How much spending $?

[UGAFan0829]

My DH and I are taking my niece (8) and nephew (9) to Disney in May, and in figuring out our budget, I was trying to think about how much spending money we should give them. This will be their very first trip, and while I don't want them to go overboard buying things they won't ever use again, I do want them to be able to spend money on things that they really want...and I have to consider the fact that Disney souveniers can sometimes be expensive. So, how much do you usually budget for your children?? Thanks in advance!!

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

We were there 10 days and we gave each kid $50. I have read on here where some ppl usually give more though, like $100 per kid.

You can buy Disney t-shirts at the Walmart on Vineland Rd for $7.50 a piece so I wouldn't let them buy the $35 t-shirts. That's just me.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

I am a $50/kid person, too. If I find something I *have* to have for my kid, I'll buy it for them. My kids were 8 and 10 last time we went.

 

[eliza61]

LOL. so the folks at disney are very smart cookies, just walking down main street can be a test of a parents patience, with pretty stores to tempt even the most dedicated budgeters and have you noticed that almost every ride dumps into a gift shop?

anyhoo,
Every one gets a Tee shirt courtesy of mom and dad and then usually we give them $75 bucks to spend over a 7 day period.

Now one of my sons was absolutely great with budgeting his money, he really took his time and picked out what he wanted. My other son wasn't. LOL. His eyes would glaze over and he would start drolling any time he went into a gift shop.

Basically we made them wait until we hit every park before picking up a sovenier (sp) to alleviate any "buyers" remorse and we do encourage them to get items unique to disney.

I'm not the "pre buy" disney shirts simply because for me, buying a shirt at home at a store is simply that.. buying a shirt. Buying a sovenier is more of a remembrance of the trip, so rarely even for myself I've never "pre brought" stuff and pass it off as a souvenier and my kids were pretty smart cookies, the one time I tried it, they knew exactly where it was brought (my kids were 6 & 8 at the time).

 

[goofyredraider]

My older two were 8 and 9 last year (their first time as well). Each kiddo had a $75 gift card. I purchased shirts before we went and I bought them their choice of ears on our first day. It was really a good amount. I had also thought about budgeting $25 per park, but never really did that. Oh, I just remembered...I did buy my daughter one of the recycle map bracelets at Epcot (she loves that thing, and wants to buy more this summer) and my boys a Disney Star Wars figure.

Our kids have been saving all their tooth fairy, allowance, reward $$ this year and each one has close to $100 so far. I plan to give them a $25 gift card to use in conjunction with their money this time. I will probably buy them another set of ears this trip, and that's it. We will be there for 13 days, so I figure that will be PLENTY.

 

[shell8558]

Each kid gets about 100.00 to spend- and that is usually from gift cards for Easter, report cards ,etc. Then we will purchase their t-shirts.

 

[TheMorgans]

We do $25 per kiddo per day. The could save it up for something big or spend it all at once, but once its gone --- its gone forever no matter what "Oh I can't live without it" item you find. I was shocked at how far they stretched it once they knew that once it was gone there was NO MORE.

 

[henry72]

Kids will be 7 & 4 when we go...we are giving them $50 each to spend. I have yet to decide if we will buy them anything (such as a shirt or ears).

 

[Piper]

I like the idea of a Disney gift card. It helps kids get ready for credit cards later on. The balance remaining on the card is shown on the receipts so it is easy to keep up with. I think the amount depends on what you intend to buy for them. If they will buy all snacks, t shirts, etc. they should get around $100. If you will buy those things for them, I'd give a lesser amount. This is based on a week at WDW. You didn't say how long you were staying.

 

[gillenkl]

We will be there 11 days - my kids have $100 in disney gift cards to spend.

Before we go I will pack them each a few new disney themed tshirts (Walmart, Target, etc...). They know they aren't from Disney and I don't try to pass them off as souvenirs - they just like a few new shirts for vacation. As my children have gotten older they are much better with thinking about what they really want instead of just buying junk.

We usually might buy them one extra thing near the end of our trip - some years it was the boxes of Mr.Potato Head parts or Little Pony. This year it will probably be something from the Lego store in DTD.

 

[minpin3]

Before the dining plans, I would map out our meals during our stay ahead of time and create a speadsheet by day with a guesstimate on how much each meal for the four of us would cost. With the menus and prices online it is very easy to do this. I even did this after they introduced the dining plans just to see if the dining plans were worth it.

