How much should I budget for the Arcades

[AnnaB]

I am trying to work up a budget for our 7 day eastern cruise. I realize that each person is different and how much they spend also varries....but mayby some of you veterns can help on this questions. I have an 9yr old son and a 6 year old daughter who I know will like to play in the arcades. This is not something we -do usually..only if they are at a b-day party where they have the games. How much do you think I should put aside for them to have fun....but not go crazy. Is $10.00 a day reasonable...or am I too high or too low. I have no problem telling them no...they've used up their budget..but I would like them to enjoy themselves. Thanks !

 

[MikeBW]

They sell $10 debit cards for the arcade, so you have to budget in round numbers. The games are normal prices for arcade games .50 - 2.00. $10/day for 7 days works out to $70 for video games!! Wow! I wish you were my mother.

A word of warning the debit card destroys the KTTW card. I kept them in the same pocket and I had to go to Guest Services to revive my KTTW card.

 

[ducklite]

It would probably be cheaper to buy them each a Gameboy and a few games.

If games are .50-$2.00 each, my bet is that kids the ages of yours will chew through $10 each in under fifteen minutes.

Anne

 

[imgoingtodisney]

I was thinking of a game card per sea day. DS has been receiving Disney dollars and has over $100. He will be buying his own game cards.

 

[TravelMom]

We don't really have much in the way of video games at our house (a few computer ones, but no Playstations, etc) so it's a treat for my 13 year old son to go to an arcade. I budgeted about $50 for him (5 cards spread out over 7 days) and he was thrilled every time he got a new one.

I disagree that a child will tear through $10 in 15 minutes; my son made each card last a day or so.

 

[benebire]

boy not sure i want to admit to this but......

we gave our son charge priviliges on our Dec 2000 cruise on the magic and the total from the arcade at the end of 7 days was
$105.00. However, he later told me that he bought 2-3 cards for friends on the cruise who ran out of money. I'm so glad he was so generous with our money(LOL). We are scheduled for the 4 day wonder and I think I read that you can now limit the amount they can charge to their kttw cards. I plan to go that route this time.

Have a great cruise!

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by TravelMom
I disagree that a child will tear through $10 in 15 minutes; my son made each card last a day or so.

A 13 year old can make those games lat a lot longer. THe OP had two much younger kids...

Anne

 

[Bev J]

Remember you are dealing with kids who don't relize that the card is ths same as money and will probably use up the cards pretty fast. The best games are more expensive. Our 14 year old racked up 60 in game cards in 4 days and his dad had 30 of his own

 

[miksicnarf]

I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this...maybe we just got very lucky, but my kids were given more arcade cards than they could use. We never bought one, and came home with a stack of leftovers which I then sent on to a soon-to-be cruiser.
We had concierge service, so some of the cards came from the concierge but many others were given to them by various CMs around the ship for no apparent reason. And my husband is a very talkative guy--often he'd get to chatting with CMs and when he mentioned he had 2 teenage sons, they'd give him arcade cards.
Has anyone else been the recipient of a windfall of arcade cards?

 

[misty]

I was 14 when i went on the magic and my parents gave me $10.00 a day for the arcade. That was just enough for me, cause there are alot more things to do on the ship.

 

[AnnaB]

Thanks Everyone for your response. I think planning for 10.00 per sea day is a good plan. Even if we go over by $20.00 ea..they will have had fun. Plus this budget is coming out of their disney dollars. Thanks Again!

 

[billylen]

I like you idea of the money coming out of "their" disney dollars. Whenever my son and I take long trips this is our deal. He has regular chores, but for anything over and above I give him a special allowance.

He saves that money and then I will match whatever he saves... That is his money to do whatever he pleases with...

Guess what always happens? He never spends all his money...He usually spends about 1/4 of the funds he has available...

...and it takes all the pressure off me!!!

 

[TootyJane]

Originally posted by miksicnarf
I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this...maybe we just got very lucky, but my kids were given more arcade cards than they could use. We never bought one, and came home with a stack of leftovers which I then sent on to a soon-to-be cruiser.
We had concierge service, so some of the cards came from the concierge but many others were given to them by various CMs around the ship for no apparent reason. And my husband is a very talkative guy--often he'd get to chatting with CMs and when he mentioned he had 2 teenage sons, they'd give him arcade cards.
Has anyone else been the recipient of a windfall of arcade cards?

We, too, had Concierge Service and were given cards for each boy several times over our 7-day cruise. My 14yo gave his cards to his brothers and my niece because he got so many in Common Ground and said he didn't need them. My other two used theirs but didn't use all of them. We literally gave them away toward the end of the cruise. My niece, who is 10, really didn't care for the arcade games. She told her dad that they were games mostly for boys.

Lisa