2007 Pin Celebration Trip

Another pin event, another trip report....

Last year at around this time, I reported on my pin event trip. Tomorrow, I fly off to Orlando to attend another Pin Celebration event. Unlike last year where the trip was for the whole week starting over the Labor Day weekend, this year I'm only going for the pin event. So this trip will only be over 4 days, with most of the activities centering around the pin event.

As usual, I'll report on the going-ons and also will try to post pictures at the end of the day. I'm hoping to bump into other WDWMagic members at the event (I'm going to wear the WDWMagic buttons during all 4 days).

The next report will be from the Happiest Place on Earth.

Zz.

 

[WDWFigment]

Hope you have fun! Get lots of the Figment event pins!

 

[ZapperZ]

Greetings from the Happiest Place on Earth.

We flew in around 11:00 am yesterday and got to our resort at OKW close to Noon. Got our room and then headed to Downtown Disney to pick up our Annual Pass renewal, so we're set for another magical year at WDW. We then had lunch at Fultons. While the food was still good, they have dramatically reduced the offerings of their lunch menu. I remember the lunch menu being twice as big as what they have now. Our server graciously said that we can still order what was on the old menu if we remember it. Still, the crab/lobster bisque was good, and crabcakes were still full of crabs, and the seafood cob salad was still as filling as before. And with DVC members getting 30% discount for lunch, I'm not going to complain.

We then headed straight to the Yacht/Beach Club convention center for the early registration of the Pin Celebration event. I must say that the registration process was very painless, unlike what it was here 2 years ago when the wait lines were more than 1 hour long. I breezed through the registration, got all my credentials, coupons, pins, food gift cards, etc.. etc. One of the pins that we were going for was the mystery pins tin set. Between the 2 of us, having 6 of these tins, we managed to get one complete set. This year, the Goofy pin had the smallest edition number, so Goofy is in high demand this year. We intend to buy a few more of these tins and see if we can make 2 complete sets like last year. But we have already traded other pins that other people had wanted, so the likelihood of us making a 2nd complete set is remote at this point.

This is a picture of the registration area. As you can see, it isn't that busy because the lines were moving very, very efficiently. They certainly had many people working the registration area to make sure no one had to wait any longer than 10 minutes.

Next to the registration area, they set up many tables for the pin traders and collectors to do their thing. It was packed to the gills, and some, like us, even set up our stuff on the floor (they later added more tables when they realized that what they had was just insufficient, especially when the monthly Pin Trading night event was to occur there later that evening). Here are a few of the pin traders/collectors at that event.

They also had all the pins being offered at the Pin Celebration event on display. I'm beginning to regret a few of the pins that I either canceled, or didn't get. So we may put in our 4th random selection process to see if we can get a couple of them. Here are a few of the pins and pin sets on display.

A group of us associated with the Windy City Pin Traders had dinner at Cape May. The food was good, but I was expecting a larger sea food selection than what they had. I'm not sure if I'll go back for the clam bake again.

We then went back to the convention center to join the Pin Trading night. But by then, I'm already wilting since we have been up since 4 am. So we left around 8:15 pm, got back to OKW, and crashed.

Today is the first full official day of the Pin Celebration. It will be at the World Showplace at Epcot. A bunch of things will occur, including more freebies for pin attendees, and many, many pin games to play. So far, this has been the most fun pin event we've ever attended. It helps to know a few more people at one of these things.

And oh, I have been wearing my WDWMagic button on my lanyard, but so far, haven't bumped into any other WDWMagic members yet.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

This will be just a quick trip report, since I'm in a hurry to head out and do Disney-MGM Studios for their early Magic Hours.

The first official day of the Pin Celebration went very well. Did a lot of pin games to get some of the new cast lanyard pins, and did a lot of pin trading. But first, we had a lovely breakfast at OKW with this view to boot:

We then headed to Epcot. I don't care what anyone else says. Spaceship Earth looks naked and lonely without the Wand! I miss the Wand! There! I said it! You can hate me for it if you want.

They had a different bag check area for us attending the Pin Event. We didn't have to open our bags, but they instead got sniffed at by a rather furry "cast member". Just don't pet him/her, though.

And then, it was off to World Showplace.

This is the entrance area and registration area.

This year, the themed decorations were done extremely well! The next few pictures show the decorations and queue lines for those doing pin games.

[cont...]

 

[ZapperZ]

[....cont]

Of course, what many attendees came for is to do pin trading with people from all over the world. So this is large pin trading area at the event.

There all the items for the silent auction on display. Even they were nicely themed. Here's Remy with a set of pins that are up for auction.

We also managed to go out of the Pin event and do other things. This is the area that would be the off-loading area for Spaceship Earth that was open.

Spaceship Earth, of course, is still under construction.

We managed to do Soarin, and then Test Track.

And then the Nemo Attraction. I have decided that this attraction isn't high on my list of things to do.

