Amount of Gift Cards for Souvenirs

[mbf]

We are taking our 6 year old DS on his first trip to WDW in December. DH and I have been trying to think about creative ways to let him buy souvenirs while still putting some limits. He has been doing "chores" around the house and will have some allowance money to bring but DH and I would also like to give him some gift cards to let him feel more responsible for his purchases. I came up with the idea to buy four smaller gift cards from Disney.com. One for each park that goes along with the theme of each park or ties in somehow(Scar for AK, Phineas and Ferb for HS, Pluto for MK, Nemo for Epcot). My question is what is a reasonable amount? We DO NOT want to go overboard. I was thinking $25 for each card since he will also have some allowance money to spend of his own.

Also, our DD's (17 and 21) will be coming along. They are older and both have jobs and so make their own pocket money but I would still like to give each of them a gift card for souvenirs. Would $75 each be too little? I would love to hear thoughts. (we are on the DP so no one will need extra money for food)

 

[goofyredraider]

We did $75 for each of ours in July. I reminded them daily that if they spent it all in one day, there would be no more. They were VERY conscious of it, and didn't spend the bulk until the last day.

I *LOVE* the idea of the smaller gift cards! Having one per day, per park would be awesome and keep a budget of some kind. I may just steal that this go around!

 

[Leshaface]

We did $75 for each of ours in July. I reminded them daily that if they spent it all in one day, there would be no more. They were VERY conscious of it, and didn't spend the bulk until the last day.

I *LOVE* the idea of the smaller gift cards! Having one per day, per park would be awesome and keep a budget of some kind. I may just steal that this go around!

Great idea! I was going to suggest maybe $20 for each gift card for your son, but the amount for the girls is just right I think

 

[QVCshopper]

Cute idea for the separate gift cards. We go at least once/year, and I gave my kids (5 & 6) $25 each, plus they had $5 from their grandma. We were just limiting what they could get, but they each came home with 3 smaller souvies with that amount, which is plenty for us.

 

[mbf]

Ok thanks! I just wasn't sure that $25 would be enough but it sounds like everyone thinks it will be. He likes little stuffed animals and I am sure there will be lots of little toys he will want. My DH had originally suggested giving him homemade tickets for 1 item per park but I thought it would be nicer to let DS feel more in control of his spending money. Also, with Christmas right after our trip I do not want to have too much extra stuff hanging around.

For my older girls, I am also glad everyone agrees that the $75 would ok. I didn't want to do too much on the GC and have them with a lot left over on the card. This seems like it would be enough to get a couple of nice things.

 

[jdyer09]

What about a Visa gift card for the same amount for the older girls? This way they can spend whatever they want to in the park, you can keep the amount the same, but then if you do other things on your trip they have the money there too, and if they have some left over the money isn't "wasted". Just an idea...