How much money will I need for souveniers?

[TupperMom7]

We are a family of seven going to Disney and SeaWorld. I have 3 kids - two teens, one 11 and two that are five. I need to know how much money these kids are going to need to buy souveniers.
They all like candy and treats. I like candy and treats. Their Dad says he doesn't like sweets and then he eats ours! The little ones will want toys. The older ones will want cool stuff they see. How do I know if we are being overcharged for what we are actually getting?
How much money do you think they will all need? I am hoping that Grandma comes through and gives they each some spending money. Being that Christmas is before we go, they usually spend money on their friends and sometimes on us for Christmas presents. So their goes the saved allowances.
Any suggestions? Is there a website where you can figure this out?

 

[kaymak]

I have a 5 year old and a 2 year old. I gave each of them $100. I knew I wanted them to have Mickey ears, an autograph book, and a t-shirt. They also had money to buy 1 nice toy and a couple of little things. This was our first trip so I really wanted to get the basic stuff. It worked out good for us!

 

[frstimer128]

I grew up in a big family too so I know what it can be like for the parents and their wallets.

These are merely suggestions from experience so please take them as only that....

If you have normal healthy teens, then they can be expected to earn their spending money. Even the 11 y/o can do your yard work for some extra $$. This should help trim your budget down a bit. Of course, you will still give them spending money, but make it minimal or match them 50% of whatever they save. If they save $100, give them $50. Have them convert their money into Disney dollars to make it less tempting to spend. Have them set some of their earnings aside in a seperate place for their xmas shopping.

If they start their vacation with $100 each, then make that the limit. Have them split it so half is for SW and half is for WDW. If they spend it all in one day, then that was their choice. Encourage them to look around. Make sure that what they are buying is absolutely what they want. You can have them keep a list of what they saw, where it was, and how much it costs. They can always go back later and get it without forgetting where they saw it or how much it was.

Maybe they can do their xmas shopping at Disney? Maybe if your teens see some big ticket item that they would love for themselves, you can buy it for them but they will not get it until xmas morning?

Obviously, there is not much earning potential for 5 y/o's so you could just make one flat amount that fits your budget. If all they get is $20 each, they'll be fine! Maybe Santa can do some shopping for them in Disney? My DD4 already has a xmas list going because instead of always saying no, I simply say "Put it on your list". With 5 kids, they must be okay with hearing no once in a while....God bless you! lol

I think whatever you plan on ahead of time for spending money will be fine. Each family is different. Some have to live on a budget (me!) and others don't. If you state in advance to the kids what the limit is, then that's good enough.

My souvenier budget is minimal because all those cutesy souveniers and stuff always end up at the bottom of the toy box in our house. I bought Disney stuff ahead of time when I found it on sale or clearance. I have one gift a day that "Timkerbell" is going to leave for my DD4. I am planning on eliminating the gimmies by telling her to wait and see what Tink brought. I am definately going to get a little thing here and there, but not as much as I would have if I didn't do the "Tink" thing.

Good luck and I hope that some of this can help.....

 

[frstimer128]

I thought you were going BEFORE xmas...sorry

 

[TupperMom7]

Wow thank you for all your helpful suggestions. I especially like the one about converting their money that they save into Disney Dollars - why didn't I think of that? My son, age 14, has the habit of just bringing money to school and buying extra drinks, icecream, etc. so eventually his money is gone - I don't think his school accepts Disney Dollars!

Yes, we aren't going until April. In some ways I wish it was sooner and in many ways I am glad it is that far away. I need more time to organize and to save $$!

Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

[crisi]

Well,

You can let everyone have a pencil and get out for under $10. Or you can decide you absolutely need $10,000 artwork.

Candy, we usually buy a bunch of Mickey suckers on day one. And we usually take a lot of them home. I can't remember how much the suckers are ($5 for 6 or something?) Other than that, we are too busy to eat.

We usually pick up a shirt for everyone. $8 on the sale rack - $40 for a sweatshirt not on the sale rack.

Ours are little (5 and 6 now) and we get some sort of glowy thing for nighttime. A lot of budget boarders will just pick up glowys at the dollar store, then you don't need to buy them. The spinning light up thingys are around $13, and not worth the money - cool for a few minutes.

We usually pick up a few toys for the kids, but I'm starting to avoid this and go to ONE! Our kids often get costumes ($50 each) - which they use a lot. DS has gone through two pirate costumes and DD has a Belle dress and a Minnie dress.

Give your kids a budget, especially the older ones. Then distract them from the stores. Ideally, they will be so busy moving from one attraction to the other they won't stop to buy anything.

 

[powellrj]

we usually stop at the Beltz outlet mall early in our trip and the kids get an idea of what there is and how much things cost. We will stop again on our way back and the kids will buy what they want. Once they see how cheap things are at the outlet and how much farther their money will go they are usually happy to just wait and spend their money there. We usually make sure each kid has about $40 to spend. We use to let them have more, but they will spend $100 just as fast as they will spend $40 and not be any happier. The 2 that are going with us this year are 8 and 13.

 

[JetMom]

My 3 DS's are 12, 10 and 7. We usually give them $10/day that they can spend on souveniers. If they don't spend the whole $10, it carries over to the next day. Conversely, if they really want something and don't have enough they can borrow from the next day.

We were just recently talking about this and DH and I have decided that on the next trip, they will get an extra $5/day for a snack/treat.

You will be surprised how much the begging and whining for everything in sight decreases as soon as they know that they have to open up their own wallet to pay for things!

 

[greendoor678]

Growing up, my family was always on a tight budget, but vacations were always a special time for us though we didn't get every souvenir we laid our eyes on.

