How much $ do your kids take for souveniers?

[jlw29]

Last night DD8 made a comment that she's going to try to save up $200 in disney dollars (we use them for extra chores, good report cards, etc) which I think is an excessive amount. It got me wondering, how much do your kids spend on souveniers at disney?

Can you tell it's our first trip?

 

[Kathyandtyler]

Santa brings my son $50 in Disney Dollars and he has been saving his money since last year $100.00. We use the money for arcades, souvenirs, and he usually gets a kick out of buying me lunch or dinner once during the trip.

Have fun!!

 

[mudnuri]

How much would YOU spend on stuff for him if he didnt have money? Thats the way I look at it...I figure I could easily say "yes" over the course of a 7 day trip to 200 worth of junk...this way, they'd know once they're done with a set amount, the money's gone..

My dd's who are 6 & 7 are already at 48.00 each for savings of just disney dollars, and the easter bunny will be bringing them more....I have also spent about $75.00 on disney t-shirts/toys that they dont know about that they will get during the trip.

Brandy

 

[BrerMama]

We planned this trip in November, so my kids have been saving their money since then. They each have at least $100 right now. I expect they'll be closer to $200 by trip time because my in-laws hate to buy gifts and give them money for everything. Our biggest problem is that my 2 girls have birthdays before the trip, so they'll get birthday money. My son's birthday isn't until the day after our return, so he won't have as much. I think we're just going to take the same amount per child and call it good. My kids will buy all their souvenirs and most of their own snacks with the money.

 

[CEDmom]

It really depends on what you'll expect her to buy with her own $ vs. what you'll buy her with your . With $200 I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect her to pay for arcade games, all souveniers and even snacks during the day. You might want to help her by breaking the $ into daily allotments so she doesn't spend it all at once.

 

[jlw29]

Thanks for the input!

We've told the girls that at the parks, we are paying for their tickets, their meals and one snack a day. Everything else they're on their own (extra snacks, souveniers). I didn't even think of arcades and stuff like that. I like the idea of having them "buy" us lunch once (give them the $ and let them budget it out and keep whatever is left).

Mudnuri also had a good point. I would easily spend $$$ on stuff for each of them (or DH would!!!!). If I give them the money, it forces them to budget and not pester.

This board continues to be such a help.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Ds had close to a hundred dollars this last trip that he had earned and had total control over except I could veto a snack too close to dinner. Wow does he spend his money differnt than mine. He spent 25.00 on a nice watch, some on penny presses and came back home with the rest. In the psss with my money he wanted everything in site. WE bougth him snacks in we all were having one, and we bought shirts. He wanted to stop at Wal-mart on the way home and buy a PS l l game wtih the rest.


jordans' mom

 

[Wendaeh]

My kids each had $35 in Disney dollars for souveniers -- we were there 8 days and they looked around all week and finally made their purchases on day 7.

I had bought them each 2 t-shirts when the Disney store had them for $5.99 ea. I brought snacks with us each day, though we did buy them ice cream maybe 3 times, popcorn once, and that was it except for meals.

Wendy

 

[goofy4tink]

We don't buy the usual things when in WDW. I try to buy tee-shirts on sale at the DisneyStore during the year. THen my dd has one for each day we're there and doesn't really care about buying them. We might buy one sweatshirt if it's cold. Now, as far as spending money. My dd is 10 now. On every trip she has been given a set amount of money she can spend each day. When she was 6 it was $5, at 8 it was $8. On our last trip she got about $10 a day. She learned early on to spend wisely. Usually she would make a stop in the resort gift shop at the end of the day and get something. We always buy her one 'big thing' on each trip. Last summer her big thing was Pal Mickey. I hate having to lug stuff back home and since we've been multiple times now it just doesn't seem to be such a big deal to buy stuff.

 

[disneyjunkie]

My son takes whatever he has saved plus what he gets from my parents. Then we divide the total amount by the number of days we're there, and that's how much he gets to spend each day.

On our first trip he had about $120. Our next trip is in April. So far he has $140.

Vacation is the only time he doesn't have to deal with me telling him to be careful how he spends his money. (he gets enough of that at home)

If figure if he's able to save the money, then he should enjoy spending it.

He uses his money for snacks (tons of them) and junk from the gift shops. I take care of everything else.

 

[mainewmn]

Ok this is how we do it! Due to our work we need to plan our vacation at least 10 months ahead so my kids have LOTS of notice to save money. My 13 year old gets $15 a week allowance, while his 11 year old brother gets $10 (Long story how we came to this amount). They both get plenty of money from our friends and relatives for Christmas, Birthdays, etc which they have option on saving or spending on what they like. For our December trip my 12 (at that time) year old saved a grand total of $350 for our December 2003 trip and my 10 (at that time) year old had $200. We paid for their park tickets, and meals, their souvenirs and snacks they had to purchase. (We ended up spending additional $100 on small souvenirs and a few snacks for them). Both my boys came home with money left over! They budgeted for what they wanted to buy and we didn’t have to listen to any I wants and I needs during our 8 day stay. My 13 year old brought a whole bunch of shirts and sweatshirts he liked, while my 11 year old did pressed pennies, got a stuffed Mickey, along with my Christmas present he purchased in Epcot, etc. Now that we are going back in October they are both busy saving money. My 13 year old is doing extra chores to ensure he has close to what he had in December, and my 11 year old is curbing his spending by placing his allowance directly in his bank account. Up to the date they have $109.00 and $124.00 respectively.

