Limited Edition Merchandise Launches and Pin Trading Update at Walt Disney World
Today, Walt Disney World updated their website with more details for the reopening in July. Included with the update is more information on limited edition merchandise launches and Pin Trading.
Here is the important information for us pin traders and collectors!
Merchandise Locations
In merchandise locations throughout Walt Disney World Resort, Guests will continue to discover favorite Disney items, with some modifications to the shopping experience that will help us manage capacity and foster physical distancing.
- New Product Launches: New collection product launches and limited-edition merchandise will not be available for in-person purchases at Walt Disney World Resort until further notice. As always, Guests can find these items on shopDisney, subject to availability.
- Pin Trading: We will continue to offer Guests the opportunity to pin trade with Cast Members through the use of pin boards in select locations. Cast pin trading with lanyards will not be available at this time to maintain physical distancing.
So it looks like limited edition pin releases will continue on shopDisney.com for the time being. It’s nice to see we will still have pin trading opportunities in the parks as well!
What are your thoughts? Leave a comment below.
-Disney Pins Blog
Not a fan of the pins and limited merchandise only be available on Shop Disney. I had a personal shopper who got the pins & items I wanted. Since these items are now going on Shop Disney, I have not been able to get the items I wanted. Their site is horrible mess. Bring back the merchandise to the park.
Online release of limited merchandise is extremely hard to obtain. Website is a mess and always bounces you around when trying to purchase. Also, when shipped merchandise is not packaged with any protection of bubble wrap and just thrown loosely in a box . Therefore, a lot of times it is damaged.
I’m happy limited edition will continue to be online. It’s more fair to let everyone get a chance to get it and not force some people to buy from those who buy in bulks at the park and resell at high prices. Yes, there are still resellers but they now have to compete with actually collectors to get it rather than bring their entire family to collect 10 LE pins at the parks to resell. Plus shopdisney limites the pin to one per person per address etc.
Not surprised at all by the Shopdisney (SD) only for LE merchandise releases.
I do Wish SD’s order Fulfillment department would do a better job packing merchandise. If Pin Traders mailed out trades to one another like Shop Disney does…well, social media, etc would Blow-up with complaints, “don’t trade/buy from so-and-so, they don’t wrap/ship pins in bubble wrap.”
Changing subjects, I’m glad to see that pin trading will resume with the social distancing in effect.
Interesting. I have never had an issue with ShopDisney in regards to shipping. And I’ve purchased a lot of fragile items. With pins, however, they will throw one single tiny pin into a large box lined with air bags, and covered with that fancy character blue tissue paper. I think that’s a bit ridiculous. Such a waste, but then I tell myself that maybe they do it this way because they’re afraid the backer card may get damaged, if they had used something like a bubble envelope. Though, they’ve gotta have some sort of smaller box, right?!?
I honestly feel that “social distancing” is stupid. Everyone would have to walk 6 feet apart at exactly the same time in the same direction. Even then it really doesn’t help. When someone sneezes or coughs, it goes a lot farther than 6 feet. Wearing gloves just spreads the germs from one item to the next. Of course Disney wants to look like they are doing something. People just need to stay home if they are sick and keep their hands washed. People don’t even have symptoms for 2 weeks beforehand and it is still very contagious during that time.
I agree that the merch usually comes with some sort of damage. By more importantly – it’s a matter of the merch you bought and paid for getting to you at all. Example- they use UPS for the main travel of the merch then USPS to deliver to your mailbox. This causes so many problems I can’t name them all. First UPS has a system where they do not physically scan each package. They use this cart or bag system where they scan the bag or cart that your package is thrown into with a bundle of other packages and if by some reason your package is misplaced or thrown in a different bag/cart – the whole tracking system is screwed up and your merch gets lost for weeks until somehow somewhere it gets physically scanned. For example- my LE Park pins were supposed to be here Monday June 1st per UPS- they even said they delivered to my post office….WRONG- the bag/cart bundle my merch was supposed to be in was delivered to my post office but minus my actual package. So it looks like it got lost from the transfer from UPS to USPS- when it wasn’t there in the first place. A week later after begging for UPS and USPS to find my $100+ package of Disney Merch- for some reason my package gets pinged in an Oklahoma City USPS hub. Now I have no idea when or how it will get to me. Just hoping it does because all of those pins are now SOLD OUT! ??? So Yes, I’d much rather buy my pins from our Disney buyers like we used to. ☹️
Kelly you are so right. The quality of what we receive, if we receive it at all is not acceptable. Also we may more for pins now. Average $17.99 plus tax, now it is 17.99 plus shipping of $4 to $5 or more, puts that same pin that you would pay $17.99 for at over $20. More if you happen to be an Annual Pass Holder as Shop Disney doesn’t recognize the AP discounts. It is enough to make one want to give up pin trading all together.
