Souvenir Budget?

[kdm2865]

How much should I plan on spending on souvenirs? Having never been to Disney before I am not exactly sure how much everything costs.

 

[HiMagicFan]

I have learned through the boards to use gift cards to save and budget while at WDW otherwise I overspend on the credit cards. I usually do $100 per park. I usually chose one park per day to spend at. I get the dining plan so that I don't worry about meals. This way, I stay on a budget (hopefully).

This way if I buy that expensive blanket or artwork then I only have whatever left to spend. This also ensures that I spend wisely and not just go disney crazy (which I still do at times). Christmas is the worst...I up it to $150 or 200.....

Good Luck

 

[pktbMouse]

If you have a car it might be worth heading to Wallmart. They have tons of Disney merchandise and a fraction of the cost. I always get my souvineers there and save a fortune. Folks back home dont know they came from wallys.
Last year I got a cool Disney tinkerbelle watch $25 couple of Disney bags identical to the one in MK Mk price was $40 wallmart $15. Keyrings, Suckers shaped like Mickey heads for the kids in my sons class..pooh stuff for the baby, T shirts for about everyone prices ranging from $5 - $9.99. Disney towels...

 

[DisneyShannon]

you can find some deals in the parks. I found dog bowls and note pads. I also went to the candy shop and got A bag of taffy a large size bag for two bucks.The dog dishes were like 7.00.

 

[68wdwmom]

The first year we went to WDW the children each had $200. The rule was they could not buy anything until we had visited each park .Then they made up their minds and bought whatever they wanted.You can usually get most things at DTD

 

[kdm2865]

The Wal-Mart idea is a good one but I'm only buying for my DD really and I don't think she'll find buying stuff at Wal-Mart nearly as fun as buying at Disney.

 

[kimis]

How much should I plan on spending on souvenirs? Having never been to Disney before I am not exactly sure how much everything costs.

We have 8 grandchildren (7 girls/1 boy) so we buy a lot of souvenirs however we have our little secrets we use since we live on a budget. I buy most of the gifts before we leave town and I usually start months in advance. For example we are hoping to go in Dec/2010 so I have already started looking for nice Disney clearance gifts. The seven girls will be getting winter Disney scarfs I found at Walmart on the clearance rack. The three babies will be getting the Mickey Mouse book set I just got on sale (buy one/get one) at Toys R Us. Each child will get about three or four things a peice so I am always looking for sale/clearance items. Also this helps with having to get them all back home. The kids don't know that they didn't come from WDW because they all have official disney tags on them. Enjoy!

 

[tiggerpoohtoo]

when we took our girls to dland i bought little things like jewlry pjs tshirt at home and secretly packed them. I pull something new out(secretly) every morning it was really fun and the girls loved it. We then gave each girl 50 bucks for their personal money. The little gifts made their 50$ go a little futher.

 

[spiroff.natasha]

A fun souvenir is to go to the Animation Academy (at DHS) and learn to draw a character. I like to take our drawings home and put them in a frame with other Disney scrap-booking elements. It is a great everyday reminder of our trip and the best part....it's free!

 

[YukiPhnx]

You could check disney's online store to get an idea of how much the park merchandise would cost. They sell park merch on their website now.

For me, not only have I budgeted $50/day to spend, I've also written down a list of what I want to get, so I don't make too much impulse purchases.

 

[kifuller4]

I have started purchasing Disney gift cards at my local drug/grocery store. I only plan on bringing my CC for the special Epcot meet and greet. What I don't have I can't spend.

 

[carlbarry]

Go to one, or both, of the official Disney outlet stores! The savings can be incredible.