How much do you spend on your vacation with kids

[tripletots]

Wow, I must be Scrooge! My kids are just lucky to be going to Disney. This trip IS their souvineer. I have five kids and they're really use to getting stuff on their birthday and Christmas. With that said they each will have $25.00 to spend (not per day).

 

[Quinn222]

I'm taking my nephews for four days in October. I bought each of them a $25 gift card and their mother and grandmother are going to give them each $25 cash. So each of them will have $75 to spend. From that they'll buy whatever souveniers they want and snacks in the parks. It's a modest amount but I think it will be enough. I suppose it will have to be enough as the trip itself is costing a fortune. They have time to earn some extra allowance as well between now and then.

 

[sydprincess]

OP, we are right around where you are. We take $2500 of our own and the grandparents usually give us another $500 for the girls, 2 and 5. That is just for gifts. Whatever they want- we do not dictate or say no. It really adds to the magic for them. It's like Christmas while being at Disney. What more could two kids want! They do not get allowances, and if they did, I would not have them spend it at Disney. I'd rather see them put that money into bonds or a savings account. I want them to enjoy being kids and not have to worry about what they can and can't afford to get. They'll have the rest of their lives to worry about such things!

 

[golden1]

Wow, $2000 is a lot for a week! I am planning on bringing about $500 in spending money max for our trip and I doubt we will use it all. My kids are young so they are really not into "stuff" yet. My dd is doing the Perfectly Princess Tea and with that she gets a really nice doll so that is her main souvenier. I'd like to get matching t-shirts for all of us and some ears for the kids but that is about it. I have never really been into doing a lot of shopping at WDW for myself and DH hates shopping.

 

[familydisney]

We aren't even spending 2000 on our whole trip including food, hotel and tickets. (only 1500). I am probably in the minority, but we spend nothing on the trip other than 1 stuffed animal each that the boys save up their allowance for ($20 each), and last time I bought myself a pair of Mickey earring for $8. That's around $50. Don't get me wrong...there are tons of things I want to buy. I'm a fanatic on all things Disney and would love to have my whole house and wardrobe done that way. BUT I would also rather save my money so i can start planning my next trip.
I also believe if kids know the expectations before hand, they are much easier to deal with. Both of my boys knew in advance they would have $20 to spend on one souvenir so they didn't even ask. Now, on our third trip, they are already trying to decide which stuffed animal they are going to add to their collection.
So I guess the answer to your question is....$2000 would pay for my family's entire vacation. Want to adopt us??? Seriuosly, you seem like a very generous dad. I'm sure your family will have a great vacation.

 

[Quinn222]

I am probably in the minority, but we spend nothing on the trip other than 1 stuffed animal each that the boys save up their allowance for ($20 each), and last time I bought myself a pair of Mickey earring for $8. That's around $50.

The first time I went I bought quite a bit but now I have sort of a shopping plan. I always buy a resort pin for any resort I visit, either to stay in or eat. My goal is to have a pin from each of the WDW resorts. I also buy a new ride pin each trip and a Christmas Ornament. Then I pick one sort of 'major' souvenier. Given my budget that means it costs more than $50 and less than $100. This time it's going to be a Pal Mickey I think. I also plan on buying a fleece jacket. I need one so I sort of see that as not quite a souvenier, just buying something I happen to need while at WDW. In November and December I'll hardly buy anything. Some chocolate in Germany to put on my Christmas Table and maybe another ornament. That'll probably be it. I've found the same as you, if I spend less I can go more often!

 

[mybgirl]

First off, when I started the thread I included recreation, spa and such which we will be doing. Not $2k on toys alone

Hi you will have more then you
need ,


take care

have a super trip

GOD BLESS
MARY

 

[nigel-bigel]

We usually go for 5 nights, and not including spending money on food - which we don't set a limit on - we usually spend an extra $400 or $450.