We also did the Grand Fiesta and then stayed for Illuminations.

More reports coming soon.

Zz.

 

[WDWFigment]

Keep the report coming! I would love to see some pictures of the pins you acquired during the Celebration.

 

[nibblesandbits]

Keep the report coming! :wave:

 

[ZapperZ]

Wow! We're exhausted!

It was another fun day. We woke up early to do Disney-MGM Studios' extra Magic hour. We missed getting another Dream Fastpass on the SAME ride from last time (Great Movie Ride) by just THAT much. I should have asked to stay for the next ride. What are the odds of getting a Dream Fastpass on the same ride twice?

Anyway, we did Tower of Terror, Great Movie Ride, and then headed back to Epcot. BTW, I've never had breakfast or pastries at Staring Rolls (next to the Brown Derby), but boy, they are good! I had bagels with cream cheese, lox, and it came with onions and capers. Lots of capers! (I love capers!). Of course, you pay ... what, $5.95 for it, but still, they gave a generous amount of capers and lox. So I was suitably satisfied.


After getting our bags sniffed again, we got into Epcot to continue the Pin Celebration. We picked up our 4th RSP pins (we didn't get the Pin Traders Dream jumbo pin ) and then bought the special pins that we qualified to buy based on the amount that we purchased for our first 3 RSP. I think that Stitch pin is going to be a big seller on e-bay, I can already tell.

Of course, the pin trading activities continue and it seems as if there are even MORE people there today than yesterday, so much so that they had to put out even more tables, because people were complaining that they couldn't display their pins for trading.

The lines to play the pin games were also longer. People were really into getting those cast lanyard pins that are released at this event.

I took more pictures of the themeing that they are doing around the area for this event. They certainly did quite a bit.

OH! I bumped into PinMadness and her boyfriend. First WDWMagic member that I've met anywhere! They were having a great time, and PinMadness had a special pin coupon that got her a lanyard that had THE WHOLE PIN SET of the cast lanyard pins! Lucky her! Of course, by the time she got back to me, she had traded away many of the pins. I still managed to trade with her a couple that I wanted. I also introduced her to other Windy City Pin Traders members that were there, and we all invited her and her boyfriend to come to our monthly meeting. So it is finally good to get to meet her, especially after we've been exchanging pins for months.

The "Pin Family", a set of characters that are quite hilarious, also came into the pin trading area to take a look. They cast members tend to wear a lot of desirable pins, so they are usually swamped as soon as they appear. In this case, by the time they got to us, their lanyards were well picked over.

We left around 4:15 pm just as it was starting to rain. On the way out, we went to Mouse Gears because we were told that they have installed this Pin Game, where for $5, you can try to play this game. Win or lose, you get a pin can is one of the 3 or 4 sets of pins available form the set contained in that machine. I think we spent $25 getting 5 pins (which isn't bad considering that the cheapest rack pins is $6.95). At least, if we don't want to keep this, they make good trading. We are going to try a few more times tomorrow because we want the Donald pin.

The last day of the Pin Celebration is tomorrow. We also leave tomorrow afternoon, so I will probably not file another report until after we get home. It was a short but fun trip. I can't wait to get back here in 4 weeks for the Epcot Anniversary celebration.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

OK, so you'll never guess what became a minor and unexpected "hit" at the Pin Celebration.

They have several water stations throughout the event where you can get a cup of cold water. This was done in previous years as well. However, yesterday, during the first day of the celebration, when I decided to have a drink of water, I did a double take because they were using this hard plastic cups that had Mickey Ears and Castle design on it. In other words, these are not your usual throwaway flimsy plastic cups!

So I asked a few of my friends there if they have seen the plastic cups and am I the only one who thought that these are way cool and highly collectible. Everyone thought so! They had already taken some to keep. So I'm not embarrass to admit that I took a few as souvenirs.

Well guess what? Today, you can't find them anymore. We are back to the paper cups and cheap, flimsy plastic cups. A few people who didn't take them yesterday are regretting their decisions.

So, if you are ever invited to come over to my place and I serve you drinks on a white, frosted plastic cups with Mickey Ears and Castle design on it, you'll know that you're drinking on a collectible piece of Disney merchandise!

Zz.

 

[H20Babie]

Very cool TR! Thanks!

BTW, I have about 8 of those cups from a couple of years ago. Can't remember where in WDW we got them exactly, but pretty sure I got them in 2005.

 

[mouselvrmom]

Wow, that pin trading looks crazy!

 

[ZapperZ]

I'm back. Needless to say, I'm completely exhausted from this trip. We haven't done a full day non-stop for a long time, and I now know why. But because of the pin event, and the fact that we were having so much fun, we went through the whole day almost non-stop. So it was very tiring.

