How do you handle the "I wants"?

[fritzerbear]

We are going to WDW on 11/22 - 11/28. It will be myself, DH, DS(17) and DD(9), and we're staying at Old Key West. We have purchased the Disney Dining Plan.

I am looking for tips on how to handle the "I wants" in all of the souvenier shops (particularly from my 9 year old). We will try to avoid going into a bunch of them, but for some it is impossible (such as Pirates of the Carribean ride which I understand you have to exit through the gift shop?).

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I just say no.

 

[jellybeans0607]

Why not give him a set dollar amount he can spend. He's old enough to be able to understand if he spends his money early, he won't have any for later in the week.
The last trip we took my daughter was 8, we gave her a $200 limit. I kept her money seperate from ours and she did very well with it. She even bought things for her brother for his birthday with it.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

Ours (aged 10, 5, 4 and 19 months when we visited) all saved their allowance towards the trip and so they all had X ammount of dollars and so when it was gone, it was gone.

I can't think of a single "I want" issue in the whole two weeks- if they wanted it bad enough they bought it out of their own cash, and having saved for it themselves they were actually quite consciencious in deciding what to spend/buy.

DS5 actually did really well- sale shopped for lego at DTD and did really well for his $$$.

They were all really proud of what they came home with as well knowing they'd saved up for that themselves

 

[ALittleDisneyFan]

I like the idea of a set limit.. and when they are done, they are done.

My DD is only 2, so that won't work for us. I'm usually the no parent, but I think I will be the "yes" parent in WDW!

 

[okeydokey]

We save change and the kids each have an amount of money they can spend as they wish, maybe $40 or $50 for the week. That way they are not asking us for stuff, it's entirely up to them to decide. They become very careful with money when it is THEIR money.

 

[mommy-on-the-move]

I like the idea of a set limit.. and when they are done, they are done.

My DD is only 2, so that won't work for us. I'm usually the no parent, but I think I will be the "yes" parent in WDW!

You might be surprised- my DS was 19 months when we travelled and we actually struggled to help him spend his money... he was soooooo busy with the characters, the rides, the scenery, having his head in a popcorn bucket that there was very little he went for- he came home with a middle sized stitch, a squeaky tigger, a magnetic little einsteins book and a light sabre.

Being youngest we'd expected tears but he was actually the one most enthrawled by his wonderful new surroundings that a shop was just a shop to him

 

[mjantz]

A set limit is your friend. We go to a lot of Ren Faires & we always set a limit for the kids before we leave. Be warned that they are going to make at least 1 bad purchase. My DS has a helmet that he will probably rarely wear because he bought rashly & then didn't like it. Now he's much more discriminating & looks all over the Faire to see what he wants. Its much easier to say 'You have your own money. Do you want to buy this?' than it is to keep saying 'No, no, no'.

 

[richmond282]

We also set a limit for our DD4. We made her wait until the last day or 2 to spend it so she could look at all the choices and decide. I didn't want her to spend all her money day 1 and then see something better later.

 

[Hannahsmom]

DD is 8, and she starts earning Disney Dollars about six months before our trip for spending money on vacation. She is super choosey on what she spends her $ on and generally does not spend much until the last few days of the trip. It is a nice life lesson about budgeting. When we started doing this when she was 5 we had originally given her cash, but we switched to Disney Dollars because she was spending all her $ on the Ice Cream Man.

 

[mjkacmom]

They each got a $25 giftcard - they could spend it any way they wished. I hate souveniers, personally.

 

[eeyoremum]

I don't give my kids spending money. They have to provide their own. My boys are 14 and 9. I tell them I have paid for the trip if they want to purchase anything it is with their own money. I makes them think twice about any purchases they make.

 

[peanut1967]

I know my plan with ds (9) is that he will be able to earn about $10 a day, and that will be with good behaviour. I am going to work it a day in hand if you know what I mean, so travel day I will expect good behaviour so therefore he will earn $10 for the next day. During the day if we have any issues I can deduct money. I will explain to him he can spend his money on what he wants ( except sweets) but once its gone its gone, if he sees something that is more than $10 then its upto him if he wants it bad enough he needs to save for a couple of days.

Also if he starts 'I want' in shops at home, he wont get, there are nice ways to ask and when I say no I mean no...a tough cookie mum I have to say it as worked so far.

 

[Beehn]

I find that Tinkerbell gifts really cut down on the "I wants". My kids are younger, but when Tinkerbell gets them things they think they are extra special and I just say things like "this is what Tinkerbell wanted you to have". I try to buy things they may see at the parks like those light up spinny things, pins, stuff for the pool etc.

