held it's value in this economy. To place the blame on WDW or Disney is just showing how truly ignorant you are. The economy has devalued everything, not just pins. I have an antique collection of brides baskets that my insurance appraiser valued at a little over $1.5 million two years ago. Today they are not worth 1/2 that. Nothing do with anything but the economic times. They don't even make these anymore. So back off the WDW tirade.

Your comments would be like me saying that DLR is to blame for the crappy pins selling on Disney.com and that because of DLR they don't have good stuff anymore. Or I could say because of DLR and their greed for pins, all the good events happen out there are we only get one big event here in Florida. You have D23, Soda Fountain, Mickey's of Glendales, the DEC store and the park. We have - the park. So who is really getting the short end of the stick?

If you knew anything about Walter E. Disney, you would know that Walt Disney World was his dream and it was sad that he did not live to see his dream come true. He was always disappointed that he could not do all he wanted to do at DLR because they did not have enough land. He was so glad that at WDW he would have all the land he needed and he could fufill his dreams.

So keep you disappointingly small park and your greedy, vicious sharks and I'll keep my huge, spacious, exciting WDW with awesome CM's and room to see new things come into the park.

Off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening.

 

[starry_solo]

Wow, I've never had the experiences at DLR that others have had. I always stay and chat with the CMs, greet them by name (name tag), and thank them for trading with me (again by name tag). I know a few. Dino at the store across from Indiana Jones always wants to hold my hands (hey, what can I say, I'm a cute girl!) :hsd: Phil at the Enchanted Tiki Room is always nice too (he can spot a scrapper a mile away and always shows us what scrappers he got that day).

I have yet to see anyone shove anyone out of the way to get a pin - I go on weekends because I have to work during the week. Sometimes, it does feel that there is another pin trader following the same path I am, but c'est la vie. I haven't seen anything strange at any of the PTNs we've had (but I've only gone for a few years) and these seem to be few and far between.

 

[broadwaynewyorkcitymusicals84]

i agree with everyone here that why i stop doing pins and i can't take it anymore with the crazyness i save my money for bigger things in my life



the rules of pin trading is

be nice to others

do not tell on others

do not used kids and teasing them for pins

do not push others people pin off the table

do not have the whole table share the table with other people


just have fun and make new friends

 

[caligirlUCR]

Wow . . . . my home park is Disneyland and while sometimes it seems that less cms have been wearing lanyards I always have a blast pin trading . . . . and lately a lot more cms ARE wearing lanyards so that is awesome. I dont know when or how we got into the whole which park is better argument. But there are facts on both sides.

I know I get annoyed at WDW because DLR is sometimes treated like the step child instead of the first born and not just in terms of pin trading. WDW gets a much bigger "show" when rides open and WDW gets weekends for star wars and such like that. They also get a MUCH vider variety of costumed characters.

For pins it is true that we have more stores in different locations but two of the ones mentioned are employee stores (WDI and DEC) I myself have never actually been to DEC - but yes they do bring their pins to nffc. WDI we get to go to periodically, when invited or when they give out the golden tickets - and Yes I am VERY thankful that we have WDI and DSF.

Sometimes WDW gets better pins and sometimes DLR gets better pins - just kind of depends. Last year I liked DLR's D's better so that worked in my favor. I am still bummed that didn't continue this year! WDW has the valliant series this year which is fantastic! We don't even have something comparable to that.

From everything I have been told the WDW trading event is about 200% better than DLR's. It seems like we have the same number of PTN's. But it might seem like us in Ca have more because DSF has trading events - which honestly are not great. In fact that is my LEAST fav trading event location. The lights are super dim and very very small tables. The only real reason to go is for the raffles - i usually don't even get good trades there lol . . . I have to be happy if I get 3 trades during those events. I go for the raffles and for the LE exchange barrel.

As far as HM's go - WDW has already has theirs we probably wont get ours for another couple of weeks - and makes me wonder why? Especially when the zodic ones are shared. I think we should get them at the same time. But I am also just so happy and feel fortunate to even be close to a park.

The parks HAVE to be different and have to have different pins otherwise we wouldn't trade as much. And its not just WDW and DLR that are different from each other - look at HKDL their pins are fantastic - and you can get pins from playing games! I so want that!! I wonder how many of hundreds of pins they have that we don't know about because they are not on pinpics! And UK pins - although they do not get very many they have PTN pins and they seem to be getting all of the Rapunzel pins.

With all of the variations I think everyone's energy is much better spent making friends and being thankful that we have something like DPF that helps us to trade for the pins we really want but can't get for ourselves. I am so happy that I joined this site - without it I wouldn't even know what was being released in UK or WDW most of the time. I mean yes there is still pinpics, but ususally DPF has it first and I really appreciate that!!!!

 

[RiftRaftStreetRat]

What are these complaints about pushing and shoving? DLR is my park, and I've never had that happen. ._. I know some traders have been a little rude to me (and a lot of times, trying to educate me about stuff I already know :\) but trading's always been a blast at DLR for me

 

[Lamorak]

I'm still fairly new at pin trading, so I really don't have a reference point for the "good ole days" of pin trading. My wife and I got into the hobby as something fun to do, other than ride the rides and generally wander around the park, and it has turned out to be the main reason for continually returning to the park.

Perhaps obsession has not overtaken over our natural tendencies of being polite and respectful towards everyone, but we've had more fun making friends, gaining trust, and building our reputation as honest and fair pin traders. The words, please and thank you, fly out of our mouths more often than I care to count and those simple words have taken us a long way in this world.

Because of the newly forged friendships and the conscious effort we put into being respectful and polite, we've had the great privilege to view some very nice keeper books. In viewing these keeper books, we can see that there have been some pretty awesome pins released in the past and have some little understanding why today's releases tend to pale in comparison. But that seems true for every hobby and it doesn't worry us that much. We are still in it for the fun of it and don't feel like we are entitled to anything. If we like it, we will try to get it it. And if we don't we can hopefully trade for it later.

As far as CM pins, we don't expect anything but Hidden Mickey pins which, to us, are the most fun to collect anyway.

 

[karkura]

What are these complaints about pushing and shoving? DLR is my park, and I've never had that happen. ._. I know some traders have been a little rude to me (and a lot of times, trying to educate me about stuff I already know :\) but trading's always been a blast at DLR for me

I have to agree with everything you said. I have never seen pushing or shoving to get to a cast member wearing pins. That is just ridiculous. And yes, some traders can be a little rude. But that is about it. Why the horror stories? I always have a great time trading at DLR.