I will post more of the report of the last day of the Pin Celebration event, including pictures, and also will post pictures of the various pins that we got. As with the pin event last year, we got two complete sets of the mystery pin set this year again. So I'm quite happy with that, especially since the Goofy pin was only LE 200, and there were people going around looking for that pin, even on the last day.

Zz.

 

[PinMadness]

Awesome report Z!

I am glad you made it home safely. Brian and I are exhausted too, but we had a blast. It was great to meet you, Chuck, and the other members of the Windy City Pin Traders!

 

[ZapperZ]

Awesome report Z!

I am glad you made it home safely. Brian and I are exhausted too, but we had a blast. It was great to meet you, Chuck, and the other members of the Windy City Pin Traders!

Same here. Hope you get to join us in our monthly pin meet soon.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

This is from our final day at WDW and the final day of the Pin Celebration event. While we were at Epcot around 9:00 am, we didn't head straight to the Pin Celebration. We met up with our friends who live there and spent the morning doing the various attractions.

Epcot had signs at the entrance inviting the rest of the public to join the Pin Celebration at 11:00 am that morning. Here's one of the signs in front of the now-bald Spaceship Earth.

We then did Soarin' (again) and the Finding Nemo attraction. Here are the jellyfish from that attraction.

I bumped into this sign nearby that proclaimed that that was a picture spot. So I took a picture! I can read instructions!

We then did Test Track (again). It's a lot of fun to get the whole car to your own group.

After lunch, we rejoined the Pin Celebration, which has now been opened to the rest of Epcot guests. While they are not replenishing the boards with the newly-released cast lanyard pins, there were still a lot of neat pins to be had at the various pin games. And of course, pin trading was still going on strong, even though the crowds have dwindled quite a bit with a lot of the attendees have left. But what is interesting was that the pin partners from various Disney theme parks, such as Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, and Hong Kong Disneyland, were now trading pins with guests with the pins they brought from their theme parks. So now, there were long lines for trading with these other parks' cast members. Guests who came in and traded with these cast members early got amazing pins that can't be found in N. America.

The characters were also present and mingled with the rest of the guests and attendees. I got a lot of pictures of them and with them. Here are a few:

Goofy was having way too much fun with the rest of the guests.

Both Chip and Dale were there. Here's Dale hamming it up to the camera.

Mickey was trying the Mr. Toad vehicle...

.. while Donald gave us a show on stage...

.... that is, until Mickey and Minnie chased him off it.

It was a lot of fun. We are looking forward to next years event. Rumor has it that the theme for next year has something to do with "Pin University".

I will post a few more pictures, and some more reports on the stuff that I missed in the next few days.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

We left around 4:15 pm just as it was starting to rain. On the way out, we went to Mouse Gears because we were told that they have installed this Pin Game, where for $5, you can try to play this game. Win or lose, you get a pin can is one of the 3 or 4 sets of pins available form the set contained in that machine. I think we spent $25 getting 5 pins (which isn't bad considering that the cheapest rack pins is $6.95). At least, if we don't want to keep this, they make good trading. We are going to try a few more times tomorrow because we want the Donald pin.

OK, so I have more information on this thing. It seems that this particular machine was installed at Mouse Gears on Sept. 6th, just as Epcot was about to be swarmed by pin addicts like me. So that was good marketing!

From the Disney pin website, it seems that there will be more of these machines being installed at WDW in the coming months. So keep an eye on them.

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

From what I saw, I think this has to be THE most sought-after "pin" on the list that was being released as part of this Pin Celebration. It is Mickey Mouse as Main Street reporter Scoop Sanderson.

Now, I use the word "pin" very loosely here. This pin is HUGE and heavy, and comes in a very fancy box. It is outrageously gorgeous!

During the pin event, Scoop Sanderson made many appearances. People were lining up to take pictures of him, with him, and even to get him to autograph this pin, even though he wasn't the artist for this pin. I managed to get a picture of him as well right next to a picture of Mickey dressed as him.

Note that Scoop was actually WEARING this pin!

It was such a terrific event.

Zz.

 

[nibblesandbits]

WOW!! That is one large pin!!!

 

[ZapperZ]

WOW!! That is one large pin!!!

Yup!

Disney has roughly 3 classifications of the pins based on the size: regular, jumbo, and super jumbo. That one is even larger than the super jumbo that I've seen.

I'm more surprised that Scoop could actually wear it and still stand up straight!

Zz.

 

[ZapperZ]

One of the pin sets that they had for auction was something that I would want myself (but not willing to pay the big bucks for it). It is a framed pin set to commemorate the upcoming Epcot's 25th Anniversary.

It was nicely done. Inside the "25" is filled with various Epcot pins. I didn't read it too closely, but I think it is supposed to have every single existing Epcot-related pins.

I don't know how much thing went for (anyone attended the auction?), but I don't doubt that this went for very big chuck of change. Those auctions can go as high as the thousands for one of these things, especially when it is something that is one-of-a-kind.

Zz.