How much souvenir money?

[ILuvTinkerbelle]

Ok so this will be my dd 2.5 first trip to Disney. I want to give my sons, ages 9 & 11 a set amount of money for the trip in Disney Dollars so that they are not bugging me every day for something. I am also going to give them a coupon for something at Goofy's Candy Co and one choice of shirt. How much should I give them? Eventhough they are older they will still be drawn to the "crap" if you will......Is $30 enough for the week?

Dd will probably end up getting more just because 1) it's her first trip 2) she is little and there are so many things to get that will last her a while and 3) she is a girl and it's my first chance to do the whole princess thing!

They understand that it's mostly about her but I want to make sure I give them enough money that they can get maybe 2 things......thoughts?


How much do you usually give your kids? Do you do Disney Dollars or would a gift card for each of them be better?

 

[hebbynan]

We're going 9 days and each son (10 and 5) is getting $150 for the entire 9 days. BUT...they have to buy everything they want except snacks and drinks. We figure this comes out to about $16 each day which would be appropriate for things like a shirt one day, a toy another, anything when we go to Lego, etc. We're planning on getting them Disney dollars as well thinking it will just make it feel a little more "Disney-ish"!!

 

[ILuvTinkerbelle]

WOW!!! That is alot! I honestly don't think my dh will get on board with that much....but to pay for everything they want the whole visit besides what comes on the DDP might be good, perhaps $10 for for the 5 days we are in the parks? Would that be enough?

 

[hebbynan]

WOW!!! That is alot! I honestly don't think my dh will get on board with that much....but to pay for everything they want the whole visit besides what comes on the DDP might be good, perhaps $10 for for the 5 days we are in the parks? Would that be enough?

I guess it would depend on what kinds of things they're going to buy. My boys have to buy shirts, hats, etc and those things are about $12-$15 each. Fortunately for me (or unfortunately because it costs more $$), my boys don't buy the small -cheaper souvenier things. They collect magnets, shirts, hats, matchboxes, trains, etc. That's why we give them so much money to start with. And DS10 is planning on buying a bigger priced Bionicle Lego set. So he REALLY needs to budget his money this trip!

 

[ILuvTinkerbelle]

Yeah my older son has a tendency to spend it on crap....the middle one would save it all for something big and awesome, and honestly they don't care about shirts but this time they might be interested in hats....I guess we could start with $50 and if they do good we can always give them more. Plus you know I will be buying things in secret for Christmas......!

 

[IMGONNABE40!]

I am struggling a bit with your boys having to know that "its mostly about her" as a way to understand why they are being shortchanged in the souvie department. Truthfully, most 2.5 yr olds I know seem to be more interested in the box than in the toy!!

Okay, now that that is off my chest... this is what I have done with my son when he was in the 9-12 age range. He'd get $10 a day to blow or save as he saw fit. He too likes to buy crap. On the last day of the trip I would buy him something $15-20 range. I usually bought him a t-shirt during the course of the week as well. Oh, and I always paid for meals and snacks.

 

[KellyNY]

Our first trip my DD was 11. I spent too much on a trip and me and her agreed that I will get her 2 gifts from Disney and 1 from Universal. I got her hat, some flashing toy they sell before parades and "memory messer thing" (MIB) from Universal. She was totally fine with not spending more. Every trip since we get something new but usually from Epcot(Japan), something that she will use like Origami(SP) books, pearl, silver hoops from Italy, not for boys for sure, but there are plenty good things for them as well. We do not buy Disney oriented staff at all. Give them may be $50 each as things there are quiet expensive.

 

[KateMW]

As the mother of a 5 year old girl, she is just now getting into the whole Disney thing. I would save your money when it comes to your 2.5 yr. old and actually spend it on the kids that will remember it and have more fun picking it out themselves. Also, no matter what, no kid is really ok with getting shortchanged in the toy department by their baby sister.

 

[jb01]

$50 each seems quite reasonable. You can always adjust it if the need arises.

 

[ashleighspeaks]

You could always buy a few things ahead of time, and leave them from "Tink" on their pillow. That way they feel like they are getting the "disney" stuff and not feel the need to buy it in the store!

