How much do you budget per child for souvenirs?

[Giggle]

Ears were $7 and autograph books were about the same on our last trip.

There's opportunities to spend money everywhere at Disney. Almost every ride exits through a gift shop (plus there's other gift stores in every park). It's easy to get carried away, but it sounds like you've got a good plan. T-shirts are quite expensive in the parks, if you want any of those hit the outlets.

Is the embroidered name included in the price of the ears or does that cost extra? Where do you get that done?

By the way, we've been cleaning out the piggy banks too. Rolling a little every now and then. I might get them each a gift card with the piggy bank money.

 

[PatsGirl]

Wow, the first few posts had me really thinking I was the "mean mother on the block" as my kids like to say and a title of which I am very proud But thankfully I kept reading to find out, yeah, I'm not the only one who limits their kids' spending. I've done spending money several different ways, but my kids have NEVER had more than $100 each for spending regardless of the length of the visit (longest was 11 days) and most often a lot less, and almost always whatever they managed to save themselves.

My favorite way to handle souveniers which I've done on several trips but not so much now that they are older: the deal is if you behave at the park (which has never really been a problem) and don't ask for souveniers at every gift store, Tinkerball or Mickey Mouse or whoever their favorite character was on that given trip, would leave a gift under their pillow each night. I would purchase souveniers such as autograph book, trading pins, tshirt, beach towels, stuffed animals, sippy cups, etc. from Disney Store or disney.com prior to our trip, have them wrapped and ready to go according to what day we were going to what park. For example, the first night there they might get the autograph book because they would need it the next day. If the first day was at AK, I might leave a AK tshirt for them. The night before Epcot, a passport is a great gift... I was then able to pick out the gifts I felt they "needed" and pay 1/4 of the price for alot of things. I have to say that my kids always found this much more satisfying and loved the surprise. THey spent many dinners talking about what they might find when they got back to the room -- the enjoyed the suspense and surprise element. And, when necessary, I always had the "don't forget that you need to be good (or eat all your dinner or...)" to lean on. THey were always allowed to go into the gift shops and I would keep an eye on what they seemed to really, really want and make sure they got this the last night as a special surprise or I'd just let them pick something out occasionally for being such good kids.

Either way, and this is only my opinion here so no flames please but a trip to Disney itself should be enough and it is good for kids to know limits and understand that even $10/day or $50/trip is alot of money to be spent on things wanted, not needed.

Have a great trip whatever you decide.

 

[twinklebug]

Whatever the kids have saved up in their coin jar is what they have for spending. I don't add to it, so if they haven't saved or have dug into it... oh well! BTW - the jar contains any dimes, nickles and pennies I may get in shopping as well as anything they feel like donating to it from their earnings or gifts. It is split evenly between them.

Typically they'll spend about $50 each - that gets them a stuffed animal, hat, toy and a few other small things. I don't permit too much as it all has to be packed back into the bags we brought to get home.

 

[KelNottAt]

Each of our children had $20, of which they spent $13. We also bought them hats ourselves (part practical, part souvenir). I believe those were $17 each.

Vacations are not about stuff for us, so we spend only a small amount on souvenirs.

Same here. Each kid gets a $25 gc. If they want to spend more than that then they need to bring their own money.

So far, over the course of 3 WDW vacations and 2 cruises, they've never depleted the gc. I guess they're just not consumers.

 

[dougsmom98]

My kids get $25 each. We rarely shop while we are in the parks because I hate the thought of wasting time in a store when the price of a park ticket is so expensive. We buy all of the food and snacks for them in the park, but my kids are not the type to ask for every treat they see either. In addition to the $25 they got to spend on the last trip, we did buy them each a treat in Goofy's Candy store in DTD, but it had to be reasonably priced ($3-$4 each tops).

 

[annakris1973]

Do the disney gift cards ever expire or lose value? I know some GC's have penalties built into them.

 

[Tjaleks]

Do the disney gift cards ever expire or lose value? I know some GC's have penalties built into them.

No, they do not expire. They also don't have any penalties for carrying a balance and not using the card.

 

[tinkerbell615]

Whew!!! I was glad I read all of the way through all of these posts. I was also starting to feel a little bad about the $ we are able to give our kids. DH and I have really never given our kids a set amount of $ for souvenirs. They actually know that we work very hard just to afford the trip to WDW. I wish that we could hand each of them a big hunk of $ to shop but we just can't do it. We have always put around $10 - $20 in disney dollars in their Easter baskets before we go on a trip to Disney. We also try to get them disney dollars whenever possible but it usually does not amount to a whole lot. We usually buy them a couple small things while there (maybe an art pad or a pin or two). Both of them usually spend their $ on everyone else. They love to bring things back for other people. My DS is actually in college now but still does not have a lot of $ to take so we make sure that we give him and DD (15) the same amount to spend while they are there. As I said, they rarely spend $ on themselves. Always on others. I love that!!!

