Help! Surviving the dreaded "gimmies!!"

[starbound25]

So the last trip my sister and I took my 3 daughters on they were souvenir crazy!!! This was their second trip and almost all could think about was shopping!!

Granted it IS hard to not want to buy EVERYTHING when you're at Disney. So I get it but how do you control the "buy me this please" crazies!

One idea I read was to give the child a notebook and they write down what they saw that they wanted and if the next day they still want it go back and get it
I like this idea but this list would become huge! Plus if you park hop you may not go back to that park and then not get the item they desired.

I think you all get the point. So, any ideas??
It gets SO overwhelming for the little ones!

Update in post #12
POST TRIP update- post #47

 

[elfling8]

What about pin trading and vinylmation trading? I bought the kids two ugly vinylmations before our trip to trade, so that at least one gift shop trip per park they would come out of the store with something new, but not have spent any money. DS bought a starter set of pins with a lanyard, and even after he had spent all of his money he brought, he still enjoyed going in to the gift shops to trade pins with the CM's. He doesn't have a single pin he started with, and chatting up the CM's kept him busy while DD was shopping.
We did still get our fair share of souvenirs, but I think having something else to do in the gift shops did pare it down a bit.

 

[Freesia123]

How about giving them each $5 cash a day? They then have to save up to get what they want? It's all about choices!

Another option is to keep receipts and tags on when you buy something. You can take anything back to any gift shop within Disney. On the last day they can look at what they bought and take things back to respect their budgets.

 

[2012bella13]

We went in February of this yr to celebrate DD's 5th birthday, she had $150..00 that she got from people as gifts, so she took that & she understood that she could buy what she wanted with it but once it was gone, she would not get anything else. It worked perfect, she got to buy what she wanted & when it was gone, she did not ask for anything else.
This worked for us, maybe if you gave each child a Disney Gift card & told them once they spent everything on it, that would be it.
I have found that if they are spending their money, they are more picky with what they are spending it on.

 

[starbound25]

we tried the gift card thing and it was awful. All they wanted to do was go to the shops and see what they could get for their GF
honestly it was ALL we heard about it!
Very frustrating

I appreciate the ideas though

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

We've done it a few different ways. Our kids always have a set amount for the trip. For the younger kids, we let them know that they can look, but can't pick anything out until a couple of days before they leave. They've never had a problem with this, and we never had an issue finding what they wanted--stuff is available in most parks, or World of Disney.

For older kids, we've divided their money by 4, one for each park. Money not spent in one was rolled over to the next park (I would hold the money--no worries about losing it).

If the girls really like to shop, it wouldn't be a bad idea to set aside a few hours, just to shop. I would do it towards the end of the trip. I actually still do this with DD17 when we're on vacation--the rest of my gang (DS16, DD9, DS7) stay with dad and either swim or do rides without us.

These have worked for us, no problems. You might want to make expectations clear before you leave home, and inform the kids that you won't tolerate begging or whining. If the "gimmies" start, you can indicate that bad behavior indicates that it's time for a break. But that I mean, if they aren't responding to you mentioning that they can pick something later on in the trip.

 

[PHXscuba]

We pre-bought some stuff -- T-shirts, pins, light=up toys -- so they already had something shiny and new when they first arrived.

We told them we weren't shopping our first day in any park, and we would be in DTD during our last full day.

We also talked a lot before we went about the types of things they like or collect (especially since yours have been to WDW before). For example, I knew my boys were interested in building lightsabers (as so I made sure I knew which shops had them). Younger DD collects snowglobes. Since they had an idea in mind they weren't quite as crazy about wanting every different thing they saw. Also maybe review what they bought last time -- what broke quickly, or didn't end up getting played with or worn.

Depending on their ages, maybe you can tell them that you will walk straight through gift shops after every ride, but take a "shopping break" in the afternoon where they can spend time browsing.

PHXscuba

 

[luvmy2babies]

What do they buy?

I'm asking because the deal I have with my daughter is what she wants can't be anything we can get around here. We have 5 Wal-Marts, several Wal-Greens, Targets and an actual Disney store here so that eliminates a lot of things. I have the same deal with my son but he's too young to understand it. I just say no to anything I can get locally.

We count their autographs as a souvenir. I pre-pay for Photopass. I also pick up a few things prior to the trip that they can plan with in our resort room after a day in the parks. A little animal might greet them each morning when they wake up or be sitting in the window when we return if I can pull it off.

The time I experience the "gimmies" is when those carts are out prior to parades. Those glow in the dark sticks at the dollar store solved that problem.

 

[Priorityonecb]

Our girls have always known that the entire trip was all about window shopping. Then, the final day we go REAL shopping! We give them an amount at the beginning of the trip so they can look at things throughout the time and decide what they really want on our last day. They love that shopping day and it makes all the other days stress free! It also takes some of the sting out of the last day of the vacation sadness!

 

[TeresaMc]

We have done Tinkerbell gifts with stuff I brought from home, starting the first couple of mornings with small things and getting a little bigger each day. I even took build a bear dressed like Tink and a pirate. They never really asked for much since they were getting things every morning.

 

[cheer25mom]

Just say no?

Seriously, we lay ground rules before we even leave about spending, and different trips have different rules. This trip we are doing Star Wars weekends and there will be no buying until we have been to Darth's Mall. Begging results in punishment. We don't have problems as a general rule.

