Dealing with small kids that want LOTS of souvenirs??

[abby]

Myy dd is 7 and has been going to DL since 4. Our deal, she can look, but we don't buy too much till the last day. Since we love to vacation she has started buying post cards (sometimes to send and sometimes to keep) and also we collect refridgerater magnents. These are fun to shop for, small to carry not too expensive but a reminder of where we have been. Also, now that she is older I can tell her she has x amount of "her money" she is much more careful with "her money" then with mine......

 

[Rapunsel]

we have annual passes and my kids all know that you don't ask. If it is bought and given to you it is a wonderful thing. I am a single mom and my ds5 watched me take on a 2nd job to earn the $ to get the passes. So they all know the value of the dollar..
Usually around their birthdays they get alowance in the form of Mickey dollars and they know that they can spend it then.

From a trip to WDW in 2003 all we saw was people spending money. We all went over board. DS was 2 then. So he didn't really ask for anything.

 

[bouncy54]

My daughter went to the dollar store and purchased glow sticks and other little goodies, and I've already bought him a box full of Disney Beanie Babies ($18.00 for 22 dolls) from ebay that we will hand out while at Disneyland.

Our 4yo grandson has collected $35.00 so far for his Disneyland spending money by looking for, and picking up, any pennies, nickels and dimes he can find. He looks on the ground in parking lots, in stores, in furniture and in drawers at Grandma & Grandpa's house and in our cars (with our permission of course...I don't know why, but pennies always seem to accumulate in one of our kitchen drawers )
Only problem...he has developed an acute case of bent-neck-a-titus.

His Uncles are saving change for him too.

 

[teacups]

This trick has worked great for me, on two different trips. On day one I told both kids (5 and 3) that on our last day, that I would buy them one thing - whatever they wanted. They spent the whole trip looking at windows, getting excited over an item and knowing that it was their favorite. An hour later, it was something else. Their favorite changed the whole time, and they never once asked me to buy something, because they knew they got final pick. Last day, we purchased a $15 Ariel toy for DD and a $10 Buzz toy for DS

This is our plan as well, and has worked. I also like Alborts idea of earning Disney Dollars.
(I wish someone would give ME Disney $$ for being good! But, I would probably never earn one!)

 

[DisneyfeverTN]

Our rule has always been they could get one toy for each day we are there. The toy has to be under $10. We usually make them wait until the end of the day to buy it.

 

[Misskitty3]

There are so many great ideas here! I like the Disney Dollar idea and planned to get some of those before our trip. I just worry that DS wont really understand a set dollar amount at his age. Maybe we should practice now at Target before we leave???

Seems like the one toy a day would work for us too.

Hmmm....DH and I need to sit down and read this thread together.

 

[queenarmadillo]

We were always given a set dollar amount (usually about $30) that we could spend on whatever we wanted to last the entire trip. It taught us how money works, and helps with maths practice. We were also usually told we could pick one t-shirt, or one towel (depending on what mum thought we needed). Outside of that you didnt ask (and wouldnt get).

BUT we were (still are actually) also encouraged to point out things that we might like to put on our xmas lists so Santa might bring it then. Its not instant gratification, but if you think he'll still like it in 6 months time it saves time on the christmas shopping.

 

[catexer]

when my kids were little we gave them $X in Disney Dollars at the start of the trip and they could spend it how ever they wanted. We told them going in we would buy food and 1 t-shirt each, that way they knew they didn't have to spend their $$ on those things.

They were very careful with "their" money and didn't buy the first thing they saw. I was impressed with them. One of them wanted to buy a Daniel Boone coonskin cap and my DH tried to discourage that--mom had to remind him that it was the boy's money. He still has that hat 20 years later!

 

[Welivefordisney]

When we went last October we were on a budget, so my DH and I bought the kids a few things off of disneyshopping.com, but went to the clearance stuff. We ended up with Disney shirts for 4.99 and pjs around that price. All total we bought about 15.00$ for each child, which was a nice bundle of fun for them. We wrapped it all up and the morning we left for the airport each child had a "disney care package".
Once at Disneyland, we looked at the shops but told the kids that we wouldn't be buying anything until the day before we left (except pins) so they each kept a list of what they wanted and what the priority was. They each had been saving money for the trip from birthdays and such, so they had to budget their money.
That worked great for us and the kids were very happy with their final choices. In the end we stayed within budget and the kiddos learned a valuable lesson.
They are already saving for their next trip.

 

[AmericanItGirl]

I was always the kid growing up, but my parents never really spent money buying me souveniers (except a Daisy Duck hat with my name embroidered on the back). Once I started earning an allowance, then I was able to get stuff from DLP. If you get them 1 thing, then get them a hat or something that can get personalized, because speaking from a kid's point, that means more than getting something that can be found at the Disney Store. Not buying anything can backfire, because when I went on my first (and only so far) trip to the MK I spent a lot of money (I bought gifts for my family and a few things for myself). This was after being Disney Park-deprived for about 8 years. Now that I go to Disneyland at least once a year and am on a college budget, I limit myself to maybe 1 item that I know I'm going to use more than once (my favorite item is my light up Tinkerbell wings that I've worn as a camp counselor and when I've gone clubbing...when I go back to DLP on September 22nd I'm dressing up as Tink complete with wings). Limiting them to $10-$20 (and putting that money into Disney Dollars so they won't spend it outside of DL) is probably the best way to do it.