 

[emerymt]

Whew!!! I was glad I read all of the way through all of these posts. I was also starting to feel a little bad about the $ we are able to give our kids. DH and I have really never given our kids a set amount of $ for souvenirs. They actually know that we work very hard just to afford the trip to WDW. I wish that we could hand each of them a big hunk of $ to shop but we just can't do it.

Don't beat yourself up over this. Even if you could give them a big hunk of $, it won't make them happy for very long, and it's also stressful to have the money and not give it to them when they know you can. As many posters have said, when it's THEIR money, they're much more careful to buy things they REALLY want (and no, a tantrum doesn't mean they really want it- it just means they want it NOW). You've raised great kids. I'm struggling not to raise spoiled ones!

Our kids are 8, 12 and 15. We used to buy one gift per trip, but now we don't unless we're going somewhere new and different. They have to spend their own cash. When they look back and remember all of our travels, it will not be the souvenirs they remember anyway.

 

[feedindy]

We gave our kids $10 per day to spend as they wish. This did not include Pal Mickey, autograph books, ears or t-shirts as we bought those for them. DH and I had $100 each to spend on whatever, but I don't think we spent it all. They could spend it each day or save it to add to their $10 the next day. I didn't want to hand DD $50 and watch her blow it. If she saw something big, she could save up for the end of the week.

 

[deide71]

I gave each child $50 in Disney dollars. They are 7,5 &3. This was plenty. They have enough toys, and I don't want to drag any extra stuff home.

 

[kileybeth]

this thread is really helpful for me.

I am the shopper in my family. love it. do it well. get great deals, etc. my husband is of the opinion that unless it is going to feed you, house you , or get you where you are going , you don't really need it!

a big part of my Disney vacation experience is finding that special something I will always remember from this trip.

I have children of both mine and my husbands pursusaion!! LOL

some go and care to buy nothing, others go and want every thing their eyes happen to fall on.

we stick to things they will "need" anyway and maybe one special item.

t-shirts, hats, socks make great souvies and I would have to buy those anyway.

Everyone gets ears on their first visit to the world. (the DS25 still has his)

the older they get the less interested they are in "Disney" themed stuff per say but they can drop a pretty penny on StarWars, Lego, etc.

We've never had a budget for these items. I will be getting Disney gift cards this year or Visa Gift ones (do they have Disney themed Visa ones?). So wish me luck, it will be a whole new world for my older ones (DS14, DD12)and hopefully the little ones will never know how free spending we used to be !! I've got $50 in my head for now and they can overspend with their own money or take home leftover!

might do the gifts in room for little ones (DS4 and DD2), I really like that idea since we will be on property for 1st time. . .thanks Patsgirl!

my2 older boys love to tell the 4 younger sibs how "bad" they had it growing up compared to them, wait until this new information comes out over family times!

 

[firsttimer03]

Well, ever since DS has been 6 he has earned his own money for vacation.
Naturally, we pay his way in and for food. I just can't stand spending money on some of this junk but if he earned it then he can spend it. It's a great way for him to learn the value of money, how hard it is to earn it and how easy it is for it to be spent and gone!
He is 11 now and already has about $100 saved up. He works at my DH business, he does outside chores like raking leaves, mowing grass and other things. He also empties and fills the dishwasher, vaccuums, cleans bathrooms, dusts and takes out garbage.
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have the perfect child that just volunteers to do all these things.
We just gently remind him that if he wants spending money while on vacation then he needs to earn it. It does give him a GREAT sense of pride and a willingness to work for what he wants.
Now, that being said, I did go and get him a $25 gift card for Disney for his 5th grade graduation.

 

[brymolmom]

I'll chime in with our souvie spending. I have dd3 and ds5 (on our upcoming trip). I will buy them a t-shirt or two from Disney Store (usually for $3 or under ) to bring with us and they will not be worn beforehand so they feel new and fun for vacation. I will also bring a couple new Disney toys (again on clearance or just cheap) - little figurines, books (usually from garage sales, I just bought Lady & the Tramp and Beauty & the Beast books for 50 cents each (like new!) at a Church flea market yesterday) and light up toys. They will be given one or two on the ride down and one will be saved for while we're down there. So, I would say I spend about $30 or so on 'stuff' before we go down (for both of them, not each).

