Nestled deep in the heart of Trading Valley just off Route 498, you will find the eclectic little town of Trade City, USA. The town has many must see attractions like the world largest ear hat, lanyard and backer card. Sounds like a beautiful place to trade, doesn’t it? That story was the original concept behind the theme of this year’s 10th Annual Disney Pin Celebration (has it been ten years?) which will be held August 27-29, 2010 at Epcot inside World ShowPlace.
“For the design of Trade City, we were thinking Main Street, U.S.A. meets Radiator Springs,” explained Jeanne Lewis, product developer for this event. “Yet we needed a reason for Guests to visit the city, so we created a Founders Day celebration. The funny thing is the town is celebrating 10 years just like Disney Pin Trading is celebrating 10 years. What a coincidence! (laughs)”
There will be a variety of specially designed items created just for this event including figurines with pins, a limited edition ear hat with a pin and lots of new (you guessed it) limited edition pins. I’m having lots of trouble deciding on my favorite pin this year, yet I really like this one pictured below. It features a slider element whose contents won’t be revealed until the event. Any guesses as to which pin was returned to Tinker Bell?
The event will features a spacious room for trading, trading activities and games, entertainment and a silent auction. We are also introducing some additional experiences this year including a breakfast and a desert reception for a select number of Guests.
On Sunday, there will be the first-ever Vinylmation ticketed event that will take place in World ShowPlace. There will be artist demonstrations, create-your-own experiences, a silent auction and the release of three specially designed Vinylmation items. I love the set below that Thomas Scott, lead designer for Vinylmation, created for the event. It will be a 9” plus 3” figure set and it looks incredible!
I’ve been to nearly every Pin Celebration (somehow missed 2003), and it is difficult to describe the “awesomeness” (is that a word?) of this event. I sadly ran out of room in this posting, but look for future articles featuring interviews with the Disney Design Group artists behind this event, and the Walt Disney World Ambassador team who have, for the first time, designed pins for the celebration.
Meanwhile, visit the Disney Pin Celebration 2010 event page for more details. Registration opened on March 31, 2010, for this hard-ticket event via DisneyPins.com.
Comments
I want to respond to Kevin from NJ. This pin event especially if you sign up early for the $100 is actually pretty inexpensive. Up to the first 750 get an early registration pin if you register by the deadline, you get a T-shirt this year, $30 in gift cards to use for meals and if things go as usual you will get a welcome pin, a thank you gift pin set and a jumbo pin farewell gift. Unless things have changed there is a huge room for those who want to trade with other pin collectors as well as the trading boards which usually number around eight or more. The overall opportunity to trade at this event is wonderful. The Florida events are much more expansive than the California events to me.
I have purchased a ticket for myself only for the Breakfast which sounds like another golden opportunity for obtaining a special pin, to get fed and to have a chance to hit the boards before the increased crowd comes in. My poor husband is going to have to be on his own for a little while until he can come in to the event.
To Steve, the only thing I am a bit disappointed in this year so far is the fact we do not get our few hours of trading on Sunday before the public arrives. Also, any possibility that Epcot might set up some tables outside the event tent so that the line waiting can get some breakfast as well? You might have a hungry crowd out there and another opportunity to make a little bit of money and provide a convenience for your guests.
Steven,
We are are very excited by this event… as well as the event in here at our home park in california… can you please give us collectors and traders an update on trading Tables at the parks or more special events at both parks… i know in the past there were 2-3 events each year and now there is only 1…
Thanks!
are you planning for any future vinylmation events, maybe with more vinyls on the RSP? But we are really excited for this event, breakfast and dessert is something different and excited to attend both
Calvin,
The Vinylmation Showcase at Trade City, USA is our first dip into the water, if you will.
We’d love to have future hard-ticket events featuring Vinylmation but nothing planned at this point. Like many things with Vinylmation, the possibilities are endless 🙂
Thats a big price tag for a pin event, and your still buying pins like you buy them at the park.
We recently took our granddaughter who s six years old for her belated Bday to Disneyland in Anaheim. We hadn’t been in 25 years and this was a spectacular time for us all. We are four generations of woman in our family so it was extra special. The pin exchange was so exciting for her that we needed to get her an extra lanyard. We are looking forward to making the Happiest Place on Earth OUR Happiest Place on Earth!!!! Thanks again Disney for making this special vacation happen.
I am signed up for the event and ready to go! The one item I have been looking forward to the most is the Mickey Mayor Hat Ears. I have been faithfully keeping up with the What’s HapPINing Blog regarding this item. That brings me to a question though: On the What’s HapPINing Blog and at the March WDW Pin Trading Night, both stated that the ears would be $59.95. But on the Trade City event merchandise catalog they are listed as $74.95…is that a typo?
Thanks & Can’t wait to attend Trade City!
Carleen,
The hat will retail for $74.95. It looks even better in person, especially with the hat box and all of the fancy details.
We will have it on display at the next Disney Trading Night in Florida which will be held on April 30 at Disney’s Contemporary Resort from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Ballroom of the Americas. Look forward to seeing you at the event in August.
We were not sure about this event at first 🙂 We have been going to almost all the events for pins at WDW since the beginning 🙂 But then between the Vinylmation Event and the Breakfast and Dessert Reception it was a SURE THING!
Looking forward to it. Love the above vinylmation – beautiful artwork.
Can’t wait to see all of our pin and vinylmation friends this year!
Comments are closed.