 

[starbound25]

Oh I definitely say no.
Maybe it was just something with that last trip because the first time they werent that bad. But then again on their first trip they got something every day so maybe that was the problem.
The second trip they got a $25 gift card each and then everyday it was their mission to look at the stores and see what they could get and then going back to the hotel saying "ok so I have 12.50 left what can I get tomorrow"
it just seemed like all they thought about was the shopping and when were we shopping again and could they earn money for 1 more thing
It just seemed to go on and on!

But we did set up some new "collections" last trip
DD#1 got a few pins
DD#2 got a few keychains
DD#3 no real collection yet

so this hopefully will help with how to handle our next trip since they each get 2 souvenirs from me. So for DD1 it must be a pin and something else and for DD2 it must be a keychain and something else
They all got Duffy's last time so I was thinking to steer them towards a new Duffy outfit :0

 

[Timandalicia]

I have the perfect solution. Buy them anything they want. I'm not kidding. But here is how it works. They can have a total of blank amount of stuff. Before the end if the trip they have to look at what they got and choose which they are going to keep and what's going back. It can be a total hassle, but it is done in the hotel room, away from everyone, and once.
We find that most stuff they just want at the moment, and they want to get it more than they want to keep it. You can return anything you buy on property to any where on property. We do it all of the time- usually to the hotel gift shop.
There can be variations like- when they pick something new, tell them do you want this or blank that we already bought. A lot of times they weigh their options and choose. It doesn't matter which they choose either.

 

[whatisgoofy?]

Our kids are going for the first time this Fall, and we explained to them that we will give them a fixed budget that comes out of their own savings (birthday money, allowance, etc). My 6 yr. old's response pretty much sums it up..."So, we'll be spending our own money? Then I have to be careful it's worth it!"

 

[samacita]

We plan to treat it like any other experience in a store when we walk by something they like - remind them of the purpose. For example, when we're shopping at Target for diapers and toiletries, they are reminded that we came to the store for those items, not for toys. Same deal when we're shopping for gifts for someone else - our kids are reminded that we are not here to pick out things for ourselves.

When we're in Disney, we'll remind them that we are there for family vacation, not for a shopping trip. We'll talk about having photos and lifelong memories and how precious those will be to us. We will warn them about how tempting the shops can be, and how walking through and browsing can be an opportunity to have fun seeing all the cool disney items. We'll probably let them pick out one small/inexpensive item throughout the trip. But shopping will not be our main focus, and the kids will have a clear understanding of that before we go.

 

[k-wa]

These are all great ideas, but how do you deal with a younger child? Mine is 3 and still doesn't really get the concept of money, etc. He ALWAYS wants to get a new car from the Cars movies in every kiosk or shop we pass. I've had to tear him away crying quite a few times.

 

[Disneylover99]

These are all great ideas, but how do you deal with a younger child? Mine is 3 and still doesn't really get the concept of money, etc. He ALWAYS wants to get a new car from the Cars movies in every kiosk or shop we pass. I've had to tear him away crying quite a few times.

Explain each time as you enter the store that you are not buying any cars and just keep tearing him away crying if necessary. I know it's hard, but he'll understand eventually.

 

[bartleby1]

We drive to Disney from NJ so we have the kids "earn" their souvenir money by playing the license plate game. They earn $1 for each different state they find on the way there. We figure that we would be giving them money anyway and this keeps them busy in the car.

We also tell them that we window shop during the trip and go real shopping at the end. We have made a few exceptions if they see something that might not be available anywhere else, but this works well for the most part.

When the kids were very young, we kept an envelope of one dollar bills for each kid so when they wanted to buy something we could physically show them how many dollars it would cost and how many they would have left. Often that was enough to make them second think their purchase. Little ones need something concrete and visual to understand the concept of money.

As my kids have gotten older, we also tell them that they don't "have" to spend their money on vacation. Whatever they don't spend, they get to keep. After many years of buying junkie souvenirs at Disney that fall apart or break before we even get home, they sometimes do actually go home with money!

.

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

The best thing I have ever done as a parent was to institute "Today is a looking day, not a buying day." We'll check out the toy sections of stores if he's got his ears on and is following directions. Once we're there, if he keeps hassling me about wanting stuff (3 times, to be exact), then looking privileges are taken away and we don't visit the toy department for the next several trips to the store. The window shopping is a treat to him and we rarely have to enforce the consequences.

If my son sees something he wants, we try to talk about what's cool about it. How we'd play with it. How it's unique. Basically anything other than the "I WANT IT!" whine.Then we'll take (or draw--I got him a cheap notebook for this very purpose) a picture of it. Most of the time, that's enough. It helps to make birthday/Christmas lists, too, which is nice. He usually REALLY wants something if he is willing to draw a picture of it.

So, I might suggest instead of tying up your money on trinkets and then returning what you don't want, take digital pics of the things they see that they really, really want (On a scale of 1-10, 9s & 10s...and 11s ) and then letting them pick one thing to pick up at the end of the trip. It'll be fun to scroll back through the pictures...kind of a virtual catalog of the best of Disney shopping

 

[starbound25]

So, I might suggest instead of tying up your money on trinkets and then returning what you don't want, take digital pics of the things they see that they really, really want (On a scale of 1-10, 9s & 10s...and 11s ) and then letting them pick one thing to pick up at the end of the trip. It'll be fun to scroll back through the pictures...kind of a virtual catalog of the best of Disney shopping

I really like this idea! Thank you!!