How much for Souvenir expense?

[miTunes75]

Hey ya'll.

Myself, DW and our three kids (6/4/3) are going in March. How much in Souvenirs should I budget? I have budgeted $600 for all of us. My wife thinks I'm going extreme. Mind you, I haven't been there since 1997. I'm unfamiliar with prices. Should I budget more or less?

Thanks a lot guys.

 

[daleswife]

I think we take about $1000 for souvies when we go. We are a family of 4. Me, DH, DD 5, and DS 2. We break it down to $250 each. BUT DH and I never spend that much. Its just nice to have if we do want something. The Kiddos DO spend that though!!! Have fun.

 

[mjmoon]

In '06 we took $1000 and spent every penny. A lot of which was nickle and dime kinds of things like water, extra food, (since both boys were under 3 and didn't have the meal plan) and impulse buys. We didn't come home with a whole lot to show for all that money being spent. I'm trying to plan things much better this trip. The biggest expense was drinks and snacks outside the DDP. So we're taking a trip to Sam's before leaving and bringing a lot of that stuff with us.

cases bottled water
a variety of snacks and fresh fruit for the kids
Easy breakfast stuff to eat at the camper before hitting the parks
soda (hubby is a soda drinker)
sunscreen (we actually forgot this last time- NOT cheap at DW)
every tolietry imaginable (lol)
beer and wine for relaxing back at camp (or your hotel)

All of these things get really expensive compared to picking up at a discount store. We're going to try to stretch every penny this time around on things that are tangible. Souvenirs!!!

 

[GoofyFairie]

How much you spend depends on your family. Personally, we don't spend that much of "stuff" and we are choosey about what we buy. A T-shirt starts out around 25.00 I think. Ears were a minimum of 10.00 each. A very small plush was about 10.00 also. I am frugal and can't imagine spending that much on "stuff". I'd rather get one or two nice things and save the rest to put towards another trip. However, if money isn't an issue for you then go for it and get as much as you want! Have an awesome trip!

 

[sohappy]

On one trip, we spent around $500 for a few meals, and some random stuff

On the more recent trip, we (me and 2 kiddos) spent $350- This included tips (we were on the deluxe plan and TS almost every meal), a few snacks that ended up not being on the dining plan after I waited in line, and toys for the kids. I know we came back with 10 stuffed animals (yes, 10!!), some small star wars toys, a light saber, pokemon toys, new pens for autograph books, etc.

 

[kacaju]

It all depends on how much you would normally spend on souvenirs. We are a family of 5 and I would never spend that much. Many people do.

 

[carj]

We spent about $1200 on food and souveniers for our trip in June for our family of 4. (7 nights)
We did not have the dining plan and we had 4 TS meals. CRT, Garden Grill, 1900 Park Fare (for 2) Ohana (for 3). Just those meals were almost $400.

We seemed to come home with a ton of stuff too. Every day we let the kids pick out something to buy. This was our first family trip and we didn't know when we would be back.

I think that $600 sounds pretty good but you may want to consider havin a little extra just in case. I think that I planned on $25 a day per child. Some days we were over, other days we were under.


There were certain things that I knew we were buying and other things that the kids wanted. I wanted all of us to have mouse ears and t-shirts for the kids. The kids wanted toys.

I would suggest visiting DTD and getting the My Little Pony box or the build your own lightsaber. Both kids loved doing that. (We have a boy and a girl)

My son wanted a Star Wars t-shirt because he was picked to be in the show. My daughter got a Minnie Mouse t-shirt because we FINALLY were able to meet Minnie on our last day!

 

[michael's mom]

How many days will you be there? Are you on the dining plan or is your meal money separate? That will all make a difference. If you are strictly speaking souveniers...$600 is probably more than enough...but if that is your spending money along with souvenier money, you may need more depending on how lo you'll be there. When we were there 2 years ago with DS we bought him a sweatshirt, a small stuffed Mickey which he still sleeps with and will probably be coming back with us in April, one of those spinning lights at Fantasmic (but this was a necessity because he was having a meltdown of boredom after sitting and waiting in the heat for so long...we needed to distract him) but we've changed the batteries several times and that too will be returning to the World! I also bought him some rubber Mickey and the Gang toys which he ignores...but all in all, his souveniers weren't more than $100. All the rest of our spending money went to snacks not on meal plan, our 3rd meal each day, and food for my son because he was 1 and not on meal plan.