In my opinion even tough this is a large amount of money they budget very well and know they are required to pay for their souvenirs. My DH and I both surprise them with some pins, or a shirt, candy, etc. but the bulk of their “treasures” come from their own pockets.

 

[got2lovedisney]

I give my DD about $10-$15/day depending on my budget. This she basically spends on gifts to bring back to her grandmother and friends. She gets new clothes before the trip (all Disney shirts [it's a tradition]) plus I've gotten about 35 cheap pins for us to trade. Snacks and meals I pay for and about $20 for the arcade. If she wants more arcade $, it comes out of her pocket. This is basically a reward for good grades etc. This year though, I may reduce the $ because she went over on her January cell phone bill by $30 and she has to repay it somehow.

 

[dsnycrzy]

I used to put $100 aside for that kind of stuff per day when my kids were young. Now they are 11 and 8 and want there own money. Last trip I took my DSis and her kids DS11, DS8, DD9 and DD1.5. It was amazing how everyone wanted their own huge popcorn or sodas while walking. Well this year I told them they each get $50 disney dollars and $50 cash. Let's see how well they share now or don't want it all together.

 

[2minny]

Okay, we're a different breed, we really don't buy many things at disney. We usually focus on the experience and not filling our home with more "toys" when we are back home. We usually let each child buy one "special something"....and they're fine with that. However, we don't spend much time in the shops, it's too tempting...we spend our time on rides, eating icecream, etc! We just pick up the tab, but we are not excessive. Sometimes it's better for us to spend the money, if my daughter brought her money she wouldn't be happy until it were all spent, even if it's something she doesn't really need.

 

[deb305]

Okay, how do you all get your kids into the shops? DD almost 6 would rather wait in the Dumbo line, in 110 degree weather with a wool sweater (figuratively) than put one toe in a gift shop. The only way I am getting her in there this time is by letting her pick out stuff for her room. Even then she'll probably stand in the door pointing to what she wants.
Back to the question, we don't put a spending limit on the kids, they each get a toy with lights, one small stuffed animal, and one misc. I budget for a few outfits for each of them. We don't do many meals when we are in the park, we do a constant graze ((sp) and share what we get except for drinks. This way everyone gets to sample a lot of different things. We usually buy stuff as a family, ornaments for the xmas tree, something to remind of our hotel stay, souvenirs for family, friends and classmates etc. The kids don't buy too much in the parks because of our decree, you buy it you pack it and carry it.

 

[marcyinPA]

My kids (turning 5 on our trip and turning 9 on our trip...2 May babies!) have also been saving their money for months. They each have $25 in Disney Dollars, and my 9 y/o has about $30 in cash. My 5 y/o has NO cash, so we'll be making up the difference for him. I expect with Easter coming, plus their birthdays, they'll each get a few more Disney Dollars. With that said, they will both be going to Disney with $80 ($10 a day) and that's it. We've already told them that we'll buy them each one gift while we are there since they are each having a birthday during our trip, but that is it. The rest of the souveniers they want will come from their own money. When it's gone, it's gone. We've been talking alot about making good financial choices...thinking about what you buy first, whether or not you will play with it, use it,etc. My 9 y/o has been very receptive to this. My 5 y/o doesn't "get it" and will probably need a lot more help and prompting to make the right choice. Even though it's their own money, I don't want to see them buy things that are going to end up broken and on the bottom of the toy bin when we get home. We'll see how it goes.

I have no problem getting my two into gift shops. If they know there is something in it for them, they are right in there. They LOVE to shop and I actually wish I could keep them OUT of the gift shops! It would make my life a lot easier!

As for my dh and I, we don't buy any souveniers so I don't even budget that. We both have t-shirts from previous trips that we still wear, so no need for more!

 

[Blackunicorn]

We let the kids spend $50 each. (I feel bad when I see how much other families get!) We told them that we weren't buying anything until the last day, so they could be sure that they REALLY wanted what they got. The first few days we got autograph books and pens, and some pins for pin trading. The next-to-last day, my husband relented and let my son get his big souvenir. As we were walking along behind them, I asked my DD, then 3, if she knew what she wanted. She stopped dead in her tracks, turned around, walked straight into a shop and picked up a Stitch plush. Oddly enough, both kids were happy with their purchases and didn't pester us on the last day at all.

 

[HappyLawyer]

My dtr has $228.00 so far and i told her she saved it so she can spend it on games or what she wants to do. It's hard because as an adult it like blowing money away in the hands of a 8 year old but what can i say it's disney

 

[K and K's Mommy]

I don't do a money amount, but then again my kids are too young to budget. They each get a new t-shirt and one special souvenir. Last year my son picked a Tigger bobblehead. Then we surprised them and they each got to pick a Disney coloring book and the fun Disney crayons in the shape of the characters.

 

[mbb]

theme...our first day, it's generally a hat..second day, a bucket of popcorn, or a spin toy...next day, pair of sunglasses, a t-shirt day near the end, some days, two games to play at the hotel Arcade...etc, etc...

We find that helps with the "I want" ...our kids are just 6, and have some special needs...the "you have this much $" doesn't work for them.

We probably spend, for a two week trip, somewhere in the 40-50 range per child for souvies...

HTH!!