Remember the Disney Photo Pins?

[TheTwins]

Most of us have heard of "Build-a-Pin", especially since Disney has decided to release a new take on that idea quite recently. So, whether you remember building your own pin in the park years ago, or you purchased some of the rack pins that interchange with each other, the idea of customizing a pin to your own tastes isn't new. But how many of you remember the old "Disney Photo Pins" from the early 2000s? They debuted at the 2001 Pin Celebration event at EPCOT, as DizPins was so excited to announce:

 

 

We're actually excited to spotlight these pins in hopes that some of you remember them and can add details to the little bit we've discovered. There were eight designs released at WDW on 01 Oct 2001. One of the eight pictures was lost in the DizPins announcement, and it seems that must have happened fairly early on. It took six years for the first seven pins shown to get submitted into the database here, and we were recently able to add the eighth design (WDW Entrance), with some help from @ScoopsPins!

 

Check these pins out in the PinPics database by clicking here.

 

 

 

The pins were released at a cost of $15.00 for the pin and a sheet of 18 printed stickers. You could purchase additional pins for $12.50 each. At the time of their release, DizPins reported that these were only offered at Exposition Hall in Magic Kingdom and The Prop Shop at MGM Studios. More locations were to be added in the following weeks, but I haven't been able to find any announcements or information about them. The program was in place until the end of 2003, but as of January 2004 there were no Photo Pins available in any park.

 

When you purchased your pin, there was an area where you stood in front of a screen to have a photo taken. That picture was then put onto a digital background and printed onto the sheet of stickers, each of which was pre-cut to fit exactly into the empty space on the pin.

 

On October 20, 2001, it was announced that two separate designs were to be released at Disneyland (showing artist concept images of the pins), but I haven't been able to find these listed in the database so far or photos of the actual pins anywhere.

 

 

 

If you have any of these photo pins from your vacations, please share. And if you remember the experience and how it worked, we'd love to hear about it!

 

~ Sarah