I am not liking this one bit, NO this is heartbreaking and disturbing news; in fact it could make one want to get out of pin-trading all together. The Shop Disney experience has not be at all magical, in fact it has been worse than your worst nightmare since they started selling LE pins online. When a release hits, the bots attack and servers crash, you put items in carts only to be told at checkout (seconds later) the item has sold out. If you are lucky enough to snag something, you get the circle of death spinning and cannot complete payment. When it finally lets you, the item is no longer available. It is a total disaster. Shipping is far less than sub-standard and LE pins that people have waited hours for and paid prime prices for, arrive damaged without possibility of replacements. The are no longer discounts for annual pass holders (as promised in the AP marketing) and you pay additional shipping for a pin priced exactly the same as if you picked it up in the park where you don’t pay shipping AND APs get a discount. So instead of paying around $16 for a pin you are now paying more than $20 for the same pin and then are not assure you will even get it in one piece.. NO this is not at all acceptable. It needs to return to the resorts like it was, even if it means virtual ques and waiting in spaced out lines. ANYTHING is better than the miserable online experience. Pin trading at the parks hasn’t been very good for the past few years since the arrival of the bagged lots of EBay scrapper and fake pins. Finding an authentic pin on a pin board or cast lanyard is rare, at best and I’m not trading my $10 pin for a .50 cent piece of scrap. Hardly worth my tine to even go tot he parks like before. If LE pins are not returning to the parks, then I will most likely look at selling off my collections and get out of the pin trading as it no longer is fun and honestly, not worth the aggravation. I know the other parks have gotten into the pin business. It will be interesting to see if they ramp up their park sales to draw in the Disney Store refugees and boost their own brand of collectibles. NO NO NO PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS, BRING THE PINS BACK TO THE PARKS.
Is there any update on pin trading at Disney Springs?
I have mixed emotions about the LE pins being available on ShopDisney and not at the parks.
Pro:
– There is a small chance I may be able to buy the pin directly from Disney paying in most cases a fraction of the cost of resellers. For those that do not live near the parks, there is no hope of us getting an AP discount anyways or of getting the pins ourselves.
Cons:
– The shipping from ShopDisney is not the greatest. Fortunately I’ve not been hit with getting a broken pin from SD, but can easily empathize with those that have since buying LE pins this way is a “one shot” chance to get them as they sell out so fast.
– BOTS!!! Need I say more? Shop Disney needs to do something about the bots taking over and controlling the order process.
Overall I am still undecided on how I feel about LE pins being on ShopDisney going forward. I can say up till now (pre-Disney Springs opening and soon to follow parks opening), I was very happy Disney continued to support the pin community by at least doing something. Along with the recent announcement they will continue to do pin trading boards, I feel confident Disney will continue to support and promote pin trading which in the end makes me very happy.
got a pin loose in a box that was almost 2 feet by a foot and a good 8 inches deep……
1 pin.
I am happy they are still doing limited edition pin releases on shop disney because before I could never get them without having to pay a huge up charge. it seemed to give everyone a more fair chance of getting pins they really want. I hated having to wait at the only disney store with hundreds of miles from where I live to try and get some of the special release ones on the third saturday of every month. I do not like how the store is very slow though and how hard it is to get the pins due to the site crashing and such. I do appreciate the limit on how many people can buy though.
I got a slightly damaged pin backer card from shopdisney also. They just threw it in a big box with those air pillows–which did no good at all. It lodged in a crooked fashion between the air pillows and the box wall, ad was a little bent. I was happy when I saw how thoughtlessly it was packed that it was ONLY a little damaged. I hang pins with backer cards so they are important to me. Sometimes I frame them with backer cards if they’re special. I will be sweating if I order anything again. The package could also not be tracked and I never was given an arrival date.