How does your family handle spending money for Teens on their own at the parks?

[westjones]

This is our first time we are letting our twin teen DDs go to the parks without us (going with an older cousin). We have never allowed charging on their KTTW, and we are trying to decide if we should do this OR if we should just get them Disney Gift Cards to use in the parks.

How do the rest of you do it? What works well. I am nervous (can you tell). My kids are good kids, and I don't think they would go off buying stuff they shouldn't, but its just the idea of letting them charge stuff without me there approving it makes me nervous.

My twins are almost 15 and their cousin will be almost 17, so this is a BIG deal for them to get to go off by themselves, and how to handle food money is something I just haven't figured out yet.

Thanks!
DJ

 

[DisneyBride'03]

First time for us as well.

Allowing DS14 and his friend(almsot 15) to venture off into parks, this is their 8th grade grad trip/gift

Anyway, we have decided they will jsut have money. If they spend all of it, then they will have to learn how to budget the next day. My son loses things all the time, may be different with girls

We wll be having our meals in the villa mostly...I am interested to read what others do as well, we leave on Saturday

 

[grumpydad]

while i never let my DD's go to the parks by themselves, i did give charging privledges to my oldest.

i was able to put a limit on her card, now that being said when we went in Jan and wanted to do that with my younger one they said they could not put a limit. maybe the policy has changed put worth asking

 

[dnoyes]

We have two daughters also and we started letting them charge to the room when they were about 14-15 we never had any problems of any kind. Just tell them how much they can spend and that's that. If they want to spend it on junk, then they get junk. If they wanted to buy the greatest father in the world something, all the better

I think it made them feel older to be able to charge things and might have made that trip a little more fun for them.

Also, if you wanted to you can check how much they've spent at the front desk at the resort.

 

[ChelleinNC]

We've let our kids (DD14, DS11) have charging privileges for the last few trips and last trip was the first time they were allowed to go to a park by themselves (together). We've actually found that they get along much better when it's just the two of them and they're very responsible. They stay in touch by text messages & picture mssgs- a little too often sometimes

The first time they had charging privileges they spent a little more than I would have at the arcade, but even so it wasn't bad at all. I think as long as your kids know what they're allowed to spend and for what, and you generally trust their decision making it should be fine. I worry more about them having and losing cash. At least with the KTTW card I can get a replacement, and I can dispute any charges if the card gets lost and used.

 

[dnoyes]

What is KTTW ?

 

[ChelleinNC]

What is KTTW ?

Key To The World card- your room key which can also be your tickets and DDP and room charging

 

[dnoyes]

Key To The World card- your room key which can also be your tickets and DDP and room charging

OK, so I feel a little stupid now

 

[DisneyBride'03]

We've let our kids (DD14, DS11) have charging privileges for the last few trips and last trip was the first time they were allowed to go to a park by themselves (together). We've actually found that they get along much better when it's just the two of them and they're very responsible. They stay in touch by text messages & picture mssgs- a little too often sometimes

The first time they had charging privileges they spent a little more than I would have at the arcade, but even so it wasn't bad at all. I think as long as your kids know what they're allowed to spend and for what, and you generally trust their decision making it should be fine. I worry more about them having and losing cash. At least with the KTTW card I can get a replacement, and I can dispute any charges if the card gets lost and used.

Now I am re thinking my choice ds14 was fine with it on DCL...(but that was 3 nights! lol) Besides, we can check day by day to see how he is doing! We will be pool hopping at SSR one day next week, DH still has not stayed there! And the kids have not seen our home resort either!

 

[westjones]

Thanks everyone. I am starting to think that I will just give it a try and give them charging. Having to worry about how much is on a gift card (and what if they ran out of money--I don't want them to go hungry in the parks). We will just have to have a LONG talk about what is OK to charge and I will go get print outs in the evenings to see how they are doing.

Thanks everyone.
DJ

 

[DisneyBride'03]

OK, so I feel a little stupid now

aw, dont sweat it... The first time i read KTTW...i was like...what park is that?!

 

[DisDaydreamer]

You gotta start somewhere. This is a good intro into responsibly using a charge card. I mean it's not like they're going to buy a keg with it or something. Just keep tabs on the charges and show them the statements so they understand that there is a record of all transactions. Then give them simple instructions on what is an allowable purchase... It'll be ok.

 

[simzac]

My oldest son, age 17, has been getting charging priviledges since he was 13. Youngest son, age 14, got his first charging priv this past trip. Hope this helps.

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

we also let our two (15 and 13) have charging privileges and have for a number of years. It is only the last two that we let them venture anywhere by themselves. We travel with two other teens and the four usually go to DTD (we stay at SSR) after dinner. They know what is appropriate and what we will pay for and what is their own responsibility. They haven't ventured to the parks alone, but we really don't go to the parks that much anyway.

Set some rules, send them with a cell phone and then relax by the pool !

 

[roadtripper]

We give our DD 13 charging privileges based on how much money she brings with her. If she goes over, she owes us free babysitting as payback. She pays us cash at the end of the trip for her total. She has not gone over yet, and she loves having the card--she thinks it's cool.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I like the idea of giving them charging privileges and letting them know you'll check daily. That way, they have some freedom, but know you're "looking over their shoulder", so not likely to go to wild. I would imagine that, to a teen, flying solo with charging privileges in WDW would be pretty darn cool!

I'm not quite ready to do this for me own kids, but my oldest is just turning 13. Well, maybe I'll consider it for our August trip...

 

[MsAmerica]

We are LONG time members and our daughter has had charging privileges since she could write her own name. When she was 6 or 7, we would have her give the waiter/waitress her resort card for dinner bill and she would sign it to the room and even write in the tip amount. We used all of it as important life lessons.

Today she is 18 and has had a credit card since she got her license and she has NEVER charged something she wasn't authorized to purchase. She is very responsible and understands exactly what charging means.

I personally think the girls going to the park with money is far more dangerous and the chances of them losing it is greater, imo, than them going on a spending spree.....Besides, any merchandise bought can be returned and I can't imagine they would be ordering a crazy amount of food.

Just my opinion,

msA

 

[Inkmahm]

In March, I let my nieces ( just 10, 14 1/2 and 16 1/2) charge things to the room. They didn't charge much and they thought it was cool, especially the 10 year old. They also had Disney Dollars that they'd received from me for Christmas. Honestly, it was easier just to let them charge to the room than to keep track of the Disney Dollars.

 

[buzz5985]

Looks like I'm the only meany. My DS 11 is expected to put money aside from his $11/week allowance for his spending money. He has $50 saved and we go in July. He buys the same things every year - a sharks tooth necklace and itzakadoozie's (frozen treat) and pins.

 

[DISNEY CRAZY 69]

if you wanted to you can get them a card called visa buxx, ds went to Australia and New Zealand last summer for 20 days - you can go to the web site and you can load what ever amt. you want on it...check it everyday on line-when it's getting low you add whatever amt. you want. It works just like a credit card but you set the limit. This way you can budget day by day- i thought it was the greatest thing ever. There is a small start up fee I think it was 10 or 15 dollars....well worth every penny