How do you not spend a FORTUNE?

[tinkfan2005]

How do you go to WDW and not spend a fortune in the stores? I'm sitting here looking at my Disney Direct catalog, and want SOOO much stuff in there. And I know it will be twice as bad at WDW, since the selection will be huge! Being a disney freak, I want it all, but my wallet doesn't allow for it! How do you stick to a budget at the parks?

 

[teedee]

I don't!! I always have a plan for spending when I go down, but as soon as I get in the shops and see all the great stuff they have the budget goes out the window. I'm usually good at budgeting, EXCEPT when I'm at Disneyworld!

Terri

 

[palmetto]

DBF is the one who's going to be carrying my debit card. The only thing I'm allowed to have is $10 in cash and my driver's license.

 

[kev97rach]

Well, WDW will cost a fortune no matter what!! But, realistically, you can budget yourself. This is what we did last year.

We only allowed ourselves (Me and DH and DD-5 and DS-2) spending money of $100.00 per day. That had to include meals. We only ate at one sit down meal per day (which ran anywhere from $40-$50), so we basically had $50 left to spend on snacks, drinks or souvenirs. Oh, not to mention, we did have extra money for our kids ($100 each) that we had saved in their piggy banks before our trip. So whatever souvenir or toy they really wanted came out of their money first. That was a big help!

Also, to make sure we stuck to our budget of $100.00 per day, that is all the money we would take with us to each park each day, and we would leave the rest in the safe in our room.

 

[shirleyb]

DBF is the one who's going to be carrying my debit card. The only thing I'm allowed to have is $10 in cash and my driver's license.

I don't go with the intention to shop. I don't care if I even hit the store in DTD. For me, it is about the vacation experience, it's not about shopping. You might also want to stop at the outlets, either before or after, your dollar will go farther there.

 

[sweetpeakaris]

I love the things in the Dinsey Stores, but i don't have to have them. I usually only spend about $100 or less on suveniors during our 8-10 days stay. I don't go to shop either, i'm there for the vacation experience, I could really care less about bringing home Disney things as I would rather shop at the Disney Store when they have sales.

 

[Catrin]

Ok....

Here is the TRICK.... and the RULE in my house....

When you go to any of the Disney Souvenier Shops... you have to say the following for EACH thing you WANT....

Ready?

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY (yes, Why OUT LOUD for 6 Times)....
It usually works 95% of the time for me.....
Last year, all I got was a watch (because that is what I planned for), and a Tshirt for hubby.

Plan to get yourself something nice ( jewelry, a print, etc) - but don't get caught up in the 10 dollar trinkets!
Catrin

 

[PamNC]

it's hard, you're right. We like to splurge on eating out more so than buying "stuff" - although we both (it's just me and my DH...no kids) buy ourselves at least 1 "prize" (that's our little word for it) each. We usually end up buying 2 prizes each. BUT, nothing expensive. I always buy one of the Lucky cats in Japan as I'm collecting them now and an article of clothing. We may buy one little thing for the house - a glass, frame. Again, nothing extravagant. We also like to splurge on the resort, we usually stay deluxe. But only with an AP discount. Or a general code, which apparently doesn't exist anymore.

PamNC

 

[palmetto]

I don't go with the intention to shop. I don't care if I even hit the store in DTD. For me, it is about the vacation experience, it's not about shopping. You might also want to stop at the outlets, either before or after, your dollar will go farther there.

Shopping is part of the vacation experience. Seriously, though, I don't go with the intention of shopping--except to get my sister a Hello Kitty toothbrush from Japan (tradition)--it just kind of...happens.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

I leave home telling myself I'm only going to get this and that....and once I get to DTD, all my willpower goes flying out the window!


And DH doesn't help either...he's like who knows when we'll come back? Go ahead we may never get to come back ( NOT!) So I go along and indulge.

The one thing I would like to stop is my kids and the stuffed characters...I don't know where to put them! I wish they liked pins a bit more but no.....who can resist to a cuddly Pluto or Goofy?

I might interest them in the press penny collection this year....I don't think it's gonna work though!

 

[Bambi5826]

LOL. this topic hits home. Mo mom, sis, and sil are going to disney next month JUST to go shopping. We're gonna hit downtown disney and stop off by the outlet shops. It is near impossible to not spend a fortune. With our trip next year, my FI and I have budgeted for about $600 in spending money. not including food. It just means I'll have to stop visiting my local dis store as much.......yeah right!