 

[scottish mum]

We also gave our kids a set amount to spend. They didn't actually get the money, i kept it and we just wrote down how much they had and then deducted the amount they spent every night. It's amazing the things they won't buy when it is their own money!!

 

[KAMLEM]

My girls are 12 and 14 now, but when they were younger we told them that they could make a list of the things they wanted to buy as they saw them, but that we would not buy anything until the end of the week when we went to DTD. That worked well, because most of they time they didn't want something as much after a day or so.

When my youngest was 5, she really wanted a Minnie Mouse dress. At the last minute she changed her mind and got a stuffed animal. Every day for about a month after we got home she kept saying "I should have got the dress". She was heartbroken about it. I called World of Disney and bought it for her birthday, and I will never forget the look on her face when she opened that dress.

 

[Jack'sGirl5]

My daughter is 9 also. She gets a gift card or Disney Dollars before we go that typically includes $20 for every day we are there. She is also allowed to bring her own money saved from allowances if she wishes and typically does. On our way we talk about using her money for the things she really wants 'cause when it is gone, that is it. She has done really well in the past budgeting and it has totally eliminated the "I wants". Also gives her control which really works at this age . . .

 

[eliza61]

I just say no.

You got it Mouse Mama,

Op,
your 9 year old is definitely able to handle a no now and again. We did (and still do) give them a standard "purchasing" talk. You will be on a budget, if you blow all your money the nanosecond you walk through the park gates you're going to be one unhappy kid by day 3.

We stick to it. Some years the kids do really well and think about their purchases, other years not so much. Now when the go, they don't even think about whining, they know when our money is gone, its gone. Mama & daddy aren't giving up a penny.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

OP, we will be there at the same time as you.
My kids bring their own money that they have saved. We give Disney dollars for extra chores, etc. We save all our change as do they. They save from the time we get home from a trip until the next one. Their money is theirs to do as they wish, and they are very frugal that way. I usually but them what I wan them to have, like a new hoodie. Also, six years ago my DD9 (then 3) wanted the Cinderella's Castle playset. It's $75. She didn't have enough to buy it but I didn't want to buy it "just because". I got it and hid it and Santa gave it to her. I had told them on the trip to behave cause Santa would be watching and when she opened it, she said "Santa was watching and he knew I really wanted this". We still have that playset set up in her room. You are going at a perfect time for Santa to do a little shopping. When we go back my kids still say "Santa's watching", it helps them behave when they get tired and cranky. I always do some of my Christmas shopping when I am there, even stocking stuffers are great from there.
Last trip my DD9, then 7 wanted to spend $50 of her own money to buy her little sister an ariel snowglobe. I tried to talk her out of it (that was a big chunk of her money), she said it was hers she could do what she wnated, and she was right, she had saved that money. She gave it to her sister right away who LOVED it, and then wanted me to take just her shopping (she was 4) to buy her sister something. She bought her a Pluto stuffed head that sings and lights up a red nose like Rudolph. When thye spend their own money they feel good about it and make really good choices. Those 2 items are some of the best we've ever bought in disney, both as an item and because of the momeory involved.
So, start today, maybe a good behaivor chart. Give a set dollar amount and by the time they get there they will have earned their spending money. You have 33 days till you go (I know, i'm arriving the same day,) they could have $33 and maybe you could bounce it up to $40 if they earn a dollar every day as a bonus to make sure they work hard every day (or do whatever $$ amount you decide.)

Have a great trip, and I hope you have great weather!!!

I forgot to add, my kids like to look all week and make a list, then decide at the end of the week what they really wanted, it makes for less disapointment of "why did I waste my money on this?"

 

[irene_dsc]

You might be surprised- my DS was 19 months when we travelled and we actually struggled to help him spend his money... he was soooooo busy with the characters, the rides, the scenery, having his head in a popcorn bucket that there was very little he went for- he came home with a middle sized stitch, a squeaky tigger, a magnetic little einsteins book and a light sabre.

Being youngest we'd expected tears but he was actually the one most enthrawled by his wonderful new surroundings that a shop was just a shop to him

Lol - I also expected more of a problem than we ended up having. Of course, it was early January, so they had just gotten all of their holiday gifts. I told them a budget ($50 each kid, 3.75yo & 6.5 yo), and they only spent about half of it! They were just too busy doing other stuff, mainly, and tho we did discuss a few things that they decided not to buy after realizing it would blow their budgets.

I will say, some special things you need to buy when you see them, rather than going back, esp. on a shorter trip, because you may not see them again.