QUESTION Is "diamond trading" a thing at WDW or is it just DLR?

I've brought this fairly recent experience up in other threads but I'm curious if the CM's are doing this at WDW or if it is just an attempt to control scrappers here at DLR...

Over the past year or so, CM's have been allowed a couple different new ways to trade including:

"Blind trades" (a miserable experience where the CM's have pins backwards on their lanyards/hip packs and you have to give them a pin before they give you one of theirs and you are not allowed to ask for your pin back if you don't like what they give you - you're just stuck with it - I complain EVERY time to a lead or City Hall when I encounter this awful, infuriating behavior and EVERY time it's a really rude CM doing it who clearly hates pin traders and pin trading and/or is trying to get your good pin for their crap pin)

"Trivia trades" (LOVE this, it's a chance to show off your knowledge of Disney/Pixar/Marvel/Star Wars for a chance to trade for a nicer quality pin - it's fun and it's themed and I fully appreciate and enjoy this - even when I don't know the answer, the guessing is fun and I may learn something new)

and finally - "Diamond trades" - where you must trade a pin that's recent enough to have a little jeweled Mickey head on the back (also LOVE this - you have to trade a real pin for a real pin - and it leaves the scrappers for people trading other scrappers)


But I'm curious if this is happening at WDW or if it's just a DLR thing.

Anyone?

I can’t speak for WDW given the place I have been most recently is DL, but I agree that I love the trivia trading and I love that diamond trading is something I can look forward to seeing when we get there in the eventual future again 😍

The trivia was so much fun last time we were there! And I also love that they have more trading opportunities with the shadow boxes where you can be guaranteed pins are authentic.

I continue to feel so disheartened for you and your blind trade experiences though! 😓 The cast members I came across in the parks would do the blind trade but I don’t remember them ever saying I had to take the pin. The ones I came across with the mystery element ended up being a trivia question and if I got it correct I had the option to trade for the pin, but I wasn’t forced into it. Of course, this is from someone who is there for a span of a trip since I live 10 hrs away, so I wouldn’t have a whole lot experience with the cast members trading situations.

Thanks for a great question! I am curious to know whether some of these are DL exclusive or something the other parks are doing too! 🥰

I have an annectdotal experience (happened one time) at WDW that was exactly like the "blind trade" experience above. And yes, the cast members were rude about it (shocked when they had the nerve to shame me.) I refused to give up my real pin for the scrap pin I blindly selected (the cast member did not make me hand my real pin over before I saw the hidden pin - about the only difference). The cast members (and there were two of them together - so very much a bully situation) didn't seem to have a clue as to why I was unwilling to complete the trade (ie, their pin was scrap, my pin was real.) I was just an unreasonable guest.

The "blind trade" process actually did nothing to encourage people to trade real pins. It actually would send someone the opposite direction in order to protect themselves from the scrap the cast members were forcing on guests. It was awful and bizarre.

Trivia trades: have done this at both DLR and WDW.

Diamond trades: have not experienced this.

I just got back from WDW. I only came across one cast member who required a diamond pin for a diamond pin. That cast member was in one of the Poly gift shops. Otherwise, almost all other "blind" trades required answering a trivia question (which my little one loved!). None of the cast members forced us to trade without seeing the actual pin.

I'll add that there are some other CM's here who make up further rules i.e. they only want an LE pin for an LE pin, etc. Since it's like for like, I don't get upset about it.

And yes, I have been more often encountering CM's who say "I have my own personal pins if you'd like to trade". Which is totally not allowed. But it's my choice to trade or not, so, fine.

I'm still curious if more people are encountering these different sorts of trading at WDW or if it's mostly a DLR phenomenon.

I'll note that for the "blind trading" - which I hate - I don't think I've seen it at DL Park. It seems to happen just in DCA and in the WoD store in DTD. Trivia and Diamonds I've encountered in both DL & DCA and throughout DTD, and again, I like those as "magical experiences" and ways to keep people from trading scrappers for better pins!

Jabberwocky said:

I'll add that there are some other CM's here who make up further rules i.e. they only want an LE pin for an LE pin, etc. Since it's like for like, I don't get upset about it.

And yes, I have been more often encountering CM's who say "I have my own personal pins if you'd like to trade". Which is totally not allowed. But it's my choice to trade or not, so, fine.

I'm still curious if more people are encountering these different sorts of trading at WDW or if it's mostly a DLR phenomenon.

I'll note that for the "blind trading" - which I hate - I don't think I've seen it at DL Park. It seems to happen just in DCA and in the WoD store in DTD. Trivia and Diamonds I've encountered in both DL & DCA and throughout DTD, and again, I like those as "magical experiences" and ways to keep people from trading scrappers for better pins!

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That would explain why I didn’t encounter that kind of blind trading - when I was in dca I was more mission based on what I wanted to do since we spend the majority of our time in Disneyland as a family. Disneyland is where I enjoyed more of my pin trading.

But if I ever come across that behavior, I will be sure to report it! Pin trading can be a fun experience for both cast member and guest but the guest should never leave wishing they hadn’t traded!

Oh

Story said:

That would explain why I didn’t encounter that kind of blind trading - when I was in dca I was more mission based on what I wanted to do since we spend the majority of our time in Disneyland as a family. Disneyland is where I enjoyed more of my pin trading.

But if I ever come across that behavior, I will be sure to report it! Pin trading can be a fun experience for both cast member and guest but the guest should never leave wishing they hadn’t traded!

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its real and I hate it. Techinically theyre breaking the rules of pin trading at Disneyland. Theyre not supposed to be holding back or refusing pins from guests.