Good luck and happy budgeting!

 

[stitchlovestink]

Well, this is the budget board so I'm not surprised to hear people say $50. But personally, I think if you are not going to Disney often $50 is not very much. I think I would suggest $100. But that is just me. $100 in Disney really won't go as far as you think. If you happen to be home when the next sale hits the Disney website, I personally would recommend picking up the ear hats (if they want them), the autograph book, and any other park authenic merchandise they see on the site as it will be discounted on the sale and you can probably score free shipping too. You'll not get any discounts in the park unless you have an annual pass or something like that. But if this is a big one time not gonna happen again for a long time trip, I'd try pretty hard to suck it up and give them each a $100 but also encourage them to spend it wisely. Do you know them well enough to help them to make wise decisions? Like Dear Niece, if she's not into Dress up any other time, it might not be best use of her money to buy an expensive princess dress. . as after the trip the dress will probably get tossed in the closet and never used again. One year When Hanna Montana was Brand New my DD spent $22 on a HM beach towel but it was a nice quality one and we have a pool so it got used and it was a wise choice of her vacay souvie $ that year. KWIM? Normally, I wouldn't want to spend that much $ on a towel but they weren't anywhere else to be found yet. She was the envy of all of her friends for a little while. Sometimes, you overpay for those Disney souvies, but sometimes they are worth the memories. It's just finding the right ones! I wish you luck. I hope you have a great trip. And you are awesome for taking your niece and nephew to WDW. They are very very lucky!!

 

[aprilgail2]

I would give 100.00 per child. Since they are your niece and nephew I am sure their parents will be sending them with some type of spending money too!
We are going for 2 weeks in July, I am giving my 12 year old daughter 200.00 to do what she wants with and she has already saved up 200 on her own so far- knowing my daughter she will make a profit on this and just save all the money to go clothes and shoe shopping when she comes home and not buy anything at Disney LOL

 

[TinkerTY]

We have 3 children (12, 6, 5) and we typically give each child $100 on a Disney gift card to spend while at WDW, in addition to $ they saved (from birthdays, holidays, etc). The oldest can go through his $ in a day but we usually end up coming home with $ for the younger two.

 

[QVCshopper]

Well, I'm the cheap one here. We do a $25 gift card per kid, and grandma sometimes gives another $5. My kids are 6 and 7 and have each been to Disney ten times. We already have a good amount of items, so the $25-30 seemed fine on our last trip, especially with the annual pass discount that was offered. Maybe I'll go up a little on our next trip, though.

 

[fakereadhed]

I think $50 is enough personally, but as also said, we have been many times and have most of the basic souvenirs already. With that in mind $75 seems right.

My 3 kids are so different and different strategies worked for some and not others.

With my youngest, the worst idea was to make him wait until the last day to shop because he stresses over it all week. I let him buy as we go with a set amount.

My oldest does best with a gift card up front. She enjoys that and makes wise decisions.

My middle one will spend every last cent with a gift card even on things she doesn't really like, then never touch them after we get home. We are better off buying her the one thing she begs us for.

Really depends on how the kids shop. One kid may need more or less than the other.

 

[disneydeal]

My 9 year old will have a $200 disney gift card to spent on anything she wants..for 10 days. and I'll have about about $1000 to $1300 cash as backup for expenses.. cause resort hotel, park tickets, dinner plan, and car rental are all taken care of pre-trip.

 

[Pigeon]

I am so cheap.

We let our kids buy one small souvenier each, and we are done. They also have their refillable mugs, which they do use at home. The trip is the treat, and we don't need a lot of extra clutter at home.

 

[tms295psu]

Our last trip our daughter was only 2... we let her pick a souvenior, made sure is was something worthwhile, and didn't bat an eye at the price.

This trip she will be 4... she will get a $50 limit (25/per day in the parks). that she can have total control over. But I have another $50 (that she doesn't know about) for that "can't live without" item. If she doesn't use the extra $50... it will go into her piggy for next trip!

 

[Lisa_M]

How long are you staying? I would suggest $50 for a short trip and $100 each for a week long trip. Stuff at Disney is expensive and money doesn't stretch that well in the souvenior department.