 

[foxtrotter]

Honestly, I found the selection pretty homogenized across the 4 parks. Except for a few park-specific items and the very few specialty shops, it was easy to resist the endless sea of stuffed Mickeys and Grumpy t-shirts. I found it hardest to resist the jewelry and the country-specific shops in World Showcase. It helped knowing that most of the Disney character items could be bought elsewhere it half the price, like the Minnie dress and accessories I wanted to get my daughter. I find it sooooo hard to part with money when I know I can get the same or a very similar item for less somewhere else It's a ton of fun to window shop and browse though!

 

[diathoney]

When I was obsessed with buying Disney stuff, we'd hit the outlet mall Character Warehouse or Character Premier (Beall's or now the Little Lake Byan one) early in the trip and buy our souvenirs. We'd see the same stuff still being sold in the parks for 2 - 3 times as much.

 

[michiele]

Someone gave me this great tip on souvenir buying on your trip, especially with kids. You tell the kids (and yourself) at the beginning of the vacation that you can buy one souvenir for the trip (or 2 or whatever), but the catch is you cannot buy it until the last day. So, during the trip, you can browse and think about what you REALLY want. THen, on the last day, you go get it. I haven't tried this yet, but I plan to on our trip in May. It helps the kids realize we can't have everything, but they get to choose their favorite one in the end. I have one child who I know would take this very seriously and search and hunt for the "perfect" souvenior.

I can imagine that it could be a pain on the last day to go get all the souvenirs, but it keeps everyone from buying something and then seeing something they really wanted more later. It might not work for everyone, but I'm going to try it

Michiele

 

[DisFlan]

I found a good way of not buying too much - go with someone else who buys EVERYTHING and just stand back and watch. Last April we were there with my sister, her husband and their 3 yr old daughter. They couldn't buy stuff for her fast enough. I followed them through half the stores in the parks and the big store in DTD, and helped carry the loot.

By the time we got back to the room everyday, I was shopped out - and quickly found that I'd bought hardly anything at all! My DH was verrry pleased.

This turned out SO well that 6 weeks after we were home, my husband bought into the DVC for my birthday. He's planning on inviting my sister to join us again on a trip next year. (She now has 2 girls.) He said 2 nieces should save us even MORE money.

DisFlan

 

[sydprincess]

Try to go with as much extra spending money as possible. I find it harder to deprive yourself while you're there, and you just end up feeling poor as opposed to really experiencing Disney, which includes the shopping! Last summer we took $1,500 for meals and $1,500 for spending. It was myself, DH and 2 year old DD. We did not have to cut back on Christmas or DD's birthday (which was 2 weeks prior) but we did work hard to save. It felt much better to do that than have to say no to my daughter when she saw something she wanted. She didn't ask for much, but it was her first trip there and I wanted to make it as magical as possible for her. Try to induge a little. If you're like us, a Disney trip only happens every few years. Good luck, and leave the guilt behind!

 

[snowglobe girl]

I never can make it either!! We spend like crazy!! But I think that's part of the fun. We have a special vacation fund that we save in all year and then we blow every bit of it at WDW. That is the purpose!!! The way I look at it is that I work myself to death every day for a paycheck, so I might as well spend it on something that I enjoy.

And every time the new catalog come out, I tell myself that I'm not going to buy anything...but I just had to order the giant Sorcerer Mickey figurine holding the snowglobe - I couldn't resist

 

[Momof6]

When we arrive each of our kids has $100 to spend, other than money they might have earned and brought. We don't give them cash - we put their initials next to the items on the receipt as we charge it.
DH and I generally don't buy it the first time we see it. Chances are so good that we will see it again. In fact, we generally don't buy much of anything until the last couple days. Believe me we love to shop - both of us love WDW stuff. In other words - we talk each other out of impulsive buying!


Denise

 

[Disneylovers]

"Window shopping" is the most fun!! Our last couple of trips, we've started our vacation at DTD, and just browsed through all the shops, to see what the current year souveniers look like! We don't actually buy our "treasures" until the last couple of days, that way, our room isn't piled high with bags, we've seen all there is to see, so we know what we really want, and we know approximately how much money we still have to spend. The only time this backfired was our trip last March. I wanted the 2004 scrapbook, which I saw everywhere at the beginning of our trip. But when I was ready to buy it, it was no where to be found!!! I wound up ordering it from Disney Merchandising.

 

[maxaroni]

our son would want everything and want to start buying the minute we get to WDW. Our rule is to wait till the end of the trip to really think about everything that we have seen throughout the stay. We allow ourselves 'x' amount of money and that's it. We find that by waiting till the end of the trip, we are able to sort through what we really find special to us.