 

[jenseib]

I agree, with others asking, is that just souvie money or for food as well. If just for souvies, you will be more than fine, unless you really want something big. We don't spend alot on actual souvies ourselves. We do the dining plan, and pay very little out of pocket for extra snacks if at all. Mostly that is DH as he forgets you get snacks with the dining plan. And then the tips for our TS meals.
This year we are taking DD to BBB, so that is $55 there. Also if you get refillable mugs, then that about 13 a peice I think, but for us, it was worth it as we refilled them alot.
The first year we got cold at MK and our sweatshirts were in our room, so we bought 3 new sweatshirts. Last year I jsut completely forgot one, so I bought one and a tshirt for me. I think DH bought a hat becuase he forgot one. And we usully get DD a tshirt each year, along with a few othe small things. But she really doesn't beg for much.
I did buy her two princess dresses last year, but that was my idea not hers, but she preferred one, and I liked the other, so I just got both.
Also autograph books if you want those.
We are getting the $200 gift card with our package this year, so that will help alot too. Plus I have been buying a few cards here and there so we have some extra spending already there. We most likely won't spend more than that on souvies. I'll probably get a new sweatshirt now that I seem to have started a tradition of having one with the year on it each year. LOL! But DD won't need one, and I don't even think I'll get her a tshirt unless she asks, as she rather wear dresses most days and the tshirt doesn't get worn much.
I also preorder photpass CD (and am doing a share) so I will have those pictures, which to me is one of hte best souvies there can be!

 

[michael's mom]

if you don't mind my asking, how does the photopass share work? I am in a stroller swap..is it a similar thing?

 

[jenseib]

Oh, I also got mouse ears for DD and had it embroidered at DTD,(which cost about the same as the hat) She didn't wear it much, but I wanted to have it for her first trip. I took it back down last year and she wore it ALOT. It will go back with us this year too.

 

[jenseib]

if you don't mind my asking, how does the photopass share work? I am in a stroller swap..is it a similar thing?

You find them on the budget board. Look for your month. One person leads the group. Everyone shares in the cost of the CD, then you all load your card numbers to the account the leader set up. The CD goes to the leader and they make a copy and send it out to each member. Usually 5-7 are in a group.
It keeps the cost way down then.

 

[michael's mom]

So, I pay $25 (if there are 5 of us) and then the swap leader will burn a copy of the CD for me? That sounds awesome! How many cards can I upload onto the photopass?

 

[jenseib]

You can upload as many as you want, but for groups they usually ask that you try to do one or two cards at the most.

 

[jenseib]

Hey ya'll.

Myself, DW and our three kids (6/4/3) are going in March. How much in Souvenirs should I budget? I have budgeted $600 for all of us. My wife thinks I'm going extreme. Mind you, I haven't been there since 1997. I'm unfamiliar with prices. Should I budget more or less?

Thanks a lot guys.

What day are you going, it looks like we will be there the same time this year? Where are you staying?

 

[michael's mom]

Thanks for the info...I'm going to look into that for our trip.

 

[miTunes75]

What day are you going, it looks like we will be there the same time this year? Where are you staying?

We will b there mar 7-10. We are not staying onmproperty. As I work for Hilton I am able to stay in a suite for $40/nite

To answer the common question, the $600 for suvies only

 

[jenseib]

You should be just fine with that amount then!

 

[michael's mom]

I am one step behind you this morning Jenseib! I agree that $600 a perfect amount for 4 days and only souvies!

 

[jenseib]

LOL! I should be sleeping in as DD spent the night with Grandma, but NO! I am on here bright and early!