Cost of Souveniers ??

[sl_underwood]

We are planning our trip to Disney and I am not sure how much to budget our family for spending money. My hubby thought $100-$200 would be plenty but I am not sure if that is reasonable or not. The kids will be 13 and 9. We will be on the meal plan so they will only need to spend for extra snacks and souveniers. How much do you think I should budget?
Lora

 

[BlakeNJ]

We gave my son (he is 4) a $10/day allotment for each of the 5 days we we there. It wasn't so much what we thought we would spend but what we COULD spend. If he didn't see something one day, he had $20 the next day. I would tell your kids how much they each have to spend and let them determine where and when they spend it. We also let our son do little "chores" before our trip and gave him a Disney dollar for each accomplishment. We also did the dining plan and didn't have to worry about extra money for ice cream or other snacks. You will find you have extra snacks at the end of your visit. Take a few Mickey rice crispy treats home for friends! Have a wonderful trip!!

 

[pedro2112]

Lora, I think your hubby is right. $100-$200 spending money a day seems like a reasonable amount for a disney vacation with the dining plan.

 

[welovedis]

Lora-
I'm not sure if you meant $100-200/day or total? It would really depend on the type of souveniers you are thinking of getting. If you are talking about clothing items, esp sweatshirts--they can be upwards of $25-60, t-shirts start around $17-40....you get the picture!

If you are talking about snacks--food carts sell things like ice cream (Mickey bars $2.50), popcorn ($2.75-3.75), pretzels (around $4-5 I think), drinks around around $3-4 for the most part. If you are on the dining plan, I cannot fathom that you'd spend alot of food other than what you're getting unless you are used to eating a ton of food.

 

[sl_underwood]

I am sorry I didnt clarify that. My hubby wants to give them at the most $200 for the entire trip 7 day/6 nights. They wont have to buy snacks or shouldnt have to with the meal plan. I can imagine that the girls will want to buy a t-shirt. My older dd wants to buy a snow globe to add to her collection. My younger one will likely buy a stuffed animal. I just want to make sure we are budgeting enough cash for each of them.
Lora

 

[welovedis]

I would think that would be plenty for them to spend. Have a great trip!

 

[mseg16222]

I am sorry I didnt clarify that. My hubby wants to give them at the most $200 for the entire trip 7 day/6 nights. They wont have to buy snacks or shouldnt have to with the meal plan. I can imagine that the girls will want to buy a t-shirt. My older dd wants to buy a snow globe to add to her collection. My younger one will likely buy a stuffed animal. I just want to make sure we are budgeting enough cash for each of them.
Lora

I am a snow globe nut! It is sometimes cheaper to watch for the sales at disneyshopping.com or even ebay if she likes snowglobes. Just an idea. And I am going to get my kids a few Disney shirts on line before they go so I am not putting out all of the money at onse there and then they can hunt for unique items that they like.
Just a thought!

 

[sl_underwood]

So is my older daughter. It all started with JCPenney, lol. She got the free snow globe with my grandma on the day after Thanksgiving. Now she has a ton of them. She wants one specifically from disney world this time since all her others came from various stores and such. Her newest one we got her for Christmas at the disney store and it is a Lady and the tramp one. She also likes the music boxes and stuff like that. As for the tshirt idea, that sounds great! Thanks!
Lora

 

[LynnTH]

My DS6 and DD4 each have $200 they are bringing with. They got $100 for Christmas and we just cashed in their change and that totaled over $200. We did this for them last time we went (2 years ago) and it worked out great. We never heard the "I Wants" all the time. They knew if they wanted something they could buy it (within reason) with their money. They are very selective, even at a young age, when they use their own money. They did really well and came home with money also. I think that amount will be fine.

 

[indigoxtreme]

I am sorry I didnt clarify that. My hubby wants to give them at the most $200 for the entire trip 7 day/6 nights. They wont have to buy snacks or shouldnt have to with the meal plan. I can imagine that the girls will want to buy a t-shirt. My older dd wants to buy a snow globe to add to her collection. My younger one will likely buy a stuffed animal. I just want to make sure we are budgeting enough cash for each of them.
Lora

Thsi should be plenty for them to spend. Unless your children are used to buying what ever they want when they want. But from what you are saying I don't think that is the case. Tell them to consider their purchases before they buy. There is so much at the World that they may just find something else they would prefer more.. Have a great trip

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

I would think you could make anything work for souv. Just depends on what you want to buy and how much of it you want. We are a family of 3, one 3.5 year old and we spend less than $50. (I HAD TO STOP MYSELF MANY MANY TIMES...LOL) But we only wanted to spend a small amount and managed to get away with it. We did give our dd $20 Disney Dollars to spend on whatever she wanted before we left. I think the pictures you come home with are the best Souvineers anyway. (OH, and this cute Disneys' 50th Anniversary Mug that Hubby got for me.)

 

[pedro2112]

Lora, I thought you meant how much spending money should you bring for your whole family for the trip. Sorry for the confusion. Yes, $100 to $200 spending money for two children to buy souveniers is more than enough.

 

[TnTWalter]

Their souvenirs were total of under $50 [2 embroidered mouse ears, 1 fairy ears, 1 pin because I had 2 free pin vouchers]. That's it.

Trish

 

[kizmac]

That sounds like plenty for the kids to have for souveniers. I don't usually budget an amount....well, I don't usually budget for anything come to think of it, lol......but on our last trip we spent around $850 on Souvies and extras for 8 of us on and 8 day stay. $160 of that was Potatoe Head parts and I also bought a couple of Disney jackets which were a bit pricey so really 100-200 per kids is really pretty darn good IMO!

 

[pezpam]

$200 is doable.

On my last trip, my package included a bunch of Disney Dollars, so I gave DD8 $10 to spend each day. If she didn't spend it, she had more the next day. She picked out a few pins and a small Minnie doll, plus a few treats here and there. For a 7-day trip, she spent a grand total of $65 without feeling at all deprived and I think I spent $100 on souvenirs for myself.

My usual strategies before the Disney Dollar experiment...... I pick up a few Tshirts when the Disney Store has a great sale and unveil them when we get to the hotel. That usually keeps DD from feeling the need to spend on clothes. On our first day at the parks, I let her choose a beach towel. That's more expensive in the parks than at home, but it works out because she gets to pick out a park souvenir **that she uses every day after that** - every time she takes a shower or goes to the pool, she uses her new towel, so I don't have to deal with complaints about not getting anything. We also collect smashed pennies and can get a LOT of those for what I'd spend on another typical souvenir - and we skipped this last time because her mind was on rides, not pennies.

The Disney Dollar spending diet worked out so well last trip that I think I'll do it again even though I have to buy them this time. It's just amazing how much more time kids will spend comparing prices and really thinking about what they want when they really understand that they have a budget. Gotta love that!