 

[ILuvTinkerbelle]

Oh no I would never want them to feel shortchanged....when I say the trip is about her I mean going on the little kid rides, posing with characters, etc that might slow us down. But I made sure they knew we would do everything THEY wanted but since she was little we would focus this one time on her needs in that dept. I haven't said anything to them about spending more $$ on her....I just think it will happen naturally as she is so young.....for instance they don't really use/need another stuffed animal, no matter how cute....etc....and I myself love the princess stuff....though who knows I may not want to buy a thing! LOL

The other thing is that I always make 2 gift bags for them. Since we drive we leave in the evening and they sleep the first half. When we switch drivers they are usually awake and I give each of them a goody bag with snacks, new games, books etc that are Disney themed for the ride down. Then the first morning they wake up they get a "Welcome" bag from Mickey for the trip, candy, and small toys, cards, etc. So btwn all that they get tons of things.

My main concern was giving them freedom to buy whatever they want, and making sure they have enough as I know things there are pricey. Thus making it easier on us not getting asked a million times a day for stuff. I get it, I love all things Disney and it is sometimes painful to not get everything you want......I hope that with money of their own they can get things they want and we can all be happy!

So $10 a day is good right?

 

[kwelch10377]

I think $10 a day is good. Maybe you could also give them opportunties before you leave for them to earn a little more by doing extra chores around the house.

 

[WantToGoNow]

My children will pretty much have around $150 each for our 9 day trip. Most of this they have saved themselves over the past year - the rest will be given to them. I will not give them the $$ but will get them what they want - when they start coming close to their limit, I'll let them know they have such-and-such left.

As for making a difference in the spending for your dd, no matter how young, female and cute, is just not right and the boys will be able to notice the difference.

 

[VirataMama4]

I think $10 a day is fine! I have a DS 10 that loves to buy the "crap" from everywhere we go, so I totally understand that. We're going in 2 weeks for just a few days and we are giving the oldest 2 kids $25 gift cards and they each have $$ from report cards. I have found that if its their $$ they tend to stay away from the "crap." Also, we don't let them buy stuff till the end of the day, that way the "think" about what they really want before they buy it.

 

[WDWTeri]

I usually give mine $50 for a week and let them pick out a tee shirt of their choice that I buy. They can always take money from their allowance if they think they need more. I pay for all real food and snacks, but candy has to come out of their $$. Last year I got Disney gift cards instead of Disney $$, that way they didn't have to worry about carrying around $ and change. Worked out really well.

I try not to care what they buy, one person's treasure............., so long as they don't bug me for more $$. Saves a lot of money to have them be responsible for their spending.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

One thing I've found with my son, when he has control over "his" money, he tends to buy less of the crappy things and be more thoughtful about his purchases. He doesn't have a problem asking mom for this that and the other, but once I decided to just put his money on a gift card at the beginning of the trip (which is kept in his wallet, in the backpack I wear) his desire for "Junk" that would eat up the money disappeared!

In fact, I believe on our last trip, he bypassed all the little things and decided to save his money for one nicer toy from the Lego store. I was impressed by the thoughtfulness he put into his decision and will be doing the gift card thing again on this trip!

Oh...to the OP... We are going for 10 days and I am giving him $150 to spend. He is 12 and this will include his money for pins and the arcade!

 

[Khill]

We have a 6 and 9 year old daughters. Since school has started we have been assigning disney dollars for them on the trip. We have also taken some away for not cleaning their rooms as asked, or other such things.

We also have been giving them to them for their school work and grades. I have a feeling that when all is said and done, they will have $150 when we go in March.

I am putting this on a Disney credit card from the grocery store, and they can use it to buy anything they want, excluding food and snacks. Any money they have left, they can spend using the credit card when they get home.

 

[la79al]

I generally try to give the older kids $10 a day. DSD will buy anything and everything and usually be a few dollars short. DSS will save his money (even though he has to use it for any snacks he wants), maybe buy one or two things and bring money home to put into his savings account. This year might end up being a little different as they are saving up their own money. The best part is that they aren't constantly bugging us to buy them stuff and they are more careful about what they pick. I generally try to make them wait until the last day to shop but last trip DSD picked something out the first day we were there. It worked out well because she was extra cautious with her shopping to make sure she had money left at the end of the week to buy it.
Also, I agree about not going overboard on your DD. Now that I have a DD of my own and we are taking her when she is little and really fun, I keep thinking that she is going to end up with so many souvies. In reality, when we went in March, she got a sippy cup and that was it, even after DH told me to get her anything I wanted. There is a lot of neat stuff there, for slightly older girls. Just keep reminding yourself of all the stuff she has at home already that she doesn't play with and take lots and lots of pictures. They'll last longer and be enjoyed by more people.

 

[Drusilla]

Over the past year we earned about $160 in Disney rewards from our Disney credit card. Dd 8 and dd5 will split it, about $80 each for our 10 day trip. They can spend it how they want but when it's gone, they're done buying crap.