It’s all about the pins Journal #5

When I started working at Animal Kingdom besides the uniform that was provided for us, we were also given a set of twelve pins for trading and merchantaining.  The pins came with a set of rules. You could only trade two at a time with one person and could not trade amongst cast members. We are allowed magical moments, that’s when we can give away a pin to a child of our choice. When it comes to pin trading, it’s serious business to a lot of our guests. The time and effort they put in to collecting the pins is unbelievable. I get approached as much as twenty times a day by people who just want to see what I have or to trade with me. When I say serious I mean guests whip out books with pages and pages of all kinds of different pins two three to four lanyards of some exclusive pins. The kids wear them, parents wear them and grandparents wear them. There are even different spots throughout Animal Kingdom where the guests can ask the cast members to pull out a pin vest, pin stroller or a pin board. It’s serious and they take it very seriously. The pins the guests purchase are not cheap. One pin can run you about seven to ten dollars and there are people who have hundreds of them. I may not have known much about pin trading when I started, but I can now say I am part of the trading frenzy  I even started my own set and I love it. I truly understand the thrill.  It’s so true what they say, once you start you just can’t stop. It’s just that addicting and I’m truly honored to be a part of this tradition.