My 2 DDs are each given around $30 per TRIP to buy a souvenir = $60
I buy each DD a sweatshirt = $80
I get a few pins for me = $25
DH always forgets something like pajamas or bathing suit = $40
We usually do one special event per trip, like MNSSHP or a tour = $150
A few activities at the Boardwalk = $40
DH suprising the DDs with some souvenir that glows in the dark = $25

Like many others who have posted, I have found that kids are much more careful about spending when a) it's their money, and b) it's a limited amount.

While I love WDW I really don't care for merchandise that has characters all over it, so there isn't much I'm interested in buying. If I lived in North Dakota and wasn't near good shopping I probably would have a different opinion on that.

Rest easy, you are taking more than enough money!

Nicole

 

[Family Fun Mom]

We usually let our kids have only one or two souvenirs for the whole trip. Sometimes, we buy them a couple more things they didn't ask for (practical things like T-shirts they can use, coloring books for the ride home, etc.) But that's about it.

This is what we did. We let them each pick one toy from a DTD store and that was it. Of course, throughout the week we bought them pressed penny books, glow sticks, stickers, and little things like that, but they could only choose one big souvenir. We made their shopping trip special and did it near the end of the trip so they had time to see all that Disney had to offer and really think about what they wanted to bring home. Each one still has their toy and still plays with it. It is very special to them.

The glow sticks and stickers, however, didn't even make it home

 

[shyjade]

After doing some math I realized that $2,000 for a week comes out to $280+ per day, and you have 4 people in your family. I'm planning on bringing $800 or so for our trip which is only 3 nights and 2 people, so $200 per day. I don't plan on spending all of it but better safe than sorry!

This will be our first trip to WDW in over 5 years, and we likely won't be back again for several years. We don't take many "big" vacations but when we do, we enjoy. I don't plan on spending a lot on character souveniers but it's the hard to find items we'll buy. I want a beautiful kimono from Japan and a nice blanket from Mexico. We plan on picking pearls in Japan. My DD8 will be doing the Albatross cruise. We will be attending MNSSHP. We will be staying at AKL (first time onsite) and DD8 collects zebras so I plan on buying her a few collectibles and some African artifacts. I'd like to try some African wine. And the list goes on...

So although $2,000 seems like an awful lot at first, I can understand where the OP isn't really that far off base. YES, Disney can be done with much less, I speak from experience. But for those of us who don't get to take special/big vacations often, spending money can go quickly. I live on a tight budget all year long and seldom treat myself to anything. This trip I plan on doing/buying what I want...and I don't plan on spending it on Mickey ears and t-shirts!

 

[xbatman]

I expect to spend about $1500 for 9 days for the 3 of us. It will be our 1st trip to WDW and our first big vacation anywhere since DD3 was born. In that $1500, I expect to get the photopass CD and photo albums, any many scrapbooking supplies and such that we'll have forever as well as some Christmas gifts since we're going in December. Our trip isn't until 2007, so we also have time to save elsewhere to cover this amount. If we catch the bug and return frequently, I would expect that amount to go down.

Do whatever you can afford and what feels right for your family.

 

[shyjade]

I expect to spend about $1500 for 9 days for the 3 of us. It will be our 1st trip to WDW and our first big vacation anywhere since DD3 was born. In that $1500, I expect to get the photopass CD and photo albums, any many scrapbooking supplies and such that we'll have forever as well as some Christmas gifts since we're going in December. Our trip isn't until 2007, so we also have time to save elsewhere to cover this amount. If we catch the bug and return frequently, I would expect that amount to go down.

Do whatever you can afford and what feels right for your family.

I agree! I forgot to add to my post that I'll be purchasing the Photopass CD too, since it's just DD8 and I (otherwise it will be like our last trip - all pictures of her and none to show I was there too! LOL), scrapbooking supplies and Christmas ornaments from around the World Showcase.

 

[MarieA]

As I said in a previous post, $2,000 should be plenty even including a visit to the spa. Last year I treated my daughter to a massage at the spa (I went too). I made some large purchases (3 watches, a Minnie tree topper and tree skirt), we rented a car and still came home with money (we had $2,500 for 9 days). My husband and I also paid for breakfast every morning ($25 - 30) per day. We used our DDP for lunch and dinner.