 

[sallyjane]

This will be our 5th Disney trip in 4 years and this is what works for us. My kids save birthday, toothfairy, and any earned money for the upcoming trip. I told them for every dollar earned I will double there money. So if they are able to save $50 then I give them an extra $50. They then know how much money they have for toys at Disney. They know that when they spend their money it is gone so they have learned to only buy what they really want. Also we sometimes break the money up into how much they can spend at each park. If they have $100 each then they can have $25 to spend at each of the parks.

 

[abookworm]

I'm not sure if your child is 3 or 4 but that's a tough age to explain money and they certainly probably don't get that they can choose 1 thing or whatever over the course of a trip at age 3.
For that age the best thing is probably to just say "NO" and move on. Don't try to explain since they don't really care
Luckily there is so much to redirect them to that I'd think they would forget pretty quick if they were going to throw a fit.

With my older kids (5,7) they knew that "no meant no" and they could each spend $20 for the whole trip. That stopped the gimmes after each ride that started at first. My son chose lego store and DD chose mickey and minnie beanies but they waited until the 3rd day after they had "shopped around".

With my 2 yr old it wasn't so easy and we had to get by those kiosks quickly and just redirect. If he did pitch a fit we just left and offered a snack, etc.
Worked pretty well for us.

 

[lilpixie]

On our first trip to DL, our girls were ages 6, 3, and 6 months. They totally understood that they wouldn't be getting everything in sight (well, the 6 month old didn't care at all!!) They were allowed one souvenir per day (besides the autograph book and pen we bought them the first day). Amazingly, my girls picked out inexpensive things! A little crown, necklaces, disney cuties wallet , a stuffed Tinkerbell doll . . . honestly they didn't even ask for the gigantic stuffed animals or the $100 princess dress-up outfits.
I am letting them do chores to start earning money for our next trip. We will pay them in Disney dollars (you can get thru the Disney store) so they can be in charge of their money. They have all sorts of fun souvenirs that aren't expensive -- and I don't like them coming home with too much stuff because I am a little OCD and don't like clutter and junk in their room LOL!
Even my 3 year old understood that she could look, but not buy everything. It's not so much the money issue for us as just wanting to teach my kids not to expect everything and having them take part in earning part of their spending money.
Good luck -- and have a magical time!!

 

[sameyeyam]

My kids are 9 & 15. I give each of them $100. That $100 is for them to spend any way they want. They can buy souveniers, junk food, whatever....I don't care! Or, they can save it and use it when they get home.

Here's what happened on our last trip:
DS9 - got a $39 Lego set from DTD, a $20 monorail and $15 Mickey pirate ears.
DD15 - wisely asked me to take her to the Disney outlet store was so we could save some money while she bought her friends a souvenier.

I find that it really eliminates a lot of hassle. Amazing how many times we will go into a shop and they will choose not to purchase something because the price is too high. When they do part with their money I know it's something they really want.

In past years I tried giving them $10 a day, but it didn't seem to work as well as giving them one large sum and letting them figure out how to budget.

 

[Pirate-Emery]

Hmmm... maybe I should have a spending limit!

Whatever you do, when your kids are at job/working age, you make sure they don't put all their money into a Debit. Trust me on that one.

I went to DLR the weekend after my 18th Birthday. All the money that came in, was spent.

And there was more than a pretty penny. I spent on t-shirts, sweatshirts, food, nicknacks, PINS, and a bronze Partners Statue (which to be honest was the best money I've ever spent: I still have it on my nightstand, reminding me of my second home).



Now, for REAL advice: I'd say the moral of the story is to NEVER LET YOUR KIDS BUY PINS. Pin Trading sucks a good amount of money out of your wallet.

 

[JadeDarkstar]

i bought pins on a site and we will trade them better then in the park

 

[Carter'sMommy]

Now, for REAL advice: I'd say the moral of the story is to NEVER LET YOUR KIDS BUY PINS. Pin Trading sucks a good amount of money out of your wallet.

Pins can be expensive, however, if you buy them off Ebay in a larger lot, say 20-50 then they can be "reasonable" in price. We have done this and our DS6 now NEVER asks for souvies as he knows that he can trade HIS pins for whatever HE wants. We do buy him a tee shirt or something to replace the out grown or thread bare ones that he currently has but that is pretty much all we get.

I bought 30 pins for +/- 75.00 inc shipping that breaks down to 2.50 each. He can trade and trade and trade HIS pins so we never have to buy that stuffed animal, light up "whirly thingy" or what ever just hapens to hit his fancy at the moment!

After he has them a few months (minutes really) and gets tired of them than he can trade them off and get something new. LOL... instant gratification!

We have set pin themes for a particular day -- One day maybe to find Splash Mountain pins or Dumbo, you get the picture. This is real fun to see what you can find. We DO NOT make it the object of the day-- as this would become old VERY fast, but kind of a "scavanger hunt" if you might say.

 

[Twinprincesses]

I take the following items with me. I get own own pen on a sting to have our autographs signed with. I take our own spinning light up thing. I pack whatever ears or hats we bought last time. They are allowed 1 stuffed animal and a couple other toys. IF they want something else I distract them with a mickey ice cram bar.. Works everytime

 

[BraMax]

My two turn "I want I want" crazy when we get to DL or any other theme park. This time we did it based on behavior. We let them get 1 thing at the end of the first day since they travelled so well. They did not get anything other than food or snacks until the last day. We told them at the beginning of everyday that today is a day that you ask for nothing but food and drink. It worked and if the ventured down the toy path I reminded them of it and they stopped. My two boys are 4.5 and 7. They each ended up with 2 things from Disneyland from our first and last day. It kept them in line for the trip because they knew if they behaved that they would be rewarded in the end. I like the idea of Disney Dollars I might get them ech $50.00 for Christmas and our trip to WDW.