Help! Surviving the dreaded "gimmies!!"

[DisneyRegulars]

so this year I am giving DD7 a coupon book. I made $5 coupons for her own spending money that she has saved, as well as coupons for things that I will buy for her (she gets a princess dress for her bday, a christmas ornament, and one new charm for her bracelet). I also made coupons for her snack credits and three trips to the pool. I used a book of sticky notes I got at a convention. The rule is no asking for anything, just show me the coupon. I will see how it works when we get there in a couple weeks

This seems like such a cute idea! I also love the trips to the pool added in as coupons and the unlimited hugs. I second letting us know how it goes.

 

[noahdove]

Love the coupon book idea

 

[crisi]

Say no and wear them out. Saving your buying for the end of the day "if you really want it, we will go back and get it" - then run them exhausted so that at the end of the day the combination of tired and the walk isn't appealing.

 

[KGNOLA]

I will definitely let you all know how it works out with the coupon book. My theory is that it will not only cut down on the gimmees, but also allow her to begin to plan and budget. I am hoping that she can use the experience to plan many Disney vacations in the future!

 

[Freesia123]

Coupons sound good but I'd leave out the pool! My dd would want to go at midnight then say, but I have a coupon mommy!!!

 

[KGNOLA]

The pool coupons have a restrictions: They can't be used on a Star Wars day and it has to be redeemed my 9pm

 

[starbound25]

I wanted to post an update to this thread now that I'm back from my trip to report what worked for me.
So, before vacation we talked about souvenirs. A lot haha. We talked about being greedy, talked about how the trip is the present and the souvenirs are extras.
I have 3 kids and each was going to get 2 things from me and 2 from their aunt.
The $$ limit was $25, and if they got something that was $10 that didn't mean they still had $15 left, it meant any $$ amount from $1-$25 per gift.
No presents day 1 and none day 5 (we were there for 6 days)
And it was 1 gift a day for those other 4 days.

Before we went we made a list of things that each girl has been starting to collect from past trips so we had a list of 4 items each that the girls wanted to get as their 4 gifts.
This worked really well to take away the "I want everything!" factor.
If they saw something they liked but it wasn't on their list I took a photo of them holding the item so we could remember the stuff that was cute, but that we weren't going to purchase.
This worked really well also.
Here is a sample souvenir list for 1 daughter
Key chain
Ears
Duffy outfit
One stuffed animal
The others were pretty similar so everyone ended up with kind of the same loot.
It went very smooth and I like that I have them all now collecting some things that really takes away the overwhelming factor of all the stuff you see at Disney that makes you want to buy everything!
So there ya go!

 

[DisneyRegulars]

Thanks for the update!!!! I'm glad your plan worked out for you and I loved reading the update.

 

[set1208]

We have four kids and my plan is to hit downtown Disney first thing, let them pick out a toy, and leave it at that. When they ask for something, I'll just remind them of what they already got. My boys already know that they want to make light sabers and my dd3 wants to get a box of my little ponies.

We have a bunch of pins from years past so those will come too. Pin trading will help distract them while in a store.

Toys and souvenirs always get lost or broken or forgotten about so I stand firm with my kids when I say no. It works for us.

 

[sb682]

We have four kids and my plan is to hit downtown Disney first thing, let them pick out a toy, and leave it at that. When they ask for something, I'll just remind them of what they already got. My boys already know that they want to make light sabers and my dd3 wants to get a box of my little ponies.

We have a bunch of pins from years past so those will come too. Pin trading will help distract them while in a store.

Toys and souvenirs always get lost or broken or forgotten about so I stand firm with my kids when I say no. It works for us.

They don't do the boxes of My Little Ponies anymore. You might want to let your DD know now so she isn't disappointed when she gets there.

Glad the OP found something that worked for her. On our last trip, I gave my son coupons from the Creative DISigns board. I printed them at the Target photo center and he got one or two each day at breakfast. For example, he knew he was entitled to one snack and one set of ears that day, or one birthday cupcake and one toy of his choosing. He is only 4 though, and he's never suffered much from the gimmes, at least not yet. His favorite thing was the penny press machines. I raided my change bowl and put aside enough change to press 20 pennies. He got a dose of instant gratification, he enjoyed choosing which designs to make, and it cost me $10.20 in pocket change.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I use my iPod to take pictures of things that my DD wants. Towards the end of the trip she flips through the pictures and selects what she wants.

One tip, we only take pictures of items that we both agree are potential souvenirs.

 

[tchrrx]

I shop at Dollar Tree and Walmart before the trip. I buy Disney toys, stickers, pajamas, toothbrush, etc. I wrap each item up in Disney paper. Each morning (or evening) DD gets to open one gift. It's a lot easier to skip the gift shops when you know you have a present waiting in the room.

 

[esquared221]

One thing that we did with our DD( then 5) for our last trip was set up a chore chart months ahead of time and gave her an opportunity to earn money that she could spend on anything she wanted when we were there. It was easier to contain the gimmes when she knew she would be let loose in the Disney Store with her $40 She also learned a hard truth about the value of a dollar at WDW. We were both a little disappointed in what you could get for that little money but we spent it smart and ultimately she was thrilled with her haul!

 

[twinsouvenirs]

I really like this idea! Thank you!!

me too, brilliant!

I have a rule for myself that I leave the store--if I remember to come back for it, I can get it. Often once I leave the object behind I am no longer dying to take it with me-- I rarely go back

 

[mousehunter3]

We avoid going into gift shops as much as we can. There are so many other exciting things to do and see, they don't get too distracted by the "stuff".

They are all bringing their own spending money so they will be reminded that when it's gone, it's gone and that's it.

When we go places like theme parks or whatever, we tell them to look around and keep in mind the things they really like so they can get the item they want most by the end of the day.

We don't generally buy them things unless it is their birthday or Christmas so they are not accustomed to that, which helps cut down on the gimmies a little bit.

 

[pookybean]

we do the gift cards, i usually load them with $10 per day so that times however long our trip is. then they have whatever they have saved or got as gifts.

they know once it is gone it is gone. i think this makes them spend a little more wisely and get better quality items rather than little trinkets that are going to break easily.

one rule i have is we can't buy anything from a store that you get dumped in after a ride. this really cuts down on the lingering in the store after the ride is over and thus cuts down on the "gimmies". they know they can't get it there so they don't bother looking. the only exception is star tours because that is really the only store my ds likes and has the largest selection of star wars stuff! if they happen to see something while passing through they will look for it again at the resort gift shop or one of the larger gift shops at the park. if they really wanted it and it couldn't be found anywhere else we would go back to the store the next time we were at that park.

 

[AZMermaid]

Our rule is one shirt, one hat, one pin, one toy. But, last trip they got two toys and no hats so it isn't a hard line rule!