Then, while we're there - they usually get to pick one thing. Last time we went to the $10 and under store at DTD and let them each choose one thing. Occassionally, we'll buy one other thing - if they fall in love with it at the parks and it is something unique that will be used a lot. NO MORE STUFFED ANIMALS! SO let's say we spend about $25 per kid for the whole trip (but sometimes a lot less than that).

I am blown away by some of the amounts here. The part I want to know is HOW do you fit bringing all that stuff home? With $100 or over per person - that must mean an extra couple of suitcases for the return trip!

 

[firsttimer03]

Well, as you already know if you've been to Disney before, $100 won't get you too much.
DS spent it on a stuffed animal snake, gun, (indiana jones area) Lego's from Lego Island, a light up Buzz Lightyear (night toy), misting fan.....and something else.
It taught him to restrain from buying the first thing he saw. Trust me, he wanted to blow ALL of his $$$ the very first park we went to in 2003, our first trip. I tried to explain to him that we had more parks to go to and other stuff he would like to buy. In 2003 (our first trip) he was 7 and we kept all of his receipts to show him how much $ he had spent and on what. He enjoyed the freedom of having his own money to buy whatever and I didn't have control over that.
I just offer advice on what he's buying but he ultimately has the $ to buy it with.
Now, don't think I'm a mean mother and won't spend money on my DS, if I've seen that he has done well with budgeting his money and if he needs help, I'll pitch in.
I'm not that mean I promise!

 

[disneyjunkie]

Either way, and this is only my opinion here so no flames please but a trip to Disney itself should be enough and it is good for kids to know limits and understand that even $10/day or $50/trip is alot of money to be spent on things wanted, not needed.

Have a great trip whatever you decide.

Can't that be said about the trip itself?

A trip to WDW is a want, not a need. None of us HAVE to spend thousands of dollars on a vacation. We do it because we want to. We can make life long memories that our children will always cherish, for free.

My son was 9, 12 and 13 on our previous trips. My parents gave him $50.00 before each trip. All of the money in the change jar was added to his spending money. Our change jar also includes a bunch of instant win lottery scratch off cards. I cash them in the day before we leave to add to my son's spending money. He also saves some birthday and Christmas money.

Each trip, he had $200.00-$250.00 to spend. Most of the money was spent on gifts for my parents, my sister and BIL, and their children. He loves pin trading, so a big chunk went to that. The rest was used in the arcades and for snacks.

He'll be 15 when we go to WDW this August. If he works this summer, then he's responsible for his own spending money.

I don't think any of us are cheap, mean or overindulgent.

 

[bettyann29]

I normally give them $100-$150 each, it just depends.. I pay for all food, snacks, drinks, etc and usually buy them a stuffed animal or something out of my money and anything else they want they have to use their own money.. On one trip I paid for everything and they always had the "I wants"... now I just say "its your money, but when its gone its gone" they seem to be more picky in what they purchase..

Me and DD9 are going to WDW next month and I am giving her $150 to spend over 3 days time..

 

[DawnMarie]

We have ds's 13 & 11 save for their vacation spending money. We do buy food,snacks and sometimes a gift for them. They have become much more discerning in what they buy and the cost of souvenirs. I let them decide how much money to spend in each park. My oldest son would take a certain amount each day and leave the rest at the resort so he wouldnt spend it. He actully came home with over $100.00 dollars.

 

[annakris1973]

WOW...thanks for all the opinions. I think I will stick to my budget, believe it or not, I am actually worried that they WON'T spend all the money if I put it on a Disney GC. They are pretty picky. We don't have a Disney store here, so it would be harder to redeem. I guess I could use it online though. We have collected quarters and pennies for the machines already, and I am planning on buying trading pins beforehand. This is "The Big Trip"...10 days, and I feel the pressure to really 'do it up'. I just have the fear that when DD12 is officially a teenager, she won't want to go to WDW anymore. Crazy, right?

 

[Barbers2005]

The part I want to know is HOW do you fit bringing all that stuff home? With $100 or over per person - that must mean an extra couple of suitcases for the return trip!

That's true! When we went last year, we had two small suitcases just for bringing WDW stuff home. We packed one suitcase full of snacks and water bottles on the trip there and the other one partway full of misc. stuff (itineraries, guide books, flight info, hotel info). On the way back we ditched (or ate) the remaining snacks and crammed everything into the other suitcases to make room. Probably won't bring as much stuff home this year though, b/c we won't have the inlaws to act as "toy-dispensers."