Pin There, Done That!
I find pin trading fascinating, and as an alternative to writing a blog on the rules to pin trading, I wanted to write about the unique displays and locations of Pin Trading Boards around Walt Disney World! I was witness to many different displays, and I want to showcase the boards that I found to be the most unique or interesting to me.
1) Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Jambo House:
The Jambo House pin board is located in the Community Hall. I loved this board as the board itself is Giraffe print (tying into the theme of the resort). The pins were also fashioned to the board in the shape of a mickey head which I found to be a great way to display them.
2) Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Kidani Village
Kidani had a pin board located in the Community Hall also. Their pin board had far more options to trade then Jambo House, and Kidani has King Pin. While at Kidani Village I was informed about King Pin, who is a Cast Member well known for his pin trading. He has a satchel full of pins to trade, a hat and also several lanyards and he can be found at Kidani Village between 2-3 outside of Johari Treasures I was told. I wasn’t lucky enough to meet him, but he is definitely well known in the pin trading world.
3)Trattoria Al Forno
In addition to getting to meet Flynn Rider, Ariel, Eric, and Rapunzel, this restaurant had a unique pin board located in the lobby of the restaurant. The Cast Member had made her own pin board out of a Little Mermaid picture frame with a cork board insert. I thought this was a unique way to display their pins and it tied into the restaurants theming as well.
In the Beach Club Villas, there was one of my favorite pin boards. At first glance, I almost missed it but again tying into the theme of the resort, this pin board was in the shape of a lighthouse. The Cast Member let me know that during the holiday season the lighthouse is actually swapped out for a Christmas tree pin board.
5) Beach Club Villas Lobby
In the Beach Club lobby, we got to meet Captain Monty Ray, who is a delight! He is one of the nicest Cast Members we got to meet and was more than happy to showcase his lanyard of pins. In addition to pin boards, Cast Members are often wearing pin lanyards or satchels which are a great way to trade as well.
6) Beach Club Marketplace
The Beach Club Marketplace was one of my other favorite pin trading boards. This one has the sailboat in the middle with the super cool starfish as well. I love that Disney even puts effort into their pin boards, matching the theme and style of each resort.
The Grand Floridian Lobby pin book was not necessarily the most appealing aesthetic wise, but it was one of my favorites because they had a book with about 6 pages of all different pins. The pin book is not on display, but if you ask a Cast Member to see the book of pins, they most definitely will be happy to let you see it.
8) Gasparilla Grill at the Grand Floridian
This pin board did not make it into this blog due to it’s theming, it was a plain board, but I loved that it was located in a quick service restaurant at the check out which I thought was unique, convenient and not a lot of people seemed to know it was there.
I LOVE the Bay Lake Tower pin board; to me it was one of the most fun looking boards with characters posted all around it. It was located in the Community Hall for anyone to view. I especially liked the monorail made of beads at the top of the board.
The Boulder Ridge pin trading board is super awesome. It’s made on canvas (to tie into the theming of course) and has a campfire painted onto it. This one is again one of my favorite pin boards; I remember my first time at Wilderness Lodge seeing this board and being interested in pin trading from that point on.
11) Mickey’s PhilharMagic in the Magic Kingdom
This pin board was not one I was expecting to see. A Cast Member had just happened to be standing out in front of this ride with a pin board shaped like a shield. I thought this pinboard was very unique and in an unexpected location.
12) Conch Flats at Old Key West
Conch Flats at Old Key West had one of the most unique pin trading experiences. I learned about ‘Captain of the Day,’ which is an event where the Cast Members pick a special guest to be ‘Captain of the Day’ and they get to pick a pin. On the day I was at Old Key West they had ‘Easter Bunny of the Day’ which was the same idea, but I got to pick an Easter egg that had 2 pins in it. I thought this was a great way to get veteran pin traders to experience something new and maybe even some newbies interested in the pin trading world.
13) Olivia’s Cafe
Old Key West is home to 4 pin trading boards. This second one is located at the main entrance to Olivia’s Café. This board was home to a large number of pins, and I found it to be a very unique location; often times pin boards are not located in the restaurants.
14) Old Key West Hospitality House
The check-in desk at Old Key West is home to the suitcase pin board. This was one of the more unique pin boards. This pin board is located behind the check-in, and you have to ask to see it. The Cast Members were more than happy to show it.
15) Old Key West Community Hall
The Old Key West Community Hall pin board was unique as well as it had pictures of Old Key West surrounding the board.
In addition to the awesome pin trading boards I was witness to around Walt Disney World, hands down my favorite is the one in our own office. David’s Vacation Club Rentals has its very own pin trading board that we use each Tuesday to trade pins!
~Jen