I think a great idea is to have a Treasure Hunt just before departing on your trip.
Make it detailed and Disney themed with a lot of hunting and clues for both your older and younger children.

The prize is a treasure trove of really neat gift items for each child.
You can price the 'treasure' specifically for your budget.
Some ideas: Disney themed-Candy, Travel Games, Stickers, TShirt, Glow in the Dark items, baseball hats, stuffed Disney character, coloring book, autograph book + click pens, disposable cameras...any kind of little Disney item would be good.

The idea is to give the kids plenty of items that they can use/play with during (and hopefully after) the trip so they will not be as likely to be so impulsive about wanting so muchg at the parks.

For instance, when many of the kids at the park are getting their parents to buy the $13 twirly light up wands at night, you can have your kids break out their cool glow in the dark items and have their own fun!

If you do still feel the need to shop at the parks, go to the larger shops and avoid those street-side kiosks. The larger stores usually have sale items that are still great.

Also, you will see lots of silly hats and wigs in some of the shops. There are always 'try on' hats, and the staff doesn't mind if you try them on or take pictures with the 'try on' items (as long as you aren't being disruptive, of course). You can take some fun photos without spending the $.

Hope ya'll have a great trip!
JENN

 

[NC Jennifer]

I would give them each $30 -- they should be able to each get one nice item for that.

 

[MickeysMagic]

My children earn there own money for the trip, they are now 10 and 8, although they did this for the last trip 3 years ago also. They have chores that they do at home for an allowance, usually $2 per week and maybe $1or 2 extra if they help out beyond their regular chores, a few months before our trip I would start paying their allowance in Disney Dollars. That way they have no choice but to save it for the trip. Also we would put Disney Dollars at the top of their wish lists for Birthdays and Holidays~ this works out great!!! Grandparents are usually more then happy to help out by giving Disney Dollars as gifts, and it makes the kids even more excited about the trip.

By time we leave the girls usually have around $100 each. This works great for us, we don't have to worry about spending money on cheesy souveniers that we don't think are worth the $$$ and the girls are more picky about what they spend their money on since they worked so hard to earn it.

 

[dizagain]

We've been once and are planning our next trip for June '05. We saved for the girls throughout the year and have started this again. Santa and the Easter Bunny both left a few Disney Dollars. They also got some Disney Dollars from family for Christmas and the Birthdays. The girls do surveys over the internet at Kidseyes.com as well and each had over $30 from that. By the time we left they each had about $110. They bought their autograph books, penny books, one tshirt, and some stuffed animals and mickey ears. They never asked for anything else and had a blast. This was extra special for them - we don't usually buy them things between b'days and Christmas and having this money to spend was really neat. They DID appreciate the entire trip and every penny they got to spend...they still talk about how exciting it was. DH and I only bought some Christmas ornaments and a tshirt for ourselves. If you start saving now, they'll have plenty...don't forget to tip family members off to giving Disney Dollars for Christmas!

 

[Rebeccapaige!]

although my girls are little we are doing our souvenier money this way. First we are going to be gone for two weeks and we are going to sea world and disney. Paige already knows we are asking for money/disney dollars for her bday and christmas so we can go to disneyworld! So whatever she gets for her birthday will be her spending money to do with what she pleases with some guidance of course and it will be in my wallet lol. So she should have around $150 for sure. Her sister's bday isn't until april so Hailey will get my birthday money or $150 anything extra cuz I get more will be thrown into our spending money for food/souveniers. They are taking there own on top of what i have budgeted. I really think we'll come home with extra!
Becky

 

[EsmeraldaX]

It really depends on what sort of souvenirs you buy. I assume you are not talking about $25,000 original Walt Disney artwork here, but instead about your typical souvenir type things.

Here are some good, cheap ideas (under $30)

Small - average sized plush/dolls $8-$25
t-shirt $16-$29
tote bag - $16-$29
Refillable resort mug - $11 (and functional too throughout your trip)
Mouse ears - $6 (I could be wrong here)
picture frame - range from $10-25
Christmas ornaments - $6-$25
coffee mug/ travel mug - $8-$19
baseball cap - $19-$25
mini snowglobes/ average sized ceramic figurines - $8-$29
ride photos - (not sure but it's under $30)
some watches and costume jewlery - $10-$30
Character sketch - $25 - $30 per character
CD of music from the parks - varies by cd, under $30
Pick a Pearl - varies by jewelry setting but can be done for under $30

Other items under $15 : candy/cookies in tins, small plastic figureines, postcard books, candles, pasta shaped like Mickey, small toys, antenna toppers, chunky pens/pencils, balloons, big lollipops, socks, barrettes, other accessories, bookmarks, pins ($6) , pet stuff for your dog or cat

I'm sure there are tons of others I'm missing too.

I find it's best to buy on my last day, after I've had a chance to look around. And remember, if you, or one of your family members sees something you love but just can't justify buying on this trip, you can always call WDW merchandise and have it ordered by phone and shipped to you. Just make a note of what it was and where you saw it.

Have a great trip.

 

[crisi]

That's a great list Esmerelda. If I remember right, there is a small charge on Mickey ears to embroider names, but they are $6.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Disney does have sale racks. I've bought a lot of under $10 t shirts off the sale rack. Some things (plush dolls, princess dresses) never go on sale as they never really close them out. Some things (last season's shirts, closeout pins and Christmas ornaments) you can almost always find something.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Originally posted by crisi
If I remember right, there is a small charge on Mickey ears to embroider names, but they are $6.

Isn't embroidery on the ears still free at the Chapeau at the MK? I told my brother it was -- I'll be bummed if that's not the case.